Olympus Pen F

The Olympus Pen F was the world’s first half-frame reflex camera.

The Pen story began in 1959, when Olympus challenged one of its young engineers, Yoshihisa Maitani, to create a compact camera that could retail for under 6000 yen, a fraction of the cost of Olympus’s existing offerings which started at 23000 yen. His answer, the original half-frame Olympus Pen, was a stunning success. In 1963 Maitani pushed the idea much further with the Pen F, a true reflex built around the half-frame format. It marked a remarkable technical advancement on numerous fronts and generated approximately 50 new patents for Olympus.

The Olympus Pen F is a lightweight, precision-engineered, and exceedingly compact camera that continues to enjoy a devoted community of enthusiasts even today.