Fantastically Fun Olympus Pen FT Half-Frame Film Camera in 2020
If you have never shot with a half-frame camera before, just imagine a film body that is 3/4 the size and weight, has a portrait view finder, and gets you over 70 shots per roll. It's sort of like that. Just better.
The Olympus Pen FT is a unique camera in an already unique subsection of 35mm film cameras. While not exhaustive, have a look at this list of other some other cool half-frame cameras and tell me if you spot the big difference. While most half-frame cameras were doubling down on the size advantage by choosing a fixed lens, the Olympus Pen system was a full fledged interchangeable lens system. There were some others that accepted different lenses, perhaps most notably the ultra rare Leica 72, but not thought out as an entire system that Olympus intended to build.
Also worth mentioning is it's unique SLR mirror system, ultra cool styling, and it's own exposure number system used on the lenses and light meter. See my video for more explanation and visuals on that.
Okay, that's about as much history as I can take. It's actually pretty interesting, but I would point you to someone else who has already done a fantastic write-up and send some traffic their way to support them.
Using the camera is an absolute dream. It handles well from the weight and balance to the satisfyingly springy rectangular shutter button. The viewfinder is small which makes focusing a bit difficult, but 38mm lens I was using was good quality and when I nailed focus it looked great.
Speaking of the lens, I should point out that if you are considering chasing this camera you should know the lenses are decently difficult to find. And when you aren't scratching your head on where to find them, you're paying big bucks when you finally do spot one. For example, the amazing sounding F.Zuiko 70mm F2 could fetch close to $1k USD, and that super cool pancake E.Zuiko 38mm F2.8 will be over $500. So, if you ever come across a Pen F system with lenses at a garage sale, pay them whatever they want and come out with a healthy retirement. That being said, the 38mm F1.8 kit lens that I bought for mine can be had for under $100 and is plenty fun as-is.
Watching the film counter go up past 36, past 50, past 70, can be really exciting. As a relatively new film photographer it helped me let loose a little bit and start shooting film as if I could afford it. It felt more like a point and shoot camera than most 35mm point and shoot cameras do for that reason. Just watch out that labs may charge a little extra fee for scanning negatives that are not mainstream, like half-frames, as this will reduce your economic advantage. But if you develop and scan at home, or just have the lab develop and you can at home, then the cost savings are real.
Sure, there is technically a loss in resolution of a final scan, or enlargement if you're doing that still, but as to the point made by digital photographers justifying a 16mp sensor in 2020 (as if it really needs justifying), are you really blowing up all your pictures that big? Aren't you just sharing them on social media anyway?
In this way, this 1960's camera was made just perfectly for Instagram. But in all seriousness, the family and life documenter would find this camera delightful and practical. The compact size does make a difference when you are carrying it around places. The option to change lenses could be something you want over a point and shoot. It sure looks better than most point and shoot cameras anyway. And the ability to shoot loads of shots per roll could give you longer sessions without flipping a roll, in addition to the cost savings.
So there you have it, my take on the Olympus Pen FT after one roll. It's fantastically fun, beautiful to look at, and best of all it takes good pictures. Who'da thought.
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Nice!
This is the Mercury II guy whose comment you replied on btw haha, and I was wondering what you think about the purpose of film, and half frame specifically.
It seems like a lot of film shooters these days are doing it because of "embracing the accidents" or an appreciation of the process in a way which includes the imperfections. So I'm talking about stuff like color shifts, grain, light leaks, etc. The things that distinguish it from digital shots. The epitome of this, from my perception, is the Lomography movement, where low resolution, grainy, often technically out of focus or under/over exposed images are desired for their artistic and procedural value. For a lot of people who participate in making these images, it seems like having so much be out of the control of the photographer means the photographer is freed from having to worry about things like picking a white balance or slight color fringing in the corners.
No more do I feel like this is the situation than with half-frame cameras. It feels like half-frame camera makers have sort of given up on making fully featured cameras. With the exception of the Oly Pen F's and a few other very rare cameras like the Leica 72, they all seem to be viewfinder cameras either with fixed focus or scale focus. Many of them are also restricted to automatic exposure. This could be explained by saying that half-frame cameras necessarily needed to be cheap. If the person buying it is shooting half frame to save money, the market would probably favor lower cost cameras as well. But in doing that, manufacturers, and to some extent, the market seems to be saying that not having full control over those features is okay. And I wonder if this is for the same reasons that the lo-fi lomography people say that not having full control is okay.
Is this because these photos from these feature-lacking cameras is "good enough," i.e. the quality of these pictures, while not ideal, are sufficient to capture a moment, document an experience, etc whatever purpose the photographer sought it for? Or is there something specifically desirable about having less control, and knowing that the camera will not yield the best results? That is to say, is there something inherently desirable about things like grain, or missed exposure, missed focus, light leaks, etc.
I'm super interested to hear your thoughts.
Quote from Justin Tung on December 11, 2020, 10:31 pmIs this because these photos from these feature-lacking cameras is "good enough," i.e. the quality of these pictures, while not ideal, are sufficient to capture a moment, document an experience, etc whatever purpose the photographer sought it for? Or is there something specifically desirable about having less control, and knowing that the camera will not yield the best results? That is to say, is there something inherently desirable about things like grain, or missed exposure, missed focus, light leaks, etc.
I'm super interested to hear your thoughts.
I get confused about some of these film crazes myself. I shot film as a kid because it was all we had, and it wasn't on a nice camera just cheap point and shoots. I got my first film SLR five or so years ago after several years of digital SLR photography. For myself, I wanted to experience what so many photographers before me had to experience with subjecting to full manual controls but without the immediate feedback of an image. That process has been insightful and rewarding.
Last year I tried a Pentax ME, which has an AUTO mode that is essentially aperture priority. You could choose a +2/-2 compensation, but that was it. The camera did the work for you. I decided it wasn't as fun and went back to full manual film.
The point of all that was just to say that I embrace the imperfect side of film as far as not being able to review images in real-time and adjust compensation/exposure, etc. I think that gives some of my family documentary stuff an especially nice authenticity to it. It's also more enjoyable to practice what you think you know, and then just give it up and not obsess about it. Finally, I do like the aesthetic of film. I think just because of the nostalgia of the look.
I personally don't get the automatic point and shoot film cameras nowadays. I sorta get the instax resurgence, just because having something instant and physical is a unique experience in and of itself. If I want to just shoot and not have to think about exposure/focus, then I opt digital. Maybe it's a cost thing. I'm too cheap to spend film costs on anything but that full manual experience that I really enjoy. That isn't to say that anyone who likes automatic modes or point and shoot film cameras is wrong, I am just talking about myself personally. Whatever gets you the results you want and a smile on your face 🙂
I think I sort of understand the film P&S craze to be honest. So much limitation is imparted when someone shoots film as opposed to digital that the creative constraints make the shooting experience very different. You don't have to worry about shooting a P&S under most circumstances because doing so doesn't matter. The camera will force the shot to be taken in a certain way. While someone like you or I may feel anxious about these limitations, there's something also liberating about only needing to frame and pull the trigger. Surrender of the process is also often correlated to surrender of the end result, and people are happy with photos which don't per se look like professional film shots. I think it's a combination of the desirability of the process as well as the end product.
Generally though, I'm with you. If I'm going to take the time, trouble, and expense to shoot film, then I want as much control as I can reasonably have. Then it becomes a fun test- I can't see what DoF looks like in this viewfinder, so I have to use my experience and skill. I can't see a histogram of this exposure, so I have to make sure that my settings are correct. Getting the shot that I want is a challenge, and that's a part of the fun as well!
