Throwback Edit Version: I edited this in April 2024, checked links and converted it to the new WordPress format.

This is another one of the cameras I got at the camera fair. I mainly bought it so I could practice reskinning it. As the camera is from 1967 I decided on a rather tacky animal print cover. I also changed the light seals as the originals had completely disintegrated. As you can see, I did a very messy job. I guess I knew I would not be keeping it and didn’t really care about it as I have a half-frame camera from the Olympus Pen EE series. That being said, it is a lovely camera with a nice weight and feel to it. If I didn’t already have a nice one like this, I would happily keep it.

As this camera has a selenium photocell, it does not need batteries. I didn’t test it with a flash, as my test shots were taken outside, but it does have a hot shoe on the top. It looks and acts a lot like the Olympus Pen ee series. One difference between this and the Olympus cameras is that instead of a red flag that pops up to stop under or overexposure, this camera has a scale in the viewfinder. It has a red section on the top and bottom, mine often still fires if the needle is in those sections, but it serves as a good warning. The other zones are for the speeds 1/30th, 1/60th, 1/125th, 1/300th. There is also an aperture ring, but I kept it on auto

As I have had some processing issues lately, I decided to use a black-and-white film and process it myself later. It took a while to finish the film as the 36 exposures were turned into 72 by the half-frame aspect.

I tried taking shots in a few conditions, such as shooting into the sun. None of the shots were underexposed, but a few were over. One or two were so overexposed that I could not even scan them. For cameras like this, the hardest thing to remember is to change the zoned focusing ring because nothing changes through the viewfinder. For the most part, I did remember, mainly because of the scale on the back. I found that really useful.

So here are my test shots. I took them around my home, Tokyo, and Yokohama.

When I scanned the negatives, I accidentally left the scanner in colour mode. It gave the shots a sepia type hue, I liked it so kept it. You can see that for the most part, the exposures are spot on and they are as sharp as a button..since when are buttons sharp??

My final verdict, I recommend this camera if you can find a good one.