I bought a cheap Pen F with 38mm 1.8 a few months back and loved it so much I now own 4 of them! I was lucky enough to pick up an original Olympus adapter for Pentax m42 screw mount lenses and feel absolutely no desire to track down the rare and expensive Pen F 60mm 1.5 when I can just use a wonderfully inexpensive Takumar 50mm 1.4 with similar results. Amazing portrait lens on the Pen F!

One of only two halframes (and I believe still cameras in all) with a rotary shutter. Far simpler, quieter and more reliable than other focal plane shutters. This is definitely the version to get. The gothic F alone is reason enough.

@dangerpowers123

5 жыл бұрын

Absolutely

Hey there and THANK YOU 🙏🏼 how refreshing to see a KZread video that is truly about someone sharing their knowledge about their passion for something without ego, and I don’t know what an earlier comment about your talking being slow was on about, perfect delivery imho 👍 As another reviewer here has said I come from this the other way around and am just awaiting the arrival of the 38mm pen F standard to adapt to my full frame mirror less, which I know isn’t going to give full coverage but frankly I don’t really mind as it’s all in the eye of the beholder in my book and I suspect it’ll be very interesting. But like you I also have a passion fir vintage glass and have many older lenses such as Nikor and Takumar that I’m now wondering about seeing if I can pick up one of the Pen F bodies to play with. Anyway, huge thumbs up and all power to your elbow.

@henrysteadman963

3 жыл бұрын

btw, worth pointing out to others that the 38mm f1.8s that often came as the kit lens with these sounds like a really nice sharp little optic and can be found pretty cheaply. That said, the others in the system are as you rightly suggested rarer and VERY expensive fir what they are. Thanks again :)

I've done this the other way round, ie I use all my old Pen lenses on a Fujifilm X-E1. Excellent match as the APS-c sensor is roughly the same size as 35mm half-frame. Also the flange to sensor distance is only about 1cm difference so the adaptors are quite slim.

@dangerpowers123

4 жыл бұрын

Oh great idea, I have a pen F lens I'll have to get this. Thanks for sharing

I've just bought one of these and had it CLAed along with the 38mm f1.8 it came with its a dream to snap with I've currently got some Fomapan 200 loaded.

I had one and sold it So mad at myself Now I'm on the search for one Thanks for your review Regards, Rick

@dangerpowers123

5 жыл бұрын

No worries. Good luck I hope you get one

I've recently bought an FT, and got the same adaptor off a guy who thought he was buying an EOS to MFT. I already have adaptors for my Nikon and M42. Its great. I have a 19-35 and a 28-200 Cosina lens. Perfect on this camera, covers everything.

@dangerpowers123

4 жыл бұрын

Brilliant 👍🏻

Great stuff, really enjoyed this.

@dangerpowers123

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you 👍🏻👍🏻

Heya Steve 👋 Firstly great review. Helped me know about the cold show adapter which I will be very careful using. I’m use to my chunky handheld light meters. Which one do you recommend that keeps this Olympus compact? I’ve seen your Leica meter review but will that fit on? Any advice would be much appreciated.

That's what I had as my very first SLR back in the '70's.

I'm trying to find the exact same solution to use my Nikon lens on my Pen F, but I'm finding it difficult to identify to precise adaptor set-up you use here.What would I sesrch on Ebay? Also when it comes to using an external light meter it's not as simple as dialling in aperture & speed & iso is it? as the distance from aperture to film plane is not the same as when you have on of the original Pen F fitted to the camera.Any help appreciated.

that Pen F-eos-60s Nikkor setup is badass! :)

@dangerpowers123

4 жыл бұрын

I call it my franken camera ha ha. But man the Nikon glass is great on it

Any photo examples with the adapted lenses by chance?

Where can I see some of the images with the Nikon adapter?

Do the adapters allow you to focus to infinity?

I’m late to this video but any experience shooting slide film on the F?

How is the viewfinder and brightness with the Pen F alone + with the nikkor lenses? I'm looking at a similar setup! Do you still shoot this? :)

Are the PenF (digital) and the PenF (half frame) use the same lens mount?

I bought the same adapter but for a M42 lens. I can't focus to infinity, has anyone had the same issue?

I have a gothic F and want to adapt as well. Thanks for making this video. One question, how do you set the aperture when adapting the lens as you do in this video?

