Nikon Nikkormat FT1965

History

Nikon launched the Nikkormat family in 1965 with two simultaneous releases: the FS (no meter) and the FT (with CdS TTL meter). The FT was the volume product, positioned as an affordable companion to the Nikon F for advanced amateurs and photography students who wanted access to the F-mount Nikkor lens ecosystem without the cost of the professional body. Through 1965 and 1966 it sold well in both the Japanese domestic market (as the Nikomat FT) and in North America and Europe. The coupling mechanism for the lens aperture ring was reworked for the 1967 FTn, which introduced a more precise Non-AI prong coupling that became the standard for subsequent Nikkormat and pre-AI Nikon bodies. The original FT's production run was consequently short relative to the FTn, which remained in production until 1975. The FT was followed by the FTn (1967), FT2 (1975), and FT3 (1977) before Nikon retired the Nikkormat designation.

Why It Matters

The original Nikkormat FT is a historically significant body as the first to bring F-mount TTL metering to a consumer price tier below the Nikon F. Before 1965, a photographer wanting both Nikon F-mount glass and through-the-lens metering had to buy the professional Nikon F with a Photomic metered finder - a substantially more expensive system. The FT lowered that barrier. Its fully mechanical shutter was also a practical advantage: a dead battery meant losing the meter but not the camera. The match-needle metering system, while less sophisticated than the center-weighted silicon-cell designs that followed in the EL (1972), proved accurate enough for a wide range of natural-light shooting when the CdS cells were fresh. The FT also established the Nikkormat's characteristic body layout - the shutter-speed ring around the lens mount rather than on the top plate - that defined the entire Nikkormat line through 1977.

Lenses & Accessories

Nikon F mount. The FT's aperture coupling is designed for Non-AI (pre-AI) Nikkor lenses; the indexing procedure requires rotating the lens aperture ring from minimum to maximum on first mount to couple the meter. AI and AI-S lenses mount and can be used in stop-down metering mode. The FT's coupling prong differs subtly from the refined prong introduced on the FTn in 1967 - consult the original manual before mounting unusual Non-AI glass. Recommended period lenses: Nikkor-H 50mm f/2, Nikkor-S 50mm f/1.4, Nikkor-P 105mm f/2.5, Nikkor 28mm f/3.5. No motor drive or winder was offered for the Nikkormat FT; the body advances manually only. Flash sync via standard PC socket at 1/125s for electronic flash; FP sync available at all speeds for focal-plane bulbs.

Sample Photographers / Notable Use

• The Nikkormat FT was used widely in photography education programs in Japan and the United States from 1965 through the late 1960s, where its combination of affordability and F-mount compatibility made it a standard classroom camera.
• Working photojournalists adopted Nikkormat bodies as backup or second-body systems alongside the Nikon F throughout the late 1960s.
• Specific named photographer attribution not verified.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Nikon Nikkormat - covers the full FT production timeline and variant identification
• Wikipedia: Nikon Nikkormat - model lineage table including FT, FTn, FT2, FT3