This 1960's camera is powered by light and completely automatic
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- Опубликовано: 26 сен 2022
- Amazing what you can do with a few photons here and there.
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One note about selenium light cells: they wear out with use and time. There are plenty of these cameras out there where the cell isn't as sensitive so it over-exposes everything, or sometimes the cell is completely dead and the camera won't let you take a picture.
That said... I'm not entirely convinced this is so common as to be expected. You might have noticed there are... more than three of these cameras littered about. I have purchased several cameras listed as non-functioning or "for parts" or whatever and I personally have only encountered one which had a worn cell (it's actually the cell you see disembodied in this video). I suppose I could just be quite lucky, but one of those parts cameras was absolutely trashed - rusty, moldy, and seized up - but the needle was just as perky as the rest!
Specifically with this design, if the aperture blades cannot open, the shutter interlock / red flag does not work. That makes a lot of people presume that the camera is dead. But! If the shutter still fires, you can usually test the meter's integrity by shining a bright light into the lens and listening for that faster shutter speed. If it's changing speeds on its own, the light cell and meter are working - but the stuck aperture mechanism might fool you into thinking it's not.
Thank you for your fantastic work, good sir! I salute you from Berlin!
Keep up the good work!
"Selenium light" does sound like a STAR TREK or some other scifi term :-D
Great video
My Olympus Trip had a decent exposure meter. But i've had multiple handheld exposure meters that lost sensitivity.
I am under the impression that Olympus' selenium cells have better longevity than most.
The scene where you mentioned buying two of them and I noticed there are FOUR of the things in the frame and the light sensor of a fifth was absolutely hilarious. That's dedication.
My favorite is right when the credits start rolling there's the 2 on the desk, the one in the back left in the red box, the one to the right of his head in the purple box and the one right above him all in frame. I'm going to end up looking for these in all future videos to see if the collection keeps growing
The FIFTH element. . .
I count 5 plus the sensor! There's one on the shelf above his head in the wide shot, though maybe that's the one the sensor is from.
I counted five including the one in his hand
I love this man's dedication to ideas he likes.
It's funny how back in the day nobody wanted to hold their camera vertically to get a landscape shot, and today nobody wants to hold their phone horizontally to get a landscape video.
Also, wow, this camera has so many clever bits in it.
I cannot fathom taking videos vertically. It's harder to hold a phone steady one-handed, landscape makes it easier to grip with both hands and keep steady.
@@sunyavadin holding the phone vertically with one hand is a hella lot more stable than holding it horizontally with one hand
Maybe, just maybe because cameras are usually held sideways, while phones are held upright? Just a guess...
If anything, phone manufacturers need to put their sensors in portrait orientation when you hold the phone upright. I personally take most videos in square format.
I've got a Bronica RF645 - it takes Portrait photos in normal orientation and you REALLY do take more with it that way. For a world where everyone's primary screen is portrait too that's not necessarily a bad thing
@Jamie Smith I can see
When I was 5 years old, my father got a state department job in Japan, so our young family packed up and moved there to live for several years. My folks has little expendable income, by my mother insisted on buying a new Japanese camera for herself to use for all the family & touristy things she envisioned. Being frugal, she wanted to conserve on film costs, and selected the Olympus Pen (this would have been around 1963) as it did the half frame exposure and also was simple and nearly foolproof to use, and reliable.
Later, we moved to Europe and lived in three different places for many years, and she hauled the Pen camera all over, taking lots of photos.
Recently, I spent a few months scanning all the old family slides, and found a few thousand of the half frame slides (my mother never seemed to have a problem with the photo labs being able to detect, appropriately process, and correctly frame the smaller slides). There was not even a single poor exposure in the lot, and they were all in focus. She still owns the camera, but has not used it in many decades.
Hi. What was your father's state job in Japan if i may ask?
@@pt7181 , I don't know. He never talked about it. I know he had a secondary duty to make certain announcements on the Armed Forces radio network (Pacific), but that was not his main reason for being there. He had previously had a couple of duties at Cape Canaveral related to the early Air Force missile program, so I thought he might have been given some related duty in the Pacific region.
@@youtuuba
Send her this video, she may get a nostalgia kick out of it.
There's something magical about these old mechanical solutions to seemingly impossible problems. Absolutely incredible!
I'll never get sick of the magic of buying two
Edit: I'm blown away! Next level magic in this episode, could have never seen this coming!
You’re coming dangerously close to getting me into analog photography
Worry not
Guess who has fallen into it earlier on because of his Canon F-1 video? 🙃
Yet another rabbit hole to be resisted... The world is a fascinating place!
I think it'll only take two or three more videos before I'm hooked.
@@jefftitterington7600 Everything is so fascinating I'd be utterly doomed if I wasn't so lazy!
Just take the plunge already, but don't spend too much on your 1st gear. That way you can always change your mind, and can say you had the experience.
