The FT3 was launched in 1977. The camera was basically identical to its predecessor, the FT2, except for the automatic maximum aperture indexing (AI) system for lens-body meter coupling. Due to the redirection of SLR user requirements towards more compact cameras (such as the Olympus OM1 and Pentax MX), the Nikkormat FT3 barely lasted for two years and retired from the Nikon list of products in 1979, to be replaced by the FM.