Olympus 35 ECR Question

Tom Harrell

Tom Harrell

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I just restored voltage to an Olympus 35 ECR camera by using the hearing aid batteries and foil trick! The shutter now fires! I don't have a set of operating instructions so my question is this: Does this camera require a lens cap to shut off the light meter? The photo cell is located on the front of the lens and most of those photo cell locations need a cap to keep from draining the batteries don't they? Thanks in advance!

Tom Harrell
 
Tom Harrell said:
I just restored voltage to an Olympus 35 ECR camera by using the hearing aid batteries and foil trick! The shutter now fires! I don't have a set of operating instructions so my question is this: Does this camera require a lens cap to shut off the light meter? The photo cell is located on the front of the lens and most of those photo cell locations need a cap to keep from draining the batteries don't they? Thanks in advance!

Tom Harrell
Click to expand...

Hi Tom,

I do not know for sure, but since the ECR has a 'battery check' condition when you slightly depress the shutter release, I'm going to guess that it doesn't engage the circuit unless you press down on the shutter release, which would mean that no, you don't need to store the camera with the lens cap on. However, it couldn't hurt!

Here is a link to a manual for the ECR, in case you don't have one:

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/olympus/olympus_35ecr/olympus_35ecr.htm

I really like mine (and the EC and EC2, which are non-rangefinders but slightly smaller and have a brighter viewfinder and the same lens). Hope you enjoy yours!
 
That makes sense! Thank you for your response and the link to the manual! I'm looking forward to putting some film through the camera, I've heard the lenses are fairly good!

Tom Harrell
 
I agree with Bill - if the meter was on all the time the lights would also be activated all the time.

THe EC series have good lenses and a very solid feel. Enjoy.
 
The little camera does have sort of a robust feel to it! The only other thing that is wrong with it is the focus ring turns really easy no drag what so ever. I don't think that will be a problem if I remember not to bump it and wreck the focusing! It does have one corner of the covering that is letting go but I will use some Pliobond to secure it!

Tom
 
I really like my ECR but I think the battery is starting to get weak. The shutter is kind of erratic, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I have been using 640 alkaline batteries with good results. I keep a lens cap on but I agree that nothing gets activated until you press the shutter button. Some don't like the lack of manual control or exposure information, but I think the camera does better than I would. This summer I found a little flash that fits the proportions of the camera. I need to get some new batteries and start using it again.
 
Some Help on the EC/ECR....

Some Help on the EC/ECR....

Tell me about the exact placement in the chamber, battery type and foil location please.

I have 4 of the EC's.... Two EC, one ECR and one ECII. I have seen references to the battery workaround and not been able to generate a light or shutter operation on any of the examples I have.

Thanks for any assistance or response.

Lars
 
Tom Harrell said:
The only other thing that is wrong with it is the focus ring turns really easy no drag what so ever.
Click to expand...

the same with my all-manual 35RC. I wonder if this is common for small Olympus cameras with front focusing ring (no massive greased helicoid, as I understand)?
 
Lars,
I'm using two 675 hearing aid batteries. Unscrew the lid to the battery holders. You need to fashion a small card board cylinder that will fit into one of the battery holders. With the camera upside down and the back of the camera facing me I used the battery holder on the left side. Put the card board cylinder into that holder and place a battery in the cylinder with the negative terminal pointing down, now place the 2nd battery into the cylinder with the negative terminal pointing down as well (same polarity as the first battery). If for some reason you choose to use the battery holder on the right side just reverse the polarity of the batteries as you drop them in.

Next in the battery holder on the right side that is empty, crumple up enough aluminum foil to completely fill up that battery holder. It must be filled enough to stick up high enough that the contacts in the battery compartment lid make contact with the batteries and the foil to complete the circuit.

Tom
 
Tom is correct. It is also unfortunately true that the wires connecting to the battery compartment are very thin and fragile. Corrosion is not uncommon on the contacts in the bottom of the well, and sometimes the wires under the battery compartment come undone. One can discover this by removing the bottom of the camera (several small screws) and then carefully prying out the battery compartment (flexible plastic). I have been fortunate that only half of the EC / ECR cameras I have purchased have been disconnected in this way. Quite hard to fix for non-solderers such as myself.
 
Bill,
I have not yet tried to take the top and/or the bottom off of this camera. Do you consider removing them a difficult task? If I remove the top cover will I be able to clean very much of the range finder? Will I be able to recalibrate the range finder?

