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Post by royalrat on Aug 16, 2011 13:35:24 GMT -5
A few words should be said about the way I percept analog photography before engaging my review (or rather written experience) on this small and surprising camera. When I choose to take analog camera to my outdoor exploring, I’m usually considering the camera itself as an inseparable part of the creation. Suddenly the tool is no longer a mere gadget I operate in order to have a photo, but rather some kind of a brush and color I pick for drawing the impressionist image of my active reality. I guess it could be said also on digital, but my feeling is that the digital era brought a lot of sharp and very distinct realism to the documentary moment taken by the lens. When using my digital equipment I feel the urge to achieve the best results from the processor and lens. When living in the analog realm, the expectations from the tools in use (camera, lens and film) are at another dimension. I start looking after the little odd qualities I usually regard as mistakes or defects, and find them more appealing when staining the delicate texture of the celluloid. Again, people may claim that you can Photoshop anything today into the picture, but the analog image, even damaged and totally wacked, is something that you’re usually prefer on leaving alone and let it be as it was intended by the moment. That’s why I like old cameras, and that’s why I search for those cheap and very common cameras, worn by use but still grinding by the clicks! By the standards I described above, the Olympus Pen EE-3 (The EE Stands for Electronic Eye) is a must-try! It is a real Lomographic camera, and I wish it will be re-discovered and used by all those fast and happy-clicker shooters. The main uniqueness this camera brings with it is the half-frame concept, introduced the first time to the world in 1959 by the Pen series, designed by Maitani Yoshihisa of the Olympus Company in Japan. The concept, scorned by many film lovers, is about using only half size of the common 35mm frame (18x24mm), and by that exploiting the film and producing more photos from the 135 cassette (72 instead of 36). Sure the product you receive has less detail (and tends to be grainy), but by playing with this unique form, you can make a conceptual use of the double frame (or triple), displayed adjusting to one another and sharing two sides of a photographic idea. I’m calling all the Lomographers among you, which regards shooting pictures as a way of exploring the far edges of the duplicated reality, to check this fabulous vintage tool for your purposes and enjoyment. For full review and photos: royalrat.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/my-photographic-time-tunnel-%E2%80%93-olympus-pen-ee3/
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Doug T.
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Post by Doug T. on Aug 16, 2011 13:54:15 GMT -5
Hi there, and welcome! Those are some very nice photos you've posted on your site. I owned and used an Agfa Paramat a few years ago. It was quite the little jewel Photographing in the half frame format really does force one to think out of the box. It's challenging, and fun. Doug
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Post by royalrat on Aug 16, 2011 15:33:54 GMT -5
Thanks Doug!
Do you still have the Agfa Paramat? I'll be happy to see the photos, why don't you upload some?
Yaniv.
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Doug T.
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Post by Doug T. on Aug 16, 2011 15:45:05 GMT -5
Yaniv, Unfortunately I no longer have it, but have been looking for another half frame. Film processing is expensive, and half frames give you more for your money. I lost a lifetime of photos when I got divorced There is something to be said for starting over though. Doug
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Aug 16, 2011 17:23:47 GMT -5
Welcome and thank you for a thoughtful and insightful piece.
I recently got a disappointing roll from a 'new' camera (a mid-80s Chinese rangefinder). The disappointment stemmed not from the limitations of a flare-prone lens, but rather from my failure to adapt to its idiosyncratic characteristics and use the camera 'properly'.
Michael.
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Aug 16, 2011 17:43:43 GMT -5
I have to say I didn't particularly like the half-frame on its first time round. I'm not sure that I have changed my view about the format.
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Aug 16, 2011 19:18:19 GMT -5
Yaniv,
"The main uniqueness this camera brings with it is the half-frame concept, introduced the first time to the world in 1959 by the Pen series, designed by Maitani Yoshihisa of the Olympus Company in Japan."
This camera is not "unique". Half frame was in use at least as far back as 1927 and probably longer. I have an Ansco Memo that was introduced in that year and a Universal Mercury introduced in 1938. There were others as well.
I have some other cameras that used less than the full 24mmx36mm frame. There is the Zeiss Tenax I of 1927 and the most unconventional Purma Special from The UK of 1937. Both made 24mmx24mm pictures on 35mm film. Again, I think there are probably others of this size.
I went through your excellent and very impressive site some of which was familiar to me. Thanks for it.
Mickey
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Post by julio1fer on Aug 16, 2011 20:14:39 GMT -5
Nice post and blog -- bookmarked! I like the tent series.
The EE-3 is the late model of the simple Pen half-frame 35mm cameras, IIRC. Same as the EE-2, only difference is the plastic shutter release? Fixed focus, and you can use it in manual exposure mode if you want.
