nikon FM10 review

[richardHaw]

https://richardhaw.com/2021/09/03/review-nikon-fm10/

finally found a cheap one

[David H. Hartman]

Forgive me for asking: can't you find a Nikon FM2n cheap?

...on the flip side I seem to remember that Galen Rowell's favorite camera in his last years was a Nikon F100 but for mobility at high altitude he use a plastic Nikon such as the FG or FM10. [I forgot about the Nikon FE10.]

I'll read your article soon. Thank you for posting it.

Dave

[Matthew Currie]

Some years ago I got an FM 10 with its original kit zoom for some small amount (10 or 12 bucks I think).  It had a winding problem that turned out to be a loose part that I fixed by taking the bottom off and screwing something back together.  I found its operation quite decent, and the exposure etc. quite good.  I always wondered why this little machine was so less well regarded than the Pentax K1000, which is quite similar but lacks a timer and stop down button.  Even the cheap lens, while nothing to write home about, performed pretty decently.  It seemed most comparable to the low end Yashica, but unlike almost everything Yashica made, the leather on the FM 10 did not turn to gray flannel.

I can see why Rowell would have liked it.  It gives good images with little fuss, and it's almost entirely expendable. 

[David H. Hartman]

Thanks Richard: I just finished reading your article. It was a good read as all of your articles are.

Dave

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Galen Rowell could run at altitudes at which I'd probably be too sick with altitude sickness to stand. I seem to remember he like the 75-150mm f/3.5 Series-E and would pair it with a super light, economy Nikon SLR. There is a story about high running a mile or so to capture a signature photograph with a rainbow. He might have used an FM10 and 75-150/3.5 E.

I looked down on the Cosina made plastic Nikons. I also looked down on the EM and FG. I remember the owner's son of Gayson's Camera letting my play salesman to an Art Center graphics art student. She was about to buy an FG with some zoom lens. She would create art and turn it over to the customer. I suggested that she would want to photography her work and suggested a Nikon FE2 and 55mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor. She bought the FE2 and 55/2.8 Micro. I hope they served her well. That was my 15 minutes as a camera salesman.

I didn't think about people in poorer countries and the FM10 and FE10 allowing them to buy a new Nikon camera with warranty. Not that I'm well healed. I wore shoes with cardboard in the soles to afford my first real camera, a Nikkormat FTn with 55/3.5 Micro Nikkor-P.

[Hugh_3170]

Galen Rowell refers to the use of "consumer grade" cameras and lenses in a number of his books.  Wherever possible he only used such lenses at those apertures he considered to give peak performance.

In parallel with their own product lines, Cosina built a number of cameras and lenses for other manufacturers as well as for Nikon - and they still undertake similar manufacturing partnerships, e.g. lenses for Zeiss.

The CEO of Cosina, Kobayashi Hirofumi, is a well known vintage camera enthusiast. 

More info here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosina

[Hans_S]

Thank you for the background Richard, I didn't know that the T60 I've been using as a paperweight for a decade was Cosina made.

I must say this all black Canon version is a better looker than the FM10.  It really is a nice light, compact package...perhaps I should  try putting a film through it.