In Admiration of the ELW

[rick_drawbridge]

At last, a decent copy of the illustrious Nikkormat ELW has come my way, in a virtually unmarked, softly glossy black skin. Definitely a joy to behold, and to hold.

 

Introduced in 1986, the Nikkormat ELW was the second Nikon camera to incorporated an electronically controlled vertical travel shutter, following the Nikkormat EL of 1972. The only difference between these two cameras lies in the bottom plate, the ELW having an attachment point for its dedicated winder, the AW-1. Following on from the original Nikkormats, the shutter speed dial was moved to the camera top panel, rather more convenient and comfortable than the previous adjustment ring around the lens mount. A lockable ring around the base of the rewind handle sets the ISO rating, a vast improvement over the original fingernail-breaking ring beneath the lens, while the rewind handle also serves as a release for the camera back, with a lock to prevent accidental operation. Stepless shutter speeds from 4 sec to 1/1000 are provided within an ISO range of 25-1600. The EL features mirror lockup, exposure lock and center-weighted metering. Automatic exposure control has arrived in the shape of aperture preference, the camera selecting the appropriate shutter speeds and displaying these with a pointer in the viewfinder. Full manual metered control is available. Sadly, there is no indication of the selected aperture in the viewfinder. In many respects the camera is the forerunner of the Nikon FE, one of my perennial favourites, which carried sophistication to a higher level.

This is a very heavy camera, beautifully engineered and finished with the silky feel of all functions typical of this era of Nikon cameras. Everything moves and adjusts and clicks into place, just as they should. The camera is unusual in that it runs on a 6v 4LR44 cell that is housed within the interior of the mirror box. To access it one must use the mirror-up lever to lift the mirror and slide a cover open in the base to reveal the battery. Removing/replacing the battery is really rather a fiddly operation as there's very limited space, and I've found the delicate use of a very small screwdriver is of assistance in levering the battery into a position where it can be gripped and withdrawn. There is a battery check button recessed into the rear of the camera that shines an orange light when the battery is alive and well. It's so well recessed that, even using a fingernail, I couldn't get it to operate, and the use of a pen tip was required to produce the light, rather to my relief. This switch was replaced by a more sensible sprung lever on the FE.

Overall, the camera is very pleasant to use, having a nice bright viewfinder with microprism, fresnel and split image focusing aids. The film winder throw is short, the lever doubling as the power switch for the camera. I rather dislike this Nikon design as the lever of necessity stands away from the camera and tends to poke the user in the forehead when the camera is held in the vertical position. The shutter release is delightfully smooth and quiet. I quickly ran a film to test the ELW and was impressed by the consistency of both the exposures and the frame spacing. I'll post a selection of images below; the film was Arista EDU Ultra 100 developed in Spur Acurol-N.

Regarding the lens. Albinar is not a well-known or highly-regarded brand, being a in-house brand of the Best Products Company, Inc., or simply Best, a chain of American retail stores. As with several other big retail operations in the USA and Europe, the lenses were imported and rebranded from a variety of sources and were inconsistent in quality. I have several Albinar lenses and they certainly show this variation, though one 135mm f/3.5 lens in my collection is a sterling performer. However, the moment I laid hands on this little zoom I knew it would be an asset, as it's practically identical to a Soligor lens I use frequently on the Canon FD cameras. Just who created these Japanese lenses is a mystery, though the construction, markings, feel and finish is of a very high standard. Here's a pic of the two lenses side by side.

The Albinar lens is in tidy condition, with clean glass and perhaps a hint of Schneideritis on the interior paintwork behind the front elements. However, this really doesn't affect performance, and I was pleased with the results the lens turned in. Here are a few samples, and I hope you find something to like.

Brickwork

Corner

Exhibition

Fairy

Pickets

Still Life With Pails

Sextant

Reserved

 

 

 

 

 

 

[subbarayan_prasanna]

Excellent pictures as usual, Rick! There is a sense esthetic elation in viewing your pictures. Great show. Thanks! Regards. SP

[gary green]

Very nice, Rick.  I love the classic, black-bodied SLR design.  I hope that battery lasts a good long time!  My first SLR, a Canon T50 (a gift from my wife), came with a short zoom Albinar lens that I was quite satisfied with.  Your images look great as usual.

[James Bryant]

A Nikkormat I did not know about. As usual your pictures are excellent. Did you mean 1976 or 1986 as to the date of introduction?

