Olympus Pen F

Picture by Mech_for_I. (Image rights)

The Olympus Pen F is a half-frame single lens reflex camera released in 1963 by Olympus.

It was designed by the famous designer Yoshihisa Maitani, who had also created the Olympus Pen point-and-shoot series, and who would later create the OM-1.

The Pen F is a very compact camera with interchangeable lenses. Its innovative design includes a rotating shutter, allowing flash synchronisation until the maximum speed of 1/500. It also has an unusual viewfinder, with a system of mirrors and prisms, that avoids the bulge of the traditional top-mounted SLR prism.

The original Pen F had a double stroke advance lever, which means you have to wind twice for each exposure. It has no built-in light meter, but an external light meter was sold as an accessory and could be clipped on the speed ring. The Pen F can be recognized by the big gothic letter F engraved on the front plate. There were about 190,000 made.

The Pen F was replaced in 1966 by the Pen FT with a TTL exposure meter. The meter is not coupled to the diaphragm ring, which makes its operation a bit slow. The Pen FT also introduced a single stroke advance lever with a longer course, a self-timer, and was available in chrome and black. There were about 275,000 made.

The Pen FV was introduced in 1967 and is a Pen FT without the light meter, but with the single stroke lever and the self-timer. It is the rarest of the three models, with about 45,000 made.

There was an important range of Pen F lenses. Many adaptors exist to mount other types of lenses to the Pen F. There was also an extensive range of Pen F accessories.

There are also special models for microphotography and medical use (endoscopy, etc.). These models are sometimes found for sale, but the viewfinder image is different (round image) and converting the finder to a normal, usable one is said to be difficult and to require thorough disassembly. The medical models do not have the self-timer nor the gothic F letter on the front plate. All the normal models have either one of them.

Bibliography

• Francesch, Dominique and Jean-Paul. Histoire de l'appareil photographique Olympus de 1936 à 1983. Paris: Dessain et Tolra, 1985. ISBN 2-249-27679-X.

Links

General links

In English:

• Pen F, Pen FT, Pen FV and special models by Claus Marin (at Wayback: some links may not work, and some graphics may be missing)
• Manual available on the Favorite Classics section of .kyphoto.com
• Pages at .kyphoto.com Favorite Classics:
  • Olympus Pen FT repair tips by Henry Taber
  • Olympus Pen F Nostalgia by Russell Hamilton
  • Olympus Pen F Technical Exploration by Stuart Willis
  • How to make an Olympus Pen F/FT/FV to Nikon lens adapter
• Olympus Pen F, FT, FV at Cameraquest

In French:

• Pen F, FT at Sylvain Halgand's www.collection-appareils.fr
• Lionel's Olympus Pen F, Pen FT, Pen FV at 35mm-compact.com

In Japanese:

• Half-moon, a website fully devoted to the Pen and Pen F series
• Olympus Pen F series at the Olympus Photo Club website
• Pen FT Black at Nagoya's Camera Club
• Olympus Pen FT at Hayata Camera Laboratory

Documentation

In English:

• Instruction manual of the Pen F and Pen FT at .kyphoto.com Favorite Classics, contributed by Henry Taber
• US patents:
  • "Drive for rotary shutter used in camera," 1966
  • "Shutter device for single-lens reflex camera," 1966
  • "Viewfinder for single-lens reflex camera," 1966