Introduction to the Nikon FM10, Video 1 of 3 

Thank you and that's correct!

$6 is an amazing price. These usually go for around $150 at auction and $250 retail. Nice work grabbing this really nice camera for a bargain!

+Thiabeauty world (Cynthia Delva) It definitely helps to have someone there. Photography is one of those things that is well suited to both solo learning and group learning. I really enjoy looking at other photographers' work and discussing how they could have done things differently for a different effect, and vice versa with my work. One of the best things to do is find a local photography community, whether it's a photography club or Photo 101 class at a local junior college, it's a great way to learn and grow as a photographer.

David Hancock I will try to find one If I ever find one before the end of the semester or if I remember to look for one lol, Hopefully they are great as much as you!!!! It's my first semester at a University called Montclair University in New Jersey, and one of my classes is photography cause I want to learn about it I borrowed this kind of camera until I can buy my own but once I get my own I won't be able to watch your video no more unfortunately cause it's gonna be a Pentax But I am gonna to say one more time lol I JUST WISH!! Because I fell for your works lol I hope I don't sound creepy for repeating myself, it's just a way of telling you good work lol!!

Thiabeauty world I probably have a video about your Pentax. I've done more Pentax camera videos than any other make. :D

David Hancock oh really?!?!?! GREAT!!! I'm gonna watch it, but first! Did you make a video about the "Pentax K 1000"? That's the one they actually want me to purchase for the class Also, what is your idea about the Pentax?? Do you think it is as good as the "Nikon FM 10?? Were impressed by the Pentax as much as you were at the end of this video?? ( I hope you can understand me)

Thiabeauty world The K1000 was the first camera video I ever did. I love my K1000 and think it's one of the best cameras ever made. It doesn't have a whole lot of fancy stuff on it, but it's spectacular in its simplicity. I like Pentax over Nikons, and the FM10 isn't really a Nikon. It's made by a third party in China and has a Nikon logo on (it's authorized by Nikon.) In terms of build, I cannot think of a Pentax body that isn't better than the FM10. The FM10 is mostly plastic and Pentaxes are generally metal. Old Nikons are also mostly metal; the FM10 build is a function of Nikon wanting to make an inexpensive Nikon film camera available for developing countries.

Thank you!

Summer Hamdy Price being equal, the F3 is a better camera. However, the FM is exceptionally good. Honestly, you can't go wrong with either the F3 or FM. If the FM10 is on your list, I'd suggest the F3 or the FM over it.

Hello and yes it is.

@@DavidHancock Thank you

Thank you for the compliment and I'm glad the video was helpful and moving. My take on digital and film is that they're separate art forms. My friends with film industry ties tell me that makers as well as distributors saw sales upticks in the last two years. If it were just manufacturers, part of that could be attributed to Photokemia closing up shop, but retailer increases indicate an increase in interest in analog photography. In fact, I know of one major distributor that is planning to continue making their niche film for at least 15 more years. I think Ilford, as a separate instance, will be around for a long time as I believe Harman has a lot invested in them as a viable business unit. There are a LOT of things that you can do digitally that you cannot do with film. However, there a LOT of things film can do that digital cannot (at least not as easily.) Were I starting in photography now knowing what I know, I would learn on film. I'm very fortunate to have learned on a fully manual camera (Pentax K1000 -- not meaningfully different in key ways from the FM10.) Learning on a camera like the FM10 will teach you how cameras work from a technical perspective. The technical knowledge can then inform your creative vision. Without the technical knowledge, creative vision becomes subject to happenstance and luck. If you have friends learning on digital, at first they will take better photographs and seem to know more. In about 12-18 months, you'll be explaining technical concepts that they won't know how to understand. So film and manual photography are great teachers. And if you can take great film photos, you'll take stunning digital photos when you exercise that arm of the art form. Also, learn on black and white film as it will cause you to take better color photos when you progress into color. So I would say start with film. When you get your first roll back that's all screwed up because a setting was wrong, you'll never make the same mistake again because it cost you money. With digital, if you take 200 photos on the wrong setting, well, who cares? It didn't cost anything. I've made all manner of mistakes with film and rarely make the same mistake twice. Because I sit down and figure out how to avoid repeating the error. I have made the same mistakes on digital shoots time and again and all that happens is I need more time in post, but I learn from my mistakes more slowly. But with digital, I don't repeat the mistakes that ruined film. Film is an unforgiving but very effective teacher.

