Just received a few more Nikkormats...

[John_Nikon_F]

Yes, the kehoutlet eBay store is a bad place for GAS sufferers. $33.70, plus shipping for four Nikkormat bodies... An FT, two FTn's (one chrome Nikkormat, one black Nikomat), and an FT2. They were being sold as inoperable cameras. Far from it. One of the FTn's, the black one, only needs foam to be useable (like the others do). The FT2 does need some meter work (as did the chrome FTn, but I didn't keep that one), and the FT needs a better top cover. But, put good batteries into the three that I kept, and compared them to the F and the F2AS. Spot-on, metering-wise. The FT and the FTn have smooth meter functionality, and the FT2 is a bit jumpy, but not majorly so. I've owned worse.

-J

 

[Nick Merritt]

Nice scores! I have owned a lot of Nikons and other than the jumpy meters on the Nikkormats and the Fs, I have found the meters to be trouble free in the vast majority of cases. Even the jumpy meters are accurate once they settle down.

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Yep, for the most part. I've had a few where the resistor ring intermittently shorted out, tho. Worst case was a chrome FTn that had that, plus dead CdS cells. It essentially was either full overexposure or full underexposure. I've had a couple there were 1-2 stops off, even with the correct battery, though. I suspect they do sometimes get out of adjustment. The other problem I've seen is where the underexposure post gets sticky and you almost have to shock the meter into operation by setting the right combination of shutter speed and aperture to peg the needle, then it works.

The shutters are usually a good way to test a shutter tester. 99% of the time, they are spot-on. However, 1/125th will reliably fire at 1/100th.

-J

 

[Sirius Glass]

It is good that you stick to Nikons; you could get shot by a Canon.

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Hehe, grrroan!

Funnily enough, my last mugshot for here on APUG and my avatar were shot by a Canon.

-J

 

[brucemuir]

John, did this auction end last week? I think I mighta' seen it.

I got lost in the 1000+ listings at the outlet page last week.

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Bruce,

Yeah, it did. It was marked wrong, in that "Nikon" wasn't in the title, so it didn't show up if you typed Nikon in the search box for the kehoutlet store. I think that's why there was almost no competition after I bid on it. There is a cameraporn shot on my flickr, yes, shot by a Canon, showing the three remaining bodies. I still have one of the bodies from the previous lot of six 'mats that I won. Am thinking of purging that one, though.

-J

 

[brucemuir]

Awesome score. Those mismarked auctions are where it's at!

 

[Pumalite]

I'm glad to find out that somebody else is as crazy as I.

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Hehe, remember that I'm the guy who's owned over 160 Nikon film bodies...

Oh, btw, I stand corrected about the FT2's foam condition. Looks like someone replaced the seals and mirror cushion recently. So, it has some film loaded up for the thunderstorm activity that's supposed to hit in the next 18-20 hours or so.

-J

 

[RalphLambrecht]

bought all three for $100!

 

[E. von Hoegh]

It is good that you stick to Nikons; you could get shot by a Canon.

Or be caught trespassing upon Olympus...

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Or having to pay a Pentax whenever I want to write something down.

Re: the $100, a little less than half. More like $40.65 with shipping included.

-J

 

[brucemuir]

what are the taxes they are charging Pen users in that state…
oh then there are federal tariffs.
Dont forget you need to make sure there is enough to cut from NEA and NPR etc if a certain party wins .

Opps I'll shut up now…...

 

[John_Nikon_F]

:facepalm:

This thread derailed fast... lol

-J

 

[brucemuir]

guilty as charged…

the mats are really great for us these days all things considering
1/1000th and the copal square shutter is regarded (reliability& durability) among REPAIR dudes so thats good enough for muy.
FT2 and on take regular batteries but rigging a battery in an earlier model is simple and cheap.
the lens barrel aperture& shutter controls are quite ergo and a breeze to use.
nice size and weight even with longer teles
simple back door loading (dont go there :devil: )
better MLU than the original F
the film advance on mine is really silky smooth and surprised me the first time I shot with it
it's way smoother than my F2 but my F2 could use a cla for sure

great deal at todays prices even if you go full auction prices.
huww-raah for the Nikkormat!

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Pic of the three I kept... Yes, the FT isn't completely in the photo. I'm sure I'll have a better photo of the three soon. BTW: Bruce, I did purge the previous chrome FTn, so the temptation is no longer there.



To see things full-size, click on the pic, then go to the "Actions" tab and choose "View All Sizes".

-J

 

[brucemuir]

Those look good even considering what in all intents was a grab bag deal.
These have been popping up lately on their outlet page.

Must be what they are doing now to replace the old "as is" category on the website.

 

[John_Nikon_F]

That's exactly what they've done. They're now trying to repair stuff that they used to just throw on the website in the old AS IS section, and, if it's going to be too expensive to repair, they throw the items up on eBay. Case in point, for them to sell a Nikkormat FT2 with an overhauled meter, they'd have to get at least $175-$200 for it, before it'd be worth their time and parts. It's a nice looker, but does fit into their BGN grade, since there are some bubbles in the leatherette and some paint loss on the back. Now, in my case, as an end user, I probably will go ahead and push it through a full overhaul later this year, just to make sure that it's 100% reliable and in good working order. I know I won't recoup my investment if I do what I normally do, which is to sell something within a few months of acquiring it, so I'll probably do what I'm doing with my F and F2, and just use it. Let it continue to produce photos.

-J