Against this backdrop, the FM2 may have seemed an anachronism, yet it sold well. It was a reliable, durable mechanical camera in a time of ever-increasing electronic automation, and often, less durable construction. The FM2 was not designed for budget-minded snapshooters who would never bother to learn to use shutter-speeds and aperture settings, but rather was intended to appeal to serious photographers who demanded a tough, rugged camera. Nippon Kogaku believed that advanced photographers were not interested in every possible automated bell and whistle, but rather in high quality and precision worksmanship.