Silver Novice of the Wirral
Nikon FT3. The shortest camera run in the entire history of Nikon
Well, folks here we have a Nikon camera from Ebay. Camera was in fantastic condition the camera looked the same way until I opened the battery hatch, it was corroded and a slither of metal that help connect the battery was floating around in the batter chamber.
Nikon had not done well with the Nikkorex line of cameras to break into the consumer market. A market already held by the likes of Canon, Minolta, and Pentax. But the 1965 release of the Nikkormat FT marked a major change. The Nikkormat provided photographers with a camera as well built at the professional level Nikon F, and while it lacked some features of the F, it was built to the same exacting standards. And it even had the same metering system as the Photomic head. Nikon also released an unmetered version, the Nikkormat FS. The FT proved popular enough that Nikon released an updated version in 1967, the Nikkormat FTn. The FTn included several upgrades, including a far better centre-weighted metering system using the classic 60/40 ratio. The FTn also could support lenses with apertures between f/1.2 and f/32. A minor update in 1970 provided an improved mirror box reducing mirror rattle that became iconic in earlier versions. The FTn saw production for nearly ten years before being replaced by the FT2. Nikon only changed one thing between the FTn and FT2, and that was the battery power, going for the newer and safer silver oxide. The FT2 also provided a permanently affixed hot shoe on the top of the prism. And the last change was the inclusion of a Type K focusing screen. In 1977 Nikon released the final integration of the mechanical Nikkormats, the FT3. Again, the FT3 was mainly another update to the FT2; the main update is the capacity to use aperture index (AI) lenses. So unlike the earlier Nikkormats, you didn’t need to use the mechanical claw to communicate the aperture to the camera’s meter. Sadly, the world had by this point moved on from the massive mechanical tanks, the smaller form SLRs were becoming popular with the Olympus OM-1 and Pentax ME. The FT3 saw cancellation after only a few months in production. The shortest camera run in the entire history of Nikon, replaced by the equally capable Nikon FM later in 1977. Although you could still get new FT3 bodies into 1978.
It was returned to the Ebay merchant for a full refund.
Kit used:
Nikon D 7100 with a Nikon AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm 1:4 G ED
ref: 3571 - 4t September 2020
Nikon FT3. The shortest camera run in the entire history of Nikon
Well, folks here we have a Nikon camera from Ebay. Camera was in fantastic condition the camera looked the same way until I opened the battery hatch, it was corroded and a slither of metal that help connect the battery was floating around in the batter chamber.
Nikon had not done well with the Nikkorex line of cameras to break into the consumer market. A market already held by the likes of Canon, Minolta, and Pentax. But the 1965 release of the Nikkormat FT marked a major change. The Nikkormat provided photographers with a camera as well built at the professional level Nikon F, and while it lacked some features of the F, it was built to the same exacting standards. And it even had the same metering system as the Photomic head. Nikon also released an unmetered version, the Nikkormat FS. The FT proved popular enough that Nikon released an updated version in 1967, the Nikkormat FTn. The FTn included several upgrades, including a far better centre-weighted metering system using the classic 60/40 ratio. The FTn also could support lenses with apertures between f/1.2 and f/32. A minor update in 1970 provided an improved mirror box reducing mirror rattle that became iconic in earlier versions. The FTn saw production for nearly ten years before being replaced by the FT2. Nikon only changed one thing between the FTn and FT2, and that was the battery power, going for the newer and safer silver oxide. The FT2 also provided a permanently affixed hot shoe on the top of the prism. And the last change was the inclusion of a Type K focusing screen. In 1977 Nikon released the final integration of the mechanical Nikkormats, the FT3. Again, the FT3 was mainly another update to the FT2; the main update is the capacity to use aperture index (AI) lenses. So unlike the earlier Nikkormats, you didn’t need to use the mechanical claw to communicate the aperture to the camera’s meter. Sadly, the world had by this point moved on from the massive mechanical tanks, the smaller form SLRs were becoming popular with the Olympus OM-1 and Pentax ME. The FT3 saw cancellation after only a few months in production. The shortest camera run in the entire history of Nikon, replaced by the equally capable Nikon FM later in 1977. Although you could still get new FT3 bodies into 1978.
It was returned to the Ebay merchant for a full refund.
Kit used:
Nikon D 7100 with a Nikon AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm 1:4 G ED
ref: 3571 - 4t September 2020