Nikon Nikomat (Nikkormat) FS User manual

NOMENCLATURE
Film plane indicator -------- __ --,
Depth·of .fieIC: preview button -------- --,
Exposure coun ter ~
Shu tt er release button
Film advance lever I
'-- ,'-'
Sh ou ld er s trap eye l et
S hutter speed index
Self·timer
Aperture ring
Aperture index --- ~ ...:..:=
Distance scale
Fo c using ring
,-- --- Rewind c rank
knob
Len s lo ck index
Lens lo ck button
S hUI ter s peed lev er
~ ---- Ap erture scale
-:--j'"": ::::=-....::.:..-..!..,L. _ ___ In f ra red marki ng
IL- ____ Distance inde x
L ____ ---.:. _ ____ Depth · of . fiel d scale

Nikkol'mat
Came ra back ----
Take-up spool-----,
Sp ro cket---- -,
Film guide rails-----,
Shutter curtain ------,
Finder eyepiece------,
Synch _ socket
'----- Film pressure plate
L- ____ ~ R ewind button
~ ••• "~ '------- Tripod socket
Film chamber
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SPECIFICATION
Film to be used:
Viewfinder:
Finder screen:
Mirror:
Shutter:
4
The Nikkormat FS is supplied with Nikkor
Auto 50 mm Fi lA or F/21ens as a stand·
ard equipment . These lenses have auto ·
matic diaphragms .
NIKKORMAT MODEL FS
Standard 35 mm film in daylight cartridges available
in 36 and 20 exposure loads. Each frame measures
24 x 36mm .
Eye·level
type using roof prism . Eyepiece accepts ac·
cessory angle· finder as well as ~ye·correction lenses.
Circular micro'pr i sm spot in center (dia.= 4 mm) sur ·
rounded by a mat ring to 12mm dia. Remaining area
is Fresnel lens.- Screen field
covers 92 % of the actual
picture field.
Automatic return following exposure .
Double
focal plane type . The shutter curtains , made
of metal , run vertically . Shutter speeds, set at B,
1 ~ 1 / 1000 sec., are graduated equi distant .
A one·
stroke lever wind of 155 " advances the film
and winds the shutter.

Depth of field
preview button:
Flash
synchronization:
Self-ti~er :
Exposure counter :
Dimensions:
Weight:
Nikkormaf
While being pressed , closes down the ' diaphra gm to
the pr e-se lected ap~r . ture .
M- contact and X- contact provided with automatic
t ime la g adjustm e nt . Synchronizes to X- contact and
speed-lig ht flash at the shutter speed of 11 125 sec.
or slow er.
Built -in. Starts by depressing the shutter release
button .
Automatically returns to S (Start) with the camera
back opened.
146 mm (width) x 95 mm (height) x 33 mm (thickness)
x 73 mm (shoulder height)
715 g
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PICTURE TAKING PROCEDURES
1 Load th e cam era with film .
5 FOCUS and compose the picture .
6
2Set the shutter speed.
6Press
the shutter release butt on.
One
picture frame is exposed.

3
Set tile lens ape rtur e to tile
proper F·number.
7When
the whole film is exposed,
rewind the film back into the
ori gina l cartridge.
Nikkormat
4 Wind the film advance lever .
8
After complete rewindinjl", the
film can be . removed .
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EXCHANGING THE LENS
8
To Remove the Lens
Holding the lens by the milled ring,
press the lock button and turn the
lens barrel . clockwise until it stops .
cautio ••

lIikko,mat
To Mount the Lens
After inserting the lens i'nto the
camera , wi th the distance index on
the lens lined up to the black dot
on the camera front, turn the lens
counterclockwise , and the lens will
click in position .
When a lens is
removed , the opening in the camera body should not be ex
posed
to dir ect sunlight , es pecially with the camera loaded. Protect the inside
of the camera by using a body cap , whenever the camera is carried or kept
with the lens removed .
When
the lens is carried separately from the camera , protect it from damage
and dust by using a case as well as front and rear caps.
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LOADING THE CAMERA
1
5
10
Pull down the latch, to open
the camera back .
Place
the cartridge jnto the
chamber below the rewind knob .
Push back the knob to lock the
cartridge in place.
2Pull up tne rewind knob .
6
Gently push the flIm advance
lever forward, to catch the flIm
securely .

