Olympus Pen D2, a game of zone focus roulette

#1 · July 21, 2021, 11:59 pm

Inspired by Jame's Olympus Pen F video, I was instantly drawn to the coolness and concept of half frame photography. I decided to take up the Olympus Pen D2 for my introduction to the format. I was attracted by the compact form and the fast 32mm F1.9 lens. Most importantly, the camera doesn't need a functioning light meter to operate. This was also my first experience into owning and shooting a rangefinder,with the difficult task of zone focusing.

I found the controls very pleasant and design tactile. The shutter speeds topped out at a 1/500th of a sec, which is very fast for a camera of the early 60s. Both the aperture and shutter rings were declicked and smooth. The daunting task of zone focusing wasn't too bad either, if I was nervous about depth of field, I stopped down to F7.1-11 alot. It seemed to work, I'd say I got about 65-70% of my shots in focus.

The ultimate fun, was unrolling my uncut roll of 24 exp Kodak 200 Gold fresh from the lab, and seeing all the negatives. The biggest downfall of half frame, scanning and prints, it's gonna take a while so crank up an audiobook or podcast.

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#2 · July 22, 2021, 12:53 am

What a brilliant looking camera in that bright orange! I really like the 60s aesthetic. Great subject matter for the shots. I have yet to shoot a rangefinder. Closest I got was my xpro1 and turning off the EVF overlay 🙂 So not very close.

And yes seeing the half-frame film developed is very fun. I developed my own rolls, cut and scanned them. Good idea about the audiobook 😉

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Happy snappin' 🙂

#3 · July 22, 2021, 1:12 am

Quote from Snappy on July 22, 2021, 12:53 am

What a brilliant looking camera in that bright orange! I really like the 60s aesthetic. Great subject matter for the shots. I have yet to shoot a rangefinder. Closest I got was my xpro1 and turning off the EVF overlay So not very close.

And yes seeing the half-frame film developed is very fun. I developed my own rolls, cut and scanned them. Good idea about the audiobook

I may or may not have mainly bought this D2 for that orange leatherette lol, so I’d like to invoke my 5th amendment rights. I got it from a camera shop in Tokyo, they had all kinds of funky colored reskinned SLR’s and Rangefinders!

It feels really good in the palm of your hand too. And it has the same shutter button as your Pen F, I forgot to mention. I recall you raving about it 😉 I’m now curious about using a rangefinder with a focusing plane to see how it feels to me.