I have an EE-3 that has probably given me some of the best results I have. Then I got tired of the labs hassle for processing half-frame and went back to 24 x 36. I also have a Pen D3, which is a top class camera with a magificent lens.
Now I'm getting a new film scanner, and wonder if with modern film (quality AND prices) and scanners, half frame is worth looking back into. That's a thought.
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Post by royalrat on Aug 17, 2011 10:07:34 GMT -5
Yaniv, Unfortunately I no longer have it, but have been looking for another half frame. Film processing is expensive, and half frames give you more for your money. I lost a lifetime of photos when I got divorced There is something to be said for starting over though. Doug Yes, more for your money but the quality is not the same... I wonder, if you start over again, would you try this format once more? for old time sake? Yaniv.
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Post by royalrat on Aug 17, 2011 10:10:19 GMT -5
Welcome and thank you for a thoughtful and insightful piece. I recently got a disappointing roll from a 'new' camera (a mid-80s Chinese rangefinder). The disappointment stemmed not from the limitations of a flare-prone lens, but rather from my failure to adapt to its idiosyncratic characteristics and use the camera 'properly'. Michael. Was it the light meter fault? I'll be happy to see one damaged photo, and know the name of the camera. Yaniv.
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Post by royalrat on Aug 17, 2011 10:14:38 GMT -5
Yaniv, "The main uniqueness this camera brings with it is the half-frame concept, introduced the first time to the world in 1959 by the Pen series, designed by Maitani Yoshihisa of the Olympus Company in Japan."This camera is not "unique". Half frame was in use at least as far back as 1927 and probably longer. I have an Ansco Memo that was introduced in that year and a Universal Mercury introduced in 1938. There were others as well. I have some other cameras that used less than the full 24mmx36mm frame. There is the Zeiss Tenax I of 1927 and the most unconventional Purma Special from The UK of 1937. Both made 24mmx24mm pictures on 35mm film. Again, I think there are probably others of this size. I went through your excellent and very impressive site some of which was familiar to me. Thanks for it. Mickey Thanks! I'll check these cameras your mentioned and correct my post (I'll be happy to credit you for that). In a way I'm on a voyage of discovering these cameras again, and I admit I don't know much about them. But it's exciting! and I appreciate any help I can get. Yaniv.
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Post by royalrat on Aug 17, 2011 10:18:53 GMT -5
Nice post and blog -- bookmarked! I like the tent series. The EE-3 is the late model of the simple Pen half-frame 35mm cameras, IIRC. Same as the EE-2, only difference is the plastic shutter release? Fixed focus, and you can use it in manual exposure mode if you want. I have an EE-3 that has probably given me some of the best results I have. Then I got tired of the labs hassle for processing half-frame and went back to 24 x 36. I also have a Pen D3, which is a top class camera with a magificent lens. Now I'm getting a new film scanner, and wonder if with modern film (quality AND prices) and scanners, half frame is worth looking back into. That's a thought. Thanks! I think that you should load it with film and just wait for the right moment to use it. That's what I do. I have some cameras ready and I chose them on impulse when I go shooting. I'll be happy if you would share some of the results you've got. Yaniv.
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Aug 17, 2011 11:19:11 GMT -5
Yaniv,
"(I'll be happy to credit you for that)"
No credit please. When I make a mistake, which I do frequently, then you may correct me.
Mickey
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Aug 17, 2011 11:26:15 GMT -5
Yaniv, you certainly have had different things to photograph than we have had in Britain (more so those on the Zorki pages). Our conscription finished a few years before I was of age. Going back forty years I worked for six months with a Persian (as we called them then- Iranian now). He had just done his national service. There was an Israeli he was friendly with at work who got his call up papers at that time. It always seemed bizarre to me that the two might have been facing each other with guns across the Golan Heights, rather than having a friendly drink together.
Dave.
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Post by royalrat on Aug 17, 2011 12:23:35 GMT -5
Yaniv, you certainly have had different things to photograph than we have had in Britain (more so those on the Zorki pages). Our conscription finished a few years before I was of age. Going back forty years I worked for six months with a Persian (as we called them then- Iranian now). He had just done his national service. There was an Israeli he was friendly with at work who got his call up papers at that time. It always seemed bizarre to me that the two might have been facing each other with guns across the Golan Heights, rather than having a friendly drink together. Dave. Actually those picture were taken last month. I have a few Palestinian friends and I met many Iranians and even Lebanese in my travels. Though I still serve in the reserve for one month every year, I do believe we have a lot in common and can live together as friends and brothers. As always, politics stands on the way of true peace, not the people. I made a documentary about the struggle to be a reserve soldier in the IDF, called "The Alpha Diaries":
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