Olympus Pen EES 2 Camera Tutorial Walkthrough: Load Film, Light Meter, & Taking a Photo

Identical to the Pen EES except with the addition of a hot shoe, the Olympus Pen EES-2 was a half-frame viewfinder camera capable, according to the manual, of taking images that could be enlarged to 16X20. This camera was tiny, easy to use, and worked in a reliable manner to deliver quality image. This video covers all the operational elements of this camera and explains how to use it.
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Video Index:
0:00 - Intro
0:08 - Olympus Pen EES-2 Tutorial Walkthrough Video Manual
0:16 - Olympus Pen EES-2 Overview
4:08 - Olympus Pen EES-2 Features - Top
5:44 - Olympus Pen EES-2 Features - Front
6:12 - Olympus Pen EES-2 Features - Back
6:24 - Olympus Pen EES-2 Features - Bottom
6:43 - Olympus Pen EES-2 Feature - Inside
7:32 - Loading and Unloading Film in the Olympus Pen EES-2
10:47 - Using a Flash with the Olympus Pen EES-2
15:28 - How to Read Lens Markings on the Olympus Pen EES-2
17:06 - Taking a Photo with the Olympus Pen EES-2
17:34 - Taking a Double Exposure with the Olympus Pen EES-2
19:05 - Tips for using the Olympus Pen EES-2
References:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus...
www.butkus.org/chinon/olympus...
McKeown, James, McKeown, Joan. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras 2005/2006. McKeown, Grantsburg, Wisconsin, 2005.
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[@lfcacador]

Tomorrow i'm shooting with that camera ;) Regards and thanks

[@DavidHancock]

Nice and thank you!

[@pdtech4524]

Great video! I have the older Olympus Pen EE it has a sliding back that fully slides off, no hot shoe but it does have a flash sync PC socket. It has a fixed focus 28mm f3.5 lens with 4 elements. Yours has the same zone focus system as the Olympus Trip 35. It has the same selenium light meter and as far as I know 2 shutter speeds like yours, 1/40th and 1/200th. I think the earlier ones had 1/30th and 1/250th? The only control on my lens is the iso setting which goes up to 200 iso max. I can force it to a 1/40th shutter and control aperture if I use the flash settings. Everything seems to be working on mine and it's currently half way through a roll of kodak gold 200.😊 The D in D-Zuiko refers to the lens having 4 elements.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you and, and also for the reminder of the D in the D Zuiko! I forget for sure about the other camera's shutter speeds.

[@BillLovesFilm]

Great video and I love these cameras! Would I be correct that this model is a half-frame version of the legendary Olympus Trip 35?

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you and maybe. I've never used a Trip 35 so I'm not sure what features it has.

[@enesd150]

Hello. I have an Olympus EE-2. The selenium cells in the camera are not working. Are orange aperture texts the only way to use this manually? For example, I installed FUJI FILM 200 on a non-selenium camera. What aperture value should I use on a sunny day? Can't I set the ISO value of the roll I loaded? Could you please explain my confusing questions in detail? I couldn't find any resources.

[@DavidHancock]

Yes, the orange indicators are the ones you can use for manual exposures. As a general rule, in full sun with the sun to your back, at f/16, the shutter speed should be the number closest to your film speed. So if you are shooting in sun, Fuji 200 may be too fast for your camera. You may need something more like a PanF+ 50 or RPX 25.

[@DixonLu]

QQQ: Any idea why Olympus limited the flash sync speed to 1/40 when the camera has a leaf shutter?

[@DavidHancock]

I wondered that, too. My best guess is that it has to do with how accurately the components can align the timing.

[@steven1000000000]

I don't think that there's any fundamental reason why they couldn't have made the flash sync speed faster - it was just linked to the slower shutter speed. The way the two speeds are selected, is by means of trapping a moving needle that is connected to the selenium meter. There are two steps on the "lever", with one half of the lever selecting the 1/200th speed and the other the 1/40th. From what I understand, there's a rotating weight that determines the shutter speed. Given that they can select 1/200th sec on the faster side, I think that could have made the slower speed anything up to that. It would be a simple job to then reprofile the leaver which trapped the needle to adjust accordingly. My guess is that the shutter speeds selected were just a useful middle ground where on the slower side with the 40mm lense it made sense with the 1/40th sec for handholding and then they prioritised depth of field for sharpness vs shutter speed, given that it was a viewfinder camera and selecting the appropriate distance wasn't always that accurate.

[@DavidHancock]

@@steven1000000000 one other things that occurred to me today was film speed and flash brightness. Films were far slower back then and flashes generally dimmer at the consumer tier.

[@steven1000000000]

@@DavidHancock I'm sure that the relatively slow film speed had a lot to do with keeping the shutter speeds slower. I'm sure that they could have increased the 1/200th speed by introducing stiffer springs, but there wasn't much need for that in a consumer camera. I think that some of the fastest consumer films back then were films such as Tri-X 400, which would yield a shutter speed of 1/200th Sec at f22 in bright sunlight, exactly matching the capabilities of the Pen EES2. Given that it's automatic, there's no way to deliberatly shoot with a shallow depth of field, thus necesitating faster shutter speeds with higher ISO films. With ISO 400 film, the range of the EES2 would allow you to shoot some night street scenes at 1/40th at f2.8, all the way to full sun - pretty versitile every day camera.

[@jesusescudero9721]

I have this exact model, but the red flag does not work in any mode. I wonder if I still could be able to use the camera in a decent way to have pictures with a good exposure. Thank you in advance. The shutter works, by the way.

[@DavidHancock]

The best way to check is, without film, point it at a light then at a dark part of the room and see if it responds differently.

[@jesusescudero9721]

@@DavidHancock see if It keep open duting more time in the dark?

[@DavidHancock]

@@jesusescudero9721 I think only the aperture changes with this camera, so you may need to open it and look through the lens to test it.

[@jesusescudero9721]

@@DavidHancock It looks like It open always in the same way ...

[@DavidHancock]

@@jesusescudero9721 A couple other tests, try that pointing the camera outside but also seeing the film speed to the slowest and fastest settings. If it's still the same, there may be an issue.