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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