The Olympus Flex A- TLR Reveal!
Those of you around this board know that I've been shooting with a low key secret TLR for the last few months, and I finally got around to doing a review.
This is the Olympus Flex A, which is a TLR produced by Olympus starting in 1955. The thing that initially attracted me the most about this camera is its f/2.8 75mm lens. At the time, the only 2.8 TLRs I was aware of were Mamiya C's, which are a larger and heavier design, and Rolleiflexes, which are prohibitively expensive. So when showed up on Ebay for about $100, I decided to take a gamble on it, and boy did it pay off.
The camera is exceptionally well built, with a premium quality finish. The focus adjustment and film winder are the smoothest I've ever held. The original screen was a bit dim in the corners, but after replacing it with an Oleson screen, that 2.8 viewing lens is clearly visible in all lighting situations. The shutter speeds range from 1 second to 1/400, with a bulb setting as well. With a light meter slapped on the side, it's a quick and easy package to slip in a bag or put over my shoulder.
The lens itself walks a lovely balance between delivering punchy sharpness and retaining a lot of character. The first Olympus Flex TLR's copied Rollei's 6-element lens design, but the Olympus Flex A (which confusingly came after the B) has a four element design. The only thing that researching the lens yielded is that the D. Zuiko design is similar to a Tessar lens design. In any event, it vignettes a little wide open, background bokeh gets a little swirly, corners aren't super sharp until around f/5.6, and I love it. The coating also gives a superb color rendition and isn't prone to flaring.
Here's a quick video with some sample images, if you're interested!
Quote from Justin Tung on September 11, 2021, 7:14 pmThose of you around this board know that I've been shooting with a low key secret TLR for the last few months, and I finally got around to doing a review.
This is the Olympus Flex A, which is a TLR produced by Olympus starting in 1955. The thing that initially attracted me the most about this camera is its f/2.8 75mm lens. At the time, the only 2.8 TLRs I was aware of were Mamiya C's, which are a larger and heavier design, and Rolleiflexes, which are prohibitively expensive. So when showed up on Ebay for about $100, I decided to take a gamble on it, and boy did it pay off.
The camera is exceptionally well built, with a premium quality finish. The focus adjustment and film winder are the smoothest I've ever held. The original screen was a bit dim in the corners, but after replacing it with an Oleson screen, that 2.8 viewing lens is clearly visible in all lighting situations. The shutter speeds range from 1 second to 1/400, with a bulb setting as well. With a light meter slapped on the side, it's a quick and easy package to slip in a bag or put over my shoulder.
The lens sitself walks a lovely balance between delivering punchy sharpness and retaining a lot of character. The first Olympus Flex TLR's copied Rollei's 6-element lens design, but the Olympus Flex A (which confusingly came after the B) has a four element design. The only thing that researching the lens yielded is that the D. Zuiko design is similar to a Tessar lens design. In any event, it vignettes a little wide open, background bokeh gets a little swirly, corners aren't super sharp until around f/5.6, and I love it. The coating also gives a superb color rendition and isn't prone to flaring.
Here's a quick video with some sample images, if you're interested!
I didn't even know that Olympus made a TLR, it's kinda refreshing to see new content outside of the Mamiya C330/Rolleicord/Yashica 124G crowd. Great find, and video, funny enough it's nearly identical to my Yashica LM design and layout. Even the film loading process, the focusing and advanced knob, except your shutter button is placed below the viewing lens like you pointed out in the video. I've found the only way I can run an ND filter setup was a bayonet to 52mm threaded step up ring adapter, without having to drop a small fortune on the super rare hoods/filters left out there.
Quote from SpruceBruce on September 11, 2021, 7:53 pmQuote from Justin Tung on September 11, 2021, 7:14 pmThose of you around this board know that I've been shooting with a low key secret TLR for the last few months, and I finally got around to doing a review.
This is the Olympus Flex A, which is a TLR produced by Olympus starting in 1955. The thing that initially attracted me the most about this camera is its f/2.8 75mm lens. At the time, the only 2.8 TLRs I was aware of were Mamiya C's, which are a larger and heavier design, and Rolleiflexes, which are prohibitively expensive. So when showed up on Ebay for about $100, I decided to take a gamble on it, and boy did it pay off.
