Classics to use - Nikkormat

DigiChromeEd · Joined: 29 Dec 2009 Posts: 3462 Location: Northern Ireland

Article from a 2002 edition of Amateur Photographer magazine

Olivier · Expire: 2015-08-06

Thank you Ed

NikonAIS · Last edited by NikonAIS on Wed Mar 31, 2021 12:02 am; edited 1 time in total

I have a black Nikkormat FT2 in near mint condition and love it. It still works flawlessly, including the meter. The finder is a little bit on the dark side but it is still very useable. The one thing I like the best about it is the shutter speed ring around the mount, I wish that idea had caught on more. Construction wise, it is built like a tank, par for the course of all Nikons of that era. No plastic anywhere except the tip of the winding lever and that was more just for comfort.

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stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 3754 Location: Switzerland

Doc Sharptail · Joined: 23 Nov 2020 Posts: 987 Location: Winnipeg Canada

I have loved and used a few Nikkormats.
My first was a chrome FT-2, and I still regret letting it go.

My current version is a chrome FTN. The slightly dark viewfinders take a bit of getting used to.
In using it, I find myself using the ground glass to focus on with longer lenses. The micro-prism spot tends to darken around 135mm focal length. The split image/micro-prism collar of the FT-2 is easier to use. Apart from the above, the FTN is a great little camera. It makes some beautiful photographs.

I have had all of the EL, ELW, and EL-2 series cameras. The FT series are far more reliable.

If you can find an FT-2 at a reasonable price, it would be really worth looking into.

-D.S.

gaeger · Expire: 2021-03-09

When I was a teen, our youth pastor had a Nikkormat that I thought was so cool. Now I have an FT, FTn, FT2 and FT3,and an EL. And they're still cool.

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

I have no idea why I sold mine next to nothing.
Naybe because light meter was not working and I got frustrated.

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 3754 Location: Switzerland

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9097 Location: Houston, Texas

Several years ago, I added an FT3 and an EL2 to my collection of Nikons, both in almost mint condition. I'd previously owned an FT2 but sold it. At the time I bought those two cameras, I was able to pick them up for a song, and the FT3 even came with a late pre-AI 50/1.4 that had been converted by Nikon to AI. Even though the EL2 is a Nikkormat, it's worth noting that its name badge says "Nikon." So I've always thought of it as being Nikon's immediate predecessor to the FE.

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

Doc Sharptail · Joined: 23 Nov 2020 Posts: 987 Location: Winnipeg Canada

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9097 Location: Houston, Texas

Yeah, the EL2 is Nikkormat-sized and Nikkormat heavy, whereas the FE is more of a compact size, basically the same as the FM. Even though the finder info looks almost identical between the two, I'm sure that Nikon would have updated the electronics for the FE.

My EL2's meter still works perfectly and it's accurate, as well. I suspect my copy was seldom used. I've owned a few FEs over the years and I've always been fond of them. I'm partial to match-needle metering, which is a big reason why I've always liked them. Currently I own one FE and one FE2, both minty and both black. Back when film cameras were selling for a song, I'd buy one if I found it selling for cheap, then I'd play around with it for a while, and sell it. I don't keep extras anymore -- or at least I try not to.

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 3754 Location: Switzerland

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

NikonAIS · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2021 11:46 pm Post subject: Re: Classics to use - Nikkormat

Farside · Expire: 2013-12-27

I'd seriously thought of getting another FT2, like I had in the mid-70s. I was quite happy with it, but the Achilles heel that has been exposed over the intervening years, the failure of the shutter ring resistor, has put me off the idea.
When I want to shoot a Nikon body, I can take out the Ricoh Singlex with the Nikon F mount on it. It's entirely manual, as it doesn't even have the optional exposure meter on it, as some PO broke off the mounting bracket.
I bought it mainly for the lens - a very nice Rikenon 55 1.4, but after that I realised that other Nikon-fit (and Tamrons that had arrived with Nk mounts would combine with that to make a fairly decent manual-only Nikon system for me.
Some day soon, I'll put some film in the old beast and see what it does.
I've noticed some Nikon Fs on ebay Japan for not bad prices, but there's no way of knowing how hard worked they've been. It's always a risk.

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 3754 Location: Switzerland

Doc Sharptail · Joined: 23 Nov 2020 Posts: 987 Location: Winnipeg Canada

You can add the FE-2 and FE to the wonky shutter list.
I have a beautiful black FE here, and the shutter is very questionable, as is a black FE-2.
On some, it's simply a matter of the shutter being gummed up with mirror-box cushion and adhesive.
The deteriorated mirror cushions turn into liquified goo after a while.

I had an EL-W go back for resistor replacement, which was painfully expensive.
The repair lasted almost 90 days.

My first camera was an FT-2. I miss the shutter collar in back of the lens mount at times.

My suggestion would be an F-2.
Love at first handling, and they certainly grew on me.

I have a late serial chrome FE here, and there is nothing wrong with it at all...

-D.S.