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Olmpus Pen F lenses
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PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2020 7:41 am    Post subject: Olmpus Pen F lenses Reply with quote
Hi everyone.

I recently acquired a NM Olympus Pen F 100/3.5 and I'm pretty happy of the results I'm obtaining adapting it to my Sony A6000 and its demanding 24 Mpix apsc sensor.
Now I need to pratice alot in manual focusing, as I'm prone to use af lenses and I have to children. Lens is incredibly tiny and sharp. Due to the covid outbreak I had not so much chance to test is at infinity, even to understand if there is some issue with the adapter length.

Now I'm wondering if someone gave a a try to its bigger brother 150mm/f4 and knows how it performs on digital.
I would also try to buy a 20mm/3.5 that seems to be well regarded, but it is quite difficult to find and also expensive!
All the best


PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2020 10:21 am    Post subject: Re: Olmpus Pen F lenses Reply with quote
barrin wrote:
Hi everyone.

I recently acquired a NM Olympus Pen F 100/3.5 and I'm pretty happy of the results I'm obtaining adapting it to my Sony A6000 and its demanding 24 Mpix apsc sensor.
Now I need to pratice alot in manual focusing, as I'm prone to use af lenses and I have to children. Lens is incredibly tiny and sharp. Due to the covid outbreak I had not so much chance to test is at infinity, even to understand if there is some issue with the adapter length.

Now I'm wondering if someone gave a a try to its bigger brother 150mm/f4 and knows how it performs on digital.
I would also try to buy a 20mm/3.5 that seems to be well regarded, but it is quite difficult to find and also expensive!
All the best

I can recommend the only Pen-F lens I have: Zuiko 38/1.8.
It is fantastic on a6000:





Full lens album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/curry-hexagon/albums/72157709094159071


PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2020 12:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks a lot aidaho. I'm considering the 38 as an all-arounder for some occasion..need to find a good deal.

May I ask you what adapter are you using? I have one branded "rambex". It is very precise as I had to apply some stregth to fit it to the lens the first time. No play left. Measured with a gauge it seem to have the correct distance to align the lens focus to the sensor but I have the feeling the lens is having issues reaching focus at infinity as it would be a little long.


PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2020 3:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The Pen F lenses are fantastic on APS-C. I recommend a whole kit. When mounted on the Sony cameras they look like they were designed to be used together. The 40mm 1.4 is also an excellent choice for use on your A6000. One of the nice folk on this site recommended them to match up (along with Robot camera lenses) with the NEX 5N (older sibling to your A6000). I have since gifted the camera to a friend intending to replace it with a image stabilized newer version. That hasn't happened yet. But I have kept my collection of Pen F lenses.


PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2020 5:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
barrin wrote:
Thanks a lot aidaho. I'm considering the 38 as an all-arounder for some occasion..need to find a good deal.

I was waiting for a lucky deal for a couple of months, and unfortunately it never came by.
Eventually I've caved in and bought gunked up and fungused copy for peanuts and luckily was able to restore it to it's former glory.
Perhaps you will be more lucky with shopping for a good copy than I was.

barrin wrote:

May I ask you what adapter are you using? I have one branded "rambex".

I'm using the cheap Chinese one. To my knowledge there is only one cheap one available and it's perfectly fine, apart from the weight. Can be branded with whatever words are popular this week.
It weights a hefty 57g, and indeed, the lens slides in very snugly.

There is a pricey Kipon one, which looks great and my guess is it's lighter, but it would cost me three times the lens, so...

barrin wrote:

It is very precise as I had to apply some stregth to fit it to the lens the first time. No play left. Measured with a gauge it seem to have the correct distance to align the lens focus to the sensor but I have the feeling the lens is having issues reaching focus at infinity as it would be a little long.

This rarely happens, but it can happen indeed. I think I've seen two lenses, I'm sure no one tampered with, which falled a hair short of infinity on proper adapter. Likely wasn't even noticeable on film.

Infinity tuning on my Pen-F lens is right on the focus ring itself and does not require disassembly.
You just need a very good screwdriver to operate tiny grub screws.


PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2020 11:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I too have a 100mm f3.5 and like it a lot.

This be page may be of interest regarding pen F lenses. http://cjo.info/classic-cameras/olympus-pen-f-series/


PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2020 7:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
aidaho wrote:
barrin wrote:
Thanks a lot aidaho. I'm considering the 38 as an all-arounder for some occasion..need to find a good deal.

I was waiting for a lucky deal for a couple of months, and unfortunately it never came by.
Eventually I've caved in and bought gunked up and fungused copy for peanuts and luckily was able to restore it to it's former glory.
Perhaps you will be more lucky with shopping for a good copy than I was.


Infinity tuning on my Pen-F lens is right on the focus ring itself and does not require disassembly.
You just need a very good screwdriver to operate tiny grub screws.


Thanks for the information.
Regarding the infinity focus tuning, I see that the focusing ring of my 100/3.5 ha a set of very small screws (in magenta in my picture) and one bigger (in yellow). Do you know which do I have to unlock to enable the adjustment?. I guess this will decouple the ring from the front element element, enabling to to turn it wrt to the ring.



As of buying lens to be fixed, I tried once with a CZJ Tessar 50, but I was no more able to mount together the helicoil holding the rear group and the outer case holding the front one. This has stopped me to try anymore, even if maybe if I'm too drastic ( do not know if Pen F lenses are easy to dismount, maybe just the rear element) and often online tutorials are not so detailed.

I'd like to thank all those are replying, hope to post some picture soon!


PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2020 8:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
barrin wrote:

Thanks for the information.
Regarding the infinity focus tuning, I see that the focusing ring of my 100/3.5 ha a set of very small screws (in magenta in my picture) and one bigger (in yellow). Do you know which do I have to unlock to enable the adjustment?. I guess this will decouple the ring from the front element element, enabling to to turn it wrt to the ring.

Uh.. If I'm to take a guess, a big one is probably holding a focus rotation limiter plate (I'm making an assumption this design has one), and you don't want to touch it unless you are prepared to go inside and fish for the plate.
The tiny ones should decouple focus ring from the helical. Are they evenly spaced across the circumference?

I remember 38/1.8 to be a straightforward lens to work on, but very cramped. They are tiny after all.
This is relative though: I've been inside a lot of lenses and my perception of complexity may be skewed.
Anything I can get into, and put back together without meditation, looks fine to me.


P.S. Your adapter is exactly like mine.


PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2020 9:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hi Barrin.

I found that exploded parts diagram of the 3.5/100mm

http://olympus.dementix.org/Hardware/PDFs/PenF/100mm_f3.5.pdf

Maybe it could help.


PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2020 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Olivier wrote:
Hi Barrin.

I found that exploded parts diagram of the 3.5/100mm

http://olympus.dementix.org/Hardware/PDFs/PenF/100mm_f3.5.pdf

Maybe it could help.

Thanks.

I was right and I was wrong: there are focus limit plates, but they are internal, attached to the chassis instead of focus ring.
Looks like the big screw doesn't screw into anything inside, it is just hitting limit plates with it's tip, and this is how the focus is limited in rotation in this lens.

So either way my guess above stays true: no need to touch the big one, the smaller ones couple focus ring to the helicoid.


P.S. And look at those CA0096 sliding tabs: they are side mounted instead of being butt-mounted like anywhere else.
Saved some sweet millimeters in lens thickness right there.


PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2020 10:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yes, the tiny screws are all along the ring circumference.
Today the lock down Italy is over, i will try to have some infinity focus tests and decide whether a tuning is needed.

Let me introduce you my younger son while playing in the garden during the quarantine...



PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 7:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I finally manage to have an infinity focus landscape shot with a clear day (here in Italy we're already approaching 30°C during daytime) after a week of rain and haze in the morning.

I'm pleased to say that the lens is pretty sharp also in this situation. No focus tuning needed imho, just learn how to hold steadily the camera..or save to buy a camera with IBIS.. Laugh 1


PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 10:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
barrin wrote:
No focus tuning needed imho, just learn how to hold steadily the camera..or save to buy a camera with IBIS..


How about a tripod for landscapes?
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