Nikkormat / Nikomat

It’s like a streamlined, simpler Nikon F. Key feature: it uses the same lenses.

**Nikkormat FTN** 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor-S (Color photos of the camera were made with a Nikon F, 55mm f/3.5 Micro-Nikkor-P.C, and Portra 400.)

**Night out** Rockville, Md. Nikomat FTN, 50mm f/2 Nikkor-H, Plus-X, mid-1990s.

Nikomat, Nikkormat… What’s the difference?

The cameras are identical except for the nameplate on the prism. In Japan it was the Nikomat, elsewhere it was the Nikkormat. If this camera were a car, the Nikomat would be the JDM version.

**Nikkormat FTN** with 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor-S

**Living room corner** Silver Spring, Md. Nikomat FTN, 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor, CineStill BwXX, 2026.

Nikkormat v. Nikon F

The Nikkormat is a way to use Nikon F lenses with a less expensive body. The size, weight and build quality are similar. Cost reduction was done by judiciously removing features and if those features aren’t needed then the Nikkormat is an attractive option regardless of budget.

Compared to the Nikon F, the Nikkormat has:

No modularity. Prisms and focus screens are not interchangeable modules and the back does not remove. Instead, there’s a conventional rear door.
An integral light meter (the Nikon F’s meter is in the detachable prism).
A different shutter, made by Copal rather than Nikon. The range of shutter speeds is the same (maximum 1000) except that the Nikkormat lacks a T setting.
No split image focusing on the FTN and earlier models. This feature was added in 1975 on the FT2.

**Art show inside** Glen Echo Park, Glen Echo, Md. Nikomat FTN, 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor, CineStill BwXX, 2026.

Design and use

The first Nikomat was introduced by Nikon in 1965 and went through a series of model iterations through the mid-1970s. The FTN version appeared c. 1967. It sold well, was in production a long time, and is not hard to find today. It wasn’t until 1975 that the next model, the FT2, came out. (McKeown, 1996).

This is an all-mechanical, manual exposure SLR. The battery is only for the meter, so I leave it out and use a hand-held meter or the sunny 16 rule.

One odd Nikomat feature is that its shutter speed control is on a collar around the lens. This is a common feature of leaf shutter cameras (for example, the Zeiss Ikon Contaflex and the Minolta Hi-Matic). But the Nikomat is a focal plane shutter camera and the only other such camera I use that has this design in the Olympus OM-1.

**Focus, aperture, and shutter speed controls are on the lens.**

**Omni Hotel** San Diego, Calif. Nikomat FTN, 50mm f/2 Nikkor-H, Tri-X, mid-1990s.

A rugged, high performance machine

‘Costing roughly the same as a comparable Pentax, each successive Nikkormat model was unarguably heavier, tougher, and a more ‘professional’ feeling camera than the Pentax’ (Matanle, 1996).

The Nikomat was capable of delivering in harsh conditions. In the U.S. National Archives there is a photo of the legendary war photographer Larry Burrows in Vietnam in 1967, equipped with two Nikomats, a Nikon F, and a Leica M3. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/26388186

**Nikomat FTN** with 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor non-AI

**Cobbled street with disused streetcar tracks** Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Nikomat FTN, 50mm f/2 Nikkor-H, FP4+, 2024.

Style

The Nikkormat has a distinctive look that is easy to spot. The prism has a unique style and the top deck uncluttered.

I like that its own name, ‘Nikkormat’ or ‘Nikomat’ is on the prism. I think it’s cool! The market, though, appears not to agree. Although ‘Nikon’ is discretely inscribed on the back, the lack of Nikon branding on the front seems to depress the price. Which makes this camera all the more appealing for users.

(Originally, the Nikon name was prominently featured exclusively on the Nikon F. In later years, corporate branding strategy changed and ‘Nikon’ was applied to the front of all sorts of products including inexpensive plastic point-and-shoots.)

**Qipao** Rockville, Md. Nikomat FTN, 50mm f/2 Nikkor-H, Tri-X, mid-1990s.

Maintenance and repair

I replaced the mirror bumper foam on one, that’s it. A simple job and I did it myself. These are not high-maintenance cameras.

**Coconut cake** Le Macaron, Gaithersburg, Md. Nikomat FTN, 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor, CineStill BwXX, 2026.

References / further reading

Camera manual: orphancameras.com

More references:

Long, B. Nikon: A Celebration, 3rd ed. Ramsbury, England: Crowood Press.

p. 65: ‘The Nikomat series was actually far more important in historical terms than many collectors realize’.

Matanle, I. 1996. Collecting and Using Classic SLRs. New York: Thames and Hudson.

McKeown, J.M. and J.C. 1996. McKeown’s Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 1997-1998. Grantsburg, Wis.: Centennial Photo.

p. 338: ‘The Nikkormat name never had the snob appeal of the Nikon F, and was considered by many to be the ‘poor cousin’. Those of us who used them knew otherwise… Rugged, workhorse cameras!’