Best lenses for Pen F/FT?

[M like Leica M6]

Maybe I am crazy to consider such an equipment while prices are so high... but I really like these tiny SLRs. I was warned that many, many cameras and lenses need an overhaul, as this is a classic, old camera.

I did not find much about the lenses. The only real test was on this site, and it is very old and does not cover all lenses:

http://www.skipwilliams.com/olympus/pen-lit.htm

Which are the lenses and accessories for the half-frame SLR that you can recommend?

[shadowfox]

One of the best is surprisingly the 38/1.8 that usually comes with the camera (standard lens).

People pay high-price (or very lucky to get cheap) the "rare" ones such as the 75/2 or 40/1.2. But in my experience, there are no bad Pen Zuiko lenses.

I personally kept the 40/1.4, 25/2.8, and 100/3.5 (all superb lenses, especially the 25mm). And I am looking to re-purchase a 38/1.8 but it must be cheap.

[Doug]

As I recall, magazine lens tests indicated that the 38 f/1.8 was the best of the three "normal" lenses, the others being the 40mm f/1.4 and 42mm f/1.2. Not considering here the 38 f/2.8 or Macro, with which I'm not familiar.

I have the 38/1.8 and 40/1.4 and both seem to be very good; don't know that I could choose without a rigorous test. I also have the 25mm f/2.8 which is rarer and more expensive than the f/4 lens, but in my experience the 20mm f/3.5 has something extra; it's a honey. Just a couple years ago I found a nice 70mm f/2 at a decent price; it too is excellent but I have not had a lot of experience with it.

What with the popularity of the M43 EVIL cameras and an adapter to use Pen lenses, I don't expect their prices to get any more reasonable!

[mfogiel]

I can only speak for the lenses I have used - the 38/2.8 non pancake and the 60/1.5.

They are both very nice to use, the 38/2.8 has the optical cell recessed enough so that you do not need a lens hood when you take it around. The 60/1.5 is somewhat soft wide open, but the wide aperture helps in focusing, and the lens draws beautifully. I also have some Pen stuff for sale, which you can see in my signature. The 60/1.5 has a sale pending now.

38/2.8

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2432/3723060284_b39db0e9d1_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2498/3898853133_d88d2c73c4_b.jpg

60/1.5

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4117/4860059105_e917b4733c_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4115/4937145625_b044ec2754_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5000136085_cbe8c2a412_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/4963048781_ba3cf37f65_b.jpg

[M like Leica M6]

How are the zooms? The 50-90 seems to be quite common.

[Requin]

In my records I found 2 MTF-diagrams, which show contrast and resolution of the respective lenses. The higher the curves and the more on the right side of the diagram the better the lens. M and R on the curves mean M=middle and R=edge, the numbers are the apertures. These curves were made in 1970 with a MTF-metering device. I hope that helps.

[flip]

I've a pretty complete set of these lenses. However, that just means I have less intimate knowledge with each. So, while I have used the 60 some, I can't comment much yet.
- I love the macro. Exceptional lens.
- The pancake is quite compact and is my standard. (after all, when choosing the half frame pen over another camera, one has already made the decision to favor compactness over print quality.)
- Many like the 20, but it's not my cup of tea - prices are likely inflated due to m4/3.
- The 100, 25/4, 40, and 38/1.8 are excellent.
- The 250 at 1/500 is almost useless without a sturdy tripod.
- The 50-90 seems to make nice shots, but it is a brick.

25/4, 38/1.8, 100/3.5 - they're the cheapest and perhaps best all-around pen setup to cover you from day to early evening shooting. Also same filter size.


mfogiel - what film dev combo did you use? Very nice.

[M like Leica M6]

25/4, 38/1.8, 100/3.5 - they're the cheapest and perhaps best all-around pen setup to cover you from day to early evening shooting. Also same filter size.

Thanks :)

What do you think is a 25/4 in good condition worth?

[mabelsound]

My favorite is the 60/1.5, which nobody's mentioned yet. I usually use it on m4/3. It really kills for portraits. (First one's on film, the other two are digi.)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2582/4106300423_6ef8e97046_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mabelsound/4106300423/)
Diptych (Cayuga 1) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mabelsound/4106300423/) by mabel.sound (http://www.flickr.com/people/mabelsound/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4454401941_eb77a50934_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mabelsound/4454401941/)
S root (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mabelsound/4454401941/) by mabel.sound (http://www.flickr.com/people/mabelsound/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4754924023_e49a6aa39b_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mabelsound/4754924023/) Patrick-1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mabelsound/4754924023/) by mabel.sound (http://www.flickr.com/people/mabelsound/), on Flickr

[digitalintrigue]

The 38 and 40 are excellent, the Macro is better than excellent. The 60 and 70 are also excellent.

