Olympus Pen F
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 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, as well as a self-timer.
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.
The three models were offered in chrome or in black, and there was an important range of Pen F lenses. Many adaptors exist to mount other types of lenses to the Pen F.
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 it seems converting them to a usable model is difficult.
