I’ve owned the Olympus Pen FT for years now but have only ran a few rolls through it. I just haven’t found the patience for double the amount of frames at half the resolution. However, on a family outing earlier this year, I decided to bring it along for snaps because I figured with the price of film, those half frames may not be such a bad idea.
Just a disclaimer, this won’t be a review of the camera. That will come. I want to spend much more time with it before that. This is just a roll I want to share along with my thoughts of using this camera so far.
Dyptics with the Pen FT
I originally wanted the Pen F with that beautiful gothic F scrawled across the front of the camera, but at the time it was much more expensive and very hard to find. Therefore, I own the Pen FT paired with the Zuiko 38mm f1.8 lens, which is a great combo.
The meter is reliable enough and the lens makes up for what the camera lacks. I shot these on Ilford HP5 400 pushed to 800 back in April 2024. We were sitting outside on an overcast day playing with Lainey, and having so many frames made it fun to be able to just snap.
One thing that I found hard to get used to was the constant portrait mode my eye had to be in. I am not used to that at all and I found it cut a lot out of the photo, especially when sitting close with the 38mm lens. It would be equivalent to a 55mm lens on a 35mm camera.
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Art or Just Missed Focus?
Kelsey and I love to go to dinner and then walk over to Barnes and Noble. That is our fun place and our safe place at Barnes and Noble. So of course we now continue this tradition with Lainey. We went to eat first at Outback Steakhouse and I brought my Pen FT in with us. It was very dark inside because the only lighting was from these little lamps over the tables and a couple can lights.
The problem with the lighting wasn’t so much in the film not handling it, I like how it did, but the problem I had was not being able to see. I guess I am getting old, but I had issues focusing as you can see from the photo above. However I really like it. You can tell that it is a cowboy, and I like that you can see that I was peeking over the partition of our table.
Final Thoughts
After a fun time at dinner where Lainey made us laugh like she always does, we went over to our favorite place to look at books and chase her around the kids section. Again I struggled to focus. I think it’s something I just need to get used to.
I tend to use my tiny Ricoh 500 G for family outings when I want something small for snapshots, but this may be another great option, especially since I can change out the lens on it unlike the Ricoh.
This is a great camera. It’s small, easy to use, and the glass is great if you can get the focus right, unlike me. I am definitely looking forward to using this camera more and sharing my final review with you all.
What about you? How do you feel about half frame and having double the frames on a roll to get through? Let me know in the comments.
Until next time, stay motivated and keep shooting.
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I love this, and there’s no way you could not have fun taking pictures with your adorable daughter, as the subject! Preserving her expressive faces and obvious joie de vivre should help boost your spirits no matter what camera and film you use, although, as always, it’s really cool to see what these more interesting cameras can do. I hope this helps you get through all your discomfort, and that you’re fully up and about soon.
Thank you very much
Half frame systems were very popular in the 1950’s and 60’s and still have some popularity today. Of course in the 50’s and 60’s you could buy 24 exposure rolls and 48 is a little easier to deal with than 72. There is someone out there that is making 18 exposure rolls or is it 22 or you could bulk load your own and make them any size you wanted.
I have a Pen FT but the meter is broken and was actually removed when the camera was CLA’d. I use a small Sekonic meter or Sunny 16 and have gotten decent results. At 72 and wearing trifocals I do have some issues focusing and many times I will just zone focus and hope for the best. Set to about 10 feet at f11 with ISO 400 and it works pretty well.
I bought a PenFT with a f1.8 38mm std lens on my way to Australia in singapore,since I was poor I took on weddings to supplement my income,I found it pays to be a little OCD about the taking and later processing of the photos. I used mostly Ilford film 125ASA and processed it rated200ASA ,in Neofin Blue diluted and added to filtered water and later again filtered using a buchner funnel ashless filter paper and a venturi pump,using a Paterson tank,later drying the film in a dust free ,negative ioniser enhanced room.Printing with a nikkor enlarging lens and a dust free bathroom that doubled as my dark room.Fortunately the Vinson enlarger had a half frame carrier,I produced quite good and acceptable 8×10″ prints and used to handover the negs to the married couple who then found that the usual print outlets did not produce the same quality ,I produced.Of corse Ihad the advantage of needing to reload half as often and so had a full representation of the wedding.I used to slip a bob or two to the sextant and provide a very powerful bulb,when the preist insisted on a ‘no flash’ policy.