I've restarted analog photography last year with a 3 dollar Soviet Smena Symbol camera, and a 4 dollar Leningrad lightmeter (though I've also used a phone app). And it was producing decent enough pictures to keep me going, and also got me understanding the basics of exposure.
Now I'm using a Nikon F55 that my grandpa gave me, and worth like 40 bucks, but a bit too automatized for me, I loved the full manual control of older cameras. Though this makes better images, and can be used in manual mode for fun.
I work as a mechanical engineer in CAD for a consumer product company. And my admiration for the engineers, who designed mechanisms like these (or the automatic record changers) is endless. Even IF I would have to build such complex mechanisms on my CAD, It would not be a problem at all to finetune or at least look for weak points in these mechanisms before building prototypes. But doing all that on a manual drawing board? With multiple layers and everything? Just incredible.
I am also an ME, having worked in automation and then the medical device field. I could not agree with you more, the engineers of these cameras were incredible!!!!
This guy knows his stuff, thank you for the technical info and the humor as well!
I love how beautifully intricate these old mechanisms are. I feel like we've really lost something by making everything digital.
In my decades as an Olympus tech, I worked on literally 1000's of these -- they were actually quite popular.
All in all, a remarkably well presented program. One minor point -- what you call "feelers" are typically referred to as "step cams". And I could provide some tricks for setting focus.
those tricks sound like they could be useful - do they work for any camera or Pen specific? and do you have any tips for anyone who has accidentally unscrewed the whole shutter mechanism from a Pen (the first) trying to remove a skylight filter that got stuck. Asking for a friend.
@Figment I took photography in high school, and we used Olympus Trip-35s. Great little camera.
@Figment Please explain?
@@spookydirt I'd also be interested in hearing the "official" tips, but here's the way that I refocused my Trip35 after making a mistake in clearing up stuck aperture blades. Firstly, I created a "ground glass" focusing screen from some flat partially clear plastic which was then taped into the back of the camera where the film would go. Obviously propper ground glass would work better. Then, with the top of the camera removed, I used a tooth pick to trap the aperture blades open as wide as they could go by placing it under one of the screws accessable behind the lens housing. I then used a screwdriver in one of the small gears on-top to open the shutter. Once I'd loosened the lens in front, with both the shutter and aperture open, this would then project an image on the "ground glass" where the film would be. Using a magnifying loupe, I could then inspect the image for focus and adjust the lens to bring the image into focus. I found the best way to ensure focus is to have the camera set at a specific distance to an object and the camera obviously set to the same distance e.g. 1.5 m. Shorter distances were better than longer because of amount of rotation required makes it more accurate. Once focused, tighten up the screws on the lens to set and reassemble the top of the camera. This worked for my trip, but might be a little more tricky with only a half frame to look at. I suspect that there are better ways to colomate a lens though. My guess is that you might be able to reverse the above by using a normal negative in back of the camera and shining a light through the back of the lens whilst the aparture and shutter are open, and thus projecting an image on a wall at a given distance. With a larger image projected on a wall, it might allow for finer adjustment. Anyway, I'm no camera tech, but sort of worked for me.
@@dougbrowning82 Same here. Trip 35 was my first camera. With the leather case it was virtually indestructible. I remember a lot of landscapes in those years.
I absolutely love how excited Alek gets when he has the magic of buying two of them and has an already taken apart one he can show us :D
His excitement is really contagious; I got excited too!
He didn't stop at 2. At the end there are 5 (6 if you count the full frame) in the shot all at the same time.
He has lots of toasters too.
You gotta love all the magic he is able to conjure up.... I do!
It's called "a nerdgasm", and I know the feeling all too well :P
Ooh, as a kid I had a Trip 35, which used to be my mum's. The light sensor was such a distinctive feature with its honeycomb structure. Always wondered about how that worked. And now, almost 35 years later, I learned :)
As a kid, I also had a Trip 35, which was my grandma's, and then handed down to me. And yup - it was incredibly kid-proof. A genius bit of design. I wish I'd known about the EES though - double the shots would have been very useful!
I am rocking a Trip 35 right now! It used to be my great grandfathers and still works like a charm.
You could say that learning how the Trip 35 works was a 35-year trip 😜
Same here. In pretty sure my parents bought it just after I was born. I then "inherited" it when they upgraded.
Still works, 45 years old.
It's really interesting how engineering hasn't changed at it's core much despite wrapping many more layers of abstraction around it through high tech. Clever ways of implementing feedback using minimal complexity has a certain sense of purity to it.
If it works it works, I guess. It's really just applied physics at the end of the day.
Well said!
Well it's not abstraction. It's economics and objective performance metrics. Electronic exposure adjustments replace these mechanisms because they are much more flexible, cheaper, more reliable, and so on. Newer approaches aren't necessary more conceptually complex, they're just harder to understand because we can't imagine things that we can't see.
That feeler mechanism is brilliant. I could not imagine how that tiny needle with almost no strength to it could affect the aperture in any appreciable way. Well done, 1960s engineers!
