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 (updated on 25 Jan 2010)

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

Italic numbers with NK after the serial numbers --- Nikkor bodies for German market

Italic numbers with GD after the serial numbers --- Gold plated bodies

(Red numbers are new additions since last update on 6 Jan 09)

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
6470110
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!

Update 25 Jan 2010

If you combine the Red-dot and the non-Red-dot lists together, at least 3 black number blocks will start to emerge. They are 6575-6576, 6591-6592 and the well known 6597. According to Uli's book, black Red dots only exist in 6597 block. However, given the random nature of the Red dot bodies distribution, it seems unlikely that the entire black number block could escape Red dot modification. I therefore believe some non-6597 black Red dot bodies, at least those within 6591-6592 block, are authentic.