Olympus Pen FT - lenses

[cmo]

Someone offered me an FT, and I could not resist though it needs a CLA...

Which are the lenses and accessories for the half-frame SLR that you can recommend?

 

[Removed Account2]

Anything you can find from Olympus in reasonable good shape for the Pen F SLR will be top notch, it was among the absolute top 3 camera systems back before 1970.

I have 3 lenses for mine : a medium zoom, normal and a short tele, of these I value the short tele the most for its absolute biting sharpness (which can be said for the other two also, but the short tele is very handy).

I miss a decent wide and need to go hunting I think.

My only gripe is that the lenses, in order to be very compact (design feature of the entire system), has limited f-stops, but modern 35mm film, which has more than double the ISO for a given grain size and sharpness range, has more or less fixed that, its easy to get good results with the system.

I documented an old, and nearly forgotten graveyard this spring, and it was an eyeopener, going on and on on a single roll, 72 images is a LOT with conventional film photography.

I scan my negatives, back in the day it was a fortune to have the film developed and printed!

Erik

 

[cmo]

By the way...

I still remember that when it was new the Pen F and FT were relatively CHEAP cameras, and the lenses were not expensive either.

Today many dealers, especially on ebay, just try to get away with absurd prices. Descriptions contain "great condition" but come with some extras: "as is", "some haze", "minor scratches in the glass that will not effect results", "tiny amount of fungus". Big time for con artists. Ebay seems to be the number one ripoff arena for defective Pen F/FT gear. I hope the Pen hype is over soon...

 

[John Hermanson]

Being able to handle lenses before buying is preferred. Almost every pen lens I see has oil on the diaphragm blades and needs the focus helicoids completely degreased and relubed. John