The Last Nikkormat, the FT3.

By the mid 1970s, the Nikkormat was showing its age. Built like tank, you could use it as a defensive weapon if you ran out of film but other companies like Canon were embracing plastics with their AE-1, and Olympus with their OM-1 embraced a compact design. With the introduction with the automatic indexing F mount in 1977 eliminating the need for the "indexing shuffle" Nikon was making a leap forward in camera design, only, the FM and FE weren't quite ready. The Nikkormat FT3 model which was the same as the FT2 but with the improved lens mount.

I was given this camera at a Toronto Film Shooters photowalk a year and a half ago, I think, time is losing meaning at this point by my friend and Classic Camera Revival co-host Alex Luyckx. It had a jumpy meter, fast forward to late winter/early spring,  I managed to fix the meter with some electrical contact lubricant called DeOxit on the ring resistor. It's not a permanent fix but I have a lifetime supply of this lubricant so I can redo the process unitl the ring resistor is pretty much worn out.

The camera handles like any classic Nikkormat, built like a tank and designed to take a serious beating and be used in just about any environment, in this case "The Great Shutdown of 2020. Anyway sliced, you can't go wrong with Nikkormats.


Camera: Nikkormat FT3, Nikkor Ai 50 f2 lens.
Film: Rollei RPX 400, HC110 B.