Olympus Pen EE-S, When It All Started

Half Frames: Film photography favorites, image making with an Olympus Pen EE-S, a look back to when it all started.

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I was rummaging through the image archive and came across a batch of images, taken with the Olympus Pen EE that has been overlooked as part of my earlier blog posts. The images were at the beginning of my return to analog photography and my renewed interest in vintage cameras.

The Olympus Pen EE-S (1962), was the second iteration of the Olympus Pen EE (1959) series which was to become the world's first 35mm half-frame camera produced for the mass market. The two cameras were later updated to the Pen EE (EL) and Pen EE-S (EL), which came with take-up spools that have been redesigned for easier film loading.

Olympus Pen EE.S

While the original Pen EE comes with a fixed-focus Zuiko 28mm F3.5 lens the latter, as mentioned, comes with the wider and brighter Zuiko 30mm F2.8.

Olympus Pen EE.S

I have since moved on to other camera make and models, including film autofocus compacts and film SLRs with interchangeable lenses, and often enough to image tests with vintage manual focus lenses mounted on the digital MFT (Micro Four Thirds). It is a refreshing thought to be able to look back and reminisce the nostalgic vintage images that these cameras are capable of.

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Zuiko OM 50mm 1:3.5 Macro, First Impression

The Vintage Enthusiast: Impressive first images with a Zuiko OM 50mm 1:3.5 Macro, which works as well as a standard prime.

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My first run with the Olympus Five Frames with a Zuiko OM 50mm 1:3.5 Macro mounted on the digital MFT (Micro Four Thirds) Olympus Pen E-P5. Images, shot mostly with the aperture wide open, were surprisingly sharp, none too contrasty, and showed a clear affinity to the neutral mid-tone color range.

The 50mm 1:3.5 Macro lens, designated as the 'Olympus OM-System Zuiko Auto-Macro 50mm 1:3.5', is a very compact and lightweight all metal and glass 5-elements in 4-groups construction. It weighs 200 grams, measures 40mm in length, has a 6-blade iris, an aperture range from f/3.5 to f/22, and is fitted with an automatic close-focus correction mechanism for aberration correction.

Olympus E-P5, Zuiko OM 50mm 1:3.5 Macro

The focusing range of the 50mm 1:3.5 Macro is from 0.23 meters to infinity, with a reproduction ratio of 1:2. On the 2x crop-sensor E-P5, or when fitted with a 25mm Auto Extension tube to the OM 35mm SLR, the reproduction ratio is boosted to 1:1. Going beyond that, say, with the 65mm-116mm Telescopic Extension Tube on the SLR, or with the standard extension tube fitted to the OM Adapter OM-2 on the digital MFT, is all yours to try.

First introduced in 1973, with silver nose trimming, the Olympus OM-System Zuiko Auto-Macro 50mm 1:3.5 was updated to the Olympus OM-System Zuiko MC Auto-Macro 50mm 1:3.5 (Multi-coated) versions. The latest version, the multi-coated version but without the 'MC' lettering, may be identified by a series of 4-character manufacturing code codes silkscreened to the butt of the lens mount.

One thing that might interest you is the fact that the lens is as competent when used as a standard lens, which could be even better and more flexible than the one you may have been using.

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AF Zoom-Nikkor 35-105mm 1:3.5~4.5 D, By-Passed by Time

Analog Diary: Film photography favorites, nostalgic moments, image making with an AF Zoom-Nikkor 35-105mm 1:3.5~4.5 D.

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Due to a time constraint, I had the chance to take only half a dozen shots of this railway station I was at recently. While the passenger coaches were modern EMUs (Electrical Multiple Units) and the station front with updated service elements, the platform area itself was rather blighted, a sight that seems to have been bypassed by time. Remnants of scaffolded tanks for water storage, dilapidated and fenced-up godown units, and lethargic-looking platform roofs were the order of the day.

I was using the AF Zoom-Nikkor 35-105mm f/3.5~4.5D mounted on N75 for the shoot. The 16-elements in 12-groups NIC (Nikon Integrated Coating) multicoated FX lens, is a great push-pull zoom that works perfectly on all 35mm Nikons as well as Nikon FX digital cameras made since 1977. Acknowledged sharp throughout its range, from a wide 35mm to a short 105mm telephoto, the lens is well suited for family photographs or for your travel vacations.

Nikon N75, AF Zoom-Nikkor 35-105mm 1:35~4.5 D

The N75 35mm SLR film camera the lens was mounted on is no slouch either. The camera (also marketed as N75, and U2) which was in 2003, is a very advanced SLR camera built with innovations that make the F5 (1959), and F80 (2000) legends of their own. Exposure programming is a veritable choice of Automatic, variable-program modes, and PASM, while metering is a 25-segment Matrix pattern with five user autofocus sensors.

Nikon N75, AF Zoom-Nikkor 35-105mm 1:35~4.5 D

The AF system of the N75 works with every AF, VR, AF-I, and AF-S lens ever made by Nikon, with manual focus lenses, and a confirmation dot electronic rangefinder system. Finally, the N75/F75/U2 is also the last of the breed, the final model Nikon produced before the launch of the digital D100 and later the D70.

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Nokia Asha 300, Scenes At The Stop II

Mobile Photography: Image making with a vintage candy-bar Nokia Asha 300, sight and scenes of an LRT and train interchange station.

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Another two stops actually. The first image, at the first stop, is the superstructure that roofs the elevated LRT stop, while the other images are some of the structural elements of the second stop, a railway station, located at ground level. The connectivity between the two is a maze of architectural elements and engineering design which to some might be a source of design inspiration, while to others, an intimidating solution.

Nokia Asha 300

Coupled with the time of day, which is much later than the morning rush hour, both had only a few people around, and the spaces were wide open to the imagination. The ease and fun of using a mobile device like the Nokia Asha 300 for telling stories are very apparent here. It does not take more than slipping the camera out of your shorts or pants pocket and holding it away at arm's length, to document, in essence, the aura and ambiance of the place.

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