Who likes Olympus Pen F half frame SLRs?

[chrism]

Here's a curious thing. The Pen-FV and the Pen-FT are on their way to Québec City where I hope they will meld into one solid body. The Pen-F I am using has shown that it has a kink. If I attach the 150mm/f4 lens, set it to closest focus, and set the shutter speed to 1/60, about one shot in five the mirror will flip up but nothing else happens. I have to take the lens off, move the mirror with a finger, at which point the shutter does its thing and wastes a frame of film. Does not happen at other shutter speeds, nor with the same lens set to infinity. Does not happen with any other lenses.

This has made me buy another Pen-F body and a Pen-FV body in case there is more unreliability in the future. They are currently cheap, so why not? Spent the day wandering around with a roll of Pan-F rated at 80 so I could develop it in Diafine. It's almost dry. Such fun to point an shoot at whatever came to mind. I love carefully setting up a medium or large format photo, but this is a different kind of fun. I'm having a ball!

 

[Ricoh]

You need to stop this GAS inducing stuff, Dr Chris.
As one does when bored, I’ve located an FV with 38/1.8, described as ‘near mint’ (no disrespect intended, but almost everything from a Japanese dealer is classed as A++++++ or mint/near mint). It’s on my watch list now and some sleeping to be done before I make a decision.

 

[chrism]

This might not help....

Putting my feet up.

Pen-F, 42mm/f1.2, Pan F, Diafine:

 

[chrism]

Wormy deadwood, Pen F, 42/1.2, Pan F @ 80, Diafine.

 

[largedrink]

Here are a couple more night shots using my Pen FT and 60mm 1.5, I can't recall the aperture but probably wide open.


Laneway by Hugh B, on Flickr


Squarehead by Hugh B, on Flickr

 

[chrism]

Winter gardeners, Pen F Pan F:

 

[Pál_K]

Winter gardeners, Pen F Pan F:

Excellent. The more I look at that, the more I like it. At first, it was just an appealing photo - the people in it. I also really liked the tonality from white to black (I rarely get that smoothness in gradation). Then… looking at it, it somehow seemed very familiar. You should call it “Canadian Gothic”.

 

[chrism]

Ha! I do have a large format photo up on Flickr called Canadian Gothic! Pan F is certainly a lovely film and one of the few I trust in half-frame cameras not to be all grit and grain.

I was also wondering about the next time I use it, perhaps getting some drawing pins/push pins and making an 'F' shape. "Pen F, Pan F, Pin F"

 

[largedrink]

Winter gardeners, Pen F Pan F:

I also like this. Which lens did you use for this shot?

 

[chrism]

42mm/f1.2. Probably ~f5.6 and 1/60 given afternoon light and film rated at 80.

 

[dourbalistar]

Ha! I do have a large format photo up on Flickr called Canadian Gothic! Pan F is certainly a lovely film and one of the few I trust in half-frame cameras not to be all grit and grain.

I was also wondering about the next time I use it, perhaps getting some drawing pins/push pins and making an 'F' shape. "Pen F, Pan F, Pin F"

Canadian Gothic taken with... a gothic Pen F? 😉

 

[chrism]

Freezing outside, but the orchids are still flowering indoors. Pan F again.

 

[zuiko85]

I seem to be in the minority in my preference for plain matte screens. The focusing aid, a micro-prism patch in the center of the FT and FV screens drive me crazy (a very short trip) and even in my OM-1 the only screen used for 4+ decades is the 1-10, plain matte with grid lines.
Your problem with wearing glasses and focusing is familiar to me but in September I finally got my cataract surgery and what a change! I can see to focus!
It seems that most cameras with fixed eyepieces (diopter not adjustable) have been set to one meter. I chose distance lenses for my eyes and only need readers, +2 or +2.5 for close up. But can see clearly from about 3 feet and beyond. It’s now a renewed joy to focus through my Pen F viewfinder without aid.
One little trick I used for years was that when I got new glasses I used a razor saw to cut out a small rectangle from the center of the lens in my old glasses and carefully cut it down to be a press fit into the F eyepiece. I beveled one corner so it could be pulled out with a tiny hook for cleaning. Of course then the correction was for my eye but I’m the only one to use the camera anyway.

