Some frames from my Nikkormat FTN

[nerwin]

Recently I was was given a Nikkormat FTN by a friend of mine and it was in surprisingly nice condition. The meter didn't work but everything else seemed to function well. I was going to shoot it but man I've always wanted to take photos with one of these classic tanks of a camera. The light seals were worrying but I didn't see anything wrong with them, someone replaced them probably years ago with something other than foam so they never turned into oil or dust but are quite flat. So I expected some light leaks but went ahead and loaded a roll of Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 400 and started shooting.

Just a side note, this was the FASTEST I ever got my film back. I sent the film out on a Tuesday, they received it Thursday afternoon and later that night I got the email with the link to the film scans. They must've not been busy! Although, its been a week and I haven't got any tracking information back for the returns of my negatives..hopefully I get those. But wow that was quick!

This also is a rather efficiency camera because I managed to squeeze 39 frames out of that roll!

The lenses I used are the Nikkor-S Auto 35mm f/2.8 & the Nikkor-H Auto 50mm f/2.

I mainly used the sunny 16 method for exposure as a starting point and adjusted from there. For some tricky lighting, I did use an app but mostly just kinda guessed.

 

[Hardus Nameous]

I love mine, the "Nikon Shuffle" is the only dance I do. It's too bad your meter doesn't work; still a great manual camera though.

 

[nerwin]

I love mine, the "Nikon Shuffle" is the only dance I do. It's too bad your meter doesn't work; still a great manual camera though.

Haha yes the shuffle is fun, also fun to show people too. Surprisingly it's quite easy to shoot without a meter, people have for many years. Sadly it's a skill that's being phased out.

 

[Hardus Nameous]

Haha yes the shuffle is fun, also fun to show people too. Surprisingly it's quite easy to shoot without a meter, people have for many years. Sadly it's a skill that's being phased out.

I've never been very good guessing exposures; fortunately my 135 camera meters work or I use my spotmeter for the rest. My first FTN's meter still works great, but the shutter has some worn springs and parts so exposure is hit or miss. Thankfully I have a backup and an FT2.

I used to have a problem with one not advancing the film bit that turned out to be a simple two second fix. It's just a pin in one of the rollers you push down.

 

[Rickbb]

My first serious camera, shot many thousands of rolls in it. At least it seemed like thousands. Still have it and still works great, sometimes I think I should find some good film and walk down memory lane.

 

[Wallycat]

Good to see the FTn works. Never mastered Sunny 16. I took the easy road with an external meter.

Love the cat pictures. I have lots of cat pictures myself.