Nikon FA - Features

Features

The FA accepted all lenses with the Nikon F bayonet mount (introduced in 1959) supporting the Automatic Indexing-Shutter (AI-S) feature (introduced in 1981). The contemporary Nippon Kogaku made AI-S lenses were the Nikkor AI-S, and Nikon Series E types. The AF-S Nikkor, AF-I Nikkor, AF Nikkor D and AF Nikkor autofocus lenses are also AI-S types. They will work too - for manual focus only, of course.

The FA could also use the older Nikkor AI (introduced in 1977) and AI'd Nikkor lenses, but in that case, the AMP meter and the shutter priority and High Speed program autoexposure modes would not work as well as AI-S lenses allowed (this is due to their non-linear aperture stop-down mechanisms).

Nikon's most recent 35 mm film SLR lenses, the AF Nikkor G type (introduced in 2000) lacking an aperture control ring; and the AF Nikkor DX type (2003) with image circles sized for Nikon's digital SLRs will mount, but will not function properly. IX Nikkor lenses (1996), for Nikon's Advanced Photo System (APS) film SLRs, must not be mounted, as their rear elements will intrude far enough into the mirror box to cause damage.

During the early 1980s, Nippon Kogaku manufactured approximately 70 manual focus Nikkor AI-S and Nikon Series E branded lenses. They ranged from a Fisheye-Nikkor 6 mm f/2.8 220˚ circular fisheye to a Reflex-Nikkor 2000 mm f/11 super telephoto. This was the largest and widest ranging lens selection in the world by far.

Major accessories for the FA included the Nikon MD-15 motor drive (automatic film advance up to 3.2 frames per second, plus power for the camera electronics), the Nikon MF-16 databack (sequential numbering, time or date stamping on the film), and the Nikon Speedlight SB-15 (guide number 82/25 (feet/meters) at ASA/ISO 100) and Nikon Speedlight SB-16B (guide number 105/32 (feet/meters) at ASA/ISO 100) electronic flashes. The FA can also utilize the Nikon MD-12 motor drive of the Nikon FM and Nikon FE series, but the unit will not provide power for the FA.

The Nikon FA was a mostly metal, heavily computerized version of the Nikon FE2. The FA was a battery powered (two SR44 or LR44, or one 1/3N) electromechanically (much electronics, but many springs, gears and levers) controlled manual focus SLR with manual exposure control or aperture priority, shutter priority and programmed autoexposure. The FA was Nippon Kogaku's first SLR to have shutter priority autoexposure and first to have all four of the now standard PASM exposure modes. The FA actually had two programmed modes: a normal mode and a High Speed mode that automatically biased toward faster shutter speeds whenever an AI-S compatible lens (including Series E) of 135 mm or longer focal length was mounted.

Unlike the other compact F-series SLRs, the FA used plastic top and bottom plates: fiberglass reinforced polycarbonate for the black bodies, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) for the chrome ones. The FA also used the ultra-fast, bearing-mounted, honeycomb-patterned, titanium-bladed shutter and through-the-lens (TTL) off-the-film (OTF) electronic flash automation of the FE2, but added a digital liquid crystal display (LCD) information panel at the top left of the viewfinder to indicate the readings of the built-in, open aperture, through-the-lens (TTL) light meter versus the actual camera settings. Depending on the set exposure mode, the LCD would display +/– over/underexposure markers, HI/LO out of metering range warnings, shutter speed and/or f-stop. Unfortunately, the LCD could not be illuminated in low ambient light situations. The FA also had a removable finger grip, similar to the one introduced on the Nikon FG, and an eyepiece blind. However, the FA's real claim to fame was the AMP meter.

AMP used a light meter with two segmented silicon photodiodes to divide the field of view into five segments: the center and the four outer quadrants. The readings of the various segments would be analyzed by a 4 bit microchip computer (with a 524 kHz central processing unit (CPU) and 8 KB of memory) programmed to look for exposure errors caused by unusually bright or dark luminance patches and automatically correct the exposure settings. Nippon Kogaku said that the program was written after the visual assessment of nearly 100,000 photographs. AMP was originally intended to be introduced in the Nikon FE2, but it was not ready for production in time.

As the first generation of matrix metering, AMP was hardly foolproof. For instance, holding the FA vertically instead of horizontally might cause the meter to give different readings of the same scene. However, AMP was still demonstrably superior to the centerweighted type of light metering then in common use. AMP would give a good exposure 90-95% of the time versus 85-90% for centerweighting. Note that AMP was automatically disabled in the FA's manual exposure mode and could be turned off in the autoexposure modes. In both cases, the FA would default to Nippon Kogaku's traditional 60/40% centerweighted metering. However, the FA omitted the autoexposure memory lock of the FE2 - AMP was supposed to obviate any need for it.

AMP was the most important advance in exposure control since built-in, through-the-lens (TTL) light meters were introduced by the Topcon Super D (in the USA/Canada; RE Super in the rest of the world) in 1963. Despite outcries from traditionalist photographers who knew how to correct their own metering exposure errors, the feature was quickly copied by all the major SLR manufacturers.

The FA (like the rest of the compact F-series) was built to Nippon Kogaku's traditional and unusually high (and expensive) standard of workmanship for amateur level SLRs. It used high strength alloy parts, hardened metal gearing, ball bearing joints and gold plated electrical switches; all made to precise tolerances and largely hand assembled, in an era when most other manufacturers switched to high-tech plastics, simplified modular construction and coarser tolerances to lower costs in the face of competitive pressure. As a result the Nikon FA could endure conditions that would cause virtually all other contemporary non-professional level SLRs to break down mechanically. A higher price was considered a fair trade for impressive durability.