Olympus Pen FT meter question

Huss · Jan 9, 2021

I just picked up a Pen FT in frankly gorgeous shape off a site called Bonanza. Never heard of it before.. (the site not the camera). I read about how these ones have dusty, mucky VFs but mine is clean as a whistle, so very happy.

What's my point? Oh yeah, the meter. I read the owner's manual but it does not mention how to turn the meter on or off. In my camera it seems the meter is on all the time, shutter cocked or uncocked. Is it one of those cameras where the meter only turns off if a lens cap is used?

wiltw · Jan 9, 2021

Way back in time, CdS meters powered by Mercury Oxide batteries did not necessarily need a power switch...you could easily use a single cell for a full year, since the meter circuit was the only thing consuming any electricity in a typical camera back in 1960.
I have a Beseler Auto 100, my first SLR purchased for me by my father, in 1965 as I was a teen on the high school newspaper photography staff...no power switch...I changed PX125 cells once a year, whether I needed to or not.

Huss · Jan 9, 2021

Thank you but that does not address whether this particular camera is meant to have its meter on all the time. Olympus Pen FT.

wiltw · Jan 9, 2021

Huss said:
Thank you but that does not address whether this particular camera is meant to have its meter on all the time. Olympus Pen FT.

But it does explain the fact that cameras of that vintage often did not have a switch.

Consulting the user manual (readily available on the web) shows no power switch.

Huss · Jan 9, 2021

Yeah, thanks. Some camera's meter systems are activated by either cocking the shutter, or by a half press of the shutter release. Or both.
They don't have an on/off switch per se.

removed account4 · Jan 9, 2021

Hey Huss
I have a ft and yes the meter is on all the time ...
Love mine . ( pen ft, not the meter, meter is pretty good too )
John

Steve@f8 · Jan 9, 2021

Yeah I have the FT and meter is always live. Lens cap on to conserve power.
The ‘fun’ bit is interpreting the meter reading. Some lenses have a numerical scale from 0 to 9 (in addition to the normal f stops, but 180 degrees displaced around the lens barrel) which helps. Having set the shutter speed you check the meter reading and if it reads 0 it means the lens should be set to full open aperture. On the other hand (for example) if it reads 5, it means close the aperture 5 stops from fully open. Dead easy.

Huss · Jan 10, 2021

Thanks for the replies! My Leica M5 has the meter always on, but only if you cock the shutter. It then behaves the same way as the FT according to your statements. Capping it turns the meter 'off'.

Just shot a roll through it and love it! It is so much fun to use and I intentionally shoot each frame as a diptych, so I don't feel that I am shooting 72 frames etc.

One more thing... did yours come with light seals? There is no sign of them in mine apart from on the door hinge. Not even left over residue or debris. The roll I shot had zero light leaks so I'm not sure if it is not meant to have them.
Thanks!

Olympus Pen FT, Zuiko 40mm 1.4, TriX, DF96 Monobath

Steve@f8 · Jan 10, 2021

Diptychs, triptychs and panotychs, yeah that’s the way to go.
Can’t check mine at the mo cos it’s loaded. But will when I can.
How did you get on metering in-camera?

Edit: I have the same lens as you, 40mm f1.4, cracking lens. Also worth looking at is the 70mm f2, another stunning piece of glass.

Huss · Jan 10, 2021

Steve@f8 said:
Diptychs, triptychs and panotychs, yeah that’s the way to go.
Can’t check mine at the mo cos it’s loaded. But will when I can.
How did you get on metering in-camera?

Edit: I have the same lens as you, 40mm f1.4, cracking lens. Also worth looking at is the 70mm f2, another stunning piece of glass.

The meter works but I have not checked it yet for accuracy. I Sunny F16 it as I do w pretty much every camera I use. But I will check it later out of curiosity! I’m assuming the 1.5v cell will Affect readings but I will compare w another meter to see how much by.

The lens is very sweet. The film spacing is perfect but the film advance is a little ‘crunchy’. As the spacing is perfect I assume that’s how they are? Not smooth like a Leica/Nikon etc

wiltw · Jan 10, 2021

Huss said:
The meter works but I have not checked it yet for accuracy. I Sunny F16 it as I do w pretty much every camera I use. But I will check it later out of curiosity! I’m assuming the 1.5v cell will Affect readings but I will compare w another meter to see how much by.

Just for reference...my OM1-n used 1.35V mercury batteries. While those could still be obtained, I did a test with mercury oxide vs. alkaline button cell, to try to characterize the degree of error, so I might compensate via ISO setting. What I discovered was the error was NON-LINEAR, it varied with the intensity of the light being metered!

My suggestion is the use of Wein air cells, or the use of a constant-voltage adapter like the MR-9, if your meter is compatable with PX-125 mercury cell.

Steve@f8 · Jan 10, 2021

Huss said:
The meter works but I have not checked it yet for accuracy. I Sunny F16 it as I do w pretty much every camera I use. But I will check it later out of curiosity! I’m assuming the 1.5v cell will Affect readings but I will compare w another meter to see how much by.

The lens is very sweet. The film spacing is perfect but the film advance is a little ‘crunchy’. As the spacing is perfect I assume that’s how they are? Not smooth like a Leica/Nikon etc

I think the crunchiness of the film winder is standard, mines the same and I think I’m on the verge of breaking something every time. Some if not all of the Gothic Pens had a double stroke advance, I read somewhere the designers thought it was too much on the mechanism to wind the film and cock the shutter in one sweep. They obviously changed their mind with the FT.

I always keep an eye on the film counter and when it gets to 70 or possibly 71, I call it a day and rewind. The first time I tested the camera with a sacrificial roll of film I tore the sprockets and had a problem rewinding. Since it was a test role I opened the back.

