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Olympus 35 SP - My first rangefinder
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:54 am    Post subject: Olympus 35 SP - My first rangefinder Reply with quote

Found this little guy today. Almost flawless, only a couple light scratches on the black painted metal frame of the film door. Glass is spotless, everything seems to be working right.

Came in it's own custom leather case with foam padding, 1A filter, generic hood, original oly leather carry case and manual and a brand new spare battery!

Light seals still look good, not 100% sure if metering is still accurate has that weird EV system I've not had anything to do with before.



Nice 7 element zuiko design - 42mm f/1.7 - f/16, dual metering modes - centre and spot, and of course AE control!

*sigh* My wife is going to kill me when she gets home Embarassed


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very nice camera with great lens, congratulations!


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's a great camera, with a very good viewfinder and useful spot metering. A bit big, but you pay for its solid build and fast lens with size and weight.

It might be worth it to clean the viewfinder (but *not* the rangefinder mirror) as it makes quite a difference with oldish cameras, especially rangefinders.


Last edited by ludoo on Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:23 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Congrats!!!


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nice buy! I would love to have this camera, but the prices on ebay are ridiculous... Sad


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's a treasure - ! Well worth having the wife kill you. She will resuscitate you though, be sure of that. Very Happy

Pretty much the equivalent of the Fuji X100 in its day. Be sure to look after it. And take photos with it.

Ah- a thought: does it use the Px 625 mercury battery? If so, alkaline or zinc replacements may not give accurate metering, but that can be got round.


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 1:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know! I was a little shocked when I got home and checked ebay. I really scored with this guy, I actually found the case hidden beneath a pile of other old camera junk and when i say junk, I mean non collectable crap - old broken flashes, random bits and pieces, crappy 35mm film compacts, paterson tanks etc etc. God knows how long it had been there, this shop doesn't specialize in camera gear - they actually recycle things, they sort thru thigns that have been taken to the rubbish tip! Someone threw this camera away! Rolling Eyes


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 1:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, it came with a new unused PX625 still in the packet... I'm guessing when that one runs flat I'm going to figure out what to do about that.


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 2:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

zinc air batteries for hearing aids are the right voltage and cost next to nothing, you just need one of the many adapters (or making one yourself from wire, etc.) to use the smaller 675 batteries.

I use these which are reasonably cheap (5€ each + postage)

http://www.paulbg.com/px625europe.html


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, seems the easiest route to go for that problem. However they don't ship to Australia, only europe.

Found this through google :

http://www.smallbattery.company.org.uk/sbc_mr9_adapter.htm

It adapts a 386 silver oxide 1.55v to the required 1.35v

Bit pricier up front, but 386 cells are cheap

Anyone used one of these before?


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 8:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I did use hearing aid batteries, one trip one fresh battery , still cheapest solution to me. Several camera works well with alkaline battery like many Konicas without any problem. You should try first alkaline battery...


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 8:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rukmeister wrote:
Thanks, seems the easiest route to go for that problem. However they don't ship to Australia, only europe.


US/Canada/Japan/Australia:

http://www.paulbg.com/Nikon_F_meter_batteries.htm


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 8:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ludoo wrote:
rukmeister wrote:
Thanks, seems the easiest route to go for that problem. However they don't ship to Australia, only europe.


US/Canada/Japan/Australia:

http://www.paulbg.com/Nikon_F_meter_batteries.htm


You should know about Zinc -Air they have very short life and even if looks okay by battery tester don't trust in them if older in camera than a few weeks. This is reason why I did suggest start every photo trip with fresh battery, this is come from my experience with Gössen lightmeter.


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 8:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

True, they have a short life, but I used them reliably in quite a few cameras, with an average life of about a year. The trick is covering the lens so that the photocell gets no light and does not drain the battery.

What they have is stable voltage up until they give up, while alkaline voltage fluctuates with charge, making them unusable unless the meter circuit has a voltage stabilizer.


PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oops didn't see the other shipping option there Embarassed


PostPosted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great little camera. Sweet lens. Enjoy!!!! Laughing Laughing


PostPosted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 8:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rukmeister wrote:
Someone threw this camera away! Rolling Eyes

Gasp! Shocked
*faints*


PostPosted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 11:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmmmm Confused

I've been having a bit more of a closer look and play with the camera. Seems there's something funny going on with the metering.

Spot metering is fine. But the button is a bit "sticky". What I thought was the camera using center weighted metering was in fact the spot metering "stuck". Also seems like the center weighted metering isn't working at all. Once I get the spot metering to disengage - nothing happens with the needle, just sits on 0 EV. Good news at least is that spot metering appear to be accurate as far as I can judge comparing metering to a dslr set on spot with same iso and similar focal length and aperture.

Sometimes I have to press the spot metering button a couple of times to get it to engage also - perhaps the electrical contact is a bit gunked up?

Also....

Would I be right in assuming that my Nikon SB-22s & SB-25 flash guns are safe to use on the 35 SP?

It's only newer digital cams that you have to worry about trigger voltage right? And these two flashes are fine with new cameras....

I'd like to give some b&w iso 100 film a go when I test this


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 12:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, the flashgun should be okay. Sorry to hear you may have some problems with the meter, but even if it packs up altogether it's still a terrific camera and hand-held meters can be bought quite cheaply.


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 1:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thought the flashes would be ok, thank you for confirming it though.

I'm not too worried about the meter, it would be really nice if it could be brought back to a fully functioning camera, the rest of it is in such good condition. Oh well, at least it'll be an excuse to buy another piece of camera gear if it can't be Laughing


PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 10:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Coincidentally, I also just found a 35SP at a swap meet for $20. It's in beautiful condition but the shutter was not functional. With a little work, however, I was able to clean the shutter blades and they sprang to life again.

The meter is functional too though the needle twitches slightly as if a connection is a little corroded somewhere but it's not enough to affect meter readings really.

There is an owners manual for the camera available here:
http://www.cameramanuals.org/olympus_pdf/olympus_35sp.pdf


PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 12:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great find and good work getting the shutter working again! Shame about the meter, I wonder if this is a weak point in the design, after 40 odd years, it's the bit that seems to fail first?

I went and shot a bit this morning, aside from the meter being a bit funny it was very nice to use! I ended up having to make a rough guess at exposure half the time. I'm considering opening it up myself as the cheapest quote I've had so far has been $100 just to fix the meter. Same place quoted $265 for a full overhaul! Surprised


PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 2:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There's some good info on disassembly here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cannelbrae/sets/72157625285946754/

All I needed to do was reach the front of the shutter blades so that's all I did.
If you go into the front of the lens, be careful as the front 2-3 elements are simply held in by pressure of the lens name ring and can easily fall out when the ring is removed (though they are easy to re-position)

The meter on mine works so I didn't do anything with it. I'm not sure of accuracy yet though due its being made for a mercury battery.


PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 10:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the link, wow, I'm glad all of that part of mine is ok. Before I bought mine I had a go at all the shutter speeds, apertures and focussing. All seemed ok, though I won't really know for sure until I get this roll processed. Touch wood.

Never ceases to amaze me the sophistication and the engineering that has gone into photography gear. Beautiful!


PostPosted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was monitoring these cameras on ebay earlier this year and many of them are sold with meter not working. The prices of one with a working meter are high. Even w/out working meter, in fact.

I ended up buying one with broken meter for half price. When I got it I put it upto light and the meter worked. That was weird as it needs a battery. So, opened the battery compartment and there was a wein cell in there. This seemed strange. I took it out, put it back in and now the meter wouldn't work anymore!!!!

Then i gave it a heavy tap on the side, the meter started working and hasn't stopped since. Good luck for once!

The EV is really easy to use. I always shoot wide open. Just set the EV shown in the VF to the lens and that's AP for you. It's my favourite camera at the moment.

The lens rings [EV and aperture] have a lot of give in them on mine. I don't know if that's normal as I've only held this one. I suspect they're too givey though