« Back to blog

Half Frame Pictures

This set is from a half-frame camera. The Olympus Pen-EEs uses 35mm film, but shoots pictures using half of the normal frame. So if a roll of film normally has 36 pictures, you get 72 on this type of camera. The half frame was very popular in the 1960's as a travel camera when film was costly to buy and develop (like today after the digital revolution). They were small and easily pocketable, and the best (like the Olympus) had extremely sharp lenses. When holding the camera normally (horizontally), the viewfinder and picture will be a vertical. You must turn the camera vertically to obtain a horizontal format. Not a great downer for me, since I like to shoot verticals. A vertical creates a more dynamic photo since our vision is basically horizontal. Motion picture film is oriented the same way on film. That's why the sprockets are on the sides of the horizontal frame (running vertically), and you see the Mickey Mouse Ears film magazine on the top of movie cameras. Wondering about the quality? Well, I wouldn't blow up past 8 x 10, and that's even pushing it. They're perfect for 3 x 5's or 4 x 6's, the typical photo album size. Re ember that motion picture film is blown up to a full size theatre screen, so you can get decent quality out of this format. By the way, Olympus' expertise in creating extremely sharp lenses for these cameras may be one of the reasons why they decided to go with the Four Third format for their line of DSLRs. This format is basically the size of a half-frame APS-H (Canon) sensor, and smaller than typical APS-sized DSLRs. Too small for my taste in digital, as much as I love Olympus, though.

Nw675_2011-0603_olpenees-12

"N&W 675." Bluegrass Railroad Museum, Versailles, KY. (Olympus Pen EEs, Plus-X)

Trans_port_ation_2011-0603_olp

"Trans Port Ation." Bluegrass Railroad Museum, Versailles, KY. (Olympus Pen EEs, Plus-X)

A_photog_andhis_dog_pt_2_2011-

"A Photographer and his Dog, Part II." Bluegrass Railroad Museum, Versailles, KY. (Olympus Pen EEs, Plus-X)

Two_engines_2011-0603_olpenees

"Two Engines." Bluegrass Railroad Museum, Versailles, KY. (Olympus Pen EEs, Plus-X)

Three_box_cars_2011-0603_olpen

"Three Box Cars." Bluegrass Railroad Museum, Versailles, KY. (Olympus Pen EEs, Plus-X)

Water_2011-0603_olpenees-37

"Water." Bluegrass Railroad Museum, Versailles, KY. (Olympus Pen EEs, Plus-X)

Stop_light_stopped_2011-0603_o

"Stopped Stop Lights." Bluegrass Railroad Museum, Versailles, KY. (Olympus Pen EEs, Plus-X)

I_wanna_drive

"I Want to Drive." Bluegrass Railroad Museum, Versailles, KY. (Olympus Pen EEs, Plus-X)