About the Nikon Nikkormat FS SLR Camera
The FS was the first Nikon Nikkormat, also known as the Nikon Nikomat FS in Japan. It was designed to replace the Nikkorex F (a terrible amateur-level camera not manufactured by Nikon). Like the Nikkorex F, it had no built-in light meter requiring an external one. It was grossly outsold by the seemingly very high-tech Nikkormat FT with its fancy TTL light metering. See, Nikon had no plans to produce one with an internal light meter until the competition forced their hand. It was planned that the camera would have a coupled external light meter, but instead was given a TTL light meter and named the FT. And so the FS was left for very budget conscious photographers who presumably would not miss a mirror lock-up function. This is the only Nikkormat to not have a light meter, and for collectors this is desirable because this part is often malfunctioning in older cameras from the 1960's. Also the 1.35v mercury cell is unavailable today for cameras built during this period, but there are work-arounds for this issue.
So the FT was a great success, while the FS floundered. The Nikkormat FS was a total failure and as a result was only manufactured from 1965 to 1967 and not replaced with a newer model. Old stock made this camera available for several years after 1967! So few were made that good condition ones fetch a premium on the used market today. It is believed that roughly 25,000 were made — not terribly rare but rare enough for collectors. In contrast, about 100,000 Nikkormat FT were produced between 1965 and 1967, which is impressive over a three year span. In 1965, the FS cost $113 US while the FT cost $183 US. That's quite a premium for the luxury of TTL metering! Adjusted for inflation, that's $1,127 US and $1,825 US, respectively, which is much less than the $2499 US for the Nikon Z6 III, a seemingly comparable amateur/enthusiast camera.
What's the most annoying thing about this camera? The lack of a light meter? No. It is the shutter speed dial being around the lens mount forcing the photographer to look down to change it to the desired shutter speed? Yes! The Nikon Nikkormat FT has the exact same issues, and then some. The Nikon Nikkormat FTN displays the shutter speed in the viewfinder, at least.
There is some minor variation during the production of this camera. The earliest copies have a frame counter window that is more flush with the top plate and can become scratched by the film advance lever. Later copies fixed this by placing a ring around the frame counter window which impedes the film advance lever from scratching the window. Neither version appears to be rarer than the other.
For collectors, the proper lens for this camera is the Nikon Nikkor-H Auto 1:2 f=50mm lens without screws in the base and without knurls on the aperture ring. This lens is optically superior to the earlier Nikon Nikkor-S Auto 1:2 f=5cm (reviewed) which predates this camera by at least two years.
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