[Leica] Olympus Pen Ft

[jhnichols at bellsouth.net (Jim Nichols)]

Douglas,

Four years ago I pulled out a camera from the closet to see what it could do 
with modern film and techniques.  The camera in question was a Universal 
Mercury II, a single-frame camera popular with some street photographers of 
the late 1940s and 1950s because of the number of shots available without 
reloading. It provides scale focusing and a small viewfinder, but does have 
a sharp 35mm f/2.7 Tricor lens.

While not comparable to your Pen F, the results demonstrate what can be 
expected from a single-frame 35 using Kodak C-41 BW 400 film, a run of the 
mill lab, with output to a CD.

The camera is shown in this photo
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Mercury+II.JPG.html

The resulting photo is of a Marine helicopter that I ran across at the local 
airport.  It provided good details for a quick display of the resolution 
that could be achieved.
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Chopper.jpg.html

I hope this will encourage you to give the Pen F another chance.

Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Douglas Barry" <imra@iol.ie>
To: <lug@leica-users.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2008 4:34 PM
Subject: [Leica] Olympus Pen Ft


> Following the recnt posts on the Pen F and its lens quality, I went out an 
> shot off a roll of Kodak P3200TMAX using my PenFT. Scanning the negs in 
> using my Epson 3200, I was astonished to see the level of grain and lack 
> of clarity in the images. This is an example.
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/kiosc2.jpg.html
>
> What am I doing wrong, or do these smaller negative images have to be 
> enlarged and printed chemically to get a better quality before the prints 
> are scanned?  The only other roll of film I ran through the Pen FT was a 
> C41 colour roll which I gave to a minilab to be developed and printed. The 
> prints turned out fine.
>
> Any suggestions gratefully received.
>
> Douglas
> _________
> Douglas Barry
> Bray, Co. Wicklow
> Republic of Ireland
>
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