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I consider the 1970s the golden age of 35mm SLRs. Canon, Minolta, Pentax, Olympus and Nikon were all in fierce competition to create the very best machines possible. Photographers benefited from this competition with a wide choice of great cameras and amazing lenses. This was still the era of mostly metal and glass and a testament to the quality of camera manufacturing from this time is the fact that many of these machines remain viable, functioning and serviceable today.

I stumbled across this nice example of a Nikkormat EL in my local camera shop. I went to browse on my lunch hour and walked out with a new camera and a thinner wallet. The Nikkormat EL was introduced in 1972 and was one of Nikon’s first attempts at a camera with an electronically controlled shutter and aperture-priority auto exposure. Around the same time, an all-black body ELW was available which is the same camera with the exception of its ability to add an AW-1 auto winder. The EL is a pre-AI body which means that Nikkor lenses need to be manually indexed to the body using the Nikon twist; move the body indexing pin all the way over to the right (looking at the camera body), set the aperture on the lens to f/5.6, mate the lens to the body and then twist the lens to its smallest aperture and then to its widest. This sounds way more complicated than it is but necessary so the camera “knows” which lens you have on. Everything after that is typical 1970s SLR.

The EL is basically a large Nikon FE. The viewfinder read out is the same as the FE and FE2 with a big analog needle. This display is my favorite of all of the Nikon SLRs of this era—it’s easy to read and makes total sense. Other than having to index the lens to the camera, the EL’s other quirk is the battery. The EL takes a type PX28/4LR44/544 battery which looks like a little AA battery. The battery chamber is behind the mirror so you need to take off the lens and lift the mirror to insert the battery.

My EL is almost pristine. I cannot see any scratches or scuffs anywhere. I wonder if it was ever used? As I inspected the body inside and out, I did notice the seals were original and deteriorating pretty badly which is pretty common for a 50+ year old camera. My plan was to put a test roll through the EL and see if everything else was working and if I enjoyed shooting it. If it passed those tests, I’d sent it out for new seals and a general look-over.

I found a roll of Kodak Portra 400 in the back of my fridge and shot it over a weekend in March. I rated the film at 200 ISO which I always do with Portra 400. On a walk around my neighborhood, I discovered some spring color.

I connected my Aodelan wireless flash trigger to the hot shoe of the EL. The receiver and my Vivitar 283 flash were mounted on a tripod. Orvie, our Golden Retriever, is always a willing subject. The EL’s shutter synchs at 1/125th of a second.

Willing, but quickly bored of Dad’s photography.

I follow a number of Facebook groups for vintage camera collectors and users and I find it amusing when someone buys a camera as old as this EL, especially one with electronics, and are surprised when the machine doesn’t perform as if it were brand new. How many 50 year old cars can chug along for decades without service? In the back of my mind, as I was shooting with this camera, I wondered how the auto exposure was working and whether or not those crusty old seals would give me any problems. My fears were confirmed when this roll came out of the lab. Some of the shots showed signs of a light leak but the meter did a fine job of handling most everything I threw at it.

Yes, someone had a bay cow on a leash.

I enjoyed shooting the EL and I am impressed enough with the results I got from this hobbled camera to send it off for new seals and meter calibration. The fit and finish of this camera is exceptional, as are the other Nikkormats I have tried; the FTn, FT2 and FT3.

The EL and ELW were the last cameras to carry the Nikkormat name. Nikon had wanted to differentiate between their advanced amateur and pro bodies; Nikkormat for the former and Nikon for the latter. In 1977, Nikon was proud enough of their Nikkormats to throw the Nikon nameplate on the final camera in this series, the EL2.

The price of film cameras has increased substantially over the past few years, but it seems that these Nikkormats have flown under everyone’s radar. I paid $75 for this one and with a basic CLA, I will be all in for under $200 making Nikkormat one of today’s best vintage camera investments.