You get extra points for correctly using the word "affect" instead of the incorrect but very common "effect".
@@nutbastard that’s rare? Huh. I always ensure I’m doing the right one (speaking of, that’s another - ensure vs insure. I’m even now seeing printed journalism say the latter when it should be the former!)
@Kaitlyn L It's rare enough for me to remark on. Homophones (or near homophones) being juxtaposed is a huge pet peeve of mine. I'll add to your example with "farther" vs "further", which is probably among the most common subtle homophones (and not simply a misspelling as it is with "their" and "there") because the two words both indicate similar concepts.
"Affect" vs "effect" jumps out at me because I once spent a solid and increasingly frustrating 20 minutes attempting to educate my boss about the difference between them, with no measurable success.
That was exactly my thought process too! Very exciting revelation of the mechanism.
I was going to say this as well. The ingenuity that went into this is very impressive.
For the background of the design choices for this camera, look up the designer: Yoshihisa Maitani. He was a passionate photographer and felt that the half frame format let him take twice as many pictures for the same cost. He also designed other influential Olympus cameras including the OM1 and the XA series.
And, of course, the XA-1 has the same selenium light sensor and metering setup, complete with the red flag.
Yes, Maitani was a passionate photographer, and that shows in many of his designs, and design choices.
It is part of why even the 'point and shoot' PEN models have those excellent optics. I own many of the cameras he designed, including a fully working OM1 and a PEN FT (which sadly is defective now, suffering from a jammed mechanism which is a real pain to repair).
It's always nice to see someone create a product because they themselves would like to use it.
While I love the OM series, the ingeniousness of the XA (such as their having to use a "reverse retrofocus" lens design to be able to fit it under the sliding cover, and the sheer audacity of implementing a rangefinder mechanism AND aperture control in a camera THAT small) along with its utterly unique look (with its iconic Big Red Button), make it one of my favourite examples of industrial design of all time.
@@apmeehan the XA is a brilliant little gem.
Wow, that brought back memories... Even the sound of that camera's shutter. My mom had this camera in the late '60s. It was indestructible, and my first introduction to photography and much later going pro. Always wondered how it worked, and now I know. Respect.
As a mechanical engineer who has designed precision tools and fixtures, I must commend you on your explanation of the feeler mechanism. Excellent work!!
Hey Alec. I'm astonished that you took apart these cameras, filmed close-ups of their intricate mechanisms, learned how they work, and explained it all so clearly. Fantastic work! I really appreciate the efforts that went into producing this video.
Even more impressive is that he put them back together.
If you're new here, you might like some other stuff- Alec is really good at doing this!
I'm pretty good at the first part.
@@oxybrightdark8765 Totally agree. This was a really nice video. Educational and enjoyable.
he does his homework
As an electrical engineer, I just love these intricate mechanical movements! I learned photography in the early 1980's, so I saw the transition between fully mechanical and electronically controlled cameras.
Electro-mechanical stuff is so cool. Old elevator controls, “computers”, telephone exchanges, etc.
As a mechanical engineer, I'm amazed at what my predecessors managed to do with no electronics available. Ingenious!.
Is this Michael reeves but older?
@@blurglide They had electronics available, radios existed right around the 1920s/30s, the electronics just weren't super tiny, extremely cheap or had 100s of easily programmable microcontrollers like we have today, so if you used electronics it was probably a purpose made chip rather than grabbing something off the shelf.
@@vgamesx1 No shit. I realize electronics existed in 1961, but they weren't suitable to this application. Are you always this literal?
Sort of tangential, but I've thought about the reason why the current era has returned to taking photos vertically on their phones (and has started taking vertical videos) is a matter of general ergonomics and the push for thinner devices with larger displays. So while nearly every smartphone prior to the iPhone 6 was a lot easier to hold one-handed, in either orientation, the iPhone 6 was the first phone to really be hazardous to hold in landscape orientation due to it coming in a fairly large size, having a rounded bezel, and being made of slippery, expensive materials that happen to take dropping kind of poorly.
Ive always been in the market for a Half-Frame camera and you sold me on the Olympus-Pen so I managed to track down a ESS3 model. Its only just arrived but it seems like quite a sturdy camera for what it is and I cant wait to use it around christmas time
Hope you didn't forget to de-gunk the shutter blades 😅
@@DinnerForkTongue It's the aperture blades that get gunked up.
I appreciate the restraint in not making the obvious joke with the PenEES name
Microprocessors are way more complicated, but the cleverness of older tech just gives you that fuzzy feeling.
You know, I don't know that they are. They're definitely way smaller than any mechanical component could hope to be, but at their root, all microprocessors let you do is perform some basic arithmetic via logical comparison of bits. We've just built mountains of business logic on top of that basic functionality. Granted, processors can do those operations billions or trillions of times per second, but it's still just a big mountain of a small set of logical operations. Compared to those core functions, though, any mechanical clock is arguably more complicated.
