The Nikkormat EL is the first fully electronic shutter control camera from Nikon and provides a very wide range of shutter speeds, from 4 seconds to 1/1000th with extremely high accuracy. It was first launched in 1972 & has some very innovative features of the time.
I had previously owned a Nikon F3A, but the Nikkormat EL is in no way different that the Nikon F3A except that it takes Nikkor AIS Lenses. My version of the Nikkormat EL is over 15 years old but works just like new (picture below).
I shoot an average of about 20 rolls of film every month with my Nikkormat EL now and I’m liking the camera more everyday. The EL has a bright and contrasty finder screen. Using the microprism spot, you can compose and view comfortably.
Inside the viewfinder of the Nikkormat EL, it displays a complete shutter speed scale, with the speed at which you are shooting clearly indicated, and the “weighted” area used by the EL meter system.
The Electronically Control Shutter of the Nikkormat EL provides completely automatic exposure control & exceptionally high and constant shutter speed accuracy from 4 seconds to 1/1000th.
It was also the first Nikon camera with a Monolithic Integrated Circuit the size of the tip of a match! It has close to 74 transistors and 27 resistors – all integrated on a 2 millimeter square base plate.
Another innovative feature of this all metal body Nikkormat EL is the Functional Resistance Element (FRE). It transmits the ASA film speed and lens aperture setting to the electronic circuitry & consists of an ultra-precise, thin-metal resistor on a hard glass base plate and provides stability against changes in temperature and humidity.
Later versions of the Nikkormat EL include the Nikkormat ELW launched in 1976 & the Nikon EL2 launched in 1977. The summary of Nikkormat EL’s history is available on the Nikkormat Wiki page. If you need the original user guide, you can download them from here in 2 parts.
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