Steve@f8 · Jan 10, 2021

wiltw said:
Just for reference...my OM1-n used 1.35V mercury batteries. While those could still be obtained, I did a test with mercury oxide vs. alkaline button cell, to try to characterize the degree of error, so I might compensate via ISO setting. What I discovered was the error was NON-LINEAR, it varied with the intensity of the light being metered!

My suggestion is the use of Wein air cells, or the use of a constant-voltage adapter like the MR-9, if your meter is compatable with PX-125 mercury cell.

Yes I’ve tried the Wein cell and it lasted no more than a week or two. Once the air seal is removed it self discharges, there’s nothing practically to prevent it happening.

Huss · Jan 10, 2021

Any updates on light seals? Does your Pen FT have them?

Thanks!

Love this camera.

Quendil · Jan 11, 2021

Mine has light seals at the hinge end and also in the back channel but they probably should be in the body channel the same as OM cameras

Mr Flibble · Jan 12, 2021

There's a foam mirror bumpers and seals inside the reflex housing. These tend to degrade with age and parts of it start to migrate between the main prism and the ground glass.
Apart from that no other foam seals except at the hinge.

My FT doesn't have a working meter unfortunately, but it's still a fun camera. A roll of 135/36 takes up ages to fill up

Huss · Jan 12, 2021

Mr Flibble said:
There's a foam mirror bumpers and seals inside the reflex housing. These tend to degrade with age and parts of it start to migrate between the main prism and the ground glass.
Apart from that no other foam seals except at the hinge.

My FT doesn't have a working meter unfortunately, but it's still a fun camera. A roll of 135/36 takes up ages to fill up

Thank you. Yup it seems that way, as the only sign I see of foam is in the hinge, and other images online confirm that. There were no light leaks on the roll I shot.
This camera was found in an attic put away with others. It seems that somehow that managed to preserve it as the VF is clean and clear.

The meter responds to a battery/light but is way off using the standard 1.5 cell. I just did that to test to see if it was alive! I have ordered a 1.5->1.3 v adaptor from ebay from a Thai seller (supposedly better than the CrisCam one) so I will see..
I don't find it takes long to shoot a roll as I treat every image as a diptych at the very least. Therefore 36exp = 36exp! Once I get into panos with this puppy, that will also change.

p.s. treating the camera as a diptych maker results in zero loss of image quality vs a regular 35mm image.

Steve@f8 · Jan 12, 2021

It’s worth pointing out that when scanning two consecutive images to form a diptych the width of two half frames exceeds that of a standard 35mm single frame. I found it causes problems when using a Plustek, for instance, since the negative carrier and the scanner imaging internals are designed for the width of a standard single frame 35mm negative, so the diptych is cropped in width.

When using a digital camera for the same purpose I use a BEOON, and again the standard negative holder supplied with the copy stand has the same issues as described above. In the end I got myself a DigitalLISA from Lomography, and it’s doable if I play around with different lenses and extension tubes. Also helps if I use a crop sensor camera.

Huss · Jan 12, 2021

I'm using the Nikon ES-2 film copier, and treat a dyptch the same as a regular 35mm image. Copying with a digicam.

Steve@f8 · Jan 12, 2021

Huss said:
I'm using the Nikon ES-2 film copier, and treat a dyptch the same as a regular 35mm image. Copying with a digicam.

Good point. It could be a frame spacing issue so I’ll measure 2 x 1/2 frames and compare it with a standard 35mm width.
I noticed on one of the rolls I ran a while back the film wasn’t running equally spaced top and bottom, resulting in the image being closer to the sprockets at the bottom relative to the top. (I’m aware the optics invert, but that’s not strictly relevant here).

dourbalistar · Jan 12, 2021

Huss said:
Once I get into panos with this puppy, that will also change.

Those "pen-o-ramas" are great fun. Just make sure you pan and shoot in the correct direction, otherwise the photos will be all out of order when it comes time to scan. Ask me how I know. If your film cassette loads on the left and feeds to the spool on the right it is "left to right".

Huss · Jan 12, 2021

dourbalistar said:
Those "pen-o-ramas" are great fun. Just make sure you pan and shoot in the correct direction, otherwise the photos will be all out of order when it comes time to scan. Ask me how I know. If your film cassette loads on the left and feeds to the spool on the right it is "left to right".

I see what you are saying! But no issues, with the Pen the first shot is left, the next one to the right.

Huss · Jan 12, 2021

Steve@f8 said:
Good point. It could be a frame spacing issue so I’ll measure 2 x 1/2 frames and compare it with a standard 35mm width.
I noticed on one of the rolls I ran a while back the film wasn’t running equally spaced top and bottom, resulting in the image being closer to the sprockets at the bottom relative to the top. (I’m aware the optics invert, but that’s not strictly relevant here).

Yeah, I see frame spacing variances amongst a bunch of cameras I use. And some of the cheaper ones do a better job than the more expensive one!

Steve@f8 · Jan 12, 2021

Huss said:
I see what you are saying! But no issues, with the Pen the first shot is left, the next one to the right.

I like it. Given me food for thought, sort of a light bulb moment!

Huss · Jan 12, 2021

Ok, so I replaced the one door hinge seal, as it was all crumbly. Then loaded a roll of C200.
The Pen F series really are unique. In touch and handling they are the closest thing to a Leica M out there. More so than any of the other mfgs' RF cameras! This Pen feels more Leica than my Nikon S2 does!
It makes it so enjoyable to use; the low profile due to no prism continually surprises when you look through the viewfinder and realize it is an SLR!

Olympus Pen FT meter question

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