Well, microprocessors are repetitive. They have a massive amount of functional elements, but they consist of the same thing repeated over and over. You could build a digital clock out of mechanical components, but it would be the size of a building and it couldn't run fast enough. It would be much more complicated than a mechanical clock, but looking at it wouldn't give you the same kind of satisfaction. You can look at a mechanical clock and understand completely, how it works. That's the thing. Same with cameras.
@@bvoyelr It takes a remarkable number of transistors to build those basic simple operations into a useful microprocessor. Take the 6502: 52 instructions; just _one_ general-purpose register and 2 index registers with slightly different functionality; and the stack pointer register is limited to just 8 bits, yet it took 3510 transistors to implement it and another 1018 transistors arranged as crude resistors. This was all in NMOS logic where some of the many logic gates can be reduced to a single transistor depending on where in the circuit they are. This is a similar complexity to an entire fighter jet, but it's one of the simplest practical general-purpose microprocessors ever made. Some PIC chips may be simpler, but I'm told they're not very nice to use.
@@eekee6034 Yep! The 6502 was well-thought-out to optimize its limited ressources. Sometime seen as an ancestor of RISC technology. As such, it could compare favorably in performance with CPUs having much greater instructions set like the Z80.
It's hard to compare, both are complex in their own ways and just because image processing algorithms are 'just calculations' run on a processor doesn't mean they don't require knowledge and intelligence to design, let alone everything involved in designing and manufacturing the image sensor itself etc. We just kind of take a lot of electronics for granted nowadays without reflecting on the massive amount of engineering that goes into each and every one of them. Of course there's a lot of beauty and finesse in mechanical solutions of the past but it's kind of like how you can appreciate a Rube Goldberg machine even though you could solve something with less moving parts
Your videos are so solid, they could be a PBS Saturday afternoon kids' science show from the 1980s. Seriously. They could be popped right into that kind of situation. Most of these TC productions could be easily edited into a typical half-hour slot (as on my local PBS stations in the 80s, the "filler" to take up any airtime slack would be AUBREY cartoons) 🤖👽🤖👽🤖👽👺
Yes agree about his videos I'd rather watch this any day over just about anything else well besides other videos about content that would be beneficial to my own knowledge but there is so much crap on RUclips that's not even worth watching so this is one channel that when you realize something's crap just switch to this or something else that's a lot more solid and of more entertainment and knowledge which is kind of one in the same for me just because of my interest and how much I'm into things honestly I'd rather watch video and actually learn something instead of the crap out there for certain.
Who says you can't learn anything on the Internet or on RUclips honestly
He's even got the look--I do appreciate that I know a video is his because the thumbnail always has his backdrop in it
These late Machine Age gadgets are fascinating. Thanks for the video!
We still live in a machine age, no product magically appears out of a computer monitor.
Am I the only one who snickers every time he says "Pen EES"?
Thank you for showing not only an interesting camera, but the absolute genius of the engineers of the time. The shutter mechanism bringing together the light sensor, apature control and even preventing waste of film on low light situations is incredible. Yeah, we can do it easier today with microprocessors, but doing it all mechanically with a little photoelectric cell, incredible!
The level of mechanical ingenuity in these older devices always amazes me. Nowadays I doubt it would even occur to a company to attempt an operation like this mechanically, they'd just default to circuitry. Maybe the right move these days, but it does give me such an appreciation for the elegance of these old systems.
Half-frame 35mm is larger and better resolution than Kodak Disc, so I don't think its failure to catch on was a quality issue. And composing pictures in a vertical format doesn't seem to be an issue for most people (smartphones have shown that, for better or worse). So it's surprising that this was a niche format, you would think less fumbling with loading film would have been a big selling point.
Right? Film and processing was never so cheap that folks weren't at least a little stingy with it, so to me this seems like an obvious boon.
Smartphones are, by design, held in portrait, while Cameras are held landscape unless your are deliberately trying to get a portrait photo. The styles persisted because they way those are made, it makes it easier to hold the camera/phone to take pictures. As much as I hate vertical video, I get it.
Not sure what Olympus' market share was at the time, but perhaps they couldn't market the features to a wide enough audience.
@@kevind814 Olympus had a pretty big share of the Japanese market, so likely they were aiming at Japan, where you would generally have crowded areas and thus not want to get all the other people in the shot. Also likely that film just was more expensive, and thus wanting to double the amount of images per roll and develop cycle was a selling point to the people who were all too reminded of wartime austerity in the 1960's.
It seems that a potential issue is the ergonomics of the format. A phone is relatively easy to hold in either format (though admittedly harder in landscape). But camera bodies are very hard to hold vertically (though my experience is largely with DSLRs, and the 35mm SLR I used at one point was much easier due to its low weight). Maybe incorporating a vertical grip like is built in to or available as an add on for many professional cameras would have helped? Though that could interfere with the small size of the camera.
