Camera Talk

When the Pen EE line was introduced in 1961 , the Olympus history website states that the emphasis was on “efficiency”; that result was achieved by adding automatic exposure using a selenium meter, a limited shutter range (the first model, the EE, had one speed of 1/60, later ones had two), and fixed focus (later versions included zone focus). The EE series of Pen cameras lasted till 1986, included 8 different models, and sold more than 10 million units, about 60% of the total Pen series sales.

Olympus Pen EE-2, manufactured 1968 to 1977 seen from the front: And from the top: The Pen EE-2 was made from 1968 until 1977 when its place was taken by the Pen EE-3 which was only slightly different from the EE-2. It’s form (size, weight, width) is like the 59 Pen or its relatives, the Pen W and Pen S; its functioning is quite different-- the Pen EE-2 is “automatic” whereas the 59 Pen is “manual”. In 2015 it’s not necessary to spell out the differences which we’re all well acquainted with. But I do think that Olympus made a good choice of words by claiming that their Pen EE line aimed at efficiency: fewer manual settings to make meant fewer chances for mistakes and more opportunities to attend to the subject and it’s photo potential-- more usable product with less effort should mean more efficiency. And maybe freeing the user from the heavy burden of “doing it right” encouraged confidence which helps the product, too.

The user depends on what the maker has built into the Pen EE-2 and Olympus was pretty clever with that: they kept the same lens that they put in the 59 Pen (28mm f/3.5 D Zuiko) so, if the light is adequate (the shutter won’t fire if it isn’t) and if the subject is no closer than ~5 feet), and still, you’re going to get a satisfactory picture. Satisfactory here just means that the pictures "turned out" as we used to say. The EE-2 allows the user to set film speeds from 25 to 400 to guide the whole process. Good light will bring a program shutter speed of 1/200; poor light or flash will call out 1/40. Flash is connected by hot shoe or pc socket; flash exposure is by selection of the appropriate aperture called for by the flash. If you're thinking of trying one out, just remember that if the selenium meter on the Pen EE-2 doesn’t work, most of what the camera does best won’t work either; and the youngest of the EE-2s will soon turn 40 years old. The meter on my EE-2 still works and I used it recently for two trips to downtown St. Paul where I had a lot of fun using a single 24 exposure roll of Fuji 200 to expose about 48 frames, a few of which I include below.

Cheerful Redevelopment On Cathedral Hill The Penfield (facade preserved from previous Public Safety Building, interior changed to fine apartments) Upper Levee "Watchbird" with Fish (Fuji 200 color negative film exposed at 200 ISO with change to 100 for scenes with sky, commercially processed, and scanned at home with adjustments made in PS Elements. ) Bill Delehanty

Nice shots from a very neat camera, Bill.

Great shots.

I had a Pen EE-2 (or was it -3?) that I gave to a friend. I got some memorable pictures from the little Pen because it is so portable and handy, and the lens is very decent. Maitani was a genius indeed.

Great photos, Bill. I came across a couple of EES-2s a short while back. I'd always wanted to get another one as mine was a water ruined junker, only good for parts salvage (it came in a box of other stuff). The first replacement I found was mounted on some sort of rig by Radmar called a "Filmaker", with the lens set about 1 3/4" from the subject frame. The other was purchased at auction. Neither camera operates correctly, so the cells are dead. I was hoping so much to carry one around for a month, taking two exposures per day. Guess I'll have to get to work on the Canon Demi EE17.

PF

Thanks for your comments James, Julio, and Phil. The EE-2 still surprises me with the quality it can produce with having just the basic features.

minoly wrote:Thanks for your comments James, Julio, and Phil. The EE-2 still surprises me with the quality it can produce with having just the basic features.

Hey, I found out I had an EE-2 from Ron Bishop that still works. So I loaded it with some Kodak T-Max 100 for the month of August, and just got the scans back Wednesday. I can't say as I'll use it again since it only is in focus around the close point of 9 feet (2.8 meters). After that it's a bit too soft for my tastes.

I've got some shots from the 77 exposures in a posting today that reflect what it was capable of.

PF