Fast lenses for the pen - why do you have them?

[flip]

I've been putting toether a Pen kit. Right now, I have a 38/1.8 and a 25/4 for my FV. I shoot a lot at night wih my RF's. However, the focussing on the Pen seems so inadequate for night work or shallow dof (unless up close) that I put in 400 and use it until evening at most.

Does anyone use the 42/1.2 or 60/1.5 for night shooting? Or is the bokeh that good? [I have yet to find examples of the oof rendering, so I assumed it's not a claim to fame.]

Help me understand the niche for these lenses in the Pen system.

Thanks!
Phil

 

[historicist]

I never had the 1.2, only the 40 1.4, but the viewfinder is so dim on the Pen FT that fast lenses are useful even if you don't need the speed. I certainly found the 1.4 much better than the 1.8 in this regard even though in general on SLRs I am happy using slower lenses.

 

[Doug]

Hi Phil -- Putting together a Pen kit can be fun, and also frustrating due to the collector influence on pricing.

As to fast lenses, I feel pinched between the lens speed and the 1/500 max shutter speed. In bright daylight with ISO 400 film, I have virtually no exposure choice; it's 1/500 and f/13 or so. For more flexibility on settings I tend to prefer slower films. Then lens speed becomes a limitation for indoor and evening shots. Fortunately the Pen is has very little vibration, and even wide open there's often adequate DoF.

My only fast lenses are the 40mm f/1.4 and the 70mm f/2, ignoring my 38mm and maybe including the faster 25mm (f/2.8). The 42mm and 60mm are expensive when found so I don't have them. Collectors... 🙁 But I don't hesitate to use my Pen lenses wide open or nearly so, and even with medium speed film low light shots are surpringly doable. Have fun!

 

[tabo]

I have:

• 25mm f/2.8
• 25mm f/4
• 38mm f/2.8
• 38mm f/3.5 macro
• 40mm f/1.4
• 100mm f/3.5

And the one that gets the most use? The 25mm f/2.8. Definitely worth seeking out if you can find it. I find the 38s are a little tight to use as a normal lens.

The macro is also excellent, even as a slightly slow normal lens, but you'll pay a LOT for it.

 

[splitimageview]

My favorite is the Macro and the 40/1.4. In daylight the Macro at f/3.5 still makes for adequate viewfinder brightness. The 40/1.4 is a great lens with excellent bokeh, I don't feel the need to spend additional on the 42 or the 60 (although I've used the 60 before and it's also excellent.)

I replaced the mirror on my FT with a first surface mirror, this brightens the view by nearly two stops. The semi-silvered mirrors in the FT tend to degrade after 40+ years, and comparing a new first surface mirror to a degraded FT mirror is more like 3 or 4 stops...of course, this means the meter is useless, but my FT meter didn't work anyway so I pulled it out.

38/3.5 Macro, Velvia:

 

[Todd.Hanz]

I have the 40/1.4, it came on the camera when I bought it, works for me...

Todd

 

[Sonnar2]

Why fast lenses for the PEN F series?
Because it's an SLR and a bright viewing screen helps a lot.
Even more, the half frame image is more enlarged at the eyepiece (the virtual size of the finder image is about the same of a full format SLR). That means, it is darker! Additionally, the Porroprism system of a Pen F series camera reflects the image 3x (compared to the 2x of a Pentaprism). Again, the image gets darker. When considering the one half-reflecting mirror of the Pen FT (light meter) or the age of the cameras (detoriation of mirror silvering and stuff) it gets darker even more.

A 60/1.5 for the PEN F is lighter in weight and size than a 85/2 or 85/2.8 for a full format SLR, so why not use it?

In any case, photog. or collectors don't need a "reason" why to look for fast lenses. They "need" them because they are there, period. 😉

60/1.5 (color not corrected after scanning; the lens comes out a little bit "cold" in imaging)