3 , : I
Rotate the take ·up sp ool so
that the slit in the spoo l face s
upward .
Holding the film with the perfora ·
tion engaged in the teeth of the
transport sprocket, close the camera
which , if properly closed, s hould
click shut .
Nikkormat
4 Ins
ert the trimmed end of the
film into the s lit .
Turn the rewind knob gently in
7
the direction of the arrow on
it , to take up any film slack in
the cartridge .
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FILM ADVANCE LEVER
12
The film advance lever, wh ich
simultaneously winds the shutter ,
s
houl d be pus hed forward until it
stops . Then , l et it swing back to
th e ready advance po s ition . Press
the shutter release button , and the
s hutte r will be released .
After the camera has been loaded and
closed , operate the shutter twice for two
blank shots to dispose of the film exposed
during loading . As this is being done, note
that the rewind knob rotates in the oppo ·
site direction to the arrow on the knob .
This indicate s that the film has been cor .
rectly loaded and is being advanced pro·
perly .
Exposure Counter
The exposure counter now registers "0".
With the film advance leyer operated again ,
the counter will register .. 1" and the
camera is ready for the first shot. It then
continues to register the number of pic·
tures taken , up to a maximum of either
36 or 20 exposures , depending on the film
length.
~·(]·CD· ~·~
Camer.. back.c:losed FlrSl !;!Iank. shot Second blink shot FOr fir" shOI For second shot

UNLOADING
When the end of the film is reached, a
sudden difficulty will be felt in the wind ·
ing of the film advance lever. At this
position no further advance should be
attempted. Bring back the lever to it s
original position and proceed to rewind ·
ing of the film .
First, push in the rewind button located
on the camera bottom.
Then , lift up the rewind crank on the
rewind knob .
Turn the crank in the direction of the
arrow .
When
the whole film is rewound and de·
tached trom the take ·up spool, a release
in
the film tension will be felt . Open the
camera in subdued light .
........
/(13
For 20 lh shol
For 36 1h shol
Nikko,mat
Pull up the - rewind knob . Remove
the film cartridge from the camera.
The rewind button on the camera
bottom will snap back into position,
when the film advance lever is next
operated .
The
exposure counter auto ·
matically returns to "s "when
the ' camera back is opened.
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SHUTTER SPEED
The shutter speed controls the a·
mount of light admitted through the
lens and can freeze the image of
moving subjects, too .
Turn the lever found on th e right side,
until the desired shutter speed num.
ber on tne left side comes opposite
the black index .
The numbers from 1 to 1000 repre ·
sent the denominations of the shutter
speeds in sec. Thus, for example, the
figure 125 represents 1/ 125 sec.
The speeds are so arranged that each
subsequent speed is twice as high as
the preceding .
The shutter speed lever clicks at each
marked number . The shutter does not
give an intermediate exposure time,
except from 1/ 250 to 1/ 1000 sec.
When set at B, the shutter will remain
open as long as the shutter release
button is held depressed .
14

LENS APERTURE Nikkormat
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. .
The lens aperture controls the amount
of light and at the s ame time the
depth of field (see P. 1B) .
The F· numbers - the focal length of
the lens divided by the diameter of
the effective aperture of lens- for ex -
ample , 1.4, 2, 2.B, 4 , 5.6, B, II, 16,
22 .... are engraved on the aperture
ring of each lens, and can be set
by turning the ring to the index dot .
Each
number will permit the passage
of half the light of the number preced -
ing it . Thus , F18 will allow half the
light allowed by F/5 .6 .
COMBINATION OF SHUTTER SPEED AND APERTURE
The amount of light admitted through the lens to fall on the film is adjusted by
the exposure which is determined by the combination of the shutter speed and
aperture of the lens . Therefore, a number of different combinations are possible
for the same exposure ; for example , 1/ 250 sec. with F/ 1.4 will give the same
exposure as 1/ 60 sec. with F/2 .B or l iB sec, with F/8.
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CAMERA HOLDING
16
For crisp photographs it is most important that
the camera be held firmly at the moment of
r~leasing the shutter , since any jarring or Vibra -
tion will result in a blurred picture .
Every effort should be made to familiarize one-
self wi th holding the camera and operating its
controls .
In
holding the camera, the eye
should look through the center
of the viewfinder ,' and the
camera itself should be held
firmly against the face .

