Nikkormat FT3

Good evening everyone,

hope you all had a splendid start in 2006!

 

Something's been bugging me for quite a while now. I own a beautiful

Nikkormat FT3 - both cosmetically and functionally it's in great

shape, it looks as if it is a new camera, despite it's age! The

thing is, I don't use it. Now, I'm not a camera fondler and so I am

wondering if I should sell it. Right now it just sits on my desk

(not in the closet - it IS a beautiful camera;))

 

I bought it as a back-up for my F70, but now that I acquired an F4s

which I love, I use the F70 as my second camera.

 

I never felt too comfortable shooting with the FT3 - from what I

hear it is a more rare Nikon - not really <i>rare</i>, but still not

made as much as other regular production Nikons. That, combined with

the beautiful condition it is in, always makes me extra careful when

using it. The thing is, when I'm out shooting, I don't want to be

slowed down because I have to baby my equipment, so I usually leave

the FT3 at home. I prefer beat-up but fully functioning cameras that

I don't have to care as much about - and so I can focus on getting

the picture!

 

Normally I would just sell it. I am not emotionally attached to

cameras, I'm trying to sell a Nikon FG20 as well as we speak. Now,

for the FT3 it seems different. Due to it's relative rarity and

excellent shape, it seems a waste if I sell it for 100-150 Euros (I

guess that is what I could exspect for it, or not?). It's a great

camera: independent of batteries, a correct meter, built very

sturdily, accepts pre-AI and post-AI lenses, ... More-so than with

other cameras, I feel as I would not get the correct value for the

camera if I would sell it.

 

What do you think? Would you sell it? I am aware this is a

subjective and personal thing, but I am just looking for some other

peoples opinions. Thanks in advance.

I would not sell it. I think I'd sell the F70 instead. But my style of shooting is probably different. 100-150 Euros sounds not much, although realistic, but the camera will keep this value, the F70 e.g. not.

Why sell it?

 

It doesn't take up much space, and if it is in mint condition and a rarer model, it will only increase in value over the years--think of what it might be worth 25 years from now.

 

Given that you'd practically give it away right now with the rock-bottom prices on film bodies, I'd just hang on to it.

 

I almost sold a bunch of my AIS lenses for dirt cheap because I'm using mostly digital right now. Because so many others were in the same boat, used prices for Nikkor AIS lenses were ridiculously low. Then the D200 came along, which changed everything via it's ability to use AIS lenses.........

 

Anyway, in retrospect I'm really glad I didn't dump some really great Nikkor lenses for next to nothing just because I wasn't using them much.

Richard, I understand your suggestion completely: I think the FT3 is a 'better' camera than the F70. It's a very impressive piece of metal. But, the F70 gets used and the FT3 does not, and that is not going to change. I like aperture-priority, and most of all I like spot-metering and matrix-metering. Add to that the ability to autofocus, and I will always pick the F4s/F70 combination over either camera with the FT3.

 

B, you're saying what I want to hear I guess. At the same time however, I am a student with little place where he lives, and even less money to spend. I just picked up a Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 and a little cash could come in handy.

If I knew the FT3 will be worth more money in the future, I'd keep it. If anyone could tell me anything about the future value of this camera, that would be most appreciated. If it's going to be worth less (or the same), I think I'll just sell it right away. Ack, I don't know...

I definately think you should sell it .... and I'll buy it!

 

I am quite envious in some ways; I have several FTN Nikkos and an FT2 but not an FT3. In my opinion the FT2/3 are excellent cameras, in many ways with better handling and build than the FM/FM2/FM2n.

 

If I have to grab a camera for an instantaneous picture I know the Nikkormats will do the job, and not get in my way with menus, abberant AF or other techno-impediments ... I just wind-on and shoot, bracketing the exposure and focussing on the hyperfocal distances - foool-prooof!

 

I bet you'd eventually regret selling it. I'm gonna have a couple of Nikkormats FTNs buried with me when I go, complete with my ancient and honorable pre-AI Nikkor 24.f2.8 and venerable 28/3.5

 

Use and cherish

 

Alan C, Robin Hood County (Nottinghamshire) UK

These things' only real value is in using them. Get something like a Zing neoprene case for your FT3. This will go far in protecting it and removing your reticence about shooting with a pretty older camera. I have a near mint late model black F Photomic FTn that I love but don't shoot all that often. Worse still is a NOS F3HP that's never seen a roll of film, a near-gift from a friend's Dad's estate sale 18 months ago. In 2006, I intend to shoot both more often and enjoy the reverse snobbery of film photography with first-rate gear. Keep your FT3 and buy some non-Ai lenses that are now avalaible for next-to-nothing. Life's too short for camera-fondling.