[John Seaman]

Great write up on an interesting camera, I see the EL series as something of a transitional type between the mechanical Nikkormats and the FE. Wasn't the last EL version badged as Nikon rather than Nikkormat / Nikomat? And it seems to have been an early example of the trend towards all-black bodies as standard.

[Mike Gammill]

Great results, Rick.  I used to see that lens brand listed from time to time among used gear, but had never seen results.  Thanks for sharing.

[rick_drawbridge]

James Bryant said : Did you mean 1976 or 1986 as to the date of introduction?

Thanks James, I really need a proof reader. The ELW first made it's appearance in 1975.

[Sandy Vongries]

Still have mine, with the winder.  Was my second to an F Photomic Tn.   Both excellent, but how far we have come,

[User_502260]

A few things - first, I always like your photos.  On a whim a few years ago I got several Nikkormat EL cameras, an ELW and a Nikon EL2.  Getting the battery in is a little annoying but when there cameras are in good working order, they are pleasant enough to use.  Getting automatic exposure even with very old lenses is nice.

What about Albinar lenses and the Albinar name?  In my school years in the 1970s I worked during the summers at the Camera Barn stores in New York.  The owner of the chain was Fred Albu, also known in some ads as Fred Barn.  The Albinar lenses and Alfon flash units were named after Fred Albu.  Over time Fred Albu started a wholesale operation called Uniphot-Levitt.  Uniphot-Levitt distributed Albinar lenses, Alfon flashes and many other products.  They also used the Star D name for some products.  They were importers and distributors so they didn't actually manufacture anything, with the possible exception of the tripods which were similar in design to the Tiltall and made, for a time, in the same factory.

The Camera Barn chain is long gone, as is Fred Albu.  His son Henry worked at the main store at 1272 Broadway and would be in his late 70s now.  Memories.

Jeff Adler

[bruce_z._li2]

I thought I know most Nikon cameras, but apparently not the Nikkormat ELW. Thanks @rick_drawbridge for the write-up of an interesting camera that represents the transition from all mechanical to hybrid electro-mechanical.

And thanks Jeff for the informative history about Albinar. I only encountered a few Albinar add-on lenses: wide angle and telephoto that can "convert" a normal lens.

The image quality out of Rick's Albinar lenses is just excellent, and compare favorably against any manufacturer's branded lenses.

[rick_drawbridge]

Thanks for the history of the Albinar name, Jeff ; invaluable information that has been pasted into an appropriate folder in this computer. It's great to get such first-hand information rather than relying on the Net.

[robert_bowring]

The Nikkormat EL and all of the other Nikkormat cameras always seem to be underrated for some reason. They are all really fine cameras. I have an Ft, FTn and two EL and all of the are just very good cameras. They are well made and have always been reliable. 

 

[James Bryant]

I am shooting a roll of film right now in my dad's FT2 that he bought new in 1975.

 

[mjferron]

I have 3 working Nikkormats and 2 inoperable including a EL. My favorite of the working is a Ft3.  Beautifully smooth and built. Also it does not require the awkward 5.6 aperture sync when mounting the lens. 

 

[Gus Lazzari]

Rick that's a beautiful sample of a Nikkormat EL !

 

"Wasn't the last EL version badged as Nikon?" - John Seaman

Yes John, the Nikon EL2 was the improved version of the Nikkormat EL units (See picture).

In fact, Ken Rockwell has a fantastic article on the EL2 model - Here's a few key quotes from the article :

"1977-1978: Nikon EL2

This new Nikon EL2 changed the brand name for this "consumer" camera from Nikkormat to Nikon (just like Nikon's pro cameras).

The biggest change is the new lens mount that's compatible with the new automatic-indexing (AI) lenses.

Relatively unique in the EL2 that there are two power and lock switches: the usual pull-out the wind lever switch of the Nikkormat EL, but with a unique lever around the shutter button, either of which will turn on the EL2 for you !

EL2 adds a wider ASA range, adds an exposure compensation dial, replaces the EL's CdS cell with a silicon photo-diode (SPD) light meter cell (Very Fast), adds a manual 8 second speed (the EL only went to 4 seconds in manual), and adds a unique shutter ring lock switch for use with the new AW-1 winder. There's also a new battery removal helper.

The EL2 stops down the diaphragm all by itself when using mirror-lock-up; the EL required you remember to do this manually with mirror lock-up. The EL2 also takes-away the manual setting for M (flashbulb) synchronization and does it automatically at higher speeds"

https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/el2.htm

Finally, Rick pictures a Alkaline battery in use. Don't use Alkaline formula batteries in ANY photographic application ! 

