Nikomat (Nikkormat) FT indexing problem

Good morning everybody, I recently bought Nikkormat

FT and I have a problem with indexing while mounting

lens. I read a lot of manuals on how to index the lens and

saw vids on youtube, so I would say I know how it should

be done. Problem is that after I mount the lens and I go to

max and min aperture from 5.6 I hear no clicks AND the

red dot that should appear to indicate the lens is indexed

properly..lets just say that I have Nikkor-S (50/1.4),

Nikkor-Q (135/2.8) and Nikkor-H (50/2) and I never saw

that red dot, no matter which lens I mount and index. Is it

a common problem with Nikkormats or mines just

broken? Any way to fix it?

<p>I had one like that. I fixed it by letting a little lighter fluid seep into the edges of that rotating indexing ring on the lens mount and worked it briskly back and forth for a while. Mounted the lens and got a satisfying "clack!" when I gave it the old Nikon twist. The problem is surely dried lubricants and general debris in there. The permanent fix would be to take it apart and clean it properly, but that's risky too. There's springs in there (don't ask me how I know this). In my case, w/ THIS camera, having learned my lesson about disassembly from the earlier Nikkormat, I just left the lens on and never had to re index it. It was the only non AI lens I had anyway, an HC 50 2 lens that stayed on it all the time and made beautiful images. I miss that lens and camera.</p>

<p>I don't remember a red dot. If the lens is set to 5.6 when you mount it and it gives a clank sound when you rotate it all the way, it's indexed properly. You just rotate it all the way to the left, then all the way to the right, and you're done.</p>

<p>If this is a Nikkormat FT, it does not index the same as the FTN, whose indexing is semi-automatic.</p>

<p>You must manually index it. You do this by aligning the lens's maximum aperture with the ASA rating shown on the dial. It must be manually done whenever you change a lens to one with a different max. aperture.</p>

<p>The illustration shows an FT indexed properly for an F 1.4 lens at ASA 100 </p><div></div>

<p>Absolutely. The FTn indexes "automatically" the FT does not. Ideally, with an FT, you need lenses all of the same max aperture if you want to avoid the manual indexing.</p>

<p>I'm terribly sorry, it's the FTn version that I have. By RED DOT I meant this little thing<br>

<img src="http://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7650/26793540253_8ec7b9e60b_c.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="450" /><br>

There's nothing like that on my Nikkormat, therefore I do not know whether it's indexed properly or not :/<br>

<img src="https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7356/27329666151_69209c8c19_b.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="499" /></p>

<p>Given all the rust I've accumulated since I last used one, I had to get a Nikkormat off the shelf to test this.</p>

<p>On my FTn, with no lens mounted, there's no red "dot" visible on the aperture indexing ring on the side of the lens mount. I mounted a 50/1.4, set the lens to f5.6, fitted it onto the camera, and rotated the lens until the rabbit ear and indexing pin reach top dead center with a very distinct click (clack might be a better word). At that point, the red dot appears at f5.6 on that indexing ring. I rotated the lens aperture ring to f16 and then to f1.4. At that point the red dot aligns at f1.4. That's how it all should work.</p>

<p>But just because you can't see the red dot doesn't automatically mean that the indexing isn't working - maybe it's just a red dot malfunction.</p>

<p>Mount and index a lens in the normal way, set the shutter speed to something like 1/30 or slower and aperture to f5.6, look into the lens, and fire the shutter. You should be able to see the aperture stop down for the shot and re-open. Then change to f1.4 or whatever is wide open on your lens, and repeat the shot. You'll catch a little bit of motion in there because the mirror moves, but it should be obvious that the aperture stayed wide open, or it closed down (which it shouldn't). If the wide open shot looks successful, repeat the f5.6 shot to verify the aperture stops down again. If all this works, you've got a working camera. If it doesn't, then some of the advice here looks appropriate for trying to free up whatever isn't moving. An alternative is routine CLA service (clean-lubricate-adjust) at a camera repair shop, assuming there is such a thing in your neck of the wood.</p>

Thanks for your suggestion. It looks like the camera is

working properly - the apperture is moving to the desired

speed while shooting, btw. maybe even easier way of

testing it would be DOF preview button. Thanks again, I

dont understand how Ive never thought of it. I was even

considering selling this one for parts and buying new

one - now that it seems like its working Im gonna try to

shoot some film with it.

Thank you again :)