Olympus Pen EE-2 EE2 Film Camera D.Zuiko 28mm f/3.5 Half Frame Camera (2954821))

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Olympus Pen EE-2 EE2 Film Camera D.Zuiko 28mm f/3.5 Half Frame Camera (2954821)) Product Condition

Good conditionTested And Working , See pics for actual item for saleShutter Locks as it should if not enough light
Product Description

The PEN series of half frame cameras arrived in 1959. Olympus realised they could make more compact cameras than conventional full frame numbers and set the craze for half frame cameras which other Japanese manufactures soon followed in the 1960s. If youre unfamiliar with the half frame the camera use conventional 35mm film but takes shots with a frame size of 24x18mm (essentially 2 shots per standard frame). Half frame cameras started to die out from the 70s as full frame compacts got smaller, but the PEN series survived into the 1980s

The series included the PEN F SLR camera often hailed as a classic and would go on to influence Olympuss current digital CSC cameras. However Olympus also aimed for the snap shot market and developed the PEN E series which used automatic selenium cell metering.The original PEN EE when launched in 1961 was arguably ground breaking as one of the first true point and shoots with automatic metering. Our updated EE-2 was launched in 1968. Both share the same 28mm 1:3.5 D.Zuiko 4 element lens (equivalent to ~40mm full frame) but the EE-2 adds a hot shoe, better ISO range and an updated exposure system. This was lifted from their zone focus brother the PEN EES, a camera that was used as the basis of the mighty Olympus Trip 35.
This means the EE-2 shares the same styling and auto exposure mechanism as the mighty Trip. At first glance the fact that the cameras have just 2 shutter speeds (1/40 and 1/200 secs) seems quite poor compared to many cameras that launched around the same time with a plethora of speeds. But thats missing the beauty. Olympus recognised with both fixed focus and to a lesser extent zone focus cameras, the key is keeping the depth of field as big as possible but avoiding being too small to trigger diffraction. So in bright conditions (>13EV 100) the shutter speed stays locked at 1/200 sec with the aperture widening as light level reduce to about f/8. When light levels fall to around 13EV or below the camera switches to 1/40 sec shutter and an aperture of f/11 (minimising diffraction) . The aperture widens in response to falling light levels from 13 EV100 down.When light falls below the range of the camera a red flag appears in the viewfinder and the shutter is locked. Just like the Trip you can chance a shot by turning the camera off automatic and setting it to the widest aperture of for flash (f/3.5) and you can exposure lock by half depressing the shutter. Also like the Trip you can shot quasi manually at 1/40 by using the flash setting but bear in mind the meter still limits the maximal opening of the aperture so if you set to f/3.5 and try to shoot in bright light, it wont open that far. And as youd expect you dont need batteries to power it.The frame size means the camera takes shots in portrait format naturally rather than landscape but the viewfinder whilst small is good and comes with the usual markings. The camera also is cable and standard tripod threaded and you have both hotshoe and PC sync options for flash (at 1/40 sec). Its not without issues though. As well as becoming more limited in low light, it shares the same quirky door latch mechanism as the trip (you wonder how many have been knackered by folk wrenching the rewind knob off) and lack of a bulb setting. It does take filters but the odd Olympus 43.5mm size.

Serial Numbers
2954821

Included in Sale
Olympus Pen EE-2 EE2 Film Camera D.Zuiko 28mm f/3.5 Half Frame Camera (2954821)
Original Case
Notes :

_gsrx_vers_841 (GS 7.0.16 (841))

Category: Cameras and Photography:Vintage Photography:Vintage Cameras:35mm Cameras
Location: South Coast