You raise a very interesting question, really a very serious question that is too rarely addressed directly in this forum, even though it's a sub-text to just about every thread you read here: is it good to own things that are of no actual, everyday use to you, even if they might come in handy someday, or are rare and beautifully made objects that are pleasurable to look at and "fondle," and might increase in value in the future. My opinion is that you should try to make do with as little equipment as possible, maintaining a kit that is sufficient for your craft but no more, a small kit that you can become thoroughly "intimate" and familiar with so that you can use it without thinking, so you can look through it without seeing it, seeing only your visualized image. My experience is that every time I move from one camera body or "system" to another I feel a kind of estrangement, as if I have to relearn to see with the new camera body all over again. Better to stay with the few tools that you can know "all the way around and all the way through," even if they are considered obsolete by everyone else.

 

The question of "collecting" fine cameras is an entirely different, more pernicious issue. Speaking as someone who has gone that route and knows it well... Don't go there! When you decide to own a camera that you don't use, you're adding to the clutter and unnecessary complexity of your life, one more thing you have to store and carry with you when you move, that you have to clean and dust and insure and lock up and worry about being stolen, or worry about its losing value, or worry about its rising in value & requiring more insurance and better security! Better to sell it for 100-150 euros and forget about it, and get on with your photography. (Really, it would be good to sell it for 20 euros just so you can forget about it and move on.) I often think of Henry David Thoreau, living at Walden Pond in a small cabin with a bed, a table, a chair for him to sit on, a chair for a friend who might visit, and a chair for "company." It occurred to him that it might be nice to have a rug to put his feet on when he got out of bed, but he said to himself, "if I buy the rug, where will it end?" No one had a better life than Thoreau.

 

Sell the FT3, beautiful though it is. Better to travel light. (Sorry for this long-winded answer, but these thoughts always seem to pop up around New Year!)

I heartily echo Tom's sentiments, particularly in light of the glut and excess that has come to characterize the life-style of many Americans (myself included). Thoreau would turn in his grave to see how acquisitive and materialistic we have become as a culture / nation.

 

With that said, I see little harm in holding an old film camera such as a Nikkormat, esp. given the pleasure and enlightenment that can come from using it(as opposed to collecting). This should be the test: is it being used? If not, then sell it to someone who will use it. Keep in mind that even occaassional use of a simple, straightforward camera can very much help refresh one's perspective on this high-tech, and ever more consumable equipment that presents itself to us in the digital age.

Jonas, I just traveled in Italy and Croatia for 2 weeks and the camera I used the most is my Nikkormat FT3. I have, but did not want to haul around a F4, and a F5 because of the weight and size. I had a pair of Contrax G2, and lenses ,but It rained a lot on the trip. Electronic cameras and water do not mix,and I ended up using the FT3 most of the time. This all mechanical camera is small,light,has a good light meter and is built like a tank. I would keep it and use it.

I take walks every weekend. For months I have carried two cameras, a N80 with a 70-210mm and a FT3 with a 180mm. Today I decided to carry only one, the FT3. Keep it, learn it and create with it. As with life it is not the destination but the journey.

I had an FT3 and traded it in for an F2AS in mint condition. Bad move. The FT3 is a great camera (as were all of the early Nikkormats). I wouldn't sell it but if you do let me know. FT3s go for A$300 or so but for mint one you could get more.

 

Alex Cruickshank

<p>Legend has it that Henry David Thoreau, living at Walden Pond, lived a simple life, but that is a conceit that is not exactly true.<br>

He had a cabin in the woods, and camped there, and liked the idea, but lived in luxury nearby most of the time.<br>

A collector who has an FT3, and doesn't even shoot film, ( me ) doesn't have to be neurotic about having to insure, protect, conserve, and polish it constantly. The value is minimal, maybe a hundred dollars or so, and it's a pleasure to hold, look thru, and admire. Pretty much the same as having any kind of art in the home.</p>