It amazes me truly how intricate analog mechanical functions operate. I grew up in the 80s and 90s so I was exposed to a good deal of it, but it was definitely starting to fading out (was also pretty poor as a kid so we had a lot of old tech). And as I became an adult, it was all about discrete electronics. These days you can't do even the simplest of mechanisms without some sort of microcontroller walking you through the entire process.
This light sensing is just interesting to see
Now we're transitioning to everything not only being electronic or microcontrolled, but having machine-learning shoe-horned into it. XD
As much as I admire the electromechanical linkages of the past, I completely understand why everyone uses microcontrollers now. It's just so much easier to modify the design.
A mechanical design can perform its function flawlessly for decades, but what happens when you realize you need it to do almost the same thing, but with one tiny difference? You often have to redesign it. Whereas with a microcontroller you just change a line of code.
It's just way too convenient for sentimental concerns to matter
Not to mention needing a firmware update that requires you to register etc etc.
@@VOIP4ME I've also seen microcontrollers being used a lot for logic that could have handled by a few analog components.
Glad you took out the Trip 35 at the end! It's my favourite camera, I also have three of them in various conditions, I still use the best one of those a few times each year.
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Feedback appreciate..💯💯you won a prize 🎁🎁let’s talk 👈🎀🎊🎊🎊🎉
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When I first saw this video at some stage in 2023, it kind of rekindled a small spark of love I have for photography in general. I started watching a bunch of videos on how to use my Nikon DSLR better, and I finally just made the jump and bought a Trip 35 this week. I picked it up this morning, and have been out and about and filled a 24 exposure film today, and cannot wait to get it developed to see how they come out. I do enjoy watching all your videos whether they be on old hifi equipment, video formats, LED lighting or even the refrigeration cycle, but especially this one as it reignited an interest I have held for many years, but have also neglected. So, thank you.
an absolutely incredible video! I've never been so enamored by a little camera from ages past. (also I will be a child and joke about it being called the Olypmus Pen-EES)
Lol how did I miss that 😂
I knew someone else would also observe the "clever" naming
I was very disappointed when the bloopers didn't include him saying
_"Get double the exposures, with the small Pen-EES 2"_
I certainly noticed how much care went into making sure he said that name... :p
@@Unsensitive Try turning the subtitles on.
I thought there was no way a photocell supplies enough power to adjust aperture. That trapped needle mechanism is flipping brilliant!
It truly is. I was trying desperately in my mind to predict how it worked and while I only had a few minutes to do so, I came up with nothing. It's so obvious and simple in hindsight. Need a weak thing to do a strong thing? Just stop it moving and it becomes a strong thing.
@@nutbastard Yeah, after watching Steve Molds video on how a tiny difference in air pressure across a membrane is what causes a gas pump to stop automatically I figured there must be a similar force amplifying trick for the voltage needled. I couldn't think of what it could be though. Old school mechanical stuff is so full of clever obvious in hindsight tricks like this, I thinks its a big part of why I find channels like this so fun.
I love how happy this man is every time he says “through the magic of buying…” in these videos
I have a 1960s Bell and Howell Double8mm camera that automatically adjusts to light. It works FANTASTIC and it really helped with properly focusing my vacation from last year that I filmed! I even filmed nighttime Fireworks that turned out gorgeously!
I _love_ these deep dives. If you're ever wondering: "is this too much detail to include?", the answer is always: no!
This one pushed me to become a patron!
This channel continues to amaze me. It really satisfies my 'engineerguy' itch with the in-depth explanations. The delivery always has such enthusiasm and its coupled with witty sarcasm. Please keep up the great content!
When I clicked on this I thought maybe I would give up a few minutes in.
Nope. Watched the whole thing.
Fascinating, interesting, and well done.
your dedication to technology is absolutely amazing.
Seeking for the truth, non interested in pleasing the manufacturers. I'm very grateful and I hope you prosper.
Something i find neat about the ee's light meter: It's inside the filter ring, around the lens.
So if you put a red/yellow/nd filter over the lens, you also cover the meter, and thus adjust the settings automatically.
I love how you just had that 3rd camera on your set. I immediately looked around and found 4 more sitting in different places. Amazing detail!
That light meter, needle and stepped feeler is absolutely genius.
Trap needle metering. Lovely stuff.
I have a few precious cameras with fully functional selenium meters. The half frame ones in particular always seem to be in great shape. I have the Olympus Pen EE2 as well, but I prefer the Ansco Gaf Memo II, which is even smaller and has an automatic winding mechanism. It takes super crisp pictures and has a marker in the viewfinder to show where you're focusing. If you have a chance to check that one out, be sure to go for it.
Used these commercially back in the early 80's for social photography. Largely to reduce the need to change films. We'd often carry three or more in our pockets and one in the hand. Coupled with on-camera flash guns, we could shoot rapidly all night long.
I'm not even interested in cameras but I'm here for appreciating the ingenious and creative engineering behind such amazing innovations. Marvelous work Alec 👏
Beautiful window in older simpler times. Thanks for going there.
