From the 1980s The Nikon FM2


Everyone remembers the Nikkormat, Nikon's prosumer camera, it got replaced with the Nikon FM in 1977 a much lighter body, people loved it. I love my two FM's, an early chrome example and a later production black body. Fast forward a few years to 1982 and the FM was replaced with the FM2. Shutter speeds went from a top of 1/1000 to 1/4000 and a much faster flash snyc speed of 1/200 of a second with a slight bump in 1984 to 1/250. Both advanced amateurs and pro photographers loved the durable construction.

Initially the FM2 came with the titanium honeycomb copal shutter which was replaced in 1984 with the aluminum copal shutter along with the flash sync speed upgrade. There's not much else to say about the camera other than it's centre weighted metering. The camera had a long production run for 19 years before being replaced with the FM3a. The camera came in three finishes, chrome, black and the special edition titanium.

Ok, lens compatablity, people asked, "Hey Bill, can I use my Pre-Ai lenses on my FM2?"

My answer, "No because it will end in tears and regret along with a repair tech making fun of you behind your back. Use the auto indexing (Ai) lenses."

Unlike the FM where you can use Pre Ai lenses in stop down. Both the FM2 and FE2 I talked about earlier are configured the newer manual focus lenses. Why? Because Nikon wanted people to update their glass, it's that simple.

The FM2 is one of those perfect SLR's with the ergonomics everything is where you want it, the meter turns on when you pull the film advance out and will unlock the shutter button if you have the camera cocked and ready to go. The meter read out is pretty much the same design as the FM and the Nikon F2SB and F2AS,  three LED lights. For those who want a motor drive, Nikon had the MD-12 which is compatable with the FM/FE, FM2/FE2, and the FM3a and is pretty easy to attach. The difference with the FM/FE series there were no covers to take off like the Nikon F3HP, and Olympus OM-1 and 2n's

I love this camera, it has been up to Northern Muskoka on a few trips over the years, hikes closer to home and into the city so many times I've lost count. In some ways it was an early grail camera of mine that has become a workhorse in my Nikon kit and my go to when the temperature drops like a rock.

For now I only own a chrome FM2, part of me wants a black one too, not that I really need it. I have a black FE2 along with both chrome and black FM bodies. I sorta wonder do I really need to accumulate? Well, if I see one at a local camera show and the price is right....



Camera: Nikon FM2n, Nikkor lenses.
Film: Various black and white and colour emulsions.

My FM2


Buck Lake at it's Finest

Misty Waters at the Southeast end of Bella Lake

Garden Gate Late Afternoon

Late August at Woodbine Beach

506 Headed to Main St. Station


Stored CLRVS

CLRV At the Front in the Greenwood Yard

Snow Covered Wood Fence

Really Cold on Wortley's Wiggle

Bridge over Frozen Falls

Concourse Building V2

Night Shift

Harbour Taxies and Tour Boats_

Exclusive Docking Space


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Barnack Madness, What Was I Thinking?

Image
 My last adventures with Scewmount Barnack Leicas didn't end well, on the few occasions I tried my brother's IIIf and IIIg, I botched the loading and got 36 exposures on one frame. I was quite content to just shoot with my M3 and M4-2, even though I wanted to get a IIIg because Alex got dad's from the estate.  Logic has no place shooting with a Barnack Leica, if the cliche film photography slows you down, working with a III series body is an exercise in zen. First you have deal with bottom loading, wind the film advance before adjusting shutter speed and be careful where you point your camea as bright sunlight can incinerate a rubberized silk shutter cloth instantly.  That said, Joan at Burlington Camera had this red dial Leica IIIf from the mid 1950s with a pre war Elmar 50 F3.5 lens, on the used shelf, I saw it, handled the camera, and put it back. In a fit of camera GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) a few weeks later I came back in and bought the camera. I wonder if Joan a
Read more

Second Roll of Aerocolor IV (Flic Film Elektra 100)

Image
 I bought a bunch of Flic Film Elektra 100 after shooting a roll of Santa Color 100 late last fall down in Niagara on the Lake  with my good Canon New F-1. I packed a two rolls gifting one roll to my brother Alex before heading south on vacation for a week. This time around my second adventure of Kodak Aero Color IV at a different time of the year.  Again, I shot at "box speed" at 100 ISO only this time through my Nikon F3/T. This time I loved the results even more, not just because it went through a different camera system. I think back late last November there was more infrared light in the spectrum due the time of year thus influencing the colour cast of the Aero Color 1V. Shooting the second roll in late March gave me a lot more the look I adored. Due to the polyester base Aero Color IV is easy to scan, you can almost colour correct during the scanning process, reducing your work flow a bit at the other end in Lightroom. Again being a polyester base, you want to load thi
Read more

The New Addition to the Fleet, the NIkon FM2T

Image
 I didn't need a NIkon FM2T but I got one. I already have both a chrome and black Nikon FM2N bodies but being not only an analogue photographer I'm also a Nikon collector. Ok, the FM3a's are getting a little out of hand in the used market. As you have read over the past few months I've been on a gear acquisition tear this is more a prize. James over at Casual Photophile wrote a great pieec back in 2019 on the camera , and pretty much shares what I think, yeah, you don't really need this camera but if you're a Nikon collector you want one. The FM2T was only made from 1993 to 1997 and is a rare beast in the grand scheme of things compared to the FM2n which was made from 1989 to 2001. What the FM2T is a lighter and tougher version of the FM2N. with a titanium outer housing, like a regular FM2n it feels great in my hand. This particular example was spot on with the meter and did not take one bad photo at all.  Film wise I ran with Ilford Delta 100, I'm just tryi
Read more