1983
35mm SLR
First matrix meter

Nikon FA + Series E 50mm f/1.8

Name: Nikon FA
Brand: Nikon (Nippon Kogaku K.K.)
SKU: SHOP_CAM_VINT_NIKON_FA_20260605
Price: 1600.0 AED
Availability: InStock

The first camera that read the whole frame before it read the light.

The FA was the first camera with matrix metering. Nikon called it Automatic Multi-Pattern: two segmented silicon cells carve the frame into five zones, and a little four-bit brain compares the brightness map against a library of scenes before it commits to an exposure. Every evaluative meter in every camera you've used since, film or digital, phone or DSLR, traces back to this body. That's the headline, and forty years on it still earns its keep.

What makes the FA more than a footnote is that the rest of the camera kept up with the idea. It runs all four modes (program, both priorities, and manual), and the 1/4000s top shutter with a 1/250s flash sync was genuinely fast for 1983, fast enough to drag a strobe in daylight without stopping all the way down. It's a compact, dense little body in the FE/FM lineage, smaller in the hand than its spec sheet suggests.

Treat the FA as the precision instrument it is and the matrix meter just quietly gets exposures right in the situations that fool a centre-weighted meter cold: backlight, snow, stage light. It's the most modern-feeling of the manual-era Nikons, and the meter that taught every camera since how to read a scene.

Match

Who this is for

Good for

tricky backlight
travel
fast strobe sync
multi-mode shooters
anyone who wants the meter to think

Character

What it feels like to shoot

After a roll the FA feels like the most modern of the manual-era Nikons: it thinks faster than you expect and the matrix meter is uncanny in backlight and snow, the exact situations where you'd normally be dialling in compensation by feel. The shutter is a brisk electronic clack rather than the mechanical thunk of an FM2, and the film advance is short and well-damped. The quirk is psychological: you have to learn to trust a meter you can't fully see reasoning, which is the whole point and also the thing that takes a roll or two to settle into.

The glass

Paired with this glass

Nikon Series E 50mm f/1.8

Nikon's no-badge bargain of the early 1980s, and the secret is that the glass is excellent: a compact six-element design in the same optical territory as the AI-s Nikkor 50mm f/1.8. On the FA it couples to every mode including the matrix meter. Light, slim, sharp from f/2.8. Collectors sniffed at the E badge in 1983; photographers kept the lens.

Born 1983

History of the Nikon FA

The FA sits at the top of Nikon's compact-body line of the early 1980s (the FE, FM, FE2 and FM2), sharing their size and F-mount but adding the program modes and the AMP meter that none of the others had. It was Nikon's technology flagship before autofocus arrived, the proving ground for matrix metering that would become standard across the FA's descendants from the F4 onward and, eventually, every digital Nikon.

Technical specifications

MFG. 1983 – 1987

Format

35mm SLR

Manufacturer

Nikon (Nippon Kogaku K.K.) · Japan

Production

1983 – 1987

Lens mount

Nikon F-mount (AI/AIS, with metered manual on pre-AI)

Metering

TTL Automatic Multi-Pattern (AMP): two segmented silicon photodiodes split the frame into five zones and compare the brightness map against stored scene patterns; the world's first matrix meter. Falls back to 60/40 centre-weighted in shutter-priority and manual.

Viewfinder

Fixed eye-level pentaprism, ~92% coverage, with an LCD readout panel and aperture/shutter information along the finder edge

Shutter

Electronically controlled vertical-travel titanium focal-plane shutter, 1s-1/4000s plus Bulb; mechanical 1/250s backup (M250) when batteries die

ISO range

ISO 12-3200

Flash sync

1/250s

Exposure modes

Programmed Auto, High-Speed Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Manual

Dimensions

142.5 x 92 x 64.5 mm

Weight

625 g

Power

Two LR44 / SR44 button cells. We stock them at GPP.

LR44 - 2 Pack · in stock at GPP · Dhs. 18.00

Backed by GPP

Service & guarantees

Every analog camera ships through our bench

This unit has been fully serviced and CLA'd: cleaned, lubricated and adjusted, with shutter, meter and light seals checked, and it is in confirmed working order. Inspected at GPP; ask us about this exact body.

CLA'd by GPP: shutter speeds checked, light seals replaced where needed, meter calibrated against a known reference.
7-day functional return: if it doesn't work as we declared on this listing, we exchange or refund. Wear-and-tear consistent with the listed condition isn't returnable.
UAE & worldwide shipping: Dubai same-day before 12 PM (AED 50), UAE-wide in 2–3 business days (AED 40), international tracked in 5–10 business days (calculated at checkout). Insurance can be added on request. Customs and import duties are the buyer's responsibility on international orders. Full shipping policy.
Walk in to inspect: Warehouse D36, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai. Mon–Sat, 10am–7pm. Bring a roll if you'd like to test-fire on the spot.

Questions

Things people ask

What film does it take?

Standard 35mm film. We carry the widest selection in the Middle East: colour, B&W, and slide across consumer, professional, and cinema stocks. Need a recommendation for this body? Just ask us.

Is the camera serviced before sale?

Yes. Every analog camera at GPP goes through our bench before it goes on the listing. Shutter speeds verified, light seals replaced where needed, meter calibrated against a reference.

What's your return policy?

7-day functional return. If anything we declared isn't working as described, contact us within 7 days of receipt for a full refund or exchange.

Can GPP develop and scan the photos I shoot with this?

Yes. Our in-house film lab handles colour, B&W, and slide development with scanning. 24-48 hour rush available. More on the film lab.

Can I see the camera before I buy?

Always welcome. Visit Warehouse D36, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai. Open Monday to Saturday, 10am–7pm.