+James Krys LOL. Yeah, people tend to think that film cameras aren't usable at all any more. Truth is, the film stock being produced today is the best that the photographic industry has ever seen.

😂😂😂...

Thank you. It's good to know that someone watched the whole video. :D

Video 2 covers batteries and should discuss that. Let me know if it doesn't.

That's super subjective. I personally like older, heavier, metal cameras with more mechanical components. But ultimately how a camera feels, and what is a better feel, is up to the photographer. I will say of the FT2, it is empirically a better-made camera.

Definitely the older FM or FM2. These FM10 bodies were not made to the same standards. The majority of FM10 cameras that I've seen have electronics issues. The major difference is quality. The older FM and FM2 are great cameras and are well made. The FM10 is not as sturdy and the components tend to fail much more readily than in the older cameras.

@@DavidHancock thanks for the advice!

I still try to do that, especially with the questions.

+sheng lu Thank you. As for focusing out of the center, the rest of the screen is a matte field, so if something looks like it's on focus on the matte field, it will be in focus on the film. So there are two ways to focus out of the center: 1- Focus using the matter field, which will give you better results. 2- Focus using the central split-image focuser and re-compose. This option can sometimes result in imprecise focus as the focal plane of a lens changes with where in the image frame the subject is located.

The little tab that spins around the lens mount? Yes, that can break off. And if it does, the camera cannot communicate with the lens to know what the aperture on the lens is set to OR what the lens' maximum aperture is. So without that tab, the camera cannot meter properly with any lens or in any situation.

Summer Hamdy You're welcome. And yes, any lens that works on the FM-10 will work on the F3.

Yup, and just like the Japanese brands Tokina, Sun, Tamron, and Sigma, they don't have the name cache yet. Maybe someday, like Tamron and Sigma, they will because they do make nice equipment.

David Hancock The photo industry is all a bit incestuous ultimately. Tamron make lenses for Pentax, and for Nikon, and Sigma probably do the same. Yashica used to make Contax, Fuji used to make Hasselblads, now Sony make Hasselblads. Cosina also produced the amazing Epson RD1. But I guess that's their business model and they're happy being the Magna Steyr of the camera world, rather than having to invest fortunes in branding and marketing. (You might not have heard of Magna Steyr, look them up if you haven't and you'll see what I mean).

Summer Hamdy There's no problem with the camera. It takes a full-frame image but in the viewfinder you will only see 90% of it. That means that about 5% of the image on the top, bottom, left, and right will be invisible to you but will appear on the film. That gives you some framing and cropping choices when you get your photos back.

You're welcome and I'm glad to help. So of the cameras you mentioned, the EM is the body you will outgrow the fastest. It has very few manual controls and doesn't allow much creative control. The FG-20 is a downgraded version of the FG, so if you consider that I'd look at the FG instead. The FM10 is a full manual camera and I liked it a great deal. I think it's the best of the three you listed. In terms of reliability, the FM10 will be the most reliable of those, I think. I would suggest, though, that there are some other Nikons worth evaluating. The FM, FM2, FE, FA, and any of the F series (F3 being, I think, the best) are worth considering and many of those can be had for reasonable prices.

David Hancock You're so kind, thank you so much. I'm a bit scared of full manual camera, but....you can learn the whole process in this way. I used to use Nikon F80 and now I'm looking for something like FM10.

You will probably like the FM10. The full manual process shouldn't be worrying. The FM10's interface is pretty easy to learn and having familiarity with analog photography I think it would be second natures after a few rolls of film.

David Hancock I hope so :) I really love Nikon film cameras. I enjoy shooting with film. Whole different world for me. In this case I love the manual film movement. I hope I'll get FM10 for good price with some nice 50mm lens.

Definitely worthy of being a favorite camera. I really liked my time with the FM10.

It might. On the back, top right, look for some letters, either MPO, CRN, or possibly SCRN inside squares. Either CRN or SCRN work. The letters stand for Minolta, Pentax, Olympus and Sears, Canon, Ricoh, Nikon, respectively.

