100 Cameras Project: Nikon FA 35mm Analog SLR Camera

The Nikon FA 35mm Analog SLR (1983), the most sophisticated member of the remarkably long-lived, classic Nikon compact F-series SLRs, is a historically significant camera. It was the first camera to offer a multi-segmented (or matrix or evaluative) exposure light meter, called Automatic Multi-Pattern (AMP). It had a built-in microprocessor computer programmed to automatically analyze different segments of the light meter field of view and select a corrected exposure. Virtually all cameras today, whether film, video or digital, have some sort of matrix metering.

The Nikon FA was Nippon Kogaku's high technology standard bearer, sandwiched between the sturdy, but basic Nikon FE2 and the professional level Nikon F3 SLR (introduced in 1980). With its advanced AMP meter, Nippon Kogaku fully expected that many professional photographers, as well as amateurs, would buy it.