Another Olympus 35RD

[julio1fer]

I just saw duncanmartin's thread about his 3RD. Then I remembered that I had got this little marvel for all of $19, locally. It had the usual age bugs so it went for a CLA. It has a working mercury battery, which is nice.

A couple of frames from the test roll, FP4+ in DDX, home scanned.

I have heard high praise for this camera. The lens is great, no doubt. I find the aperture ring, which is flush against the body, a bit awkward to handle. Maybe it is designed to be used in Auto most of the time. Granted, I am spoiled by the 35SP.

The 35RD looks like an excellent travel camera if you can forget about the XA.

 

[farlymac]

Nice results, Julio. Well, except for all the crap in the water.

PF

 

[Rodchenko]

$19 for an RD! 😱

I wish I could find a bargain like that. I've reviewed my collection, with a view to slimming down. And an RD is on the wish list. I could sell my RC and ECR if I could get hold of one.

 

[julio1fer]

Thanks for the comments!

Sometimes, there is luck about prices. A not-very-well-known camera, owner who is not interested or expert, sluggish shutter, too many people think that film is dead. I do not complain, just look around all the time.

The water was very dirty!

 

[Rodchenko]

$19 for an RD! 😱

I wish I could find a bargain like that. I've reviewed my collection, with a view to slimming down. And an RD is on the wish list. I could sell my RC and ECR if I could get hold of one.

And now I've got one! Not for $19, though. That was a complete steal.

I've cleaned up the camera (not that it needed much), loaded it, and took it for a walk into work this morning. It's a beaut to use. As predicted by the seller, I think the battery's run out (he kindly provided another), so I had to use it on manual, but hey - that's OK. I've shot half a roll just on the way to work. Feels like a mini SP, though the display and controls are different. For the couple of shots I could, I treated the shutter spead ring like an aperture control by looking in the viewfinder, and that seemed to check out well. The biggest frustration with the SP for me (other than the oddly-placed strap lugs, which means it doesn’t hang straight) is the lack of an aperture priority mode, and it’s hard to busk it with an EV scale rather than f-stops. I wish both of these cameras had the RC’s display.

I think my RD is likely to be pretty busy in the weeks, months and years to come.

 

[Rodchenko]

Fitted new battery - Wein cell, no less! - and the meter's working a treat. Shutter speed ring worryingly stiff at the fast end, so I hope that's just suffering from lack of use.

Included in the package was a branded lens cap, a hotshoe blanking plate, and a Hoya skylight filter, none of which I was particularly expecting. With the battery as well, I'm doing all right on this deal at the moment.