I tried a few copies of the zoom, but wasn't impressed. No zooms from the late 60s early 70s were really that good anyway.

Of the wides, I found the 20 considerably more pleasing in it's rendering than the 25/2.8.

[flip]

25/4 could be had in the $150 range. I sold one for less than that here a year ago. Tiny lens.

[M like Leica M6]

It's quite remarkable that there seem to be no 3rd party lenses for the Pen. There were some adapters, made by Olympus and others, but no lenses were made for the Pen mount. This must be the only 35mm SLR system for which Tokina, Tamron, Sigma etc. did not produce lenses.

[mfogiel]

@flip
It was all shot on Rollei Retro 100 in Rodinal 1+50, but the shots made with the 60mm were intentionally made at EI 200 and pushed 1 stop. I find the best results can be obtained at EI 50 with slightly pulled development.

[Sonnar2]

if the lens is in good shape mechanically and optically, there seems to be NO bad lens at all in the Olympus PEN family.
Some are better than others and of course the 60/1.5 and 42/1.2 offer the smallest DOF and best bookeh.
The standard lenses offer best sharpness and contrast at f/5.6-8 in the range of the best RF or SLR lenses of the 1960s/1970s on full format, but you need very fine grain, slow film to show.
At full apterure the 38, 40 and 42's contrast isn't that high.

[flip]

@flip
It was all shot on Rollei Retro 100 in Rodinal 1+50, but the shots made with the 60mm were intentionally made at EI 200 and pushed 1 stop. I find the best results can be obtained at EI 50 with slightly pulled development.

Thanks. Looks nice! The pen tends to be my sunny-day, no plan camera and I try to find ways to squeeze-out performance. I have tried pyro, but not rodinol. I should.

[flip]

if the lens is in good shape mechanically and optically, there seems to be NO bad lens at all in the Olympus PEN family.
Some are better than others and of course the 60/1.5 and 42/1.2 offer the smallest DOF and best bookeh.
The standard lenses offer best sharpness and contrast at f/5.6-8 in the range of the best RF or SLR lenses of the 1960s/1970s on full format, but you need very fine grain, slow film to show.
At full apterure the 38, 40 and 42's contrast isn't that high.


Regarding bokeh, I find little to dislike in any of them, but I'll grant that the OOF is most exaggerated on the 1.x lenses. Some random scans:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4782229209_6776564366.jpg
250 on hp5+ in pyro

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/4782864702_a54a957928.jpg
40/1.4 on hp5+ in pyro

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4123/4782865972_f1b7f2d19e.jpg
40/1.4 on fuji 400(?) and okonomiyaki soon in my stomach

[mabelsound]

It's quite remarkable that there seem to be no 3rd party lenses for the Pen. There were some adapters, made by Olympus and others, but no lenses were made for the Pen mount. This must be the only 35mm SLR system for which Tokina, Tamron, Sigma etc. did not produce lenses.

Well, there's this ultra-rarity:

http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Olympus_Sonnar.html

[Sonnar2]

This Carl Zeiss Jena is a single copy. No series existed.
I've seen Soligor lenses for the PEN F too.
The AIC/Miranda/Soligor trust in the early 70's was desperate enough to catch at each straw.
Four reasons why virtually no 3rd party lenses existed:
- Olympus lenses were cheap and excellent
- Smaller image circle than usual 35mm film lenses. Lenses needs to be developed uniquely for this mount
- Small marked niche (just Olympus made half format SLRs)
- Patent issues (according to Maitani: "Olympus hold all the patents")

[digitalintrigue]

What patents would have been infringed by a third party lens? Methinks it was mostly the other reasons you listed. There were several makers of tele converters for Pen, so the lens mount definitely wasn't keeping lens makers away.

[M like Leica M6]

Most Pen lenses that are offered these days come without the original front and rear caps. Such caps seem to be a problem. I asked a guy who is usually a good source for all kinds of caps and hoods, ebay seller "heavystar", but even that guy has no rear caps that fit a Pen lens.

Any idea where to get such caps?

Another question might arouse with wide-angle lenses... do the 20mm and 25mm require 'slim' filters? Will normal filters with the right thread cause vignetting?

