When not onstage, you can find him roaming around Southern California shooting film and humming a tune. No need to expand on that.
Two things come to mind as I think back, was its solid build and the built-in TTL meter, which had an added top display that I actually used when setting up the exposure. The FTn soldiered through the mids, until it was on an out of town trip. Went to an FM and never looked back until today. My example never missed a beat. My FTN has gone, traded in for a neat little Pentax MX — whose meter display and shutter speed dial work in the same direction, not in perverse contra-rotation — but not before it had acted as gateway to half a dozen Nikkors, plus an FE, an FG and an FM2N.
The big old FTN had stopped winning the which-one-do-I-take-out contest since I found I appreciate lates modernity like LEDs, aperture-priority and split-image focusing. Never a problem metering with a modern battery, though — even with slide film. Now, if I got an EL, I could still use them and get aperture-priority too….
Good stuff Josh. I use a black Nikkormat FT2. I gave my silver one to my nephew after the Canon A1 he bought died. These cameras are so well made it is crazy that the Pentax K fetches much more money. Back in the day the K was the budget beginner option, with the Nikkormat being a mid level camera with pro level build.
Guess people have forgotten about that.. The Nikkormat FTn was my first camera, bought used as a 20 year old camera in I still have it, it still works perfectly. I joke that it could probably pound a Canon AE-1 into a fine powder and still take perfect pictures. Once I solder in a diode, I prefer the FTn for three reasons.
Yes, generally agree, prefer the all metal flat film advance lever to the later plastic tipped version. The flash shoe of the later models can be removed, but then the resulting hole in the prism housing must be closed. Black electrical tape can be used but while easy and simple is a little inelegant.
Found that out the hard way. Never tested them to see if they were buoyant. I went onto eBay after reading this great article and was surprised at their low cost. I hope the posting leads people to pick up one with a lens and shoot some film. Great article, I live in Manchester, UK and in our Covid lockdown this article has brought a welcome relief from the obsession with dire news.
Thank you I have a Nikkormatt and will be loading film today to capture the time we live in in the lenses of a classic. When I decided to get into shooting film a few years ago the first camera that I used was a Nikomat EL. Mine still travels in my camera bag at all times. Great article! I loved learning more of the history of not only my camera, but the entire Nikkormat line. The FTn has a build quality that needs to be experienced in person.
Even the film counter window is a tiny glass portal gem. Simplicity and durability exemplified, still mind blowing that these cameras were mass produced at this quality level. Including the legendary one on the F3. And the Nikkormat meters seem more reliable than the wonky electrics of the F2. The black FT2 is my favorite. While the Nikkormats were undoubtedly solidly made, they did have some bizarre quirks that are not mentioned in the article.
Bizarre, overly complicated and frankly crazy. In the , a friend of mine was going off travelling and asked for a recommendation of a reliable camera.
I was using an EL2 and FTn, ans suggested she bought a mechanical Nikkormat because batteries may be hard to get where she was going. A few days later, she showed me her new camera. It was a spotless, immaculate black FT2, with a similarly superb 50mm f1. It was gorgeous! She also got a wide and a tele Nikkor lens. Some months go by, and I get a call from my friend who is back from her travels and we meet up for coffee.
She has been all over place and spent a lit of time in India. Instead of the ratchet indexing ring attached to the indexing prong, there is a aperture scale on an underlying ring between the shutter speed ring and the prong ring my guess is, the ring that carries the rheostat wiper , and a matching ASA scale on the prong ring. When changing to a lens with a different maximum aperture, the user pushes a little metal tab lower left quadrant and rotates the two rings relative to each other to line up the max aperture with the ASA.
It sounds more complicated than it is. Probably only a hassle if rapid lens changes are part of your gig. Do you know how to step-down meter on it with a Nikkor D lens?
I heard that the prong should stay aligned to the red dot my ring actually clicks in that position, so this feels right but should the max aperture also be alignment to the iso as usual? I find that when I meter this way I get an incorrect reading… Thoughts?
Lamberto — With any F-mount lens lacking the external metering shoe, you have to do stop-down technique to use the internal meter. Second, you have to tell the meter how much light you plan to use so that it can give you a reading.
For this you hold down the stop-down button next to the prism, in front of the shutter release button and turn the aperture ring until the needle lines up where you want it. Pushing the stop-down button also moves that lever. Now look at the back of the lens any Nikon lens as far as I know , you see a small tab mm on the right side as you look through the back of the lens.
When the lens is mounted on the camera, the lever inside the camera holds that tab so the diaphragm is full open. This kind of mechanism was still not universal in the early 70s when I got into photography. I felt so lucky to get a Nikkormat and have the latest technology!
My wife still has her FTN from university 35 years ago, I bought one recently and re-covered it, and bought a non-working EL to harvest some screws from, to make mine nearly perfect. Like Liked by 2 people. And congrats on snagging a wife with such good taste! I have 3 nikkormats. I bought my first one in while working in Amsterdam. I still have the same camera today.
I recall buying the mm F4 lens for it which I also still have and it takes perfectly sharp images. Superb lens for portraits. I should know I have hundreds of my daughter. I recall years ago talking to a Nikon repair guy as he was going to repair my Nikon FM2 with a failed shutter. I asked him what was in his opinion the most reliable Nikon made at the time. He said the model that never needs a repair is the Nikkormat. I only changed the seals. I even checked the shutter speeds with a electronic speed tester and they are still good.
All of my 3 Nikkormats the th speed measures around , and the 1, measures around All speeds from a 60th to 1 second are actually just about perfect. If you see one for sale dont ever be afraid to buy it. Final comment, I have a Leica MP and everyone talks about the smooth film advanced, the Nikkormat film advance feels every bit as good as a Leica. I would never say the Nikkormat is a poor mans Nikon. Brass body, precision build and a marvel of analog gears and springs.
Just picked up a Nikomat FT2 the other day. Light seals and foam cushion for the mirror need to be replaced, but otherwise it seems to be fine. Very interesting review and comments. It even arrived with working battery and some film already loaded!
I now have three of these bodies, with this one seemingly in the best condition will have to shoot some with it to be sure. Estimated between Tue. Delivery times may vary, especially during peak periods. Seller does not accept returns See details. Special financing available.
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