Olympus Pen F viewfinders.

[Jbennett68]

I keep looking for a bargain Pen F. I notice a lot of the ones that show a pic through the viewfinder look bad to horrible. Is there some common problem I'm unaware of? Looked at one on eBay last night that was almost totally obscured. Seller described it as "dirty" but it looked 80% obscured. Worst I've seen but a lot of them look bad.

 

[CameraQuest]

that is just the particular cameras you looked it.

The Pen F and FV finders are brighter than the FT due to the FT's meter design.
Improve the FT's meter by removing the battery! Then you don't have to deal with it.

 

[jbielikowski]

that's why they were a bargain. those viewfinders have a tendency to degrage due to 1. desilvering 2. lightseals detoriation 3. dirt.

Pen FV have a nicest one, same brightness as Pen F but with added microprism. sometimes you can also find Pen FT "upgraded" twith FV mirror to match their brightness at a cost of loosing the lightmeter.

 

[Shafovaloff1]

Just get something like the Pen EE S.....

 

[splitimageview]

that's why they were a bargain. those viewfinders have a tendency to degrage due to 1. desilvering 2. lightseals detoriation 3. dirt.

Pen FV have a nicest one, same brightness as Pen F but with added microprism. sometimes you can also find Pen FT "upgraded" twith FV mirror to match their brightness at a cost of loosing the lightmeter.

Yes. I've pulled dead meters out of many FTs, and almost as many have greatly deteriorated mirrors. That said, many FT meters are non-working but are not dead...many just have bad solder joints at the battery compartment or where the lead attaches to the meter circuit board.

New first surface mirrors are available on ebay for about $15 with shipping, this will turn an FT into an FV with a brighter view.

 

[R_a_feldman]

Yes, the half-silvered mirrors in the FT do degrade. The late Peter Dechert (in the publication linked to in the first sticky topic in this section) recommended replacing the half silvered mirror with a full-silvered one, turning an FT into an FV.

I replaced the mirror and removed the meter and self timer in my FT. There are pictures at Topics - The Classic Camera Repair Forum (the meter and mirror) and Topics - The Classic Camera Repair Forum (the parts I fabricated and the camera after the work).

 

[Jbennett68]

I never find anything worth a darn in the wild but today I scored this great condition Pen FT in the box with the case, accessory shoe,40mm lens, and a new PX13 Mercury battery that still works. Viewfinder is super clean and meter is super responsive.View attachment 4860979

 

[splitimageview]

first thing to do is remove the accy shoe. 🙂 Otherwise the eyepiece frame will likely break.

 

[Jbennett68]

first thing to do is remove the accy shoe. 🙂 Otherwise the eyepiece frame will likely break.

Already off.

 

[Jbennett68]

I wonder how useful the exposure value system is? I think I understand how to use it but don't understand how values impact depth of field. Anyone know? I guess I can rotate the ring to f stops and use a meter or sunny 16.

 

[Muggins]

I wonder how useful the exposure value system is? I think I understand how to use it but don't understand how values impact depth of field. Anyone know? I guess I can rotate the ring to f stops and use a meter or sunny 16.

As I understand it (so probably a gross oversimplification) EV simply ensures equal exposure whatever shutter speed you use - handy for the snapshots. But you are going to have to work out your DoF yourself. This is why some people, presumably those for whom DoF matters, get very agitated about the EV system, I know Roger Hicks referred to it as "poisonous".

 

[splitimageview]

The Pen FT exposure numbers (what Olympus calls "thru the lens numbers" in the manual) are not really EV, strictly speaking. EV is a combination of aperture and shutter speed, whereas the Pen FT exposure numbers refer to just aperture.

 

[Jbennett68]

This is definitely one of my favorite film cameras. Small, quiet, well built. Plus I don't feel like I've spent a dollar every time I release the shutter.