Jason Schneider
the Camera Collector
Vintage Classic Cameras: The Unvarnished Truth
The Olympus Pen, Part 2, Other scale-focusing models
By Jason Schneider
Even after Olympus launched the landmark Pen F half frame interchangeable lens SLR (the original model emblazoned with the “Gothic F“ logo) in 1963, they continued to develop their popular compact scale-focusing line, eventually adding such popular features as autoexposure and even built-in motor drive with auto rewind. The following selection is limited to those Pens likely to appeal to serious shooters and user-collectors and omits the simpler EE models aimed primarily at casual shooters. But bear in mind that all Olympus Pens are well-made, durable cameras that can deliver outstanding image quality.
Olympus Pen W
Olympus Pen W: A great camera, but highly coveted and pretty pricey
Close-up view of 25mm f/2.8 E. Zuiko-W lens on Olympus Pen W
The Olympus Pen W of 1964, available in black finish only, and in production for only 2 years—1964 and 1965—is the rarest and most collectible of the classic compact Olympus Pens. Essentially, it’s an Olympus Pen S fitted with a 5-element, 4-group 25mm f/2.8 E. Zuiko-W wide-angle lens (35mm full frame equivalent) and it’s adorned with a handsomely engraved white “OLYMPUS-PEN W” logo with a stylized “W” on the front of its top plate. Other features include: Copal-X shutter with speeds of 1/15-1/250 sec plus B and X sync, bright frame viewfinder with parallax correction marks, and thumbwheel film advance. For the record this unique meter-less model can scale focus down to 2 feet and has apertures from f/2.8 to f22. It’s a great user-collectible camera thanks in part to its superb lens, but due to its scarcity, high performance and collectability, it currently fetches fancy prices ($350-$550) on the used camera market.
Olympus Pen EE-3: Upgraded version of fixed focus autoexposure Pen
Olympus Pen EE-3
Released in 1973, this improved late model in the fixed focus Pen EE series (others are not included here) has a hot shoe for an external flash, a hinged back that’s opened with a small lever, and a self-zeroing exposure counter. Handsome in chrome finish offset with a black covering, it provides autoexposure via a selenium cell “electric eye” around the lens, has a Copal-X shutter with automatically selected seeds from 1/40-1/200 sec, plus X sync, and incorporates a fixed focus version of the acclaimed 28mm f/3.5 D. Zuiko lens (the same as on the scale focusing original Pen of the early ‘60s) with automatically selected apertures from f/3.5-f/22. Other standard Pen features: bright frame viewfinder with parallax correction marks, thumbwheel film advance, film speed settings from ASA 25-400. The fixed focus Pen EE-3 isn’t so hot for shooting close-ups, especially in low light (unless you mount an accessory flash) but it’s an affordable classic that’s widely available at prices ranging from $60-$110.
Olympus Pen EF: A point and shoot Pen with a pop-up flash
Olympus Pen EF
Released in 1981, the EF is essentially a Pen EE-3 minus the hot shoe, but with a built-in pop-up electronic flash that’s deployed by pushing a spring-loaded switch on the front and is powered by one 1.5v battery. All other features and specs, including the fixed focus 28mm f/3.5 D. Zuiko lens, are the same as the EE-3 listed above. The Pen EF is a good choice for Pen lovers seeking a self-contained pocked-sized point and shoot with an extended indoor and outdoor shooting range. It’s easy to find on the used camera market at prices ranging from $80-120.
Olympus Pen EM: It could have been the ultimate scale-focusing Pen, but ...
Olympus Pen EM
This audacious “auto everything” half frame Pen employing a new wider (but still compact) body, was released in 1965 and remained in production for only about a year, allegedly due to “manufacturing problems that couldn’t be overcome with then current technology.” The problem: As more film was wound onto the take-up spool its diameter increased, and the motor’s torque was insufficient to complete the wind-on with 36-exposure (72 frame) cassettes!
The EM’s impressive features include automatic motorized film wind and rewind, a Copal Electronic shutter with automatically selected speeds of 30-1/500 sec, a 6-element, 5-group F. Zuiko lens with scale focusing down to 3 feet and automatically selected apertures from f/2-f/16, a CdS cell autoexposure system for film speeds ASA 10-400 powered by two standard cylindrical 1.5v batteries , and a bottom-mounted frame counter. Evidently there was a follow-up version, the Pen EMS, which added a hot shoe. Verdict: If you can find a working example of either the Pen EM or EMS it would make a fascinating user collectible if you confined your shooting to 24-exposure (48 frame) cassettes. Unfortunately not a single example of either one is currently listed for sale. Estimated price on the used market: $200-$300.
