Olympus 35RD and 35RC Black Bodies

[aoresteen]

Were the Olympus 35RD and 35RC ever made in black bodies?

The 35SP and the 35SPn were. Can't seem to find much info on the RC & RD in black.


Of the three, which one is easiest to use in full manual control?

 

[Nomad Z]

I'm not aware of the RC or RD being available in black. The RC and RD are a bit smaller than the SP - very similar to a Rollei 35 apart from the protruding lens. The RC has the shutter speed dial on the top plate, while the other two have it as the front-most ring on the lens. The aperture ring on the RC and RD are around the lens, right next to the body, while the SP has the aperture ring a bit further away. I have an RC, and I find the aperture a bit fiddly to adjust (but not onerous). I"m not sure how I'd get on with the shutter speed around the lens if I had an RD or SP.

I got the RC to use while my Leica IIIf was being serviced. It was a cheap beater at £17, and needed some work. While I had it in bits, I painted the top and bottom plates black using Humbrol model enamel (my painting skills are bad, but I think it looks quite good in black).

The RD and SP have the film advance lever on the top plate, while the RC's is in a slot near the bottom edge of the top plate. This means that your thumb pulls on something that is a bit lower. It also doesn't need to be pulled out to an 'in use' position - the end of the lever sticks out a little and can be caught with the thumb. I often used it one-handed on a wrist strap through the right-hand lug. The film can be advanced by edging the advance lever along in little steps if desired - don't need to swing it round all the way.

If I was looking for one of these to use as an on-going thing, I'd probably consider the SP, mainly to get the spot metering; or the SP or RD to get the faster lens. The RC is fine, though - I do like the shutter speed dial on the top plate, and the one handed operation (with everything preset) was great for street photography, when I was a noob and shooting from the hip.

 

[sevo]

So far no Olympus publications claiming the existence of a black RC have surfaced, and all black ones ever seen either were known and acknowledged repaints or of very questionable origin. The same seems to go for the RD.

In general, none of them are as nicely manual as cameras whose only mode is manual. The SP is the only to have a meter that works in manual mode, but it is uncoupled with only an EV display, and EV transfer to the lens is quite clumsy - if you are mildly far-sighted like me, you might as well use sunny 16 in any lighting conditions where the EV lettering on the lens is reasonably visible. Given that, I'd rate the RC the best manual camera of the three, given the separate time knob on top and a in-finder time and aperture display, even though its meter is disabled in manual mode - even with an external meter it still is much easier and faster to set than the SP. The RD is worst - it has all the weaknesses of both the RC and SP, and none of their strengths.

 

[Frontman]

So far no Olympus publications claiming the existence of a black RC have surfaced, and all black ones ever seen either were known and acknowledged repaints or of very questionable origin. The same seems to go for the RD.

In general, none of them are as nicely manual as cameras whose only mode is manual. The SP is the only to have a meter that works in manual mode, but it is uncoupled with only an EV display, and EV transfer to the lens is quite clumsy - if you are mildly far-sighted like me, you might as well use sunny 16 in any lighting conditions where the EV lettering on the lens is reasonably visible. Given that, I'd rate the RC the best manual camera of the three, given the separate time knob on top and a in-finder time and aperture display, even though its meter is disabled in manual mode - even with an external meter it still is much easier and faster to set than the SP. The RD is worst - it has all the weaknesses of both the RC and SP, and none of their strengths.

In Japan the RD is the mostly highly regarded of the three cameras, and commands stupidly high prices, usually between $400 to $600 for an excellent example.

I prefer the SP for it's wonderful lens and meter, and it's more reasonable price.

 

[aoresteen]

Thanks! I'm leaning toward the 35SP model.

Did Olympus make a lens shade for the RD or SP which use 49mm filters?

I see shades for the RC that uses 43.5mm accessories but I can't seem to find any refferences to the RD or SP shades.

 

[Brian Legge]

I purchased a generic 49mm hood. I don't know if there were specific ones for these cameras but the generic metal hood works fine for me.

 

[aoresteen]

Just for the record I found an SP that has the original SP hood on it. So the answer to my question is yes, Olympus did make a dedicated shade for the SP

Here it is mounted on an SP

And the box for it:

I assume it will fit the 35RD as well.