Use instead the recommended Silver Oxide or Lithium formula units (SPX28 silver oxide or 2CR1/3N or 28L Lithium formula).

Alkaline voltage declines progressively AND leaks unexpectedly - Devastating to the mirrorbox of these Nikkormat EL & EL2 cameras !

 

 

[c_watson1]

A priority with NAI glass. Pitched one a few years back. Jumpy meter. Found it overweight and clunky compared to FM/FE variants. Got a black model cheap since the shop couldn't find the battery.

[rick_drawbridge]

Gus Lazarri said:  Don't use Alkaline formula batteries in ANY photographic application ! 

Good advice, Gus. However, I'm in the habit of removing batteries of this pattern from the device after use. Who knows, it may be weeks or months before I pick this camera up again! Before using a camera of this age I always fit new batteries and test it before loading film.

[vincent_sebastiano]

Jeff, I purchased my first SLR in 1972 at the parent Camera Barn at 1272 Broadway. I went with a professional photographer who dissuaded me not to buy the Minolta SRT 102 they recommended.

 

Rick, Jeff’s info is correct as to Albinar and Star D lens. When I first shopped there I bought a Vivitar zoom, there were no Albinar lenses. In the late 70’s and early 80’s I saw Albinar and there was quite a lot of Star D lens and Photo accessories . Loved to browse through the many camera shops in lower Manhattan in the 70’s and 80’s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[orsetto]

Can always count on Rick to regularly unearth a pristine, near-untouched, yet perfectly functional vintage camera, then proceed to shoot a stunning portfolio of "test shots" with it. This time around its the seldom-seen ELW: nice find! And great pics using it!

The ELW was a stop gap effort: Nikon desperately needed to counter the revolutionary AE-1 from arch competitor Canon, but had nothing in its immediate pipeline. Nobody really did: Canon came out of left field and undercut the entire industry at that price point with that combination of AE, idiot proof flash, and perhaps most importantly the optional cheap winder motor.

The only AE body Nikon had in production was the pricey EL, whose Copal Square shutter had not previously been considered motor drive friendly. Nikon took a chance anyway, grafting a quick-n-dirty winder modification to the baseplate and offering what had to be the crappiest most unreliable winder in camera history. Their goal was to jazz up the appeal of the now suddenly dowdy EL model with the newly white-hot must-have winder accessory. But the ELW received at best a lukewarm reception: the basic EL body was designed a few years earlier when Nikon still completely ruled 35mm photography, so it was overbuilt and still too expensive for the new budget market niche Canon had opened with the AE-1.

The ELW clumsy pre-AI lens indexing system, CdS cells, aperture priority meter and lack of flash automation were also a tough sell against the robotic wow new Canon. To its credit, Nikon gave the venerable EL one more final makeover as the EL2, with silicon meter cell and AI lens mount upgrades: the last of the legendary old-guard Nikkormats and best/only incarnation with autoexposure (the FT3 being the culmination of manual mechanical Nikkormats).

Of course, we all know Nikon eventually scored big when they repackaged the EL2 heart and soul into the more modern, compact,  glamorous FE and FE2. These cleverly maintained a price and build margin over competing Canons, with the speedy 3.5 fps MD12 motor drive (and FE2 TTL flash) as advantage points.

Re Camera Barn: like other traditional NYC camera retailers Olden and Willoughbys,  by the mid-1970s the chain had become a rundown clip joint whose customer base had dwindled to naive walk-in trade and clueless tourists. Any photographer with savvy was buying their gear direct from the NYC mail order discount dealers advertising in the back pages of Popular Photography. These discounters also had retail space in NYC that operated as assembly lines of selling: little in the way of customer service or display, but joints like 47th Street Photo in the Diamond District had a line out the door of customers who already knew what they wanted to buy.

Unlike Olden and Willoughbys, Camera Barn was able to pivot into wholesale OEM products via Uniphot-Levitt, Albinar and Star D. The profits from this enabled the Camera Barn storefronts to remain open several years past their expiration date, but eventually the chain dropped to just the one big store near Macys Herald Square (which did look like a literal barn when you walked into it). A good friend of mine worked the film counter at that location on and off for nearly twenty years: he kept quitting for other jobs because he loathed Camera Barn management and policies, but every couple years would grudgingly drift back for another stint.

