C41
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
View profile →half-frame
The Olympus Pen Flex (1962) is a half-frame 35mm compact in the Pen EE family tradition: selenium cell metered, program auto-exposure, fixed D. Zuiko 32mm f/2.8 lens, zone focus. It sits between the simpler Pen S (fully manual) and the full Pen EE in terms of automation level, offering auto exposure with a selenium meter that requires no battery.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the half-frame-35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
View profile →C41
Kodak UltraMax 400 is a versatile consumer-grade ISO 400 daylight-balanced color negative film with T-grain emulsion, delivering warm Kodak colors, fine-for-speed grain (PGI 46), and wide exposure latitude. Currently in production and available globally as a single-roll and multi-pack.
View profile →BW
Develop half-frame-35mm film
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Before you buy used
About this camera
Selenium-metered half-frame Pen with program auto-exposure - the EE formula in an earlier body style.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm half-frame (18x24 mm) |
| Lens | D. Zuiko 32mm f/2.8 |
| Years | ~1962–1966 |
| Shutter | ~1/25s – 1/200s + B, Copal leaf |
| Meter | Selenium (no battery) |
| Modes | Program auto |
| Focus | Zone focus |
| Battery | None |
The Pen Flex appeared in 1962, four years after Yoshihisa Maitani introduced the original Pen (1959). By this point Olympus had established the Pen EE family as its mainstream half-frame auto-exposure line. The Flex was a variant or market-specific model within that family . Production ran through the mid-1960s alongside the Pen EE.
The Pen EE-2 (1968) and Pen EE-S effectively superseded the Flex's position in the lineup, continuing the selenium auto-exposure formula with minor improvements.
The Pen Flex is significant primarily as an example of how Olympus iterated quickly on the Pen concept in the early 1960s. Maitani's half-frame format offered 72 exposures per roll of 36-exposure film at a time when film cost was a real constraint for amateur photographers in Japan. The selenium meter and auto-exposure system removed the need for users to understand exposure, broadening the market considerably.
For 2026 shooters, the Pen Flex is a working half-frame option at lower prices than the Pen D or Pen W, with the convenience of automatic exposure. The selenium cell may be degraded on surviving examples, which is the primary functional risk.
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →Olympus Pen Flex
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