The camera is exceptionally well built, with a premium quality finish. The focus adjustment and film winder are the smoothest I've ever held. The original screen was a bit dim in the corners, but after replacing it with an Oleson screen, that 2.8 viewing lens is clearly visible in all lighting situations. The shutter speeds range from 1 second to 1/400, with a bulb setting as well. With a light meter slapped on the side, it's a quick and easy package to slip in a bag or put over my shoulder.
The lens sitself walks a lovely balance between delivering punchy sharpness and retaining a lot of character. The first Olympus Flex TLR's copied Rollei's 6-element lens design, but the Olympus Flex A (which confusingly came after the B) has a four element design. The only thing that researching the lens yielded is that the D. Zuiko design is similar to a Tessar lens design. In any event, it vignettes a little wide open, background bokeh gets a little swirly, corners aren't super sharp until around f/5.6, and I love it. The coating also gives a superb color rendition and isn't prone to flaring.
Here's a quick video with some sample images, if you're interested!
I didn't even know that Olympus made a TLR, it's kinda refreshing to see new content outside of the Mamiya C330/Rolleicord/Yashica 124G crowd. Great find, and video, funny enough it's nearly identical to my Yashica LM design and layout. Even the film loading process, the focusing and advanced knob, except your shutter button is placed below the viewing lens like you pointed out in the video. I've found the only way I can run an ND filter setup was a bayonet to 52mm threaded step up ring adapter, without having to drop a small fortune on the super rare hoods/filters left out there.
Yeah, I've seen some Bay II to 39mm adapters, but they're like 25$ on the fleabay, which isn't expensive, but it's not super cheap either. I'm surprised yours adapts you to 52mm though! I would feel like one of those mounted on the taking lens might obscure the viewing lens?
Quote from Justin Tung on September 11, 2021, 9:58 pmQuote from SpruceBruce on September 11, 2021, 7:53 pmQuote from Justin Tung on September 11, 2021, 7:14 pmThose of you around this board know that I've been shooting with a low key secret TLR for the last few months, and I finally got around to doing a review.
This is the Olympus Flex A, which is a TLR produced by Olympus starting in 1955. The thing that initially attracted me the most about this camera is its f/2.8 75mm lens. At the time, the only 2.8 TLRs I was aware of were Mamiya C's, which are a larger and heavier design, and Rolleiflexes, which are prohibitively expensive. So when showed up on Ebay for about $100, I decided to take a gamble on it, and boy did it pay off.
The camera is exceptionally well built, with a premium quality finish. The focus adjustment and film winder are the smoothest I've ever held. The original screen was a bit dim in the corners, but after replacing it with an Oleson screen, that 2.8 viewing lens is clearly visible in all lighting situations. The shutter speeds range from 1 second to 1/400, with a bulb setting as well. With a light meter slapped on the side, it's a quick and easy package to slip in a bag or put over my shoulder.
The lens sitself walks a lovely balance between delivering punchy sharpness and retaining a lot of character. The first Olympus Flex TLR's copied Rollei's 6-element lens design, but the Olympus Flex A (which confusingly came after the B) has a four element design. The only thing that researching the lens yielded is that the D. Zuiko design is similar to a Tessar lens design. In any event, it vignettes a little wide open, background bokeh gets a little swirly, corners aren't super sharp until around f/5.6, and I love it. The coating also gives a superb color rendition and isn't prone to flaring.
Here's a quick video with some sample images, if you're interested!
I didn't even know that Olympus made a TLR, it's kinda refreshing to see new content outside of the Mamiya C330/Rolleicord/Yashica 124G crowd. Great find, and video, funny enough it's nearly identical to my Yashica LM design and layout. Even the film loading process, the focusing and advanced knob, except your shutter button is placed below the viewing lens like you pointed out in the video. I've found the only way I can run an ND filter setup was a bayonet to 52mm threaded step up ring adapter, without having to drop a small fortune on the super rare hoods/filters left out there.
Yeah, I've seen some Bay II to 39mm adapters, but they're like 25$ on the fleabay, which isn't expensive, but it's not super cheap either. I'm surprised yours adapts you to 52mm though! I would feel like one of those mounted on the taking lens might obscure the viewing lens?
Nope not at all, I'll have to send you a pic of it when I get home, I'm stuck flying VIP customers as a flight mechanic til next Thursday for work unfortunately.