Thanks,
Tom
 
This morning I noticed that the meter indicator light was not working. I took the battery compartment lid off, took the batteries out and measured their voltage with a volt meter. The voltage output from the batteries were correct so I put them back into the compartment and adjusted the foil in the other side, making sure that the lid contacts would make good contact with the foil on one side and the (+) battery terminal on the other side. I screwed the lid back on and I had a bright meter indicator light. However the longer I held the shutter release button down the meter indicator light got dimmer. I suspect that either (a) the hearing aid batteries have not been activated long enough to put out their full output or (b) they don't have very much power draw capability. I really suspect it is the latter case. After all they were designed for hearing aid circuitry which should have very little current draw compared to the analog circuitry of a camera meter. What do you think Bill?

Tom
 
RF horizontal adjustment screw is accessible from film chamber, unscrew what looks like small screw around top film guide rail and it's inside hole.

Cleaned RF glass is worth the job, 35RC has one of nicest VF's, ECR could be very similar.
 
Thanks for that info! As soon as I finish the roll of film that is in the camera now I'll give it a shot. I think the calibration is off horizontally the best these old eyes can tell.

Tom
 
Tom Harrell said:
Bill,
I have not yet tried to take the top and/or the bottom off of this camera. Do you consider removing them a difficult task? If I remove the top cover will I be able to clean very much of the range finder? Will I be able to recalibrate the range finder?

Thanks,
Tom
Click to expand...

The bottom is easy. I have not tried to remove the top from mine.
 
Tom Harrell said:
This morning I noticed that the meter indicator light was not working. I took the battery compartment lid off, took the batteries out and measured their voltage with a volt meter. The voltage output from the batteries were correct so I put them back into the compartment and adjusted the foil in the other side, making sure that the lid contacts would make good contact with the foil on one side and the (+) battery terminal on the other side. I screwed the lid back on and I had a bright meter indicator light. However the longer I held the shutter release button down the meter indicator light got dimmer. I suspect that either (a) the hearing aid batteries have not been activated long enough to put out their full output or (b) they don't have very much power draw capability. I really suspect it is the latter case. After all they were designed for hearing aid circuitry which should have very little current draw compared to the analog circuitry of a camera meter. What do you think Bill?

Tom
Click to expand...

I don't know. The hearing aid batteries should work, but they do require air to function - note the tiny holes in them.

The original batteries were EPX-640 mercury cells - 1.35 volts each, for a total of 2.7 volts.

You can purchase EPX-540 alkaline batteries online, but they put out 1.5 volts each. I do not know if the Olympus EC/EC2/ECR series had any kind of internal voltage regulator. They were often not considered necessary as part of the metering solution because the mercury cells were such flat performers - their voltage tended not to wander much as they aged. The alkalines could cause small differences in exposure. Whether or not the differences would be noticeable in processed film, I cannot say.

One could try just about any silver-oxide or alkaline battery or batteries that one could stuff in the battery holders with a cardboard tube to hold them straight, as you have done; as long as their combined voltage is somewhere in the neighborhood of the original 2.7 volts.

I have used the zinc-air hearing aid batteries without incident, but after leaving mine to sit for over a year, they were dead as doornails. I may try to revive one soon and perform some new experiments to see what I can some up with.
 
Tom Harrell said:
Thanks for that info! As soon as I finish the roll of film that is in the camera now I'll give it a shot. I think the calibration is off horizontally the best these old eyes can tell.

Tom
Click to expand...

If you do happen to take the top off, remember not to 'clean' the mirror. The coating is on the top of the mirror, not the bottom, and nothing holds it onto the glass. It's semi-transparent - if you lay a swab to it, it will become fully transparent, and no longer capable of being a rangefinder. So don't clean that!
 
I'll see how the camera holds up with the hearing aid batteries. I don't mind changing them out as necessary, they are fairly cheap! It would be interesting to test the little camera with a known light source and target with a good variable power supply hooked to the battery chamber terminals and try different voltage settings and snapping shots of the target. Develop the film and look for differences in the pictures. Because the latitude of the film you might not see much of a difference though!

Tom
 
Tom Harrell said:
I'll see how the camera holds up with the hearing aid batteries. I don't mind changing them out as necessary, they are fairly cheap! It would be interesting to test the little camera with a known light source and target with a good variable power supply hooked to the battery chamber terminals and try different voltage settings and snapping shots of the target. Develop the film and look for differences in the pictures. Because the latitude of the film you might not see much of a difference though!

Tom
Click to expand...

People who are into electronics have also come up with little voltage regulators that can be inserted into the camera battery circuit and then you can use whatever is close in voltage. But I'm not such a person. There are some threads on the subject on various forums.
 
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