Nikon F2 outfit 'Apocalypse Now'
365
Hammer Price
€7,800
incl. Buyer's Premium
Estimate €8,000 – 10,000
Manufacture Year : 1970s
Chas Gerretsen was hired in 1976 by Francis Ford Coppola as the still photographer for his masterpiece Apocalypse Now. He acquired Nikon F2 cameras in exchange for three of his old Nikon F cameras. The old cameras with lenses were acquired by Coppola Cinema 7, for use by Dennis Hopper in his role as the 'Photojournalist'. Chas Gerretsen bought the two offered Nikon F2 cameras with lenses in Hong Kong and they were used to photograph most of the images taken on the set of 'Apocalypse Now'. Gerretsen used the cameras later on over a hundred feature films. The outfit includes two Nikon F2 bodies with MD2 motor drives, a 180mm, 105mm, 85mm, 50mm, 35mm and 24mm Nikkor lenses. The special leather camera bag was made for Gerretsen in Santiago, Chile in 1973 - it is a slightly bigger copy of a US M3 Medic combat bag, which was popular among photographers during the Vietnam war, and a contrast viewer given by Vittorio Storaro, the director of photography on 'Apocalypse Now'. Also included with this special set is a limited edition of the 'Apocalypse Now - The Lost Photo Archive' by Gerretsen with a special edition number #10 of 30, including three signed prints, as well as a provenance letter and a personal note from Gerretsen to the future owner of this special outfit.