[M like Leica M6]

What patents would have been infringed by a third party lens? Methinks it was mostly the other reasons you listed. There were several makers of tele converters for Pen, so the lens mount definitely wasn't keeping lens makers away.

As far as I remember lens mounts are patented - the patent for the Leica M bayonet has expired in 1999. That also explains why many manufacturers have varieties of their lens mounts over the years... for example the Nikon lens mount: Pre-AI, AI, AI-S, then came the AF modifications and G lenses etc. Olympus is not bad at that either: we had the Pen mount, OM, E-Series, 4/3, mFT etc... this is not just a matter of progress, it's a way to make money :D

Talking about money, the original adapters that allowed using OM, M42, Nikon or other lenses on Pen cameras, are horribly expensive. I consider having some adapters manufactured, that will neither be too complicated nor too expensive. If you had the choice, which lenses would you adapt to an FT?

[flip]

Incidentally, one great thing about the pen kit is the close-focus. Even if you don't use the fabulous macro lens, you can usually get to a 20-30cm range. End the reverse ring is a handy way to increase your flexibility for much less than the macro lens goes for.

[digitalintrigue]

KEH sometimes has rear caps. I bought all they had a year or so ago, when they had a sale, for like $9. Now they want $27 and only have one in stock...

The wides use regular 43mm filters.

I'm not sure that every manufacturer necessarily 'patents' their lens mounts, or even if they all are even patentable, in general. But that's for another discussion.

Close focus is indeed one of the best features of the Pens. :)

[M like Leica M6]

KEH sometimes has rear caps. I bought all they had a year or so ago, when they had a sale, for like $9. Now they want $27 and only have one in stock...

Well, I think some dealers have a family business:

http://youtu.be/9hynzB459Jc

The wides use regular 43mm filters.

Thanks, I have that size for my Leica lenses :cool:

Close focus is indeed one of the best features of the Pens. :)

I even think about a super feature that is even better: getting an Olympus OM to Pen adapter or having it manufactured. I own the mother of all macro lenses, the Olympus 80mm/f4 bellows head, and an OM bellows. The 80mm is one of the two best lenses I have ever owned - the other is a 50mm/f2 Summicron.

[B.J.Scharp]

It's quite remarkable that there seem to be no 3rd party lenses for the Pen. There were some adapters, made by Olympus and others, but no lenses were made for the Pen mount. This must be the only 35mm SLR system for which Tokina, Tamron, Sigma etc. did not produce lenses.

Actually, I have a Tamron 135mm in Pen F mount, so there were at least some. If I'm not mistaken, it is a T2 lens with a T2-to-Pen F adapter, so other T2 lenses should work with it too, though I haven't tried.

[shadowfox]

I keep coming back to the 100/3.5 for close-up:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3514/4047392777_646bfdf9c8_z.jpg?zz=1

[flip]

nicely-balanced shot, that.

[flip]

Even in Japan, where pen stuff abounds, the adapters rarely sink below $150.

[raid]

My Pen lenses are very few.
I have the 38mm/1.8 and the 50-90 zoom.
I have a Pen FT.
The Pentax M42 adapter is very useful.
I sometimes use the SMC 50/1.4 on the Pen FT.
You would shoot through the sharpest part of the lens.

[B.J.Scharp]

Even in Japan, where pen stuff abounds, the adapters rarely sink below $150.

Are you serious?

[flip]

Are you serious?

I never joke about Pen adapters.

[retro]

It's quite remarkable that there seem to be no 3rd party lenses for the Pen. There were some adapters, made by Olympus and others, but no lenses were made for the Pen mount. This must be the only 35mm SLR system for which Tokina, Tamron, Sigma etc. did not produce lenses.

I've seen a Vivitar 2X teleconverter in Pen F mount.

[raid]

So my M42 Pen adapter is costly too?
I always enjoy using Pentax lenses on the Pen.

[B.J.Scharp]

I've seen a Vivitar 2X teleconverter in Pen F mount.

Mine is Panagor-branded, but probably the same thing.

Not very useful in my opinion, especially on a Pen FT. The viewfinder is dim enough as it is, and with the 1.4 crop factor, long lenses aren't exactly hard to get.

(cue someone mentioning that THAT is also worth way more than I expected)

[M like Leica M6]

Yesterday my new Pen FT arrived... a beauty, looks, works and even smells like new. It was modified for modern battery voltage 1.5V. I have a 25, 38 and 100mm lens... and here comes a question: my 25 and 100mm lenses are made for the original F and do not have the funny 0-6 scale like the FT lenses. Is there a way how to use the normal f-scale with the funny Pen metering scale?

