One Lug Pen

After ten, eleven years, where do you begin?

Maybe this is exactly where.

I had bought the Olympus Pen many years ago, not knowing at the time that it was one of the first in line of production, made between 1959 and 1961, signified by only a single lug on its side --later models had one on each side. So as it turns out, it's a rare unit and I'm proud of it. Everything has been written about the Pens, I'm sure, so I'll simply summarize: it's a line of half-frame cameras from Japan, tiny and quiet capable shooters. This particular one comes with a focusable lens. It has a simple viewfinder and no meter. You set the time and aperture going by the Sunny 16 or an external light meter although it seems redundant to carry one around since this camera would be larger than most only by a little bit. Its size is definitely its strong point. Keep it in your pocket as you live your life, without any unnecessary bulk.

We had quite a bit of adventures together, the One Lug Pen and I. It has fallen into a state of disrepair in the more recent years, and I've been feeling guilty about it a lot. I should get it fixed so we can hang out together again.

Here's a selection of photos I took with it over the years. Nothing swanky, just pretty basic everyday shots as I'm not claiming to be a particularly good street photog, but they show what the camera can do.