Olympus Pen FT or Canon Demi EE17 For 35mm Half Frame?

[4season]

They don't last very long, them zinc cells from what I understand.

Zinc-air batteries have a pretty good shelf life as long as the oxygen-tight seal is intact. You can reseal a battery by taping over the vent holes with tape when not in use.

 

[Roger Cole]

They don't last very long, them zinc cells from what I understand.

The ones made for hearing aids, a few weeks to months, but they are very, very cheap with a simple metal adapter. The Wein cell is proprietary, with fewer air holes, and lasts far longer. I've used one Wein cell for over a year. At less than $7 from Amazon (in the US, granted) that's not bad at all. I have a voltage regulating adapter on the way from Japan to just start using silver-oxide batteries, which long term will be even cheaper.

I never let the fact that something that originally used Mercury cells stop me from buying it. I've had very good luck with the Wein cells and aspersions cast on them aside, the cost is not bad at all for me.

 

[Cholentpot]

The ones made for hearing aids, a few weeks to months, but they are very, very cheap with a simple metal adapter. The Wein cell is proprietary, with fewer air holes, and lasts far longer. I've used one Wein cell for over a year. At less than $7 from Amazon (in the US, granted) that's not bad at all. I have a voltage regulating adapter on the way from Japan to just start using silver-oxide batteries, which long term will be even cheaper.

I never let the fact that something that originally used Mercury cells stop me from buying it. I've had very good luck with the Wein cells and aspersions cast on them aside, the cost is not bad at all for me.

I have one of those adapters, never really did the job for me. YMMV with these things. I just went with metering by eye and gave up on adaption.

 

[ant!]

I can find 60 hearing aid batteries size 675 for 23 CAD on amazon Canada (powerone brand, made in Germany. These are quite good, I worked a bit with hearing aids and these got always recommended.)

That's so cheap, I wouldn't care to need a few. With my usage, I think the adapter + silver-oxid might be more expensive, Weincells even more...

 

[Roger Cole]

I have one of those adapters, never really did the job for me. YMMV with these things. I just went with metering by eye and gave up on adaption.

I have no need, and am far too critical (some - ok, a lot of friends - would say persnickity) to rely on guesswork. I can't speak about the adapter until I get it, but I'm pretty happy with Wein cells and, for that matter, have handheld meters that use modern batteries. I've always carried my Luna Pro SBC with my Yashicamat 124 for example, even though my Yashica meter does actually work. I use a spot meter for large format. The closest I come to guess work is to set a manual camera for prevailing conditions so I can shoot without additional metering as long as lighting is pretty consistent or "add a stop because that's kind of shady" which I suppose is "by eye" but it's always based on starting with a meter reading for me. As you say, YMMV. If the adapter doesn't work, I'm actually happy with the Wein cells.

You do have to be careful though. The "diode" adapter I found on Amazon had reviews saying, and photos to confirm, that it was really just a piece of metal falsely advertised. The Kanto adapters from Japan appear to be the real deal.

A $7 battery that usually lasts me at least a year is fine though. When I tried to post the link it didn't work for some reason, but Weincell at $6.98 with free Prime shipping from Amazon.

 

[Cholentpot]

I have no need, and am far too critical (some - ok, a lot of friends - would say persnickity) to rely on guesswork. I can't speak about the adapter until I get it, but I'm pretty happy with Wein cells and, for that matter, have handheld meters that use modern batteries. I've always carried my Luna Pro SBC with my Yashicamat 124 for example, even though my Yashica meter does actually work. I use a spot meter for large format. The closest I come to guess work is to set a manual camera for prevailing conditions so I can shoot without additional metering as long as lighting is pretty consistent or "add a stop because that's kind of shady" which I suppose is "by eye" but it's always based on starting with a meter reading for me. As you say, YMMV. If the adapter doesn't work, I'm actually happy with the Wein cells.

You do have to be careful though. The "diode" adapter I found on Amazon had reviews saying, and photos to confirm, that it was really just a piece of metal falsely advertised. The Kanto adapters from Japan appear to be the real deal.

A $7 battery that usually lasts me at least a year is fine though. When I tried to post the link it didn't work for some reason, but Weincell at $6.98 with free Prime shipping from Amazon.

I've learned to get over being picky and stop trusting the meter for most conditions. It's more of a guideline for me than a ruler.