 

[chrism]

You just gave me a good idea. Back when I had Leicas, I bought a couple of Walter eyepieces that corrected for astigmatism as well as myopia. These are polished to your prescription, and fit inside a ring in which they freely rotate with the bottom of the rotating lens weighted. That means the axis of the cylindrical correction for astigmatism stays right whether the camera is used the usual way or turned on its side. Fortunately I had bought the push-on kind, rather than the screw in. They fit loosely on the grooves of the Pen-F eyepiece (grooves that are there for the cold shoe attachment), but with some thin strips of paper and glue it fits quite well, and a dab of gorilla tape on top will keep it secure. It will have to be removed to open the back of the camera, for film changes, but the first roll will tell me if I'm wasting my time or not! Looks like I'd better clean that greasy thumbprint off the lens!

 

[chrism]

I can't quite explain it. I spend years trying to develop film with as little grain as possible. I have a freezer full of MF and LF film, and good 35mm, MF and LF cameras. I don't have to be doing this. And yet, here I am, reveling in half-frame tiny negatives of questionable quality and taken with little or no regard to expense. It's a bit like being Pecker in the little-known John Waters' movie with his stolen film and obsessional picture taking.

I just can't quite help myself. Probably something bad has happened neurologically, but until someone fixes it I shall enjoy it.

 

[chrism]

Trying out Kentmere 400 for the first time today (it's been in the freezer for over a decade, so I'd better see if it's any good). I'll expose at 640 just as if it were HP5+ and develop in Diafine. Then when everything goes to hell, I'll make some adjustments. Also, a new 50-90mm zoom to try out. Will need some humans to do that, which is a problem when under house arrest.

 

[Pál_K]

I can't quite explain it. … I don't have to be doing this. And yet, here I am, reveling in half-frame tiny negatives of questionable quality and taken with little or no regard to expense. …

It’s a liberating camera, isn’t it? Makes you feel like a little kid with a camera that just wants to make photos of everything. Nothing wrong with that.

That’s a nice gothic F. I wish Olympus had retained that on their later models.

 

[zuiko85]

Back in the day, early 70’s, when I wasn’t such a lazy bum, my twin Pen F’s never rested. Of course Tri-X was the only film I used and one Saturday at the formula V races went through an entire 100ft bulk roll. One body had the 38mm 1.8 and the other had a 135mm f2.8 Soligor T mount lens. The only developer I used was Diafine, which fit my lazy nature. But that was a very unusual day, normally I would have bought maybe one bulk roll a month. (Which was also feeding a Miranda D.)
Not a film purest and do like my other mirrorless, so cheap to experiment and all my Pen Zuiko’s fit and it also makes a dandy spot meter.
But sometimes it sure is nice to only have shutter-aperture-focus and no more.

 

[R_a_feldman]

Well, I went and "neutered" my pen FT, removing the meter and self timer and replacing the partially-silvered mirror with a full-silvered mirror. I posted pictures of the meter, out of the camera, on the revived Classic Camera Repair forum at https://kyp.hauslendale.com/classics/forum/messages/2/15109.html?1637223628, and pictures of the new mirror at https://kyp.hauslendale.com/classics/forum/messages/2/15119.html?1637188830.

Here are a picture of my camera without the top plate and another with the camera reassembled.

 

[splitimageview]

Well done! I've done that to a few FTs with dead meters. Luckily I was able to resurrect one meter out of the batch of several cameras.

Previously I measured the increased brightness at two stops, but that was referencing an FT mirror that was fairly deteriorated. It's probably more like 1 stop if the FT mirror is still in good condition.

Do you need some self timer parts? I may have some. Although it looks like you've removed a bunch of the internals.