Nikon to make FM10 available for education sector in the UK

>The RRP is £310 incl. VAT with a full 1 Year Nikon International warranty.

awgh, tough choice instead of similar used kit for 20-30 pounds shipped.

I think students should use 120 film to think harder instead of perusing abundant number of frames 135 film offers, no?
 
The FM-10 was my first camera. Christmas gift so that I'd stop stealing my mother's Minolta. The VF is dim, the controls feel mushy, but it's dead simple, mounts Nikkor glass, and it's featherweight. It's nothing special, but it's reliable, and it's why I still shoot Nikon, despite it's not being a real nikon :)
 
I have taught photography at university since 1980. The Nikon FM 10 is a piece of junk. I have seen them break dozens of times, within the first few months, or weeks, or DAYS, of use. A variety of problems including the camera just falls apart. Not even good for the 25 or 30 rolls of film a student uses in one term. In addition, the zoom lens it comes with is too slow to use for available light photography indoors. Students are much better off finding a used FM, FM2, K-1000 or Minolta x700, etc. Even the plastic Vivitar 35mm student camera with the 50mm K-mount lens is better.
 
To be fair, it seems that the lens is included in the price:

"Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.5-4.8 lens".

Yeah, overpriced compared with what you get for that kind of money used (F3, FM2, F4, F5 etc. etc.), but the article reflects that. The education sector wants something available that can be bought new, with warranty etc.
Good sign overall, they would not do this if they did not feel that general interest in analog photography is sufficient.
 
Pablito said:
I have taught photography at university since 1980. The Nikon FM 10 is a piece of junk. I have seen them break dozens of times, within the first few months, or weeks, or DAYS, of use. A variety of problems including the camera just falls apart. Not even good for the 25 or 30 rolls of film a student uses in one term. In addition, the zoom lens it comes with is too slow to use for available light photography indoors. Students are much better off finding a used FM, FM2, K-1000 or Minolta x700, etc. Even the plastic Vivitar 35mm student camera with the 50mm K-mount lens is better.
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Granted, the stock lens is utter trash. And I'm sure the vivitar is nicer, but having the F-mount was nice for me, because I could borrow lenses from better equipped photogs and get a taste of what a real investment in glass could get me.

As to reliability, who knows, maybe I was lucky, or maybe manufacturing standards have changed in the 15 years or so since I got mine. But I put countless rolls through mine when I was just learning, and it still sits at the back of my camera shelf, ready to go. It's a plastic-y mess, an ergonomic disaster, and if for some reason I put it in a bag next to my f2s, they'd destroy the poor thing, but for what it was when I got it, it's served me well.

Would I have taken an FM2 over it? Yeah, any day. But I can see the advantage to having tens of cameras ready at hand when teaching a class.

To each their own. I'm just happy folks are still being taught on film
 
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I agree with Ljos that the more important point is the continued, and perhaps even increasing, demand for film cameras. Long term, film can only survive if manufacturers make new film cameras.
 
Dirk said:
Long term, film can only survive if manufacturers make new film cameras.
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I am happy for people who have used the FM 10 without incident.

However, I have had these cameras fall apart in my hands. I am an experienced photographer with hundreds of assignments, commercial books published, etc. And I am a very experienced photo teacher. So, I can say that I am not mishandling the cameras in any way, but I have had the rewind knobs and film advance lever fall of these cameras in my hand, just from touching them. Not to mention jammed shutters, problems with film transport etc. Not to mention the battery cover is a soft plastic and it's uper easy to strip the threads by overtightening. This particular camera is not likely to endear anyone to film photography so making more of them is not going to help perpetuate film, I"m afraid. Probably the Holgas and the Lomos and even the new film Leica will be more helpful at that. End of Editorial Comments.
 
"But I can see the advantage to having tens of cameras ready at hand when teaching a class"

Isn't this the point of the educational focus - having the same camera in every student's hand makes the teaching much easier?



