What made you want to try half-frame, and what was your first half-frame camera?

Mainly, it was curiosity. And to expand my small collection of analogue cameras; I already had cameras for standard 35mm and medium format. An acquaintance offered me a Canon Demi EE17 he had acquired in his youth when he lived in France. And I accepted it. Unfortunately, it stopped working shortly after. But I found an Olympus Pen EE3 at a street market for a ridiculous price, and with it, I got hooked. Not just to collect it, but to use it.

What is it you like most about Half-frame?

The obvious advantage is the number of photos you get per roll. Otherwise, I don’t use it very differently than I would use a standard 35mm setup. With the prices that photographic film has reached, it allows for greater spontaneity when shooting. That’s why, in the last two years, we’ve taken some compact half-frame cameras on trips with rolls of Kodak UltraMax 400 that we usually expose at EI 200 to control the grain. More playful photos than those I take with other cameras. But if I use my Olympus Pen F SLR… it’s not very different than if I use a Pentax MX, for example. The difference is that I usually use medium-low sensitivity films with the Pen F, like Fujifilm Acros or Ektar 100, while with an MX or an analogue Canon EOS I would use Kodak Gold 200 or UltraMax 400 or ISO 400 b&w film.

Favourite subject and/or HalF-frame photo?

My two main subjects are landscapes altered by the human being and travel. Regardless of the type of camera or photographic medium I use. Obviously, when I roam the landscapes around Zaragoza, my city, the photos aren’t the same if I use the Pen F with an Ektar 100 as if I use a Hasselblad 500CM with Portra 800; the point of view is different. But the subjects are those. And on trips, it’s a bit like what I mentioned in the previous point. I’m attaching some travel photos from 2024 and 2025.

Your top tip/s for shooting half frame photos?

Since many photographers use automatic compact cameras, I think the main thing is to know the limits of these cameras. For example, if the focus is fixed, like in a Pen EE3, and the exposure is automatic, you have to know when the depth of field is limited if you don’t want to have a blurry photo and what distance the subject will always be sharp at. Many amateurs get discouraged because the results aren’t what they expected. I think they hadn’t adjusted their expectations.