That Nikkormat FTn.

L. M. Tu said:
That is a good looking Nikkormat there, and black too! I've a black one and a chrome one, neither of them as pretty as Dave's. But then, they cost me a total of $30. I don't remember checking the meter in the chrome body, since I usually use a Sekonic, but the black one was right on when compared with a couple of other camera meters. Those little battery adpaters are very useful, by the way. :)
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I would like to get some battery adaptors if I knew where to get them. I am currently using a rubber gasket and piece of foil and the meter works great with the hearing aid batteries I picked up.:D
 
I have recently discovered Nikkormat's and have to agree with all the praise I read here. When I first got my FTn it sat on my desk for a long time just so I could admire it. The beauty of the thing for me is its lack of a flash shoe which totally spoils the nice lines of a pentaprism. I prefer the silver models myself (as in all things), they look less digital, but both are beautiful. Although I use the Nikkormat a lot when travelling by car, I find it too heavy as a combo with a rangefinder for street work. For that I use my Pentax Spotmatic.
As for batteries, I've never seen the need to use Wein cell in any of my old cameras. A 1.35 volt PX625 gets you to within half a stop, and if you are useing meterless rangefinders, why worry about being any closer? I checked my new FTn against my Pentax spotmeter and it agreed perfectly.
 
I currently own two FT2's and also a FTnThe two working FTn & FT2 are the chrome kind . The BK. FT2, has repair needs, a bent prism cover and a missing Nikomat plate. I was told of a dbl-decker bus seat in London! I just got a new lens-to-me. A nikkor-s auto 1:2,8 f=3.5cm Nippon kogaku . nice glass but some adjustments are in order. One mis-aliened screw mades it impossible to mount the lens and the aperture blades don't adjust, once mounted on the camera. Guess I will have to only use it wide open as there Seems to be no was to loosen up the adjustment ring.
 
Purchased in Japan... Is a Nikomat>>>

Purchased in Japan... Is a Nikomat>>>

My FT2 is a Nikomat... the Japanese home model. The mirror slap on the FTN has been discussed in this thread. However, there is no audible mirror slap on my FT2. When I operate the camera, either with the mirror up, or down, there is no audible change in sound. So while the mirror linkage may be a part of the sound, Slap is non existent.

The Nikomat FT2 uses current silver oxide batteries. I'll try to post a pic.
 
My wife has a black one. She hasn't used it in years. Actually, I think the last time it got any exercise was on our honeymoon 28 years ago. Guessing a new battery might be in order.
 
ray*j*gun said:
I had mirror slap on my FTn (chrome version) and replaced the foam mirror bump and presto gone!
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Yeah, new bumper and seals and all is well.:)

I only need to change to a split screen...I have a hard time with the matte screen. Anyone know who can change one out for me?
 
I have a silver Nikomat w/ 50mm 1.4 I picked up for a song about a year ago. Problem is the lens is stuck on haha, and no way to get it off. Haven't actually used it yet but I may have to give it at least one roll.
 
A black FT2 was my first camera, with the 50/2 Nikkor of course. It got stolen maybe 15 years ago, and I replaced it with an FT3 chrome. I've since added several other Nikkormats, just 'cause I like them. I even have one of the meterless FS models.

The only drawback with these cameras (other than the battery availability issue for the FT and FTn) is the dreaded jumpy meter needle.

Mirror slap -- I rarely shoot at slow speeds, but bear in mind that unlike the FM series, the Nikkormats have a true mirror lockup feature that isn't dependent on using the self-timer.
 
I have a chrome ftn, a black FT2, and two chrome FT3 s. They have been very inexpensive recently. Hard to resist buying them. Great cameras. One of the FT3s had a v dirty focusing screen when I got it. Aztech Services (www.aztechservices.com) did a great job of servicing it and fixing everything. They mention on their web site the twitchy meter problem, and say they are often able to fix it.
 
I have one too and love it. Mine is the last FTn - these adopted a few of the characteristics of the next Nikkormat (FT2?) which by then had been released. So it has a plastic tipped wind lever and shutter delay lever. Apart from that and maybe one or two other minor things its identical (still requires an accessory shoe which could be added as an accessory as it was not till the next model that hotshoes became standard.) Very handsome classic camera - and bult like the proverbial brick outhouse.
 
Well, in 1974 I was shooting for over a year with Nikkormats. I had two, a chrome one and a black one. The lenses I had were the 50mm f/2, the 24mm f/2.8 and the 105mm f/2.5. I used TriX (the film of the day) wich I developed in D76.

I visited London in the spring of 1974 for about eight days. How photogenic this town was in those days! All gone now.

Erik.
 
peterm1 said:
I have one too and love it. Mine is the last FTn - these adopted a few of the characteristics of the next Nikkormat (FT2?) which by then had been released. So it has a plastic tipped wind lever and shutter delay lever. Apart from that and maybe one or two other minor things its identical (still requires an accessory shoe which could be added as an accessory as it was not till the next model that hotshoes became standard.) Very handsome classic camera - and bult like the proverbial brick outhouse.
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Main differences are use of a standard non-mercury battery, and use of AI as well as pre-AI lenses.
 
dave lackey said:
It is really nice to see what these Nikkormats were capable of so long ago before digital was even on the horizon.:angel:
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Yes, in those days Nikon was the only brand for us. What we (in Europe) did not know was that before the "F" era there had been a era of Nikon rangefinders. Leicas were known, but were hardly seen as professional cameras.
The Nikkormat FTn was an extremely good camera, more popular than the Nikon F and not because it was cheaper. It was more modern.

Erik.
 
Mine are seeing action in shooting a series of our school building which will be knocked down in stages over the next year.

I shoot them on a tripod with a Sigma 17-35 attached, so I can capture empty class rooms, offices and mess halls.

Plan is to add shots to a flash slideshow on my website as demolishing progresses so my students and colleagues can see what their classrooms used to look like.
 
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