@@DavidHancock do you think the nikon SB-15 will, this is the first flash im Investing in and I don't want to mess up my camera

@@galiduzit This is a pretty robust camera, so a flash won't likely damage it. Any Nikon flash will work, what I don't know is how many of a flash unit's automatic capabilities this camera can control, if any.

That's a question for the Fix Old Cameras channel, but the likely answer is that it may not be fixable.

@@DavidHancock Thanks for the reply man

​@@DavidHancockHey man,I had a weird incident with the my Nikon FM10,it's internal light meter was not responding to any adjustments.Later i got a very old flash unit from my uncle (National PE201M),when I turned it on the internal light meter ,was responding to all the adjustments,and felt pretty acurrate,why?

@@HrishiKurup-gw3ou good question and I honestly don't know. There's a website called Nikon Forums and someone there might know.

@@DavidHancock what's funny about it,is the flash itself is not working. it just makes a weird sound

Thank you. A: The chassis is a two-part metal chassis (copper alloy, I think); the body panels are plastic B: Nikon actually only makes the F6 themselves. This is a Cosina-made body. It's the only entry-level 35mm film camera that's badged Nikon. The F6 is a professional-grade body.

David Hancock Ah, thank you, the F6 looks awesome, if it wasn't so expensive I'd be striving to get one! Too bad the F10 isn't fully metal, I'd love to have something like it for my on hand camera when I can't bring my DSLR or Pentax SLR with me.

You know, for a good backup film body with a Nikon mount, the FM2 would be the best option, followed closely by the F3 and FA. All are really stunning cameras and great performers.

F3

Actually, and F series -- F, F2, F3, F4, F5, and F6. That was their pro-grade lineage.

David Hancock Thank you, that's really helpful. Any idea as to why they don't sell film cameras on their website anymore?

They're probably just focusing on the digital bodies. The camera makers are avoiding film because it's not profitable and also film cameras last a LOT longer than digital cameras, so there's a better recurring revenue stream with digital. They may also have removed the FM10 and F6 from production, though I don't know for sure either way.

I guess I'll have to look at KEH. Thanks for the info.

+CaTuber Lime Ridge North. I use Perada Drive as my trailhead and then stroll around the north and south sides, up to the quarry area whenever I can. Where's Turtle Rock? I know of the rock up in the canyon by my place, but not Turtle Rock.

OK, you're on the other side of the bay in a very similar micro-climate. Turtle Rock is the highest point in Long Ridge OSP near Castle Rock. It also does "a thing" at the winter solstice. The Turtle was important to the Ohlone creation myth. So that particular rock has likely held significance for 1,000s of years. Loving your series on the FM-10 and anxiously waiting for one to arrive. Best Regards

CaTuber Thank you for the tip. I make it up to Marin on occasion. Turtle Rock looks like it would be an awesome hike.

The FM10 has a pretty good resale value, yes. They have suspect long-term reliability, however, so I'm not sure that their resale value will be the same in three or so years.

I have seen some Nikon FM 10's for about $200|$250, i think ill put if up for sale, but im not sure about the canon T60, anyway thank you for the response i will see what i can do!

Is there film in the camera that needs to be rewound?

nope, I took out the film already.

And you have fresh batteries in it?

The camera will be fine for whatever you want to shoot with it. Your lens and film will be better determinants of your portrait image characteristics.

David Hancock well I'm using the kit lens. So how good is it?

The third video in the series discusses the kit lens. It's a fine starter lens and was better than I expected. I would not suggest it as an ideal portrait lens, though. Something in the 85 to 135mm range, and ideally a prime lens and not a zoom, would be a better option.

David Hancock Ah thanks man, appreciate it. Grt videos.

David Hancock Can you recommend some lens series that's idea from Fm10?

Nikon makes some great flashes. There's a whole science to picking the best flash, using guide numbers, and so forth to pick out a flash. I would suggest either a Nikon flash or, if you'd like a budget options, something like a Neewer that has adjustable flash power controls or that can communicate with the camera's TTL contact (I think that the FM10 communicates exposure data to the flash.) If you go third-party, make sure you get a Nikon-compatible flash. Canon-compatible flashes, for example, have a different pin configuration and may not communicate fully with a Nikon camera.

thanks for your quick response

Any 35mm film will work.

Yes!

Cynthia G. That would be a pretty fantastic gift.