Talk about a love-hate relationship: I could never quite figure why they would re-hire him each time, let alone why he'd think anything would change. The bottom had dropped out of NYC full service "white glove" camera retail in the early '70s with the arrival of mail-order-centric discounters 47th Street Photo, B&H Photo, Adorama etc. Olden, Willoughbys, and Camera Barn transitioned from nice friendly shops to competing in The Hunger Games: "fleece the foreign tourists" became their last stand business model.

I'll never forget the face of a veteran camera salesperson I'd known when he recounted applying for a staff position at Olden in 1978: the owner listened to his enthusiastic pitch re his breadth of knowledge and customer service record, then acidly replied "you're exactly the wrong type for my company: I don't WANT photography enthusiasts on my floor, I want disinterested sales sharks who will reliably push product I need them to sell week to week". 

Olden came to be known as a dusty museum, Willoughbys the place to showroom shop before you bought from a discounter, and Camera Barn as a dump to buy film in a hurry or find an arcane second-hand accessory unavailable elsewhere. Once they all finally wound down, B&H cleverly re-invented itself to become the lucrative combination of retail showroom, mail/web discounter, and professional vendor its been since the 1990s. To whatever degree anyone still needs an old-school camera store, B&H keeps the concept alive and relevant. Other discounters who came on the scene at the same time still survive in some form (i.e. Adorama), but B&H took the ball and ran to the moon with it.

The best thing about Camera Barn from a "street" perspective was its annual catalog and reference book, which peaked in late 1975. In tribute to the Nikkormat ELW and Camera Barn, here's the Nikon advertorial page from that catalog :

Edited March 29 by orsetto

[rick_drawbridge]

Wonderful! Thank you Orsetto! That's exactly the sort of response I hope for when I initiate a thread. Heaps of interesting and valuable information.

Edited March 29 by rick_drawbridge

[Niels - NHSN]

I wish I could find my 1974 Nikon price list - it is here somewhere.
I recall that the Nikkormat EL cost the same or maybe even a little more than a Nikon F with the plain prism (1974 was the last year Nikon F was on the official price list).

Just goes to show it was a certainly not inexpensive in its time, neither was the ELW or Nikon EL2 for that matter.
On the other hand, The AE-1 @orsetto mentioned was very aggressively priced and produced to a noticeable lower standard - something you wouldn't know if looking at used prices today.

I help checking used cameras in a brick-and-mortar camera shop, and Canon AE-1's easily sells for 3 times the price we can get for a EL or ELW and the AE-1 still moves much faster. Good for those in the know.

On a side note, I notice that the EL/ELW as often as not come in with some dents on the top plate over the prism, something I rarely see on the Nikkormat FTn.
I think the top plate may not have been designed for hard use in mind.

[User_502260]

I have different memories of Camera Barn than Orsetto.  I can't say what the store was like in the 1960s because I would have been too young.  I first knew the store in 1971.  It was not a "dump" fleecing tourists.  It did a good business in used equipment and that department was run, at 1272 Broadway, by Henry Albu, the owner's son and Ken Hansen.  Ken would later open his own store nearby at 19 West 34th Street.  He specialized in Leica and other professional equipment and always had an excellent reputation.  He called me to say hello not long before he passed on.  I miss him.

The discounters, like 47th Street Photo cut many corners.  They sold gray market goods without a U.S. warranty and as we would later learn, failed to remit millions of dollars in sales tax.  These were the types of places Camera Barn and other legitimate stores had to compete with.  Camera Barn had some kind of arrangement with Agfa and would receive large shipments of film, paper and chemicals from them.  Agfa made some very high quality materials and Camera Barn had good prices for them.  My two brothers also worked there during school summers as did a number of friends.

When Ken opened his first store, I asked Henry Albu about it.  His response?  "Ken is into photography.  We sell cameras."  Sour grapes.  I realize that working in a camera store was not a glamorous occupation.  I knew I wouldn't be there when school started up again.  I went back after graduating from college in 1979.  I worked there while studying for the GMAT at Stanley Kaplan and starting graduate school.  The other store employees knew I had a job interview somewhere when I showed up for work wearing a suit.  I would eventually start working in insurance, where I have been working for almost 44 years.

Camera Barn was not the only store which did not make the transition to mail order or other consumer electronics.  Most of the camera stores did not succeed in making that transition.  This doesn't mean they weren't trying or that they were doing something wrong.  The time for that type of business had simply passed them by.  In my area of NJ I am not far from three camera stores: one in Millburn, one in Madison and one in Fairfield.  People ask me whether I can still buy film.  The answer is yes.

