Olympus Pen (1959)

An original 1959 Olympus Pen, the little gray camera that made half-frame shooting popular. It splits each standard 35mm frame in two, so a roll lasts twice as long, which mattered when film and printing were a real expense. Yoshihisa Maitani designed it around a target price of 6,000 yen, as a cheap camera to fill a gap in the Olympus range, and the name says the intent: photography as easy as picking up a pen. The trade-off is a smaller negative, so big enlargements show grain sooner. Half-frame Pens are still cheap secondhand and a fun way to stretch a roll.