Olympus Pen F or FT?

ciniframe · Aug 28, 2022

I’m with the ‘remove the self timer‘ (put in little baggie) school. Was able to buy an FV to go with my F, and, like r_a_feldman removed the whole self timer. It makes for a much sleeker camera and the lever always seemed to be catching on my clothing. If the rare need arises for a self timer I have a couple of external ones that attach like a cable release.

wblynch · Aug 28, 2022

I have one FT where the film advance is stuck and the shutter won’t fire. I think it might be self timer related. How do you remove it?

r_a_feldman · Aug 28, 2022

wblynch said:
I have one FT where the film advance is stuck and the shutter won’t fire. I think it might be self timer related. How do you remove it?

There are good instructions for disassembling the FT at https://www.olypedia.de/index.php?title=DEMO_an_PEN_FT. It is in German, but Google Translate does a good enough job. Just watch out for the left-handed threads holding the lever on.

Also, one of the machine screws in the lens mount (at about 1 o’clock looking at the camera from the front) is also used to hold the self timer mechanism. You will need an 00-80 nut to hold the machine screw in place after removing the self timer. One source is your local hobby shop (one brand to look for is “Hob-bits”).

wblynch · Aug 29, 2022

thanks !

xkaes · Sep 5, 2022

I have two FT Pens. I would have preferred the FV -- for the brighter viewfinder -- but they are more expensive, and since I only use full-frame lenses (Minolta mount, M42 mount, and T-mount), which are usually relatively fast, focusing is no problem. My Vivitar (Kino) 24mm f2.0 is my "normal" lens.

Cholentpot · Sep 5, 2022

xkaes said:
I have two FT Pens. I would have preferred the FV -- for the brighter viewfinder -- but they are more expensive, and since I only use full-frame lenses (Minolta mount, M42 mount, and T-mount), which are usually relatively fast, focusing is no problem. My Vivitar (Kino) 24mm f2.0 is my "normal" lens.

What kind of adapter do you use?

xkaes · Sep 5, 2022

My main adapter is an Olympus Minolta to Pen F adapter. Most genuine ones are hard to find and expensive, but apparently others made some adapters for some lenses, like Tamron Adaptall, and Sigma YS maybe?
And they are not difficult to make -- all you need is a PEN F camera mount and the camera mount for the lenses you have in mind, and a little bit of extension in between.

Cholentpot · Sep 5, 2022

xkaes said:
My main adapter is an Olympus Minolta to Pen F adapter. Most genuine ones are hard to find and expensive, but apparently others made some adapters for some lenses, like Tamron Adaptall, and Sigma YS maybe?
And they are not difficult to make -- all you need is a PEN F camera mount and the camera mount for the lenses you have in mind, and a little bit of extension in between.

Thanks

Olympus Pen F or FT?