Jeff Adler

[orsetto]

Per my late 1975 Nikon retail price reference, suggested retail on the chrome finish body-only lineup was:

F2S Photomic   $703

F2 Photomic    $599

F w/ FTn Photomic Prism   $474

EL   $460

FT2   $287

FTn   $275

For context, competing autoexposure SLRs from other brands were also marketed like the Nikkormat EL: confusing mixed messaging implying they were optimized for the newbie, yet priced as luxury premium items most newbies could not afford. Canon EF $460, Minolta XE-7 $455, Olympus OM2 $458, and Pentax ESII at a nosebleed $494. When Canon dropped its AE-1 bombshell in 1976 at just $279, the shockwave was even bigger than the miniaturization craze set off by Olympus OM1 a couple years earlier. Mfrs scrambled to add more automation to the smaller camera bodies they were about to unveil. Matching the AE1 price point was a nightmare for most.

_____________

The NYC camera store history, specifically in Manhattan, is full of fits and starts. My comments re the decline of the best known old-school chains at the hands of the heavy discounters refer to mid to late .'70s era: by the late '70s and early '80s Olden Camera looked like the unrenovated Cairo Museum and was utterly devoid of customers, Willoughbys was laser focused on foreign tourists, and Camera Barn's retail operation went into slow but steady slide.

Personal impressions can of course vary widely, I will agree Camera Barn had far more retail action than Olden Camera during this time, was notably less aggressive than Willoughbys, and I did allude to CB having a deep stock of used and classic gear.. The income from their wholesale accessories pivot helped keep them stable thru the early '80s, but by 1984 or so things really began to decline. The tension between Henry and his staff could be cut with a knife during the final decade, and atmosphere in the last store was toxic: Henry would be screaming and raving in the catwalks above, leaving customers to wonder WTH kind of asylum they'd wandered into.

But the NYC camera store scene didn't disappear, it transitioned to something markedly different from what it had been in the 1960s-early 1970s. Some of the back-page predatory discounters stepped up their game after causing the rival chains demise: most notably B&H made a headspinning metamorphosis from from Slim Shady to being the epicenter of East Coast photo retail and professional services. Dedicated enthusiasts like Ken Hansen opened their own enthusiast/pro shops, creating a newer hipper photo district one neighborhood over (in Chelsea). Hansen's was incredible: was very sorry when he closed down some years ago. Several specialist places devoted to 4x5, Leica and Hasselblad opened and fluorished (with some still around today).

[User_502260]

If Camera Barn stayed open longer than it might have because of the wholesale business, Olden stayed open longer for a different reason.  They owned the building their store was in.  They were criticized for not making the same level of sales per square foot that a tenant renting the space would need.  In the late 1980s there was a repair place in Olden's building called Kipling Photo Fix.  They overhauled a number of Konica RF cameras for me and made an unusual trade.  I found a Konica SLR with a Vivitar 55/2.8 Macro which wouldn't come off.  They separated the two and I gave them the camera.  The 55/2.8 Vivitar Macro was and is a very nice lens.  

The Vice President at Canera Barn was Glenn Hale.  I was once babysitting his car (Oldsmobile Toronado) near the 341 Madison Avenue store.  While I was not paying attention, his car got a ticket.  I found out that Glenn Hale knew many bad words.  Those of us who were in school and worked there during the summer and holidays referred to the year-round employees as the "lifers." 

When 47th Street Photo was forced to close, I was at B&H (at their old 17th Street location) and asked someone whether they now had more of the market to themselves.  The answer?  "We're related to them by marriage and we gave them a lot of merchandise."  What about Willoughby's (Willoughby Peerless)?  They weren't too friendly, especially to young customers.  The one benefit of shopping there if you used Konica equipment was that they were either connected to or owned by Berkey, Konica's importer at the time.  Odd Konica items would appear in the store.  A number of the employee's were Hungarian and the word nem (no in Hungarian) was often heard.  That was the only Hungarian word I knew.  I would ask to try on a lens or accessory and they would ask "Are you going to buy it?"  The short answer was "Not if I can't even look at it."

Olden did eventually get the look of a museum and I liked looking at things even when I wasn't buying.  My Konica Autoreflex T2 of 1971,  bought at Camera Barn, was used heavily and was wearing out by 1975.  I needed a new camera and Camera Barn did not have a T3 in stock.   I traded in my T2 and got a new T3 at Olden.  At the same time I traded my 57/1.4 Konica Hexanon for the newer 50/1.4.  

[User_502260]

Jeff Adler