Olympus PEN EE-3

[Chinasaur]

Just got one from frontman. I find myself taking pictures with it and actually going "hehe hehe.." . It's just that cool 🙂

I haven't gotten my first roll back yet so I don't know how I'm doing...but I was wondering...

How many people fall so in love with this type of camera that they shoot it exclusively? Gotta be a few here and there.. It's just so darned cute and palmable and basic.

 

[02Pilot]

I have a similar EES-2. I enjoy shooting with it, at least now that I've solved the sticking aperture and shutter issues I was having, but I'm not sure I can see shooting it exclusively. I'm too much of a control freak, I think, to give up control over the exposure all the time. That said, there are times when point-and-shoot is perfect; I bought the PEN specifically to carry when I ride my bikes, and it makes it easy for me to just pull the camera out and shoot quickly.

Now, if I could find a good PEN D (or Canon Demi), I might be tempted to use it more than I use the EES-2. Of course, I just got a Rollei 35, so....

 

[shadowfox]

Yeah, giggling when using a Pen.
I've been there 🙂

They are cute but high quality.
All I kept is my Pen FT. I let the others go a few years back.

 

[Chinasaur]

I got the first roll back. Took me a bit to get used to the exposure, but by the end of the roll, I had it dialed.

Problem: Fred Meyer, while very good with everything else C-41, butchered the half-frame roll. The scan is a bit "forked" as they say. Any advice to the techs about how to set their Fuji machine for the auto-scan of half-frame?

TIA!

 

[Dana B.]

The Fuji will process half frame, but most "techs" don't know how. The ones at Costco can be set at 135H. The machine will scan and print each photo seperately, with very good results.

That said, I've grown to detest cheap labs, and am not even a big fan of C-41.

I recommend having the film developed normally, then put on CD, or scanned (with much better results) at home. Then use PShop or a free program such as Google's Picasa to make a separate file for each half-frame image.

 

[Chinasaur]

Dana

I think it was careless processing. I mentioned the chop job to the manager yesterday when I dropped off some rolls and she said she would start the half frame first. Picked them up and all were captured correctly..so I think the tech forgot and didn't load/align correctly to start with.

And the operators, although knowledgeable and competent, aren't allowed to change settings on their machine. But I'll keep the setting under my hat in case one of them wants to try.

Thanks!

 

[Chinasaur]

And the quality of this little camera continues to amaze me... Very good with low light.

 

[PatrickT]

I have a similar EES-2. I enjoy shooting with it, at least now that I've solved the sticking aperture and shutter issues I was having, but I'm not sure I can see shooting it exclusively. I'm too much of a control freak, I think, to give up control over the exposure all the time. That said, there are times when point-and-shoot is perfect; I bought the PEN specifically to carry when I ride my bikes, and it makes it easy for me to just pull the camera out and shoot quickly.

Now, if I could find a good PEN D (or Canon Demi), I might be tempted to use it more than I use the EES-2. Of course, I just got a Rollei 35, so....

Not to sidetrack this thread but...

Someone just gave me a beautiful, absolutely mint Pen EES-2. Only problem is...I believe the aperture is sticking. Would you mind telling me how you fixed yours?

I can't wait to shoot with this thing. I can already see what you guys mean when you say you giggle every time you take a photo. Just holding the camera makes me happy! 😛

 

[02Pilot]

I take no credit for figuring it out. The instructions I followed are here: http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/penees2repair.html

I will note, however, that I had to dig into it several times, first to deal with the aperture, then to address an intermittently sticky shutter. I strongly suggest you do both at the same time, and apply powered graphite to both; mine required it to work reliably.

The biggest issue is making sure you get the outer lens element dialed in correctly. I took several measurements as well as screwing the element all the way in before removing it, noting the sweep in degrees that it was from fully locked down. The author of the article above prefers the former method; I did both, but I think the latter is more useful. Regardless, that's the biggest issue. Everything else is quite simple really. Some tiny screwdrivers and snap ring pliers (easier than having a bunch of spanners) are all you'll need, aside from consumables.

While you're in there, locate the internal needle from the meter (look just below the viewfinder) and make sure it's moving as you point the selenium cell at different light sources. If not, your options are pretty limited, as you'll be stuck manually adjusting the aperture to deal with the default 1/40 shutter speed.

Further ruminations can be found here: http://filmosaur.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/meet-the-camera-olympus-pen-ees-2/

 

[PatrickT]

I take no credit for figuring it out. The instructions I followed are here: http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/penees2repair.html

I will note, however, that I had to dig into it several times, first to deal with the aperture, then to address an intermittently sticky shutter. I strongly suggest you do both at the same time, and apply powered graphite to both; mine required it to work reliably.

The biggest issue is making sure you get the outer lens element dialed in correctly. I took several measurements as well as screwing the element all the way in before removing it, noting the sweep in degrees that it was from fully locked down. The author of the article above prefers the former method; I did both, but I think the latter is more useful. Regardless, that's the biggest issue. Everything else is quite simple really. Some tiny screwdrivers and snap ring pliers (easier than having a bunch of spanners) are all you'll need, aside from consumables.

While you're in there, locate the internal needle from the meter (look just below the viewfinder) and make sure it's moving as you point the selenium cell at different light sources. If not, your options are pretty limited, as you'll be stuck manually adjusting the aperture to deal with the default 1/40 shutter speed.

Further ruminations can be found here: http://filmosaur.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/meet-the-camera-olympus-pen-ees-2/

Thanks, much appreciated!

 

[ZeissFan]

When shooting half frame, I always asked for the film to be processed only, no prints and returned uncut. Then I scan myself.

 

[Chinasaur]

I got my first true B&W rolls back today from Pandalabs in Seattle.

They scanned each half frame separately... very nice work 🙂