Question/advice on possible Olympus Pen FT purchase

[DougK]

OK all, need some advice.

I've been looking for a Pen SLR for what seems like forever now (maybe I'm strange, but I really like half-frame. My Yashica Samurai is great but I'd like a little more control than this camera provides me). Adorama has two of them for sale in their used department. One of them comes with the 38/1.8 lens, is rated "E", and they're asking $324. The second has the 40/1.4 lens, is rated "E+" and they're asking $389.

My question is: can I trust these ratings as a true and accurate guide to their condition? I bought my Ricoh rangefinder from them and it was as advertised, but this is a little bigger investment so I want a somewhat higher confidence level before I plunk down the plastic on this camera. I emailed their sales department yesterday but haven't received a reply as yet. I'm also uncertain if these are fair prices or if they're on the high side.

Comments? Advice? Thanks to all who reply.

 

[d30gaijin]

Doug,

The prices from Adaroma, in my opinion, are a bit high. Oly Pen F and FT bodies seem to go at the upper $100 to low $200 range with a 38/1.8 lens on ebay. The 38/1.8 lens is a good lens but the 40/1.4 is defintiley worth the extra bucks to get.

I've got a first generation Pen F SLR with 25, 38, 40/1.4 and 100 lenses. The Pen F and FT are fine cameras with a unique rotary shutter that never seems to go bad. And the Oly lenses are simply fabulous.

Don't know if that helps, but I hope it does.

By the way, I'll sell you my complete Oly Pen outfit at a reasonable price, which includes an original fully functional, attaches to the camera/integrated, Oly Pen exposure meter (plus some other Oly Pen F goodies).

Best regards,

Don

 

[DougK]

Don, thanks for the reply. I have a Trip 35 and an XA; I think those might be the two best lenses I own, so I agree with your opinion on the glass. My feeling was that the price seemed high as well, definitely well towards the upper end range I was thinking about paying for a camera body with one lens. I'm quite tempted by your offer, I'd certainly be willing to discuss it via PM.

 

[Doug]

Wow, Don's package sounds really good, Doug K. What "other Oly Pen F goodies" do you have, Don? 😀

I expect that clip-on meter will take the same 1.35v mercury cells the Pen FT uses. The accessory meter is likely to be easier to use, as I think the FT meter is somewhat clumsy. A plus factor for Don's Pen F is a brighter viewfinder, as it seems the FT's TTL meter splits off some of the light that otherwise would brighten the focusing screen.

I've been using my dad's Pen FT with the 40mm and 50-90mm zoom. I found a 25mm f/2.8 (there's also an f/4 version) on eBay, and also picked up an M42 adaptor so I can fit my old Pentax lenses to it too. This is a fun little rig to use. I've been trying to make use of the smaller neg size with Tri-X to emphasize crisp grain... maybe some Rodinal would help.

Here's a shot with the 25mm on Kodak Portra 400VC...

 

[DougK]

Nice shot Doug, that's really sharp and fabulous color. What size was the print? I can imagine how good the original must look if it scanned that well. I can feel my hand sliding towards my checkbook as we speak. 🙂

Don, definitely PM me 🙂

 

[Doug]

Thanks Doug -- The image is a scan off the CD from the lab, no prints were made. In fact, the lab scanned the roll two half-frame images to a 3000 x 2000 scan, and I separated them out myself later.

I've also shot rolls of Tri-X, FP-4, and Pan-F with various lenses, all souped in Diafine, and I'm eager to scan them. Here's another from that same roll of 400VC...