Olympus Pen EE3 - The Fantastic Half-Frame Camera

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Way before the Golden-Half and Diana Mini, there were the little known Olympus half-frame cameras- the Olympus Pen EE models.

Photo by Hiyotada from Wikimedia Commons

I went to Manila in The Philippines recently. After reading about a mini “camera street” in Hidalgo Street (near Quiapo Church), I decided to head down to see if there were any treasures to be found. And to my surprise, I found this baby stood out from the other vintage cameras! It had a bit of scratch but I already fell in love! I begged and bargained with the seller and finally managed to get a good price of US$25!

Back in Singapore, I loaded the baby with ISO100 film and shot on sunny days. All I needed from this simple camera is to set the ASA (ranges from 25-400), wind the film on, then pressed the shutter. The results are crisp, fresh and a whopping 72 pictures from the trusty Olympus Pen EE3!

There’s also an Olympus Pen EES2 review from shhquiet on June 11, 2008, you can read it here.

This article was written by Community member lawypop.

written by lawypop on 2010-04-29 #gear #35mm #review #olympus #half-frame #pen-ee3

16 Comments

  1. cherry_red_balloon
    cherry_red_balloon ·

    This camera is very much on my wish-list!They just give fantastic photos, so clear and crisp-and you get more photos for your money! :D Fantastic stuff.

  2. dogma
    dogma ·

    Amazing camera! i wish for one too :) your really lucky to have it!

  3. stouf
    stouf ·

    Ho yeah ! So sharp ! Excellent shots !

  4. panelomo
    panelomo ·

    aha!

  5. ahleng90
    ahleng90 ·

    wow!great photos from a great camera by a great lomographer :D
    the tone,and details are killing me..kodak iso 100??

  6. lawypop
    lawypop ·

    Thanks all for your wonderful comments :)
    @ahleng90: Yes it is Kodak 100:)

  7. gvelasco
    gvelasco ·

    The Pen EE3 (and EE2) is nearly identical to the Olympus Trip 35 which is also an excellent camera, but it's even more convenient because it's a half-frame. Nice find. Excellent camera.

  8. vicuna
    vicuna ·

    I had once a Pen EES, a great camera.... Great review! :)

  9. quaisoir
    quaisoir ·

    i want one!!!

  10. stijn_b
    stijn_b ·

    excellent cam those shots are tack sharp! good find!

  11. disdis
    disdis ·

    Great camera review

  12. salvacasablancas
    salvacasablancas ·

    Great shots!

    See my review for Olympus Pen EE2

    www.lomography.com/magazine/cameras/2010/04/27/olympus-pen-…

  13. lomocrea
    lomocrea ·

    My grandfather has this camera, I want to use it very soon and try with a film from lomography ;)

  14. jolomboy
    jolomboy ·

    my mom has the same camera, but hasn't used it for a long time

  15. guypas
    guypas ·

    Today I bought one at the flea market, I can not wait to develop the film and see the results.
    Great camera!.

  16. izzaharramli
    izzaharramli ·

    Hey, I'm new to this.
    -How do we use the ASA ?
    -When are we going to use the lowest and the highest ASA ?
    -What if, by switching the numbers of ASA, there's still a red card shown ? (I mean, all numbers of ASA can't be used)

    -When we use the ASA, how about the aperture ? (and vice verse)

    Hope you can help me.

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