Nikkormat praise thread

[tomkatf]

No, the camera was originally named Nikomat. Zeiss threatened suit because the name was too close to Ikon. Name change, Nikkormat.

Nikkormat on most export models. Sold in Japan as the Nikomat.

 

[Dan Fromm]

I have bought K1000's to sell, and I guess I agree? I don't know, the one that feels best in my hands is the Pentax MG (or Super ME or whatever else.)

Ergonomics are a very personal matter. One of my RAs bought an ME Super and let me play with it. Nice little K-mount camera and very light. Not for me, though, my hands are too big for it, i.e., I found the controls uncomfortably close together.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Nikkormat on most export models. Sold in Japan as the Nikomat.

Zeiss' threats are the reason why.

 

[RLangham]

Ergonomics are a very personal matter. One of my RAs bought an ME Super and let me play with it. Nice little K-mount camera and very light. Not for me, though, my hands are too big for it, i.e., I found the controls uncomfortably close together.

Of course. I dare say you wouldn't like the Zenit S either with its quite small rotating speed dial and relatively crowded and small cocking knob.
As for me, I have moderately small hands for a man. I can't really deal with my Kodak Medalist very easily!

 

[RLangham]

I spent 1970 in Germany protecting y'all from the Red Army. Our PXs sold a variety of 35mm SLRs including Spotmatics, not including Nikkormats. The Spottie was the low-ranking enlisted swine's -- I was one -- 35 mm SLR of choice. Low price ... I went on a religious retreat to Rome -- don't ask -- with around a dozen other low ranking enlisted swine. Half of them had Spotties. Three of the Spotties jammed on that excursion. I was acquainted with other jammed Spotties. In my vicarious experience, a somewhat fragile camera. Not as fragile as Mirandas, but I'm glad I didn't get a Spottie.

Of course, the PX's now sell Sony mirrorless, did you know that? My stepdad used to take me down to Keesler Air Force base when I was still in college and thus a dependent, to get cheap groceries at the commissary next to the PX.

And I think it had been US military PX's in the Pacific that first introduced the Nikon 1 rangefinder to Western buyers.

 

[tomkatf]

Some of my Niko/Nikkormat herd...

 

[tomkatf]

This one's my favorite... Bought c. 1970 and got me through 6 yrs of Art School...

 

[blockend]

I don't know, the one that feels best in my hands is the Pentax MG (or Super ME or whatever else.) Early Prakticas had too sharp an edge to them (I owned two) late Prakticas are just too bulky... to me the absolute best ergonomics on an SLR is still probably the early Zorki-derived Zenits (1 and S).

The more ergonomically friendly 35mm cameras became, the uglier they got. SLRs grew hand grips, and benign curves replaced jagged corners. Companies like Olympus and Pentax flirted with compact SLRs, but the professional picture was towards massive, battery powered drives and multiple control surfaces. It's difficult be believe an Olympus XA and a Nikon F5 took the same film format.

 

[MattKing]

The more ergonomically friendly 35mm cameras became, the uglier they got.

And for us left handed people, they actually became less ergonomically friendly.

 

[RLangham]

And for us left handed people, they actually became less ergonomically friendly.

Aye, what was the last left-handed SLR? It was the Kine Exakta wasn't it?

 

[AgX]

It was the Pentacon Pentina (1961).

And there was the bridge-camera Yashica Samurai with a left-handed version (1987).

 

[RLangham]

It was the Pentacon Pentina (1961).

And there was the bridge-camera Yashica Samurai with a left-handed version (1987).

Huh. Well, at least there are some non-slrs that are equally awkward for either hand. The Argus C2 and C3 spring to mind.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

People who haven't used a Nik'mat don't appreciate how much faster working cameras with the shutter speed control concentric with the lens are than cameras with the shutter speed control in the usual place on top of the body.

I have a FT3. I could never figure out which way to turn the dials for either the shutter or aperture. Any tricks you use?

 

[BradS]

I have a FT3. I could never figure out which way to turn the dials for either the shutter or aperture. Any tricks you use?

shutter speed is easy. The lever at your left finger tips, moving it up increases the exposure (slower shutter) and moving it down decreases exposure (faster shutter)....and the shutter speed is shown in the view finder.

Aperture...all Nikkors are the same...aren't they?

 

[Dan Fromm]

shutter speed is easy. The lever at your left finger tips, moving it up increases the exposure (slower shutter) and moving it down decreases exposure (faster shutter)....and the shutter speed is shown in the view finder.

Aperture...all Nikkors are the same...aren't they?

Yep.

 

[Dan Fromm]

I have a FT3. I could never figure out which way to turn the dials for either the shutter or aperture. Any tricks you use?

Practice. It won't get you into Carnegie Hall but it will make you familiar with your photographic equipment.

 

[RLangham]

I have a FT3. I could never figure out which way to turn the dials for either the shutter or aperture. Any tricks you use?

This is a good camera to use in pseudo-aperture priority mode. Set the aperture according to the general photographic situation (I like to go with f/8 in daylight and f/5.6 or f/4 in shadows, but your lens may have a specific aperture at which it is sharpest.) Then meter for the shot by adjusting the shutter speed up and down, while watching the indicator to make sure you don't dip into speeds that are too slow.

 

[Huss]

No, the camera was originally named Nikomat. Zeiss threatened suit because the name was too close to Ikon. Name change, Nikkormat.

Other rejections were Nikoroid and Nikodak.

 

[John Earley]

Although I have several Nikon F's, the Nikkormat remains my favorite. I bought my first one at the PX in Taipei, Taiwan in 1967. It was stolen soon after and I quickly replaced it with a new one. I now own seven including FTn's FT2's and EL's. I still occasionally use my beat up 1968 FTn though the meter no longer works properly and am more likely to take out the FT2. The Nikkormat is everything I need in an SLR.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Although I have several Nikon F's, the Nikkormat remains my favorite. I bought my first one at the PX in Taipei, Taiwan in 1967. It was stolen soon after and I quickly replaced it with a new one. I now own seven including FTn's FT2's and EL's. I still occasionally use my beat up 1968 FTn though the meter no longer works properly and am more likely to take out the FT2. The Nikkormat is everything I need in an SLR.

Yeah, yeah, yeah of course you're right but the FM2n that replaced my stolen Nik'mat FTN is lighter and nicer and more capable. Its shutter speed dial is in the wrong place but one can get used to that.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Practice. It won't get you into Carnegie Hall but it will make you familiar with your photographic equipment.

You'd think for a guy who played a clarinet as a kid, I'd figure out which way aperture and shutter dials turn. Never did. I no longer shoot the Nikkormat. But I have the same problems on all my other cameras. I just started 4x5. I'd failed the test if you asked me which way the dial goes to increase or decrease speed or open or close the aperture.

 

[Dan Fromm]

You'd think for a guy who played a clarinet as a kid, I'd figure out which way aperture and shutter dials turn. Never did. I no longer shoot the Nikkormat. But I have the same problems on all my other cameras. I just started 4x5. I'd failed the test if you asked me which way the dial goes to increase or decrease speed or open or close the aperture.

That's why there are shutter speed and aperture scales.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

That's why there are shutter speed and aperture scales.

I meant without looking.

 

[Dan Fromm]

I meant without looking.

Most 35mm SLRs with TTL metering have exposure indicators in the finder. Watch which way the needle or illuminated LED goes.

 

[AgX]

Speaking of Nikon, then there still is the issue of all Nikon lens helicoids to be twisted the wrong way for focusing...