De_Corday said:
Granted, the stock lens is utter trash. And I'm sure the vivitar is nicer, but having the F-mount was nice for me, because I could borrow lenses from better equipped photogs and get a taste of what a real investment in glass could get me.

As to reliability, who knows, maybe I was lucky, or maybe manufacturing standards have changed in the 15 years or so since I got mine. But I put countless rolls through mine when I was just learning, and it still sits at the back of my camera shelf, ready to go. It's a plastic-y mess, an ergonomic disaster, and if for some reason I put it in a bag next to my f2s, they'd destroy the poor thing, but for what it was when I got it, it's served me well.

Would I have taken an FM2 over it? Yeah, any day. But I can see the advantage to having tens of cameras ready at hand when teaching a class.

To each their own. I'm just happy folks are still being taught on film
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zuikologist said:
Isn't this the point of the educational focus - having the same camera in every student's hand makes the teaching much easier?
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It depends how you teach. There is something to be said also for having them struggle a bit (with help as deemed necessary by the instructor) as they figure it out themselves based on an understanding of the theory.
 
Wasn't the FM-10 built by Cosina? The build quality is certainly pretty crummy- which is not a reflection on Cosina's other products so much as it is on Nikon's willingness to trash it's brand with such a poor quality camera. I think anyone would be much better served finding a better quality used camera- and save money at the same time. I think the postulation above that they may just be trying to dump old stock is probably on the money. Anyway, I too am glad that students are still being taught photography with film; but I think students who are serious about the craft would be better served starting out with better gear.
 
Leica continue to produce although in limited quantities MP and M7; Nikon should reintroduce FM3a or at least FM2new. FM10 isn't a good camera also if cheap.
 
Nikon cannot compete with used prices, no camera maker can, film or digital. It is good to see at least them offering film cameras into the education market though.

I'd probably like to see some medium format offerings in there too, as I think it's an easier sell in terms of getting kids to use film and stick with it. You can easily hold a 6x6 or 6x9 slide up to the light and see what's going on, which is kind of magical first time you see it, even as an adult.
 
shortstop said:
Leica continue to produce although in limited quantities MP and M7; Nikon should reintroduce FM3a or at least FM2new. FM10 isn't a good camera also if cheap.
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Read the amazing backstory about the lengths to which Nikon went (it is actually not so easy to reintroduce an old model) when they made the FM3a. After you read it, you will not doubt that Nikon was far from pricegouging the customers with the camera.
http://imaging.nikon.com/history/chronicle/history-fm3a/

It simply did not fly off the shelves. To put it mildly. People complained about the price (with tons of FM2s and FE2s floating around), and some geniuses even disparaged the camera as such ("my FM2 does everything I need and it can iron my shirts and serve me bagels, I need no frivolous FM3a..."

So.... yeah, I would prefer Nikon offer the FM2, or FE2, or FM3a (oh, wait: they DID that! ;-))
But apparently this is what the market bears. So we can count ourselves lucky that at least the FM10 is still available.
 
Ljós said:
Read the amazing backstory about the lengths to which Nikon went (it is actually not so easy to reintroduce an old model) when they made the FM3a. After you read it, you will not doubt that Nikon was far from pricegouging the customers with the camera. http://imaging.nikon.com/history/chronicle/history-fm3a/ It simply did not fly off the shelves. To put it mildly. People complained about the price (with tons of FM2s and FE2s floating around), and some geniuses even disparaged the camera as such ("my FM2 does everything I need and it can iron my shirts and serve me bagels, I need no frivolous FM3a..." So.... yeah, I would prefer Nikon offer the FM2, or FE2, or FM3a (oh, wait: they DID that! ;-)) But apparently this is what the market bears. So we can count ourselves lucky that at least the FM10 is still available.
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I think a brand as Nikon has a mission and what earns with other camera models (digital) can compensate for the economic losses of the production of FM3a. the company's image would gain indirectly and there would also be an economic advantage
 
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