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Nikkormat
Nikkormat (Nikomat in Japan) was a brand of cameras produced by the Japanese optics company Nippon Kogaku K. K., as a consumer version of the professional Nikon brand. Nikkormat cameras, produced from 1965 until 1978, were simpler and more affordable than Nikon-branded cameras, but accepted the same lenses as the Nikon F series cameras.
The light meter indicates current whose value depends on the amount of light, and three user settings: aperture, shutter speed, and film sensitivity (film speed). In many cameras the three user settings each have a separate resistor with a moving contact. In the Nikkormat there is only a single resistor and a single moving contact: the resistor is on one ring and the contact on another of the concentric rings around the lens mount. The film sensitivity (speed) and the shutter speed combine their values on one ring, while the aperture determines the relative position of the second ring. Using only one moving contact presumably led to higher reliability. It also explains why all settings are on the mount rings.
The Nikkormat FT was an all-metal, mechanically (springs, gears, levers) controlled, manual focus SLR with match-needle exposure control, manufactured in Japan from 1965 to 1967. It was available in two colors: black with chrome trim and all black. The unmetered version was designated "Nikkormat FS."
The FT had dimensions of 95 mm height, 146 mm width, 54 mm depth and 745 g weight. This was larger and heavier than most competing amateur level SLRs of the mid-1960s, such as the Asahi (Honeywell in the USA) Pentax Spotmatic of 1964, but the quality of the internal components gave the FT strength and durability.[citation needed]
The FT used a metal-bladed, vertical travel, focal plane shutter with a speed range of 1 to 1/1000 second plus Bulb and flash X-sync of 1/125th second. The Nikkormat F-series had a shutter speed ring concentric with the lens mount, unlike Nippon Kogaku's other manual focus SLRs with a top mounted shutter speed dial.
The FT's exposure control system was a "center-the-needle" system using a galvanometer needle pointer moving vertically at the lower right side of the viewfinder to indicate the readings of the built-in, open aperture, TTL, full-scene averaging, cadmium sulfide (CdS) light meter versus the actual camera settings. The photographer would adjust the shutter speed to freeze or blur motion and/or the lens aperture f-stop to control depth of field (focus) until the needle was centered between two pincer-like brackets. The needle array was duplicated in a window next to the top-mounted film rewind crank to allow exposure control without looking through the viewfinder. The meter was turned on by pulling the film wind lever out to the standby ready position and turned off by pushing it back flush against the camera.
This was very advanced in 1965[citation needed] and proved to be remarkably long-lived. Nippon Kogaku used it for all versions of the Nikkormat FT with incremental improvements. The Nikon FM, FM2 and FM2N of the succeeding Nikon compact F-series SLRs used an improved viewfinder only, center-the-LED system until 2001.
The FT's viewfinder also had a fixed focusing screen with Nippon Kogaku's then standard central 4 mm microprism focusing aid plus 12 mm matte focusing surface.
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Nikkormat
Nikkormat (Nikomat in Japan) was a brand of cameras produced by the Japanese optics company Nippon Kogaku K. K., as a consumer version of the professional Nikon brand. Nikkormat cameras, produced from 1965 until 1978, were simpler and more affordable than Nikon-branded cameras, but accepted the same lenses as the Nikon F series cameras.
The light meter indicates current whose value depends on the amount of light, and three user settings: aperture, shutter speed, and film sensitivity (film speed). In many cameras the three user settings each have a separate resistor with a moving contact. In the Nikkormat there is only a single resistor and a single moving contact: the resistor is on one ring and the contact on another of the concentric rings around the lens mount. The film sensitivity (speed) and the shutter speed combine their values on one ring, while the aperture determines the relative position of the second ring. Using only one moving contact presumably led to higher reliability. It also explains why all settings are on the mount rings.
The Nikkormat FT was an all-metal, mechanically (springs, gears, levers) controlled, manual focus SLR with match-needle exposure control, manufactured in Japan from 1965 to 1967. It was available in two colors: black with chrome trim and all black. The unmetered version was designated "Nikkormat FS."
The FT had dimensions of 95 mm height, 146 mm width, 54 mm depth and 745 g weight. This was larger and heavier than most competing amateur level SLRs of the mid-1960s, such as the Asahi (Honeywell in the USA) Pentax Spotmatic of 1964, but the quality of the internal components gave the FT strength and durability.[citation needed]
The FT used a metal-bladed, vertical travel, focal plane shutter with a speed range of 1 to 1/1000 second plus Bulb and flash X-sync of 1/125th second. The Nikkormat F-series had a shutter speed ring concentric with the lens mount, unlike Nippon Kogaku's other manual focus SLRs with a top mounted shutter speed dial.
The FT's exposure control system was a "center-the-needle" system using a galvanometer needle pointer moving vertically at the lower right side of the viewfinder to indicate the readings of the built-in, open aperture, TTL, full-scene averaging, cadmium sulfide (CdS) light meter versus the actual camera settings. The photographer would adjust the shutter speed to freeze or blur motion and/or the lens aperture f-stop to control depth of field (focus) until the needle was centered between two pincer-like brackets. The needle array was duplicated in a window next to the top-mounted film rewind crank to allow exposure control without looking through the viewfinder. The meter was turned on by pulling the film wind lever out to the standby ready position and turned off by pushing it back flush against the camera.
This was very advanced in 1965[citation needed] and proved to be remarkably long-lived. Nippon Kogaku used it for all versions of the Nikkormat FT with incremental improvements. The Nikon FM, FM2 and FM2N of the succeeding Nikon compact F-series SLRs used an improved viewfinder only, center-the-LED system until 2001.
The FT's viewfinder also had a fixed focusing screen with Nippon Kogaku's then standard central 4 mm microprism focusing aid plus 12 mm matte focusing surface.
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