Nikkormat FTn meter issue

[ronnies]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone has seen this before and/or knows what the problem is.

When pointed at a bright light (sunny blue sky for example) my Nikkormat FTn meter is indicating correct exposure at 1/15 at maximum aperture, no mater what lens is attached. This is at ISO 400. This applies to both my 50/1.4 and 28/3.5. The needle moves with the shutter speed dial, aperture ring and light but NEVER indicates over exopsure. When I move the shutter speed dial to 1/8 the needle jumps up as the meter is no longer connected.

There is nothing wrong with the battery (a genuine PX625 !) as it is showing correct exposure values in my OM1n and Canonet.

I have done the "wap, wap" indexing when I attach the lens and the wee red line is getting to the correct maximum aperture.

I'm currently stumped as to what could be the problem.

Any ideas ?

Ronnie

 

[KoNickon]

Does the meter give correct readings in other situations?

 

[ronnies]

Thanks for the responses.

The wind on lever switch is working fine. Pointing the camera out the window and switching the meter on and off moves the needle as expected.

The meter changes to 1/8 at max aperture if I select 200 ISO. I've run the shutter speed dial over the whole range a few times and tried the same with the aperture. I've even swiped the ISO selector over the whole range a couple of times (not easy 🙂).

So I don't think the meter is giving correct readings at any point.

Ronnie

 

[JP Owens]

The potentiometers in these old Nikon camera meters wear out over time. Sounds like yours may be history.