This consists of an internal 60/40 percent centerweighted, silicon photodiode light meter linked to a center-the-LED exposure control system using vertically arranged +/•/– light emitting diodes (LEDs) on the left side of the viewfinder to indicate the readings of the meter versus the actual camera settings.

Nikon's Vibration Reduction (VR) image stabilization system, available on some newer lenses since 2000, does not function on the FM10.

Other famous name SLR cameras that were built around the CT-1 chassis include the Canon T60, Nikon FE10, Olympus OM2000, Ricoh KR-5 Super II and Yashica FX-3.

This chassis is also used, in heavily reworked form, as the basis for the Rollei 35RF, Zeiss Ikon and Cosina's own Voigtländer branded Bessa R series of 35 mm film rangefinder (RF) cameras as well as the unique Epson R-D1 digital rangefinder camera in magnesium alloy.

Despite the emergence of an increasingly prosperous middle-class in these countries, their income had not yet reached Western standards, so even the cheapest Nikons were generally beyond their means.

The FM10's deliberately limited features and use of relatively dated technology were intended to keep production costs- and therefore price- as low as possible for these markets.

[citation needed] However, the FM10 has been criticised by some for perceived low quality, attributed to its targeting of the brand-conscious nouveau riche in developing countries.

It is claimed that the FM10 was intended for those who desired affordable ownership of a famous brand name, regardless of the actual quality of the camera itself.

[citation needed] In January 2006, Nikon announced that they were discontinuing the majority of their film-based camera bodies.