@jamesal6138

2 жыл бұрын

With the aperature ring on the lens, adapting lenses onto the pen F is no different to adapting lenses onto a digital in that regard

I have a Pen EE, a Belomo Agat 18K and a Belomo Chaika 2, three magnificent half frame cameras. But, I must be onest, you missed a camera that is an SLR half frame and also an automatic one and quite an excellent one: I also own a Yashica Samurai X3.0. You should try to find one, they're quite cheap and believe me, you won't regret it 😉. Cheers!

The Pen F isn't the only dedicated half frame SLR, the Yashica Samurai is an SLR all be it a fixed lens. The Pen F range would be the only dedicated interchangeable lens half frame SLR system.

sample images of nikon to pen f?

great info, thanks :D

The PEN-F film SLR glass would be sweet adapted to a modern digital MFT PEN body.

Great video review and very helpful. I'm considering these adapters for my Pen FV. Looks like you're using pre-AI lenses. I assume those work fine when adapted, correct? With adapted lenses, do you need to stop them down after focusing (i.e., like pre-set lenses)?

@StanleyKubick1

Жыл бұрын

yeah pretty much

can you please tell me where to get the EOS-penf adapter? ive searching for a while and cant find any.

@dangerpowers123

4 жыл бұрын

eBay, but I've had a really good look and can't see any for sale currently. Keep checking eBay

When stacking these adapters on top of the PenF to EOS, what happens to the focusing distances? Can you still focus to infinity? Is the minimum focusing diatance still the same?

@dangerpowers123

4 жыл бұрын

I've not noticed ant problems, the focusing looks to be fine at infinity. The lenses I've used so far appear to still focus as close I'd expect.

I hope to buy one of these while prices are still low.

@dangerpowers123

2 жыл бұрын

Good luck 🤞

Hello! I cant seem to find an original pen f flash mount + I saw they're out of my budget, is it possible I could use a hot shoe piece and have it glued at the top plate? Although yes I wont be able to read the name engraved but is that possible? :< I don't wanna use an L mount cos that would be bulky huhu I just wanna try flash photography

@jamesal6138

2 жыл бұрын

I wouldn't even attempt to glue anything onto the top plate of the camera you might ruin the top plate. If your wanting to try flash photography that much there are plenty of cheap cameras around with integrated hotshoes.

Thanks!

I bought a fairly complete pen-FT system of body and lenses back in the early 1990s, being seduced by the idea of a light, small half-frame SLR system. I used it once on a trip, then sold the whole kit for the negative reasons mentioned in the video. Those for me were mainly: (1) Toting around several lenses and a body were contrary to the planned goal of a convenient, "on-the-go" camera. The TTL meter is an after-thought joke, added in a :me too: moment by Olympus to help sell the camera. (2) To say the viewfinder is dim is like saying the ocean is full of water. Oly inventoried a lot of fairly exotic lenses for the Pen-F, bit most of them were very, very expensive, and almost never available. As a result, trying to outfit a Pen-F system today is a massive headache at best. This is why most of the video focuses on adapting Nikkor lenses to the Pen-F body. As a general rule, full frame SLR lenses are designed to cover the full frame, which leaves them under-performing compared to a lens designed by Oly of its half frame format. Also, they are relatively large and heavy for what you get from them. So, do not buy a Pen-F with the view to buy Nikkors (or other brands of lenses) to use it. That is for the invested Nikon system owner who want s play around with a bit of half frame. Perhaps a better course would be to seek out one of the very nice Konica SLRs designed to shoot half or full frame, and compatible Konica lenses, which are very good quality and very cheap these days.

@wietseveen3615

7 ай бұрын

The light meter does the job. Even with slide film. Maybe your lightmeter is a bit off or not 1.5v ready. Have several and allot of the lenses. They all work amazingly and every time the rolls come back and when i scan them the results are lovely and really sharp. And first buying the set for the smal lenses and then selling it because you complain about that you have to carry arround lenses 🙃.

great vid! can you still use the olympus light meter with the lens adapter?

@dangerpowers123

4 жыл бұрын

Yes it still works.. as it's sort of in coupled from what I've read.

I have both the Olympus pen D2 and EE half frame film Camera, in working condition

HOLA, AMIGOS , TENGO UNA OLYMPUS PEN FT , Y ADAPTADOR OM ORIGINAL , Y 50MM 1.4 OM , LA PREGUNTA ES QUE SABEMOS QUE EL EXPOSIMETRO DE CUERPO MIDE DESDE DENTRO PERO AL PONER EL ADPATDOR MIDE IGUAL ... AHORA YO MIDO LA LUZ CON FOTOMETRO LO USO SEKONIC ME GUSTA LA LUZ INCIDENTE , AHORA SI USO MI CAMARA FT - ADAPTADOR - 50MM OM HAY PERDIDA DE LUZ DE LA MEDICION DE FOTOMETRO , SE PIEDE LUZ O PASO DE LUZ , ES MI DUDA

Do you change aperture the same as before?