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Feedback appreciate..💯💯you won a prize 🎁🎁let’s talk 👈🎀🎊🎊🎊🎉
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I have this same camera lying in a box of my late grandfather's stuff and I never really cared about it. Today this video changed my mind, thx mate!
This is absolute genius. As much as I love my modern mirrorless camera, and as much as I love software-defined-everything, this type of electrical-mechanical engineering (you might even call it programming) is so friggin' neat! And you do such an amazing job of finding and explaining these gems! I think I like this one even more than the toaster... (please don't ban me).
Ditch all that crap and try some pure analog photography
@@goldenhourkodak I love that you love analog photography, but I'm not a photographer for the photographic process. I do it for the resulting art, and my clients and I prefer what we can create quickly with AI-assisted editing and ultra-precise autofocus in very low light.
Every part of your videos is a pure delight to watch. Topics, contents, form and, last not least, your delicately tuned puns 😁😁😁
Thank you so much for your efforts, dear Alec, they are very much appreciated around the world.
Man I wish I had seen this video 40 years ago. This camera /video had me at the half frame aspect. The whole rest of the video after the half frame aspect is simply amazing. Who says we never went to the moon? Great video. Thank You.
Your channel gives me similar satisfaction to watching How It's Made before they changed the narrator and, for this reason, I thank you my good sir. You've given me nostalgia in a new way.
I really enjoy analog engineering like this. People have come up with some impressive mechanisms to automate stuff without computers.
Most impresibly that hardware never needed a patch, half a century later and still works as intended. This can hardly be said of most technology that uses binary code... except for our nuclear silos, We HOPE.
@@JesusVillanueva omg. Are you suggesting that the nuclear silos are using digital?!! Now i am scared. I assumed it was analog.
i've done electrical engineering for years, and circuits without a normal power source always fascinate me
Technology Connections might be one of the best channels on RUclips!
I got one cheap from someone who was selling it years ago and I was super impressed with how well it worked and calibrated light analogically for something from the 60's. I'm even more impressed now, to think all the little moving parts still do their job 50 years after.
Since I started getting into 35mm photography this year I’ve been falling down a rabbit hole of obscure film photography history
I know that electronic versions of these mechanisms are just objectively more complex to manufacture but as a software engineer who can sometimes get caught up thinking every CPU is the same basic architecture with different math these mechanical solutions are just fascinating and it’s like they were designed by wizards.
it never ceases to amaze me how many of our technologies are just rocks arranged in ingenious ways
@@left4twenty WELL PUT 👍🤓🧠 (LMAO)
The mechanical devices are complicated, but they can be repaired by a competent man, which means they can last almost forever, while most aging electronics will have parts that can't be replaced or repaired due to being out of production. This is especially true with digital cameras, which are by nature packed with unrepairable chips; digital cameras become obsolete in a fairly short period of time, while a well-cared for mechanical film camera can last virtually forever. My oldest camera is from the 1930s and still functions perfectly well.
@@RCAvhstape good luck finding a way to refine selenium when the solar component eventually fails 😅
@@left4twenty My older mechanical cameras don't have any light sensors, and if you know what you're doing you can estimate light levels based on experience. Maybe your cute little emoji will help.
These light-powered cameras were always the kind of camera I wanted as a teen: no fussing around with a hand-held photocell light meter like I had to use with me Dad's old Petri Flex V, but also no batteries to replace and cheap '80s digital displays to break. Truly the apex of consumer camera design!
And now you're taking me back to my college days spent in a dark room (just at the cusp of the digital camera age)
Man, as an IT guy, I worry about that thin fragile metering needle getting mangled.
It's safe inside the housing. It can take a lot of mis-handling, before it gets mangled. The mechanism was carefully designed not to harm the needle. Many cameras with it lasted many years.
It's probably quite a hard metal, and those feelers look like they're spring loaded so you can go ham on the shutter release
Ironically on most old film cameras the meter is broken, but not because of the mechanical mechanism breaking but because the electronics have degraded and broken
Having been an IT guy for nearly a quarter of a century, I have learned to distrust both mechanics (because printers) and software (because Microsoft). Still, this looks quite robust, and both ingenious and simple at the same time.
I'm pretty certain the engineers there knew what they were doing, and limited the force acting upon the parts by selecting suitable springs which have low tension. Otherwise, you'd also feel them pretty uncomfortably when pressing the shutter button!
One conceivable failure mode of the mechanism is actually the opposite, the springs becoming even more relaxed and no longer holding the needle in place, but i don't consider the risk particularly high. There might not even be any degradation that can be felt or become significant on a 50-100 year timescale with good control of material quality and precise thermal treatment of springs.
I've got a trip 35 and I've always wondered about that light meter! Thank you for this, and every video you've made here. Constantly filling me with the awe and wonder that I know fuels this channel. Absolutely wonderful
I need to give kudos to the long curly F in the subtitles when talking about f-stops. Sir, your attention to detail is astonishing. Thank you!