FOCUSING AND COMPOSING
Nikkormat
Sinae the taking lens is at the same time
the viewing lens in this single·lens reflex
camera , the viewfinder shows the exact
picture that will appear on the film . There
can be no parallax problem, no matter how
close to the subject the picture is taken .
The
subject to be photographed is brought into sharp focus on the viewing. screen
by
turning the focusing ring of the lens. When the image is brought into focus ,
the image within the micro · prism in the center of the viewing field appears crisp
and clear.
The
distance between the camera and the subject can be obtained, after focusing,
by reading the number engraved on the focusing ring , opposite the indicator line
located in the middle of the depth·of ·field scale.
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DEPTH OF FIELD
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When a subject point is brought into
focus by a lens at a specific distance
from that point , the actual point on
which the focus is made is considered
to be the most sharply defined in the
picture , and the s harpness of other
points which lie in front of and behind
this paint of focu s gradually dimini sh.
Within certain limits , howevet , these
may appear reasonably and acceptably
sharp . The range within which points
in front of and behind the point of
focus , appear acceptably sharp , is called
the depth of field .
Depth of field increases as the aperture
of the lens is made smaller. Shortenin g
the lens focal length or increasing the
distance between lens and subject also
increases depth of field. These three
factors can operate independently or
in conjunction . One factor may act to
partially cancel the effect by the other .

The Nikkor lens has a" color - coded depth
of field scale engraved on the lens barrel
just behind the focusing ring. This
color code permits easy reading of the
ct.epth of field scale for any selected
aperture . Each set of colored lines
located one on either side of the middl~
line represents a different F- number.
The color of the line matches that of
the F- number engraved on the aperture
ring .
For example , when using the 50 mm
F( 1.4 lens, with the distance scale set -
ting at 15 ft and with an Fj 16 openin g
(F j 16 is shown in blue), the depth of
field indicated by the blue- colored lines
on either side of the black index will
be between 8 ft and 00 .
T~is means that a picture taken at Fj 16 ,
with the lens focused at 15 ft will show
a range of acceptable sharpness be-
tween 8 ft and 00 . The sharpest point
will be at 15 ft .
DEPTH·OF ·FIELD
PREVIEW BUTTON
Nikko,mat
Press the button located on the camera
top at the right side of the viewfinder
(viewed from behind the camera). and
the aperture diaphragm will be closed
down to the preselected aperture. This
permits viewing the depth - of - field at
.. takin g" aperture , or selecting the
.. taking" aperture on the basis of depth -
of - field . Release the button and the
diaphragm will instantly reopen .
The depth - of - field is read on the color -
coded depth - of - field scale engraved on
the barrel of each Nikkor lens.
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SELF·TIMER
The self· timer is a devi ce which delays
the action of the shutter after the shut ·
ter release button is depressed. It is
necessary if the photographer wishes
to be in the picture.
To set the self · timer . move the lever
down (35°) until it stops .
To start the timer, depress the shutter
release button. The shutter will auto·
matically be released after about 8
seconds .
The self · timer can be set before or
after winding the shutter .
It
should not be used at the B setting.
When the timer once starts, it cannot
be stopped .
20
Th e u se of a tripod or similar support
is necessary when a shutter speed of
1/ 30 or slower is used.
A
cable release screwed into the shutter
release button will help to avoid jarring
the camera at the moment of exposure .