C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →slr-35mm
The Nikon Nikkormat FT2 (1975) is a fully manual, all-mechanical 35mm SLR that corrects the one significant omission of its predecessor, the Nikkormat FTn: a standard ISO hot shoe for flash. The FTn required a special Nikon flash unit or sync cord; the FT2 added a hot shoe to the pentaprism housing, making it fully compatible with any standard electronic flash. Otherwise the camera retains all the virtues of the FTn — a die-cast brass and aluminium body rated at 820 g, the Nikon F-mount (accessing the entire Nikkor lens library), a center-weighted CdS TTL meter, and a fully mechanical shutter that operates without batteries. In Japan the camera was sold as the Nikomat FT2.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
Develop 35mm film
Labs in our directory that process 35mm film.
Before you buy used
About this camera
The FTn refined for the hot-shoe era — same bullet-proof construction, same superb F-mount optics access, and finally a standard flash connection without an adapter.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Mount | Nikon F (AI coupling via rabbit-ear metering prong) |
| Years | 1975–1977 |
| Shutter | 1s – 1/1000s + B, horizontal metal focal-plane |
| Flash sync | X: 1/125s; FP: all speeds |
| Meter | TTL center-weighted CdS, EV 2–17 |
| Modes | Manual |
| Viewfinder | 92% coverage, 0.86× |
| Weight | 820 g |
Nikon introduced the Nikkormat line in 1965 as an affordable companion to the professional Nikon F, offering TTL metering (not available on the original F) at a lower price with full Nikon F-mount compatibility. The FTn (1967) was the definitive early Nikkormat — its left-hand aperture coupling ring required a "twist-to-index" lens mounting procedure unique to Nikkormat bodies. By 1975 Nikon updated the FTn to the FT2, retaining the same mechanical shutter and metering circuit but switching from the quirky aperture-coupling ring to a more conventional meter-coupling prong, and adding the ISO hot shoe that modern photographers expected. The FT2 was itself quickly succeeded by the FT3 (1977), which adopted Nikon's new AI (Automatic Indexing) lens coupling. The FT2's short production run of two years makes it slightly less common than the FTn or FT3.
The Nikkormat FT2 is a gateway to the entire Nikon F-mount lens ecosystem at an accessible price point. Because it uses the pre-AI rabbit-ear coupling, it works best with pre-AI Nikkor lenses — a vast and inexpensive category that includes classics like the Nikkor-H 50/2, Nikkor-S 50/1.4, Nikkor-P 105/2.5, and Nikkor-Q 135/2.8. The fully mechanical shutter means the camera will fire on any speed even with dead batteries (though metering requires power), making it a reliable all-weather, all-conditions body. For a beginning film photographer who wants access to excellent optics without large investment, the FT2 represents excellent value.
Nikon F mount with Non-AI rabbit-ear coupling; AI and AIS lenses can be mounted and used (stop-down meter coupling only, or use external meter). Best matched to pre-AI Nikkor glass: Nikkor-H 50mm f/2, Nikkor-S 50mm f/1.4, Nikkor-P 105mm f/2.5 (one of the finest portrait lenses ever made), Nikkor-Q 135mm f/2.8, Nikkor-UD 20mm f/3.5, Nikkor-N 24mm f/2.8, Nikkor-O 35mm f/2. Accessories: Nikon-compatible hot-shoe flash units, motor drive is not available for Nikkormat bodies (unlike the Nikon F2/F3), PC sync cord for studio flash.
BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
View profile →C41
Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
View profile →Nikon Nikkormat FT2
Image coming soon