Since the mechanical Nikkormat cameras were, in many ways, a successful series for Nikon commercially, the electronic version in the original EL was quite welcomed with unanimous enthusiasm by many critics and magazine writers at the time it was launched.
 |
As I said, an electronic camera like the EL, launched during the "all mechanical" era, had to prove its merit not only in terms of advanced design and quality of construction but, above all, as a superbly practical and capable camera for photography in all its forms, from the everyday to the most sophisticated situations. |
When integrated with the "center-weighted"
meter system adopted by earlier Nikkormats and those professional Nikons, F &
F2, it gives you precisely correct exposure automatically, but also leaves you the
choice of selecting your own exposure settings whenever you wish in the manual mode.
And, because the speed adjustment is continuous through the entire range from 4 seconds
to 1/1000th, you can have a broader exposure range to play with.
Secondly, the "Centerweighted" metering system was one of the many reasons
which made people happier in some fairly consistently reliable technique for through-the-lens
exposure control. Its ability to base your exposure on the main subject is a special
advantage as it already has some other earlier Nikon cameras proving its worth and
reliability.
Some of the Nikkormat EL features
are less evident by today's standard but no less important. The back, for example,
embodies a special film-flattening system similar to that used in the famous Nikon
F2. It is vital that the film be kept absolutely flat; otherwise, the finest of lenses
cannot produce a picture that is truly sharp all over. The mirror is extra large
so that it does not cut off any part of the finder image, even when a 1000mm lens
is used.
 |
One noticeable feature was that the camera protects the shutter release against unwanted tripping, the back against accidental opening, the shutter speed dial and ASA selector against unintentional resetting. We will explain more in the features section later. |
Minute care and attention was also given even to common things like neckstrap eyelets: they were reinforced with stainless steel inserts for extra durability. Anyway, compared with its mechanical counterparts, the Nikkormat EL is also very much a human-oriented camera. Its shape and weight, the contours and locations of its controls - many of them plastic-cushioned for comfortable operation - endow it with a completely very natural Nikon "feel" that was the hallmark of every camera that Nikon was famed for.
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV
| Back | to
Main Index Page of Nikkormats
| Back | to
Main Index Page of Nikkormats EL Series
History
& Background
of Nikkormat Cameras
"Nikomat" Picture Library of Japanese
local version
Outline the major key features and differences of various models
 |
Nikon F | Nikon F2 | Nikon F3 | Nikon F4 | Nikon F5 | Nikon F6 -not ready | Nikkormat / Nikomat | Nikon FM | Nikon FE/ FA | Nikon EM/FG/FG20 | Nikon Digital SLRs | Nikon - Other models |
Nikon Auto Focus Nikkor lenses:-
Main Index Page
Nikon Manual
Focus
Nikkor lenses:- Fisheye-Nikkor Lenses - Circular | Full Frame |
Ultrawides Lenses - 13mm15mm18mm20mm | Wideangle Lenses - 24mm28mm35mm | Standard Lenses - 45mm 50mm 58mm | Telephoto
Lenses - 85mm105mm135mm180mm & 200mm | Super-Telephoto Lenses - 300mm 400mm 500mm 600mm 800mm 1200mm |
 Index Page |
Special
Application lenses: Micro-Nikkor Lenses - 50mm~55mm -60mm 85mm -105mm 200mm Micro-Zoom 70-180mm Perspective Control (PC) - 28mm 35mm PC-Micro 85mm Dedicated Lenses for Nikon F3AF: AF 80mm f/2.8 | AF 200mm f/3.5 EDIF Depth of Field Control (DC): 105mm 135mm Medical Nikkor: 120mm 200mm Reflex-Nikkor Lenses - 500mm 1000mm 2000mm Others: Noct Nikkor | OP-Nikkor | UV Nikkor 55mm 105mm | Focusing Units | Bellows-Nikkor 105mm 135mm Nikon Series E Lenses: 28mm35mm50mm100mm135mm | E-Series Zoom lenses: 36~72mm75~150mm70~210mm |
MF Zoom-Nikkor Lenses: 25~50mm | 28~45mm | 28~50mm | 28~85mm | 35~70mm | 36~72mm E | 35~85mm | 35~105mm | 35~135mm | 35~200mm | 43~86mm | 50~135mm | 50~300mm | 70~210mm E | 75~150mm E | 80~200mm | 85~250mm | 100~300mm | 180~600mm | 200~400mm | 200~600mm | 360~1200mm | 1200~1700mm
Tele-Converters: TC-1 | TC-2 | TC-200 | TC-201 | TC-300 | TC-301 | TC-14 | TC-14A | TC-14B | TC-14C | TC-14E | TC-16 | TC-16A | TC-20E
Recommended links to understand more technical details
related to the Nikkor F-mount and production Serial Number:
http://www.zi.ku.dk/personal/lhhansen/photo/fmount.htm by: Hansen,
Lars Holst
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/nikonfmount/lens2.htm
http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html
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Copyright
© 1998.
HIURA Shinsaku ® ; Nikomat ML, Japan,
in collaboration with leofoo ®. MIR Web Development Team.
* Credit: A Great thanks to Mr Denis Pleic for his volunteering effort to reedit content and and patching some
grammatical mistakes found in this section of the PIM site. Miss Rissa (Marketing) & Edward (Techical) of Shriro Malaysia, distributor
of Nikon cameras in Malaysia, in providing so many useful inputs to make this site
possible. Mr Hong, Ipoh for lending me his FT2 to take some
of the images used in this site. This site is created for his eldest son, Yuen who has picked up his father's hobby and the FT-2. My friend, John Walls from Florida, US for his images of the FTn body and the Zoom Nikkor 43-86mm.