Who likes Olympus Pen F half frame SLRs?

One nice advantage of putting together a collection of Pen F lenses is that with an adapter, they work perfectly on the Nikon Zfc camera, as its sensor is almost exactly half-frame. Been having a lot of fun with them on the digital body.

Best,
-Tim
 
Give me the grain……… just loaded my F with Kodak 3200. The only problem I have is that it shoots so long that I don’t realize I am at the end of the roll and the advance has enough torque that it will rip the film ( never had any other camera do this)
 
I recently returned to Pen modality some years after selling my first FT kit, which included a 25 4.0, 40 1.4, and 50-90 3.5. I enjoyed composing diptychs, and have missed working with that way of seeing.

Here’s my FT with the 38 1.8, and the chimney finder I kept from the old kit. Still working on the first roll!
IMG_4699.jpeg
 
Lens has arrived and is waiting for me at home - a nice Christmas present for myself with its very fast DHL delivery to the US from Japan. Hopefully everything works out. I think my first roll will be Kentmere 400, for ease of development with Kodak TMAX developer.
 
I've been doing my best to get through a roll of Kentmere 400 in my Pen F. However, something I noticed at first, the mirror was getting stuck open with the lens that they had on it in the shop, a 38mm f1.8 with sticky aperture blades. I rarely found it to do this after purchasing and having around in the house, whether without a lens, or with the 38/1.8 that I bought for it. I figured it would be good to exercise the shutter/mirror quite a bit considering the age of the camera. Got through more than half a roll (so... 40 exposures or so!) without this happening. However, yesterday I took the camera for a walk in damp, 40-something degrees (f) weather, and the mirror stuck on me four or five times.

I am wondering if the colder weather exacerbated the issue, with old, dry lubricant or the like. I'll have to do a bit of research to find the best way to gently tackle the issue without doing anything major (my analogue repair endeavors have a spotty success rate, I'd rather save up and have someone work on it if the issue is serious).
 
I finally developed my first roll and began scanning yesterday. It will take another hour or two of scanning to get through all of it. I haven't brought any of the scans into Lightroom for editing yet, but I have noticed that the majority of my guesstimated exposures are fairly "on."

I do think cold weather makes the sticky mirror worse. I tested it again once I had emptied the camera of film by placing it on the balcony for a couple of hours in cold weather. Sure enough, every shot stuck, until the camera had warmed up again. I think this means there is dried-out lubricant which stiffens in the cold. I will try to find more information, but may try a small amount of lighter fluid in the gears under the bottom plate if I see any dried lubricant that could possibly be cleaned out.
 
agentlossing said:
I finally developed my first roll and began scanning yesterday. It will take another hour or two of scanning to get through all of it. I haven't brought any of the scans into Lightroom for editing yet, but I have noticed that the majority of my guesstimated exposures are fairly "on."

I do think cold weather makes the sticky mirror worse. I tested it again once I had emptied the camera of film by placing it on the balcony for a couple of hours in cold weather. Sure enough, every shot stuck, until the camera had warmed up again. I think this means there is dried-out lubricant which stiffens in the cold. I will try to find more information, but may try a small amount of lighter fluid in the gears under the bottom plate if I see any dried lubricant that could possibly be cleaned out.
Click to expand...
I have two Bronica S2 cameras; one has had a CLA, and the other hasn't. Guess which one never goes outside once the temperature gets below freezing? Vastly different cameras, but the same problem!
 
Retro-Grouch said:
I have two Bronica S2 cameras; one has had a CLA, and the other hasn't. Guess which one never goes outside once the temperature gets below freezing? Vastly different cameras, but the same problem!
Click to expand...
This Pen F is doing it above freezing, which is more of an issue; low-mid 40s F seems to do it.
 
agentlossing said:
I've been doing my best to get through a roll of Kentmere 400 in my Pen F. However, something I noticed at first, the mirror was getting stuck open with the lens that they had on it in the shop, a 38mm f1.8 with sticky aperture blades. I rarely found it to do this after purchasing and having around in the house, whether without a lens, or with the 38/1.8 that I bought for it. I figured it would be good to exercise the shutter/mirror quite a bit considering the age of the camera. Got through more than half a roll (so... 40 exposures or so!) without this happening. However, yesterday I took the camera for a walk in damp, 40-something degrees (f) weather, and the mirror stuck on me four or five times.

I am wondering if the colder weather exacerbated the issue, with old, dry lubricant or the like. I'll have to do a bit of research to find the best way to gently tackle the issue without doing anything major (my analogue repair endeavors have a spotty success rate, I'd rather save up and have someone work on it if the issue is serious).
Click to expand...
I don't know if it is related but if the 38mm f/1.8 lens on my Pen F is completely tight and locked, the mirror will jam. It works fine if I rotate (loosen) the lens about 3/8 to 1/2 an inch and doesn't affect focus at all (see reply #165 for the latest example.) I know it needs work but this has kept it going nicely for about 3 years now.
 
Ilford XP2 @ 200 is an excellent choice for half frame.

Another you could try is T-Max 100 @ 32 and pull development 1.5
 
I think only shot one roll of film in my Pen last year. I haven't been going on walks as much since the pandemic is over. Such a great camera to walk around with and not worry about wasting film.

2024-030-22a.jpg
 
Here is an accidental diptych I printed a while back. I don't really do the diptych thing but I saw this on the roll and was printing so I just chucked it in the enlarger. I messed around with double exposures in other cameras the last few years just to do something different. Maybe I should try the diptych thing for giggles.

2024-030-00_ps_cc_01.jpg
 
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