Pen is mightier than the Sword *cough*

[kb244]

Well got another half-framer, probably the first one I looked at when I was seeking a half frame 35mm some time ago. My first half frame was an original Canon Demi. While that seemed nice it had a scratched up lens, and I did not particularly care how you could not have complete control over the aperture and shutter.

I acquired this original Olympus Pen today. The body is not in perfect shape, but the lens appears to be about perfect, and the shutter speeds seem to be accurate too. And I got 100% control over it. Its nothing special like a Pen EE or a Demi-S or Demi EE17 or anything like that, its just a simple no-nonsense camera with shutter and aperture setting, and a frame counter, almost nothing else (no meter, etc). Pretty much the way I would like it.

Here the shot I took of it today while at work.

I think this is the very first one, as I noticed the shutter is B, 25, 50, 100 and 200. I think the Pen S changed the shutters slightly to be more traditional (125, etc)

 

[Joe VanCleave]

Congrats!

I recently picked up an Olympus Pen D, with which I've shot a roll of Fujichrome; the results were dead-on, exposure wise, and the focus looks just fine. I was surprised that the selenium cell worked, given the reports of problems with older ones. Or perhaps the error in the meter is offset by error in the shutter. This is a fine little camera.

When I had the slide film processed I had it kept intact, as a film strip. That's because I have an old film strip projector, acquired from a local school auction. It's really neat being able to project these film strips from the Pen D up onto the wall. Now, I'll have to start making audio tapes with the "beep" tone, to automatically advance the filmstrip.

One problem I noticed with the Pen D is that the black foam that seals the camera bottom against the upper body is starting to shred. I gently opened it up and tapped it onto a white sheet of paper, with the result of numerous little black specks of foam falling out of the camera. I did have several frames with a slight light fog along one edge. So you may want to check the light seals in your camera, as well. I'll have to get mine replaced.

Have fun!

 

[kb244]

Yea they seem like they could use replacement (getting rather stiff) but not falling apart that I notice. But I'll run the one roll thru it that I have and see what comes of it, the way the back is design not sure it'll be a major problem or not (where as a swing back has more direct access to the film)