Some History: First Nikkormats with Auto Winders

[Mark Vaughan]

Hello,

I finally found a banged-up but acceptable example of the first non-professional Nikon built for an auto winder: The Nikkormat ELW. It's really just an EL with a winder lug on the base, but there was no upgrade track to transform your EL into an ELW. The ELW was in production for less than 1 year.


Here's what the SN looks like: Note the "W" before the number. The SN range started at 7500001, so I guess this one is 156:



Here's the Nikon EL2 (first non-pro Nikon - actually just an AI version of the Nikkormat EL - to carry the Nikon name badge) with the AW-1 attached. The wind-on rate was probably 2 FPS with good batteries. I might also note that both of these packages were VERY HEAVY!


And then it all ended: one year after the Nikon EL2 hit the market it was cancelled and the new era of the FM and FE with modern motor drives started.

Still looking for a Nikkormat FS (the only Nikkormat ever made without a meter on board), and a decent FT for display (the meters in the FT were not terribly good - if I wanted to shoot I'd bring my own meter or use the FTn which was much better).

Take care,
Mark

[Deleted]

Had a mint EL for awhile. Sold it to an Israeli collector for three times what I paid for it. It was the first Nikkormat I had with a conventional shutter speed dial instead of the ring around the lens mount. I was a heavy sucker, too. Didn't have a winder, however.

I liked the FT3 because you could use ai (auto indexing) lenses on it. Had one of those I got for $10 at a garage sale. Sold it later for $90 (it had a slight ding in the top).

W.

[nikonbob]

Mark

The few Nikkormats I have had the pleasure to use were heavy indeed but I guess the build quality was there. Now you have me thinking of getting a few examples. Thanks for pointing out that the serial numbers pf the ELWs started with a W. I did not know that. Sort of like the FM2 and FM2n serial numbers.

Bob

[casualcollector]

Mark, you have found the missing link between chimpanzee and Nikon!

[melek]

Yes, those pre-FM/FE Nikons were HEAVY! I can only imagine the weight of the ELW or EL2 with a winder attached.

[barbarian]

My first new (as opposed to used) Nikon was an EL2. I still have it. Nothing whatever wrong with it, after thousands of exposures.