My Olympus Pen EE-2 Test

[PFMcFarland]

Little half-frame 35mm travel camera of 1968-77 vintage, it’s one of many versions of this body produced by Olympus for the consumer market.

The selenium powered coupled meter that drives the programmed exposure system still works, it can get a little aggressive in the shadows sometimes. But it still works!

The fixed focus lens however is only good at its closest focus of 9 ft/2.8 m. After that it gets progressively blurry, not enough to scrap the photo, but way too soft for my tastes or for making anything larger than a 4x6 enlargement.


Olympus Pen EE-2 by P F McFarland, on Flickr

Somewhere in Virginia off US-460

First Frame by P F McFarland, on Flickr
Good exposure, bad focus.

Closer in looks better

Good Eats by P F McFarland, on Flickr
Spotted to get rid of white chunks, and a hair.

Passable

Peaks of Otter by P F McFarland, on Flickr
Transition from foreground to back helps with the focus issue. Spotted and cropped to 16x9.

Exposure program prefers the shadows

At Pennick’s Mill by P F McFarland, on Flickr
No corrections.

Back lighting check

Late Sun by P F McFarland, on Flickr
I took the precaution of making sure the lens was in shade so the reading would not be negatively influenced by light from above striking the front of the meter.

There is more to see at https://flic.kr/s/aHsm8cPKNm and more to come. I did get 77 exposures from a 36 shot roll.

PF

[minoly]

Way to go, Phil! I'm glad to see that you finally picked up, or found that you already had, a working Pen. Looks like this one works pretty well. I don't know what to say about the focus. I wouldn't count on the EE-2 for a distant scene but as background for a main subject in the middle distance it should be ok. I'll be eager to see more photos as you post more of the roll. Next thing you know, you'll be looking for a Pen W . By the way, try your Sam 3 with a more distant scene and see how you think it handles it.
Bill Delehanty

[Julio1fer]

Congratulations for that little Pen!

Very nice series. As most Olys, the Pen has a good lens. The last picture is a difficult one for a budget camera and it turned out all right.

I used an EE-3 which is very similar to your EE-2 for years, gave it to a friend after graduating to a D3. I did not have fuzzy focus at long distances, though. The EE-3 was great for street and impulse pictures. Better than a cell phone.

[PFMcFarland]

Thanks, Bill and Julio.

Gee, I had a response earlier for you Bill, but I guess I hit a wrong button.

I truly surprises me that for a travel camera, it behaves so poorly at infinity. I guess it was meant for taking photos of your significant other while on holiday, where the subject matter in the background took a third seat to the main attraction in front. I know if I had used this for slides, I'd be embarrassed to show them to anyone.

I would hope that other models of this camera have better optics, especially if you can focus them like the EES-2 I have which includes Zone Focusing. Unfortunately it has a sticky aperture, so you never know what the exposure will be like. But it did come with the soft leather case which is a big plus, and an Olympus 43.5mm Skylight filter.

Yeah, I like the idea of having one of these all the time, Julio. Especially since it doesn't need batteries.

I'll be posting more photos in the days ahead, as I find time between consolidating stuff around here.

What did you mean by a Sam 3, Bill? Samoca III?

PF

[minoly]

Phil, Sam 3 = Yashica Samurai 3x. I'll watch for the rest of the photos.
Bill D.

[PFMcFarland]

Phil, Sam 3 = Yashica Samurai 3x. I'll watch for the rest of the photos.
Bill D.

Bill, I'll have to see if I have a fresh battery for that thing.

PF

[PFMcFarland]

If you look at this photo on Flickr (click on it, and you will go there), you can enlarge it, and see how the focus falls off pretty quickly.


James River Batteau 3 by P F McFarland, on Flickr

PF

[Julio1fer]

Yes PF, the effect is very clear.