(Edited to add: if anyone is curious, you can see this at 6:22 ish.)
After watching these I am realizing I really miss analog photography. I used to LOVE taking pictures with my 35mm camera....
I had a Pen D that stopped working a little while ago.. You're really really making me miss it. Shooting half frames is fun because you don't really have to worry about getting the most out of every shot so you're more free to experiment. The downside is it feels almost impossible to get through _seventy-two_ shots. Thirty six is hard enough already! Range focusing kinda sucks too, but that camera is so well built and the light meter is so cool that it's still a blast to use.
Perhaps you might have tried using the "24 full frame" exposure rolls of 35mm film instead. Apparently those were more popular in any case.
With one of those 35mm film rolls instead of the 36 full frame ones, you'd be getting 48 half frame exposures, which would be "a nice bump up from 36" while at the same time both being cheaper per roll than the 36 frame roll and getting you "more" exposures to work with, but not "too much more" like you get with 36 exposure rolls used in a half-frame camera.
@@44R0Ndin That was what I ultimately wound up doing, and it's a pretty good solution. Unfortunately some of my favorite stocks only come in 36 exposure rolls. I do have some FPP retrochrome that needs to be shot though..
Never knew this existed, and I'm glad to learn about this nifty tech nearly sixty years later. Speaking of technology, that "[oof]" when you got perilously close to connecting the technology to the name of your channel was absolutely perfect, and my inner child was pretty keen about that whole outro. You always crack me up with your captioning; thank you good sir!
This got me thinking about my dad's old half-frame camera. As I recall he took it to Korea with him in the 1950s - we have some slides in that format, some military, some sightseeing.
4:43 boy do I get excited when you go in-depth with your explanations!
Alec, your content is really a sight for sore eyes. I am, to say the least, not having the time of my life... but your videos help me to push through - because they allow me to appreciate reality more.
After watching your channel for many years. I have been quite impressed at ingenuity of inventers with analog systems.
I came across your channel by accident. I was born in 1970, and remember seeing or hearing about the devices that you breakdown. Enjoying your content.
🚀🚀🚀🚀
Feedback appreciate..💯💯you won a prize 🎁🎁let’s talk 👈🎀🎊🎊🎊🎉
……
this is just an incredible piece of engineering. i'm honestly speechless at how much care and consideration went into the design
This mechanism is really clever and well built (especially so early on). I totally get why you're so excited about it and feel like it's your favorite!
Your explanation of aperatures and stops cleared up a very 'fuzzy' technology for me. My frame of reference is Engineering. So every F Stop is 3 dB. It was an AHA moment!!! Great camera!
Every F stop, every halving/doubling of shutter speed, every halving/doubling of film speed, and then you MULTIPLY them all.
The film camera's ability to deal with extraordinarily different light levels by changing one or more of those variables, and achieve some nuanced effects by playing one variable off of either of the other two, gives them a truly incredible versitility.
Want to film a nuclear blast? Low speed film, high shutter speed, small aperture, and hope that it's not "still overexposed" or hazed by the radiation (a lead-lined box with a leaded glass window in it, viewing the blast thru a mirror or a periscope wouldn't be a bad idea).
Want to film the vastness of the Milky Way, in an area with very low light pollution, when the moon's not out? Hold that shutter open for a REALLY long time, use "fast" film, and leave that aperture all the way open.
Want to do something in the middle? Well, then you can play with those 3 simple variables to get the results you want.
@@44R0Ndin Talk about muddling up murky waters.
You mean 6dB. 3dB is 1.414 or so. Square root of 2, close enough. So another 3dB would basically double the amplitude.
More confusing is that the aperture stops do go up/down in root 2, in terms of the f number. So a double/half of the f number is actually 2 stops. But 1 stop is a doubling/halving of the total light.
@@somegeezer In POWER 3 dB is doubling, in VOLTAGE & CURRENT 6 dB is DOUBLING. I was speaking of POWER. GET YOUR TERMS straight.
@@robincross4625 probably would’ve helped if they’d stated the conclusion before the examples, which is that the overall sensitivity of the system depends on the sensitivity of the film, the length of the exposure, and how wide is the aperture.
For the same film, can half the light by either halving the exposure time, OR closing the aperture up by a stop.
That’s pretty much all they’re saying, just by giving multiple examples instead of outlining the wider pattern.
It’s very similar to how you can achieve a 10W output with either 10V1A, or 5V2A (that’s why they said “then you multiply them”, except they didn’t explain what value that is actually deriving), or indeed any combination you like.
Fantastic! I’m amazed at how they found mechanical ways to do these things! The elegance of the design is thrilling. I wish we could interview the engineers/wizards that made these things possible.
Thank you for showing us these gorgeous artifacts in your always perfectly paced and clear style. I love this channel.
Thank you, Alec. There's nothing quite like watching one of your videos. Please don't stop.
great! I got a soviet made camera half a year ago, and it works on the same principle! thanks for explaining this!