Super-rare Olympus EMS was an EM with a hot shoe
Olympus Pen EED
Combining the automation of the elemental Pen EE series with the sophistication and fast lens of the Pen D series, the Pen EED, which debuted in 1967, incorporates a CdS light meter that provides a choice of full autoexposure or aperture priority metering. Other features include a 6-element, 5-group 32mm f/1.7 F. Zuiko lens that stops down to f/22 and focuses down to 2.6 feet, a Copal X shutter with speeds of 1/15 to 1/500 sec plus “automatic”, a bright frame finder with parallax compensation marks, and a classic Pen thumbwheel film advance. It also provides a red low light indicator, a hinged back, ASA settings from 12-400, and it was the first Pen to provide a (mechanical) self-timer. This sleek, attractive camera has a great lens and it could make a great user-collectible, but its CdS metering system was designed to use (banned) 1.35v mercury cells such as the PX 625, and it has to be modified and calibrated to work properly with currently available 1.5v alkaline or silver-oxide cells of the same size. If you’re up for it, many camera repair companies can do this job at relatively modest cost (under $50). The Olympus Pen EED is a handsome camera with a great lens that’s readily available on the used market at prices in the $50-$100 range, so if you’re motivated it may be worth a shot.
Olympus Pen EED: Great potential as a user if you modify the meter system
The Olympus Pen, Part 2, Other scale-focusing models
By Jason Schneider
Even after Olympus launched the landmark Pen F half frame interchangeable lens SLR (the original model emblazoned with the “Gothic F“ logo) in 1963, they continued to develop their popular compact scale-focusing line, eventually adding such popular features as autoexposure and even built-in motor drive with auto rewind. The following selection is limited to those Pens likely to appeal to serious shooters and user-collectors and omits the simpler EE models aimed primarily at casual shooters. But bear in mind that all Olympus Pens are well-made, durable cameras that can deliver outstanding image quality.
Olympus Pen W
Olympus Pen W: A great camera, but highly coveted and pretty pricey
Close-up view of 25mm f/2.8 E. Zuiko-W lens on Olympus Pen W
The Olympus Pen W of 1964, available in black finish only, and in production for only 2 years—1964 and 1965—is the rarest and most collectible of the classic compact Olympus Pens. Essentially, it’s an Olympus Pen S fitted with a 5-element, 4-group 25mm f/2.8 E. Zuiko-W wide-angle lens (35mm full frame equivalent) and it’s adorned with a handsomely engraved white “OLYMPUS-PEN W” logo with a stylized “W” on the front of its top plate. Other features include: Copal-X shutter with speeds of 1/15-1/250 sec plus B and X sync, bright frame viewfinder with parallax correction marks, and thumbwheel film advance. For the record this unique meter-less model can scale focus down to 2 feet and has apertures from f/2.8 to f22. It’s a great user-collectible camera thanks in part to its superb lens, but due to its scarcity, high performance and collectability, it currently fetches fancy prices ($350-$550) on the used camera market.
Olympus Pen EE-3: Upgraded version of fixed focus autoexposure Pen
Olympus Pen EE-3
Released in 1973, this improved late model in the fixed focus Pen EE series (others are not included here) has a hot shoe for an external flash, a hinged back that’s opened with a small lever, and a self-zeroing exposure counter. Handsome in chrome finish offset with a black covering, it provides autoexposure via a selenium cell “electric eye” around the lens, has a Copal-X shutter with automatically selected seeds from 1/40-1/200 sec, plus X sync, and incorporates a fixed focus version of the acclaimed 28mm f/3.5 D. Zuiko lens (the same as on the scale focusing original Pen of the early ‘60s) with automatically selected apertures from f/3.5-f/22. Other standard Pen features: bright frame viewfinder with parallax correction marks, thumbwheel film advance, film speed settings from ASA 25-400. The fixed focus Pen EE-3 isn’t so hot for shooting close-ups, especially in low light (unless you mount an accessory flash) but it’s an affordable classic that’s widely available at prices ranging from $60-$110.
Olympus Pen EF: A point and shoot Pen with a pop-up flash
Olympus Pen EF
Released in 1981, the EF is essentially a Pen EE-3 minus the hot shoe, but with a built-in pop-up electronic flash that’s deployed by pushing a spring-loaded switch on the front and is powered by one 1.5v battery. All other features and specs, including the fixed focus 28mm f/3.5 D. Zuiko lens, are the same as the EE-3 listed above. The Pen EF is a good choice for Pen lovers seeking a self-contained pocked-sized point and shoot with an extended indoor and outdoor shooting range. It’s easy to find on the used camera market at prices ranging from $80-120.
