Olympus Pen W
Olympus · Fixed lens · 18×24 mm on 35mm film · 1964
Also known as: Olympus Pen-W · Olympus Pen Wide · オリンパス ペンW · オリンパス ペンワイド
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pen W | Half-frame | 1964–1965 | — | About 23,000 (Japan Camera Hunter); no maker figure published |
- The 23,000 figure is Japan Camera Hunter's and no Olympus document confirms it; it is carried here as the only number anyone gives.
- The lens is the reason the camera is expensive and also the thing reviewers are hardest on: Analog.Cafe found the corners swirly and soft wide open and the whole frame only sharp from f/8, and still shot it for months.
How to tell them apart
- A Pen S body in black with a wider lens and a shoe: the two-year run and the black finish make it the collectors' Pen
Pen W:
- E.Zuiko W 25mm f/2.8 — a 35mm-equivalent view on the half frame, the widest lens on any viewfinder Pen
- Black finish only, with a cold accessory shoe; no chrome version was made
- Shutter 1/8–1/250 and B, as the Pen S
- The black paint reacts with skin and flakes to brass at the touch points (Japan Camera Hunter)
Specifications
- Format
- 18×24 mm on 35mm film · 72 exposures
- Finder
- Direct-vision optical finder with frame lines · no rangefinder image
- Shutter
- Copal leaf, between the lens · 1/8–1/250 and B
- Film advance
- Thumbwheel on the back
- Meter
- None
- Designed by
- Maitani Yoshihisa (米谷美久) — designer of the Pen series
- Country
- Japan
What reviewers say
- Dmitri (Analog.Cafe) (blog) — A camera that can be made fast — f/8, the 5 m click, Sunny 16 — with every control where the hand expects it. The E. Zuiko W "is far from modern standards of optical perfection," swirly and soft in the corners wide open and only sharp from f/8; "can I stay mad at a sixty-four-year-old budget-friendly film camera? No."
- Michael Nguyen (Japan Camera Hunter) (blog) — "Small and light, yet the gearing in the film advance is exceptionally manufactured": a luxurious object with a whispery shutter, shot on Streetpan with a yellow filter. The 1/250 ceiling is too slow for the street work its size invites, and the black paint flakes to brass under the fingers.
History
The Pen W is a Pen S painted black with a wider lens. The E.Zuiko W 25mm f/2.8 gives the half frame the view a 35mm gives a full one, the shutter runs 1/8 to 1/250 as on the S, there is a cold shoe on top and no meter anywhere. Olympus made it for two years, 1964 and 1965, and only in black. Japan Camera Hunter puts the run at about 23,000; Olympus has never published a figure.
That combination — the only wide Pen, the only black viewfinder Pen, the shortest run — is why it is the collectors’ Pen and why it costs several times what a Pen S does. The lens itself does not entirely earn the premium. Analog.Cafe, having expected a sharp lens from the small pictures online, found the corners swirly and soft wide open and the frame only properly sharp from f/8, and kept shooting it anyway for the rendering and the handling. Japan Camera Hunter’s complaint is the 1/250 top speed on a camera whose size begs for the street, and the black paint that flakes to brass wherever a hand rests.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted — shot with a Olympus Pen W? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
Asking price, USD: a median of $360 across 4 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $280–$410). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 6 days: down 14% from $420.
By day
| Date | Median | Middle half | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-19 | $360 | $280–$410 | 4 |
| 2026-10-18 | $360 | $280–$410 | 4 |
| 2026-10-17 | $360 | $280–$410 | 4 |
| 2026-10-16 | $360 | $280–$410 | 4 |
| 2026-10-15 | $360 | $280–$410 | 4 |
| 2026-09-06 | $420 | $250–$420 | 3 |
Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.
- All Works [ Exc+4 ] Olympus Pen W 35mm Half Frame Film Camera Black From JAPAN
- 🎦 CLA'd Vintage Olympus PEN W Black Half Frame Film Camera w/ Case From JAPAN
- Olympus Pen W analoge Breitformatkamera E.Zuiko 25 mm f2,8 alle Geschwindigke...
- All Works!! [Exc+5 with/ Case] Olympus Pen W Half Frame Film Camera Black JAPAN
- Olympus OLYMPUS-PEN W Half-Frame Film Camera
- [Fast neuwertig] Olympus Pen W analoge Breitbildkamera E.Zuiko W 25 mm f/2,8 ...
- Olympus PEN-W -CLA’d - Sammlerstück - Filmgetestet ✅#652D
- as is OLYMPUS PEN W Film Camera
- OLYMPUS PEN W 最初期ロット OH済
- Olympus-Pen W 35mm Half Frame Camera #60946D5
Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.
Listings updated 2026-10-19. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.