@dangerpowers123

4 жыл бұрын

Yes same as normal

Hello, how can I identify the camera used from the slides? They took 35mm slides, is there anywhere on the slide it will tell me what camera was used? The slides are from the 60's so will it be likely the Olympus Pen?

@dangerpowers123

4 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately unless the person snapped a photo with the camera reflected in a window or mirror you won't be able to tell

@jonnyem.8859

4 жыл бұрын

If the slides are half frame and vertical, they might have been with a Pen. Most slides were horizontal and full frame, but there was no information about the camera on the slides, just the type of film and frame numbers.

Is there an adapter to mount Nikon F mount lenses on this camera? Can't seem to find it anywhere

@Dan-TechAndMusic

Ай бұрын

Basically as mentioned in the video, the trick is to get the EOS adapter, and then adapt other lenses to EOS. That'll work for Nikon F, OM, M42 and so on.

Any film speed can be exposed in an Olympus Pen camera. In the Sixties I exposed ADOX KB14 ( 15 ASA ) in the Pen F plus a tripod. Kodak Tri-X 400 ASA will do very well; accept the grain.

Sir, you have any grips for this pen f?

@dangerpowers123

Жыл бұрын

The Leica M third party grips fit the pen

There is another half frame slr. Can't remember which one but one of the early konica's had an option to shoot half frame.

@jacovanlith5082

2 жыл бұрын

Konica Autoreflex T a Full Frame + 18 x 24 mm

@jamesal6138

2 жыл бұрын

The Konica Auto-Reflex the first in the line was the only one to have half frame capability. It was sold under a few names and had a budget version which had no meter,

I'm so intrigued by half frame cameras, but I'm worried that the lab will cut through the negatives or refuse to scan every single frame. Do you develop your film yourself or do you have any experience with how labs handle half frame rolls?

@dangerpowers123

5 жыл бұрын

I had the same concerns. And avoided half frame until I was developing an scanning my film at home. I think some labs would-be fine with it. But I didn't risk it. Home developing black and white is much easier than most people realise and worth getting into

@RamoArt

5 жыл бұрын

@@dangerpowers123 Thank you for the quick response. I will see if developing my own film is something I could do. For everyday snapshots I think half frames would be great.

Those cold shoe attachments are probably the cause of all Pen Fs sold with broken viewfinder surrounds.

@dangerpowers123

4 жыл бұрын

Absolutely, I'm super careful using it for that reason

@kenji6612

4 жыл бұрын

@@dangerpowers123 I actually went ahead and bought one after watching your video. Well, not the F but the FT. Luckily mine came with the cold shoe attachment AND an intact viewfinder frame!

@dangerpowers123

4 жыл бұрын

@@kenji6612 oh that's great, happy u helped. It's a great camera.

I mean how many people would've thought to buy two adapters and put them together. Shoulda just paid him for the idea and ingenuity lol

Looking for a Pen F in great condition. Just now learning about them and surprised how affordable they still are.

@jd5787

2 жыл бұрын

Curious: how much do they cost where you live please?

@terrywbreedlove

2 жыл бұрын

@@jd5787 $85 to about $105

@jd5787

2 жыл бұрын

@@terrywbreedlove wow. That's a good deal... A PF is easily 2x-3x on ebay from JP sellers (and I can't find anything in half decent condition)

Do not forget the Pen W, ( also in black) The Pen copy stand with four legs and close up lens

Thank you for this review. Is the Pen F film mount different from the digital mount please?

@dangerpowers123

4 жыл бұрын

The Pen F film mount is different. But I'm sure eBay have pen F digital to pen F film adaptors

@tuisitala9068

4 жыл бұрын

After watching your review it is the film Pen F that I want!@@dangerpowers123

@tuisitala9068

4 жыл бұрын

@@dangerpowers123 Does the movement of the lens away from the film affect focussing please?

@dangerpowers123

4 жыл бұрын

@@tuisitala9068 nope. It focuses really well provided you get the two adaptors I show in the video

@tuisitala9068

4 жыл бұрын

@@dangerpowers123 There are 3 OM to Pen F on ebay at the moment but the prices are £110 to £130 plus 20% tariff from Japan. This system is expensive!