 

[braxus]

I got my camera yesterday and it looks pretty good to me. No battery in mine, so for now I'll just use my external light meter. The front lens cap which is the stock Pen FT cap, won't stay on with the 43mm filter on the lens. This camera is pretty tiny compared to many of my other 35mm units, but its still not as small as my Canon Sureshot 35mm. But in comparison the Olympus has a better lens and is more robustly built, where as the Canon is plastic cheapness. Only thing the Canon has going for it (other then being fullframe), is the zoom option and autofocus with auto light meter. I loaded a roll in the Pen FT and I'll take it to the local air show this weekend. Maybe do a video of it too.

 

[gone]

lens seem very clean, so maybe a shutter problem or maybe hood should be used, but that would negate the idea of using a small camera

I use those $6 slotted metal hoods on all my cameras because they're not very big. All of the lens hoods, in general, are unnecessarily big in my opinion, especially w/ a filter on the lens. Even these slotted ones protrude more than is necessary.

One day I may take a hacksaw to it, but it looks OK on my tiny Pentax MV . Without it, my lens would be all beat up. When I get on my eBike, the camera usually swings on the shoulder strap into the metal rear basket.

 

[braxus]

I just purchased a Demi 17 off Ebay. It was only 59 bucks US with shipping included. I took a risk as they couldn't test it without a battery. So if it doesn't work, its not a great loss, because the price was low. It was around 80 bucks total with exchange. These normally sell for 200+ Canadian with shipping on top. I'll see how this little camera compares to my Pen FT I already have. I can always resell it too if I dont want to keep it, as I do have a spare battery for this camera I can test it with.

 

[ant!]

I just purchased a Demi 17 off Ebay. It was only 59 bucks US with shipping included. I took a risk as they couldn't test it without a battery.

If it doesn't work with a battery, you can still use it without full manual! I got mine even cheaper, I think around 40CAD. Still have to change some light seals, but everything works fine. I like that it shows the focus distance (through icons) in the viewfinder.
I had bought at the same time as the Demi EE17 a Pen EED, which looks more boring, shows nothing in the viewfinder and didn't work without battery...

 

[M-88]

I had bought at the same time as the Demi EE17 a Pen EED, which looks more boring, shows nothing in the viewfinder and didn't work without battery...

Pen D/D2/D3 works without the battery and looks less boring. D3 even has a f/1.7 lens like Demi EE17. Although much like EED, it shows nothing in the viewfinder.

 

[braxus]

I got my Demi EE17 today. It was sold as "for parts or repair" because they didn't know how to test it. Well it turns out the thing doesn't work, so the gamble I took didn't pay off this time. The shutter seems stuck open partially, and I can't get the winder knob to actually wind. Its stuck too. So it looks like this camera will need a CLA after all. No big deal, as I still have my FT camera for half frame use. Is there something I can check before I eventually send it off for repair?

 

[jnk]

I shot a wedding with a pen ft and the couple was still very happy. eugene smith used one, thats good enough for me
if you are worried about the batteries or a cla John hermonsonn works on them and does exquisite work. the F model needs no batteries

 

[braxus]

if you are worried about the batteries or a cla John hermonsonn works on them and does exquisite work.

I did a quick check on his name, but came up with nothing. Do you have a contact info for John?

 

[MattKing]

I'm not sure that John Hermanson is still accepting most of the Olympus half frame cameras.
He can be found at zuiko.com - and yes his website hasn't been updated for years.
It has been a while since I dealt with him - I'd reach out by email first.

 

[braxus]

Guys. I dont need repairs on my Olympus. Its the Canon Demi EE17 that needs repair.

 

[MattKing]

Oops - I was confused.

 

[Huss]

I got my Demi EE17 today. It was sold as "for parts or repair" because they didn't know how to test it. Well it turns out the thing doesn't work, so the gamble I took didn't pay off this time. The shutter seems stuck open partially, and I can't get the winder knob to actually wind. Its stuck too. So it looks like this camera will need a CLA after all. No big deal, as I still have my FT camera for half frame use. Is there something I can check before I eventually send it off for repair?

That's the risk with buying cameras "for parts or repair" because they "don't know how to test". It's the same thing when the seller says he doesn't have a battery to test when all it takes is a 1.5V button cell available everywhere.
Then again, sometimes you do get lucky!

You call always sell it on and look for one that does work.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

It is probably jammed because the shutter won't cycle. They are pretty easy to take apart (I think , but it has been a while). Mine was spotty when I got it. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it stuck. I ended up stripping and and cleaning out the shutter. Wasn't very difficult. Works perfect now. I think the lens on the Canon EE17 is better than the Olympus 38mm I have on my Pen FT. Could be sample variation though. Never know. It is a shame they didn't put a rangefinder in the EE17. That would have made it an incredible camera.