Olympus Pen F or FT?

OptiKen · Nov 27, 2015

I want to start shooting more so I'm going to get a half frame 35mm. I've pretty much settled on the Olympus Pen F series due to it's size and shape similarities to my Leica IIIf, so I thought I'd run a little poll.

Which Pen F and why? (comments appreciated)

If you would advise a different half frame 35mm, which and why?

Thanks for playing

Ken

Kirks518 · Nov 27, 2015

You really can't go wrong with either. The FT (as I'm sure you know) has an internal meter, but it still is manual control (ie., you still have to set the aperture on the lens, it doesn't do it for you). The F has a brighter viewfinder, but I have an FT, and the 'dimmer' VF in the Ft is fine. The only real advantage (IMO) the FT has over the F, is the FT is single stroke advance, whereas the F is double stroke.

So which one? If you absolutely need a built in meter, then you have no choice but the FT. If you're ok without the meter, get an F.

What I did, was picked up an FT with a non-working meter for pennies. It's basically an F with a dimmer VF, and single stroke advance.

removed account4 · Nov 27, 2015

i've never used any other besides an ft.
so i would recommend the camera that i use only because of that.
make sure if you get one, ( either one ) the self time isn't messed up
they usually have trouble.

Jeff Bradford · Nov 27, 2015

I have a Honeywell/Canon Dial. My experience with it leads me to recommend you go with either of the Olympus options.

TheToadMen · Nov 27, 2015

The light meter of my FT is a very nice bonus, easy to use and very accurate.

Bert from Holland
http://thetoadmen.blogspot.nl

John Koehrer · Nov 27, 2015

I used the original F shooting slides in the late 60's. Used the clip on meter they had.. Most(!) were keepers exposure wise.
There's another SLR model the FV but it's very scarce.

Of you want SLR the only option is Olympus, they also had several compact viewfinder cameras. Pen S, Pen W were two fully mechanical.
Canon also had the Demi a standard lever wind format. The Dial had a wind up advance.

Fixcinater · Nov 27, 2015

If you're ever in the SD area, you could stop by and take a look at my FV (solid mirror so supposedly has the brightest finder of them all) and 38/1.8 and 100/3.5.

Someonenameddavid · Nov 28, 2015

There was a half frame model Nikon FM, which is undoubtedly a collector's item, and the Yashica Samurai which is plastic fantastic and zoom lens only

thuggins · Nov 28, 2015

If you are shooting chromes, the ttl meter on the Pen FT is invaluable. Having all three cameras and after comparing the viewfinders, the oft repeated comment about the the viewfinder brightness is largely fiction; the F, FT and FV have similar viewfinders. The two stroke abvance on the F is a bit quirky and it does have a known issue with the mirror getting stuck open. The F doesn't have a self timer either, if that is important to you.

If you can find a good deal on an FT with a working meter that would be the way to go.

wblynch · Nov 30, 2015

I want a Pen F just to get the gothic "F"

MrBrowning · Nov 30, 2015

Someonenameddavid said:
There was a half frame model Nikon FM, which is undoubtedly a collector's item, and the Yashica Samurai which is plastic fantastic and zoom lens only

I have the Yashica you mentioned. It's a nice fully auto camera and great for when i want snapshots.

I've been seriously considering an F recently so I'll be interested in what people have to say.

thuggins · Nov 30, 2015

wblynch said:
I want a Pen F just to get the gothic "F"

That's the consolation prize for no self timer.

captnjak · Aug 23, 2022

Fixcinater said:
If you're ever in the SD area, you could stop by and take a look at my FV (solid mirror so supposedly has the brightest finder of them all) and 38/1.8 and 100/3.5.

Still in the area and still have the FV? Been looking to find an Olympus F series and curious if you still use it and/or willing to sell it?

Cholentpot · Aug 23, 2022

wblynch said:
I want a Pen F just to get the gothic "F"

thuggins said:
That's the consolation prize for no self timer.

This is the reason to get an F. It's for the gothic F. And no-one in their right mind uses old self timers, they're a weak link prone to failure.

r_a_feldman · Aug 23, 2022

Cholentpot said:
And no-one in their right mind uses old self timers, they're a weak link prone to failure.

When I removed the meter from my FT and replaced the semi-silvered mirror with a full-silvered mirror, I also removed the self timer. I kept having things catch on the self timer lever and did not use it, so it was to my advantage to remove it.

Huss · Aug 23, 2022

Ok, so revisit this thread in another 7 years?

Cholentpot · Aug 23, 2022

Huss said:
Ok, so revisit this thread in another 7 years?

Zombie threads. My favorite kind.

MattKing · Aug 24, 2022

Cholentpot said:
no-one in their right mind uses

This could be a really good topic for a thread on Photrio

brbo · Aug 24, 2022

r_a_feldman said:
When I removed the meter from my FT and replaced the semi-silvered mirror with a full-silvered mirror, I also removed the self timer. I kept having things catch on the self timer lever and did not use it, so it was to my advantage to remove it.

I also plan to replace the semi-silvered mirror from my FT. Any surprises there? I will first try to replace the semi-silvered mirror like for like to see if a new semi-silvered mirror can improve brightness up to the point where I can use my 20/3.5 lens. But will most likely just remove the meter and install full-silvered meter in the end...

Roger Cole · Aug 24, 2022

I don't have much use for an internal meter, and even less use if I WERE shooting chromes, which call for careful metering with a real meter, not a 50 year old CdS one that might work a bit, maybe, built into a camera. I have even less use for a self timer.

I'll probably get an F, or an FT that's been converted to an FB.

brbo · Aug 24, 2022

I don't use meter in Pen FT, but since this is a slightly more rare black paint version I'm thinking maybe I should leave it as it was meant to be.

But I also have Pen F so I can see that FT is definitely not just "very slightly" dimmer. Mine is more than a stop less bright than my F.

Cholentpot · Aug 24, 2022

MattKing said:
This could be a really good topic for a thread on Photrio

Let the fur fly.

r_a_feldman · Aug 24, 2022

brbo said:
I also plan to replace the semi-silvered mirror from my FT. Any surprises there? I will first try to replace the semi-silvered mirror like for like to see if a new semi-silvered mirror can improve brightness up to the point where I can use my 20/3.5 lens. But will most likely just remove the meter and install full-silvered meter in the end...

Replacing the mirror with a semi-silvered one is not that easy. First, the mirror is not silvered over the entire surface (see https://kyp.hauslendale.com/classics/forum/messages/2/15109.html?1637223628 for pictures of the meter/mirror from my FT). Second, if you do not get the same transparency to the new semi-silvered mirror as the original one, you will need to adjust the resistors in the meter circuit to account for the different amount of light reaching the meter cells. See https://kyp.hauslendale.com/classics/forum/messages/2/27572.html?1375803072 for a discussion of the circuit and resister values.

For pictures of my replacement mirror, see https://kyp.hauslendale.com/classics/forum/messages/2/15119.html?1637188830

brbo · Aug 24, 2022

Thanks @r_a_feldman!

Should be helpful when I get to it (waiting for the semi and full-mirror to arrive). I think that the semi-silvered mirror I ordered doesn't have the clear parts so the meter needle will be a bit darker for sure. Also, good point about the meter adjustment for the new semi-silvered mirror. Might just skip the semi-silvered mirror idea and go straight to fully silvered one.

wblynch · Aug 26, 2022

Huss said:
Ok, so revisit this thread in another 7 years?

Olympus Pen F or FT?