What is the flash sync. speed for this camera?

@nuzleafyi

3 жыл бұрын

you can sync flash to any speed on this camera i believe

@jacekadamczyk2481

3 жыл бұрын

@@nuzleafyi thanks!

@jacovanlith5082

2 жыл бұрын

Elextronic flash 1 - 1/500 via X-sync. Bulb can do, but depends on the type of bulbs @@nuzleafyi

@jamesal6138

2 жыл бұрын

@@jacovanlith5082 On the Pen F the shutter can sync at all speeds for flash due to the rotary shutter, it is similar to a camera with a leaf shutter in that regard, please don't spread misinformation.

While I’m sure these are nice cameras, they sell for crazy money on eBay. A few years ago, I thought about picking up an OM1. I thought they were insanely overpriced for what they are. Thinking this is a similarly supply/demand price driver.

@Frisenette

5 жыл бұрын

They’re not *that* rare. It’s just greedy eBay hysteria. A storm in a glass of water, or emperors new clothes, or whatever you want to call it. Greediness of the sellers, who are delighted that they suddenly have perceived gold on their hands. And greediness of buyers, who think they are making a long-term investment. For items like this, only chumps, desperate people or people with more money than sense buy on eBay. The real deals are in quick strikes on the rare local classified, or happening upon it in your daily dealings keeping, an eye out. That, or you could buy from used camera stores who offer a guarantee of a year, plus a checked over camera. Even though you may pay the same or slightly more as on eBay, that guarantee could come in real handy, and be a nice security that you are not pouring money down a drain.

@tuisitala9068

4 жыл бұрын

The OM1 is considered by many to be the best looking and handling of all film SLR's. Coupled with superb engineering and a huge viewfinder you will not think this is overpriced at less than £100.

@ArthurJS123

4 жыл бұрын

Tuisitala I don’t buy cameras for their looks, although my F3 strongly disagrees with you. The OM1 has far too much plastic in the film compartment for my tastes.

@tuisitala9068

4 жыл бұрын

I have just checked and seen that the film spool is plastic, like my FE, MX etc. My F3 has got a roll of film so I could not open that.@@ArthurJS123

@ArthurJS123

4 жыл бұрын

Tuisitala I’m talking about the panel that lines the cassette bay. Look, the perfect camera doesn’t exist. That’s why there are so many different ones. I just don’t care for the OM-1, pretty simple.

Konica auto reflex half frame. Sorry for correcting you, but pen f is not the only one on this game.

@dangerpowers123

5 жыл бұрын

Is that an SLR with a mirror ?

@nunca_te_acostaras

5 жыл бұрын

@@dangerpowers123 www.cameraquest.com/konihalf.htm yes sir, with a switch to change from 36 to 72 frames.

@nunca_te_acostaras

5 жыл бұрын

@@dangerpowers123 the awesome thing is you can decide on a single roll what size you want. Having few half and few full size depending of your interest.

@dangerpowers123

5 жыл бұрын

@@nunca_te_acostaras I think canon did this two ... A camera where you can decide if it's half or full frame...but the canon is a point and shoot not an SLR

@Born_RJ

4 жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/aKZtrdiggrvYXag.html

Love your videos and the clear amount of research you've done. Theres so much useful information you've sort of considered all the things i would try to consider when buying a camera. However, i have watch your videos on 1.5 speed because you talk so slowly and they're so long. Maybe consider writing a script or editing your videos to make them more concise? - Eden

@dangerpowers123

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the constructive feedback. I have my own style..which is largely in scripted... I tried scripting them in the past and it took all the fun out of it for me. I just would never bother making videos if I had to write a script. Although agree scripting them probably would make it more concise, I prefer to do it my own way. Cheers 👍🏻

Really, no photo samples!?

Olympus have made four Pen F cameras; the fourth was made for the microscope.

Leica M half frame Nikon FM half frame

@jamesal6138

2 жыл бұрын

While I'll give you the Nikon FM the Leica M half frame is a rangefinder not an slr.

The Pen F 20 mm wide angle lens is much too long. A Full Frame 11 mm might do.

I don't really think you can review a system without using original lenses

SUNNY SIXTEEN ? Forget it. Bullshit.

@jamesal6138

2 жыл бұрын

What's bs about sunny 16? It's a useful method for determining approximate exposure

@user-co6ww2cm9k

Жыл бұрын

lmao I bet your photos suck