Nikomat FT2 and its heavy.

 The Nikomat. 

Oh my, there are so many things to write about the camera. The history, the weight, the shooting experience, the ergonomics where do I start?

Perhaps its best if I do not start on the history. It can be quite boring. Apart from the fact that Nikon's idea of differentiating its consumer range of cameras to its "professional" range is, make it as different as you can, everything else is Nikon. Bear in mind that this camera was to sit alongside the Nikon F2.

The FT2, clearly engraved, right below the meter display.

Its heavy and its big. I would not recommend not using it without at least a wrist strap. Mate it with those Pre-AI lens, I think you may have a lethal weapon, for both defensive AND offensive use.

This is camera with the original F mount. This is one of the cameras that make use of the "rabbit ears" found on many Nikon lenses. That slit, in between those ears, is for the prong that provides a link between the lens and the camera, communicating with the camera as to what aperture the lens is set at. There is several more steps in mounting a lens to the camera, videos in YouTube can explain better than words on this blog.

Where the prong sits.

The good news, as long as there are rabbit ears, you can mount any lens you have in your arsenal.

The iso indicator

Yup, its not where its supposed to be. It is as far as possible to where the iso can be found on an FM or and FM2 or an F3. To adjust the iso, you need to pull a level, situated at the tab which you use to adjust the shutter speed. Yup, you need not just two fingers, but two hands.

Some pic samples to spice things up a bit. Taken with the Nikor 35mm 1.4 n.c pre-ai lens. Film is Ilford XP2 Super 4..

Dew droplets on leaves.

Spider Web with dew droplets on it.

If I never come back to this post, would I recommend this camera for a beginner, nope. For enthusiast, yes probably, ironically, this camera was meat to be for the mass consumer. Perhaps this was why the Canon AE1 was very popular for its ease of use.

Thank you for reading, so far.