[flip]

Sure. Several ways.

The best is to use another meter. ;-) The Pen meter can be a bit slow to adjust to conditions from what I hear.

Alternatively, on the 25
0=4
1=5.6
...
4=16

And on the 100
1=3.5
1.5=4
2=5.6
...
5=16
6=22

I cannot explain the logic of this system. I use an external meter. Funny, until this moment, I wanted a black FT, but my FV no longer feels lonely.

[M like Leica M6]

Sure. Several ways.

The best is to use another meter. ;-) The Pen meter can be a bit slow to adjust to conditions from what I hear.

Alternatively, on the 25
0=4
1=5.6
...
4=16

And on the 100
1=3.5
1.5=4
2=5.6
...
5=16
6=22

I cannot explain the logic of this system. I use an external meter. Funny, until this moment, I wanted a black FT, but my FV no longer feels lonely.

Thanks :)

It looks like fuzzy logic :bang: At least, the phase of the moon is not a factor...

[M like Leica M6]

I just found this site with some weird lenses for the Pen F/FT, but I don't understand whether they were adapted or regular merchandise:

http://www.hicat.ne.jp/~bianchi/bianchi/lens-2.html

This guy, a retired Zeiss engineer, must be McGyver's brother. He used a Pen to M42 adapter, a Contax Mutar teleconverter and some german rocket science to adapt a Zeiss Planar 50mm/f1.4 to an Olympus Pen:

http://www.schwertner.de/foto.htm

[tonal1]

I've seen a Vivitar 2X teleconverter in Pen F mount.

Retro: what the heck is that camera in your avatar picture? I'm curious as heck!

[tonal1]

With all this recent business about converting Pen F lenses for use with micro 4/3 cameras, I would like to see one of these micro 4/3 primes converted for the Pen F !!

I think having a compact, modern 20/1.9 ish lens converted to the Pen F would be a worthwhile endeavor. Or better yet, if Olympus (or maybe Cosina/Voightlander) produced a limited production lens in the old mount. That would put a big smile on my face.

[M like Leica M6]

The size of a 4/3 sensor is 13x17.3mm. The size of a Pen F negative is 18x24mm. Even if someone would make an adapter the lenses of the 4/3 world not work for half-frame negatives.

[tonal1]

there goes another pipe dream down the tube :)

[Doug]

Further, as to µ4/3 lenses, I was surprised to see in Photozone.de tests that these lenses often/generally have severe optical defects that are automatically "corrected" using the camera's lens database and processor. Likely less expensive to deal with distortion and fall-off this way than by correcting these issues in building the lens. Already we've seen some of this on a lesser scale in other digital cameras, even including the Leica M8/M9.

[flip]

Reminds me of win-modems. Modems that fail unless corrected under windows. The wave of the future - raw crap in and sort it out in post process by the CPU. gads

[M like Leica M6]

CD-, DVD-, Blu-ray- and anything-else players do the same thing. The most important element in that technology is error correction.

Even the Hasselblad H3 series uses software correction for at least one Zeiss wide-angle lens. Zeiss just made a lens without compromises except one or two parameters. These are completely corrected by software. The result is the best of both worlds.

In cheap cameras, of course, the manufacturers just put some heavy makeup on the results of their cheap lenses.

[Sonnar2]

Sorry to say as a friend of the PEN F/FT series, the best digital camera to use the PEN F lenses spells SONY NEX.

[shadowfox]

Sorry to say as a friend of the PEN F/FT series, the best digital camera to use the PEN F lenses spells SONY NEX.

No need to be sorry for voicing a personal preference :)

[flyingpalm]

Sorry but have to show off my 38/2.8 pancake.:D

[flyingpalm]

And here is what I have right now.

[M like Leica M6]

BTW, if you lost the rear caps for your Pen FT lenses, the rear caps for modern Micro 4/3 lenses fit.

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum52/84438-rear-caps-olympus-pen-ft-lenses.html

[flip]

Just ran a roll with a few 60/1.5 shots.
One for the season as long as it's posted:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5282/5287381521_3b20d8859f.jpg

[mabelsound]

OK, sure, here's another winter 60/1.5 pic! This one on the E-P2.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4040/4191178924_bc786b7663_z.jpg?zz=1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mabelsound/4191178924/)
Tracks (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mabelsound/4191178924/) by mabel.sound (http://www.flickr.com/people/mabelsound/), on Flickr

[flyingpalm]

great shot, flip