i'm looking to purchase a nikon fm2. is the fm2/t still available and is it worth the extra money? i do a lot of in the field work. thank you max

-- max love (maxlove@ziplink.net), October 23, 2001

Answers

Hi Max,

The latest model of the FM2, usually known as the FM2n, was replaced by the FM3A in January of this year, so your first thought perhaps should be, "Do I want an FM3A?"

Like the old FE2, the FM3A has aperture-priority automatic exposure with electronic control of the shutter, and TTL flash metering. But when you switch to manual exposure, the shutter is mechanically controlled as it was in the FM2 and, again like the FM2, the battery is used only for the exposure meter. Like the FM2n, the FM3A weighs 540g (19 oz).

Do you live in the US? In the US, the distribution of the FM3A to the dealers has seemed quite slow, but you should have little difficulty finding one now. Equally, you should have little difficulty finding a new FM2n if you want one.

And many people do still want the FM2n. They want a purely mechanical camera, and can see no reason to pay for electronics they have no intention of using. In your case, if "field work" means you may be off-trail somewhere in the Rockies for weeks on end, then a good idea might be to buy two secondhand FM2 cameras (one black, one chrome) -- for round about the same cost as a single new FM3A. An FM2 is a robust camera but is not guaranteed against being dropped off the Rockies!

Finding a new FM2/T is possible but not easy. The last batch was made in 1997, and Nikon country distributors have been dropping the camera from their price lists as they run out of stock. Nikon USA and Nikon UK did this some time ago, but Nikon Ireland still had the FM2/T on its price list until this year: this may mean that there is an FM2/T somewhere in a cupboard in Dublin. To find a new one, you may have to enlist the help of a dealer who know his or her way around the corners of the marketplace (and finding such a dealer is not so easy nowadays!). B&H PhotoVideo in NYC occasionally finds an FM2/T -- always grey market -- and puts it in the online stocklist.

The chassis of the FM2/T is the usual Nikon copper-aluminium alloy, but the back and the top and bottom plates are made of titanium and are therefore stronger and lighter. If your camera may have to survive fairly rough environments, then you will likely be pleased that a titanium camera is more or less impossible to dent. The total saving in weight is modest: an FM2/T weighs 490g (17 oz). (If every ounce matters, then the old FM camera might be worth considering. It is remarkably inexpensive and weighs 420g (15 oz), about as light as a real Nikon gets.)

The champagne colour of the titanium rocks ... but if the camera goes into fairly rough environments it will soon seem less pristine. So if you buy an FM2/T for hard use, you should not expect to sell it later to a collector or user of classic cameras: you will have to find another explorer photographer.

Later,

Dr Owl

-- John Owlett (owl@postmaster.co.uk), October 25, 2001.

There is currently a Nikon FM2/T selling on Ebay at the following address: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItem&item=1330604979&r=0&t=0&showTutorial=0&ed=1013450742&indexURL =0&rd=1

I would guess that this particular Nikon model will show up again on Ebay in the future.

Hope this helps.

-- Janice Ritter (janice@robotz.com), February 10, 2002.