Nikon Nikkormat EL

In 1972 Nikon built its first SLR that would set the shutter speed for you, and they put it in the Nikkormat line, the cheaper-bodied cousin to the F. The EL was the company learning to trust electronics. Aperture-priority automation, an electromechanically governed Copal Square shutter, a meter that read the scene and picked a speed continuously instead of clicking through detents. Pentax and others were circling the same idea, but for Nippon Kogaku this was the body where the brand crossed over from all-mechanical workhorses to the electronic future that ran straight through the EL2 and into the FE.

Pick one up and the first thing you notice is the weight. This is a die-cast metal slab with brass top and base plates, heavier than the trimmer, lighter FE that eventually replaced its concept, and it balances beautifully with a 50mm f/1.4 hanging off the front. The finder is bright and honest. The standard screen gives you a central microprism focusing spot sitting on matte ground glass, so you focus fast in good light and only start hunting when it gets dim. Down the right side runs the metering display: a black needle showing what the meter wants, a green needle riding the speed you have dialed, and you nudge until they kiss. In auto mode you just watch where the black needle lands and shoot.

The meter is a 60/40 center-weighted CdS cell, and it is decent for its day without being clever. It biases the middle of the frame, which is exactly what trips it up on the scenes that matter. A portrait against a bright window, a snowbank, a stage where the light comes from one side: that averaging brain pulls toward the bright background and buries your subject. This is where a handheld read earns its keep. Take an incident or spot reading off your subject with the Zone Light Meter app, decide which zone the shadows belong on, then set that exposure in manual rather than letting the body guess. The EL holds a manual mode for exactly this reason.

Now the famous quirk. The battery does not live where you expect. To reach the PX28 you swing the mirror up with the mirror lock-up lever beside the lens mount, then lift a cover in the floor of the mirror box. People have cursed this for fifty years. The flip side is that the shutter is electromechanical rather than purely electronic, so when the cell dies mid-roll you still get one mechanical speed near 1/90 to limp home on. Flash sync sits at 1/120. Top speed is about 1/1000, plenty for a fast normal lens in daylight.

Today the EL is one of the quieter bargains in the Nikon world. People chase the FE and FE2 for their compact bodies and faster sync, and they overlook this one because it is bulkier and the battery hatch is annoying. That keeps prices low. What you get is a full aperture-priority Nikon that takes the same enormous F-mount glass, with a finder and a shutter feel that many shooters quietly prefer to the lighter cameras that came after. Check the foam light seals and confirm the auto exposure tracks across the speed range, because the electronics are old. Sort a clean one and it will outlast you.