Olympus Pen FT Half Frame Camera
I got an Olympus Pen FT camera in January and have been able to shoot a few rolls through it. I think it's so cool. It's relatively rare, or I should say, mostly the lenses are. I am going to make a video about mine eventually, keep meaning to, but in the meantime, does anyone else out there own one? What other half-frame cameras are out there?
So it's definitely been a hot minute, but my mind has just been blown by the Mercury II recently, so I'm reviving this thread. For those who haven't heard of it, the Mercury II is a half frame camera from 1945 by the Universal Camera Company. It has a novel shutter design which allowed it to get up to 1/1000 of a second, theoretically making it the all-American rival to the Leicas and the Contaxes of the day. However, it very clearly was not. The shutter is a giant dial which spins around, allowing you to handhold at very slow speeds since the exposure neither starts nor ends at the beginning or the end of the motion of the shutter. People have reported that down to 1/15 can be handheld. The tradeoff is that that dial has to go somewhere, and it makes a giant hump on the top of the camera. I affectionately refer to my Merc as the "Dromedary Parking Meter"
This post isn't about the camera itself though, but more specifically about the lens. The lens is tiny, only about a quarter in diameter. It's a three-element "tricor" lens made by the Wollensak company out of New Jersey. Another name no one has ever really heard of. I always looked down on three element lenses, for no reason except that four-element planars and tessars were hailed as such great improvements. It has very round aperture blades, 9 of them I think, and ranges from f/2.7 to f/22. It's 35mm, which gives about a 50mm for half frame.
However, despite my hesitations, the results from this lens on film are SHARP. This is also shot on half frame, as well as down-res'd to upload.
But the reason why I'm newly astonished by this lens now is because I recently found an adapter that can adapt the Wollensak lens to my mirrorless Fujifilm camera. While it may possibly be the worst adapter ever which still manages to function (it's seriously bad), the results blew me away. This is a random shot from around my neighborhood:
As you can see from me zooming in to about 400%, this over-75-year-old lens is actually out resolving my 16mp sensor. What?! The coatings are definitely rather dated, and it does get a little bit of vintage highlight "bloom," especially wide open, but the details are still retained. The lens is also definitely sharper towards the center than it is in the corners wide open as well, but overall the image quality is quite astounding. You can see the texture of the siding of the house and every single shingle on that roof.
And let's not forget that this lens is the size of a literal quarter. Three pieces of glass the size of my thumbnail covers the entire image area and delivers tack sharp results. What are modern lens designers even doing? Keep up! You're getting whupped by a lens off of a parking meter!
It almost looks like a 110 lens in size. Fascinating, I like the images it takes. I've yet to play with a half frame camera. Do you find yourself having to take way longer to shoot the whole role of film? Or are you less aware since your room for margin of error is alot more vs say a roll of 120, and that you can shoot extra shots in case.
Any news on the upcoming video Snappy?
Quote from SpruceBruce on April 4, 2021, 5:01 pmIt almost looks like a 110 lens in size. Fascinating, I like the images it takes. I've yet to play with a half frame camera. Do you find yourself having to take way longer to shoot the whole role of film? Or are you less aware since your room for margin of error is alot more vs say a roll of 120, and that you can shoot extra shots in case.
Any news on the upcoming video Snappy?
I have yet to pick up any 110 lenses (though I want to adapt some one day, on a pentax q or something), but it does seem about that size. It's a really neat camera and system though.
I both shoot more images of a single subject to have some more ones to choose from, and also it takes a long time to get through a roll, haha. It does feel more light hearted than a traditional 35mm camera though. Less serious. More fun. But still an SLR and not a point and shoot.
I did eventually make a video, just forgot to update this post. https://youtu.be/cQgOZH7Neh8
Quote from SpruceBruce on April 4, 2021, 5:01 pmDo you find yourself having to take way longer to shoot the whole role of film? Or are you less aware since your room for margin of error is alot more vs say a roll of 120, and that you can shoot extra shots in case.
Hmm, To be honest, not really. It is sometimes frustrating to get through a roll, this camera gets 65 shots per 36 exp roll, and normally by the end I just want to develop it, and scanning 65 frames is an undertaking as well. But I don't feel like it changes how liberal or illiberal I am with my exposures. I also haven't really found myself taking diptych or triptychs, although I could see myself being more intentional with that in the future.