Olympus Pen EM: It could have been the ultimate scale-focusing Pen, but ...
Olympus Pen EM
This audacious “auto everything” half frame Pen employing a new wider (but still compact) body, was released in 1965 and remained in production for only about a year, allegedly due to “manufacturing problems that couldn’t be overcome with then current technology.” The problem: As more film was wound onto the take-up spool its diameter increased, and the motor’s torque was insufficient to complete the wind-on with 36-exposure (72 frame) cassettes!
The EM’s impressive features include automatic motorized film wind and rewind, a Copal Electronic shutter with automatically selected speeds of 30-1/500 sec, a 6-element, 5-group F. Zuiko lens with scale focusing down to 3 feet and automatically selected apertures from f/2-f/16, a CdS cell autoexposure system for film speeds ASA 10-400 powered by two standard cylindrical 1.5v batteries , and a bottom-mounted frame counter. Evidently there was a follow-up version, the Pen EMS, which added a hot shoe. Verdict: If you can find a working example of either the Pen EM or EMS it would make a fascinating user collectible if you confined your shooting to 24-exposure (48 frame) cassettes. Unfortunately not a single example of either one is currently listed for sale. Estimated price on the used market: $200-$300.
Super-rare Olympus EMS was an EM with a hot shoe
Olympus Pen EED
Combining the automation of the elemental Pen EE series with the sophistication and fast lens of the Pen D series, the Pen EED, which debuted in 1967, incorporates a CdS light meter that provides a choice of full autoexposure or aperture priority metering. Other features include a 6-element, 5-group 32mm f/1.7 F. Zuiko lens that stops down to f/22 and focuses down to 2.6 feet, a Copal X shutter with speeds of 1/15 to 1/500 sec plus “automatic”, a bright frame finder with parallax compensation marks, and a classic Pen thumbwheel film advance. It also provides a red low light indicator, a hinged back, ASA settings from 12-400, and it was the first Pen to provide a (mechanical) self-timer. This sleek, attractive camera has a great lens and it could make a great user-collectible, but its CdS metering system was designed to use (banned) 1.35v mercury cells such as the PX 625, and it has to be modified and calibrated to work properly with currently available 1.5v alkaline or silver-oxide cells of the same size. If you’re up for it, many camera repair companies can do this job at relatively modest cost (under $50). The Olympus Pen EED is a handsome camera with a great lens that’s readily available on the used market at prices in the $50-$100 range, so if you’re motivated it may be worth a shot.
Olympus Pen EED: Great potential as a user if you modify the meter system
I have an EM, fascinating camera but I don’t have much hope of ever getting it to work, after a few hours of effort...
JeffS7444
Well-known
Thank you, I had no idea that motorized Pens existed, and wonder how they could have made such an glaring mistake with the EM.
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
Nice review - I didn't even know about the EM.
The Pen W has to be the gem of the series - a great camera for walking around the streets of a city, 72 exposures per roll, small size and excellent lens and focal length. An easy camera to have with you always.
The Pen W has to be the gem of the series - a great camera for walking around the streets of a city, 72 exposures per roll, small size and excellent lens and focal length. An easy camera to have with you always.
maigo
Well-known
Perhaps 36 exposure rolls were uncommon in 1965.
12/24 standard exposures rolls would give you 24/48 photos on the roll.
If you have shot 72 exposures on a half frame you know it can often take weeks or months to finish a roll.
If auntie only shoots at Christmas and birthdays then she could shoot two years of photos in 72 exposures!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
aizan
Mentor
The Pen W's claim to fame is being the camera that Daido Moriyama used to shoot Mo Hitotsu No Kuni (Another Country in New York, 1974). He released a director's cut, '71-NY, in 2011.
Curiously, unlike most other "hot" cameras, its price has remained fairly stable at around $400. I'm glad it's not $800-1200!
Curiously, unlike most other "hot" cameras, its price has remained fairly stable at around $400. I'm glad it's not $800-1200!
Jason Schneider
the Camera Collector
No, 36-exposure rolls were not at all uncommon in 1965, but many half frame fans opted for 20-exposure (later 24-exposure rolls) for all the reasons cited. Olympus discontinued the ingenious Pen EM after a short production run because its motor drive could not reliably wind on 36-exposure rolls, and they couldn't fix the problem with the technology of the time. I'd love to find a working Pen EM to check it out for myself, but they're rather thin on the ground. If anyone reading this article has a working Pen EM or one that can be repaired please let me know.