In 1965, Nikon introduced the first TTL metering finder, Photomic T, for Nikon F system. Although it was a significiant improvement to its predecessor Photomic, it did have a slightly larger base that required the mirror housing to be modified. A red dot in front of the serial numbers was added to designate those body modified to accept Photomic T and later finders. The red dot can only be found between the body serial numbers 658xxxx to 66xxxxx. It should be noted that all the bodies from 67xxxxx number block onwards were modified but without the red dot. Within the range of 658000-659999, I would say only about 3/4 of them are modified and red-dotted. As the serial numbers get closer to 659999, the more likely you will see a red dot. 65 block Red Dot F is not as rare as some dealers would like you to believe. However, 66 block Red Dot is a different story. There are only around 3000 bodies made in this block and ALL of them are chrome and red-dotted n(watch out for the fake black 66 bodies. They do exist!). Why Nikon suddenly jumped the serial numbers from 6602xxx to 67 block is still an unsolved mistery. I think they probably realized all the new bodies were going to be made to accept the new finders anyway, they might as well stop stamping the red dot at some stage. It would be less confusing to start off with a new block of serial nos. Make sense?

Three different versions of Red Dot F

Even rarer than 66 block Red Dots are black bodies with a red dot. According to Uli Koch's fabulous reference book for Nikon F, they only exist in the 6597xxx number block. i.e. much less than 1000 black bodies can be found with a red dot! (I have seen chrome Red dot body repainted in black though) The only red dot bodies that can beat this, in terms of rarity, are those "Nikkor" marked bodies with a red dot. Nikkor bodies were only made for German market for a short period of time.

How many Red Dot Fs are there?

Of all the Nikon Fs between 6580000 and 6599999 I have come across, 90 out of 121 bodies (around 75%) are Red-dotted. Assuming all those 121 samples were randomly picked, we can then base our estimate of the total number of Red Dots on the 75% figure. Since there are 20,000 Fs between 658000 and 6599999, we should expect to see rougly 15,000 of them with a Red Dot. On top of that, there are around 3,000 Red Dots on the 66 block. That gives a total number of 18,000! Of course, this is only a ballpark figure. More "random" samples will be needed to improve the statistics.

There is an extremely extensive Red Dot list publised in issue No.82 of the Nikon Historical Society Journal. The list is a combined effort of many NHS members, especially Mr Richard de Stoutz and Mr Harry Verschuren. With kind permission from the NHS President Mr Robert Rotoloni, I have reproduced the list here, combined with some of my own Red Dot numbers, for your reference. This list will be amended from time to time as more Red Dots are discovered in the future. Since the original NHS list consists of only Red Dot bodies, it was not used in my earlier estimation of the total number of Red Dots.

THE RED DOT NKON F LIST (5 May 2008)

Bold numbers with a letter B after the serial numbers --- Black bodies

Italic numbers with FB after the serial numbers --- Original chrome bodies repainted in black

Italic numbers with NP after the serial numbers --- Number plate only, the camera has been dismantled

(Red numbers are new additions since last update on 3 Feb 08)

6575738B
6575857B
6575859B
6576610
6578939
6579343
6579590
6579650
6581277
6581357
6582900
6583061
6583239
6583470
6583571
6583622
6584000FB
6584584
6585000
6585030
6585392
6585401
6585408
6585512
6585566
6585632
6585640
6585813
6585943
6586013
6586014
6586084
6586163
6586535
6587137
6587163
6587335
6587415
6587590
6587637
6587681
6587791
6587832
6587863
6588473
6588824
6588859
6588996
6589023
6589030

6589116
6589257
6589469
6589495
6589536
6589559
6589560
6589614
6589647NP
6589742
6589752
6589753
6589842
6589915
6589979
6590025
6590122
6590127
6590135
6590163
6590212
6590261
6590319
6590383
6590424
6590442
6590568
6590676
6590704
6590895
6590966
6591025
6591009
6591109
6591110
6591237
6591267
6591270
6591280B
6591308
6591309
6591338
6591464
6591472
6591537
6591695
6592025B
6592481
6592527
6592530

6597548B
6597558B
6597580B
6597602B
6597612B
6597628B
6597653B
6597660B
6597694B
6597702B
6597718B
6597733B
6597812B
6597818B
6597892B
6597918
6597920
6597969
6598020
6598119
6598121
6598137
6598141
6598142
6598170
6598183
6598207
6598208
6598264
6598364
6598379
6598397
6598431
6598445
6598456
6598467
6598591
6598661
6598718
6598772
6598853
6598953
6599026
6599082
6599222
6599264
6599292
6599407
6599452
6599463

6599489
6599492
6599712
6599826
6599945
6599960

6600021
6600057
6600142
6600166
6600186
6600187
6600225FB
6600283
6600341
6600417
6600429
6600455
6600484
6600516
6600556
6600595
6600664
6600724
6600738
6600763
6600765
6600879
6600962
6600975
6600988
6601003
6601027
6601030
6601100
6601150
6601152
6601181
6601246
6601256
6601284
6601339
6601351
6601355
6601362
6601395
6601424
6601425
6601450
6601487
6601489
6601503
6601586
6601687
6601688
6601693

The red dot serial numbers listed below are not in the normal range where you would expect to find the red dots. Their authenticity is unknown.

6400484
6499558 Questar body
6518885 Red dot engraved after the serial no.
6426599B
6532092B

A few words about those Black Red Dot bodies

You may notice that there are a few black Red dots outside the 6597 series in the list. Their authenticity cannot be verified by the author, but they are included in the list for your reference anyway. It should be noted that Nikon produced black bodies in blocks of consecutive serial numbers, rather than randomly picking one here and one there. If you see a black Red dot body whose adjacent serial numbers are all chrome, then there is a good chance that this black one was also originally chrome. Apart from painting a chrome Red dot body black, one can also fake a black Red dot by modifying an authentic black (but Non-Red dot) body to Red dot version. All you have to do is to remove the raised lips behind the mirror hosuing and drill a Red dot in front of the serial numbers! (see this poorly done fake red dot !!) Although Nikon might have done the modification to some of the black bodies outside 6597 series on request, they don't seem to like adding the Red dot before the serial numebrs, otherwise you should see a lot more pre-6580 red dot bodies around. The safest way to get an authentic black Red dot body is to look for those in 6597 series!

6580387
6580657
6581394
6582003
6582454
6582773
6582961
6583191
6583192
6583260

6583478
6583564
6583592
6583741
6584113
6584484
6584595FB
6584688
6585964
6586156