I can only imagine how they must have worked with layered transparent paper for designing.
So many features. It almost looks simple when it is ready, but this has so many details.
I am beginning to love the fact that you are about 3 months behind me in growing out your hair. It is like you are documenting my progress for me 🤣
MECHANICAL ANALOG MAGIC! So much of this genius will be lost to time. I am so fascinated by the problem solving and solutions that were created in the history before the microchip.
There is something so beautiful about mechanical objects like this.
I understand why we've largely moved away from this kind of technology but it makes me kind of sad at the same time. Old school mechanical devices were works of art in and of themselves and I wish it was still more of a thing today.
Buying two of them seems to be Alec's favorite spell these days
Edit: looks like he leveld up to three. This is getting out of hand
Looks like he bought at least five.
Four in the very first shot and then another black one at 11:42
have had an earlier version of this camera for about a year and i absolutely love it, had no clue how the light sensor worked before this and this just makes me appreciate it even more
I enjoy your subtitle work. It's worth having them on for the subtle humor and I recommend everyone turns them on.
I bought the first consumer grade automatic camera. Agfa Optima.
Fun fact, the oldest versions are easy to detect because it has the trigger for the automatic sensor on the left side. After a year, Agfa realized that most people were right handed and switched the side.
Awesome video ! Congratulations , once again. My parents had a Trip 35 with an external flash . I guess it was from the 70's. I was allowed to use it in 1986, I was 13 years old by the time. Manipulating the camera was so pleasant , and if I remember correctly, depressing the shutter button you can actually feel the mechanical resistance changing according to the light in the scene. I already had a collection of electronics publications and kinda figured out the inner workings basics, but never had the courage to disassemble it, of course.
Every single picture that I took during a graduation celebration (from elementary school) and a 7 day trip with my classmates and teachers, both outdoors and indoors , was amazing !
All other guys and gals actually had those horrible 110mm pocket cameras that looked, felt and worked like a toy. Those pictures resulted in cheap awfull and small prints.
My pictures , instead, could be printed in a bigger size and excellent quality . I made quite a good sum of money ordering copies and selling them to my classmates 🙂
What a brilliant and clever design: no batteries nor firmware updates required! Nowadays no manufacturer puts 1/1000th of that dedication on product development.
Great video and topic!
Wow! Extremely well illustrated. Never had a close look at any of those cameras. Now it's automation is as clear as it will ever be. All the camera and photography related videos from this channel are absolutely fascinating and well worth watching.
We used to have a half frame camera for school, because it was for taking hundreds of photos for projects. Olympus used to make great cameras, too bad they don’t make them anymore, even though film cameras are getting a resurgence!
Ooh, the channel name drop at the end was just *chef's kiss*. Always love your videos!
Wow! My grandfather had one of these, he passed it on to my mother and all my childhood here in Brazil, it was photographed by one of these, it was practically part of my life, and unfortunately it was lost in time.
What a clever design, and such a beautiful object. This piece not only functions as a wonderful review of classic hardware, but a great primer on film cameras in general. Thank you!
Wow, your Pen EES is indeed small.
With every new video in this series, I want to pick up photography as a hobby even more~ The processes involved are so neat
i like the funniness in ur vids, nice and awesome. theres a premium feel to ur vids that i find lacking in other servings nowadays.
I am loving your content. Interesting subjects, beautifully explained and great captions to help me follow along. It’s brilliant!
I have been digging your videos. You always seem to be able to bring interest into topics I previously considered mundane, if I ever considered them at all. You have a great ability to shine light on topics and be able to explain the inner workings, without feeling like it going over my head or I'm being spoken to like a child. Definitely have earned my subscription.
Absolutely fascinating video! I was immediately perplexed by this system and the order in which you presented its components was amazing! Left me guessing right up until the very end when it left me literally screaming "holy **** that's so cool" at my computer screen :P Even to someone who knows nothing about cameras and photos, such as myself, you managed to break this down into something that was incredibly easy to digest and fully understand, truly great job on the video!
Also, I'm kind of sad that I forgot to watch with subtitles on, at least up until the very end bloops when I remembered, and I'm sooo glad I did! The post bloop subtitles are one of the best things about your videos, and even as someone who's ears work perfectly fine, I reeeeally appreciate the effort that goes into your manual subtitles :D
I absolutely hate it when I stumble upon a video that doesn't even have automatic subtitles. Like how much lazier can you get as a RUclipsr?
Sometimes I'm not sure if I heard something correctly -especially when playing at 2x speed- and I like to check the auto sub's interpretation for a second opinion.
This was very clear and eloquent. Thanks for making this video! It was a joy to watch.
As someone who uses just digital cameras, I'm in awe at the elegant simplicity of this mechanism and the brilliance of the engineers who thought it up.
Started watching this channel when you had a topic which interested me. Now, I just watch it for your personality. You are earnest, and very funny at the same time. Really enjoy your presentations. Thank you!