First Images with the Olympus 35RC

[matthewm]

I just got an Olympus 35RC in the mail today and ran a quick 12 exposure roll of 200 speed (rated at 160) film through it. I'm really impressed with it so far. It's such a tiny little camera. I can just see that it'll be going everywhere with me. The perfect little RF companion. A few photos are below. Nothing super amazing, but I love the way this lens renders. Really surprising for such a small, inexpensive package.

If you care to read my rambling thoughts about it they're on my blog here.

Here you go! (These are just drug-store scans. No edits other than cropping and auto-levels in PS.)

Roses

Jenna and the Boys

Grapevines and Toolshed

Jenna

My wife, Jenna, with her Ultra Wide and Slim

 

[shadowfox]

35 RC 's first roll always wow you out.
It's so weird to get pictures with depth of field from a camera that small.

Enjoy yours!

 

[matthewm]

35 RC 's first roll always wow you out.
It's so weird to get pictures with depth of field from a camera that small.

Enjoy yours!

Yeah. I actually thought everything would be at like f/16 with infinite depth of field, but the little lens on that thing is amazing for what it is. I kind of wish I had gotten one sooner.

I just grabbed a few rolls of the new Portra so I'm going to pass one of those through it to see how it does with some better film. Although I'm a big fan of that cheap 200 ISO drugstore film that I got. I ended up with 150 rolls for around $30. Not bad I guess...

Anyway. Excited to use the RC some more.

 

[kzphoto]

My dad just gave me his, but the front element looks like someone has taken an axe to it. I replaced it with a "donor" lens from another camera and have yet to take it out. I'm really excited to shoot it! Hopefully it's as sharp. 🙂

Does the "A" mode in yours work? I have a fresh battery in mine but I can't get the thing to fire up....

 

[matthewm]

My dad just gave me his, but the front element looks like someone has taken an axe to it. I replaced it with a "donor" lens from another camera and have yet to take it out. I'm really excited to shoot it! Hopefully it's as sharp. 🙂

Does the "A" mode in yours work? I have a fresh battery in mine but I can't get the thing to fire up....

Yeah, mine works fine. The RC will lock up if your aperture needs to be wider than f/2.8 or smaller than f/16 or f/22 (can't remember which). Try pointing it at a lamp and adjusting your shutter speed. You should be able to hit the shutter button halfway and the needle in the viewfinder should tell you what aperture it's at.

Otherwise, you can use it in manual mode by setting both the shutter and aperture yourself, albeit without metering capabilities.

 

[bobby_novatron]

The RC is a great little camera. I love mine to death. That E.Zuiko lens is just amazing. It's also a very solid and well-built little camera.

When I first ran a test roll through mine and looked at the scanned negatives, I couldn't believe how sharp and crisp the images were.

 

[bobby_novatron]

BTW your drugstore film looks pretty good! The color cast looks like it's almost a re-branded Agfa product ... maybe Fuji? At any rate, it has nice colors and minimal grain.

 

[Santtu Määttänen]

This was my first ever camera, and I still have it and use it regulary. I got mine from my father who bought one from Australia while working for The Age (by recomendation by photographers of the paper). I got it from him when he bought Nikon F2 (first he got FG and Oly was back-up, then F2 came and FG became back-up). Roughly around 1986 or so. And it still keeps getting amazing pictures. If only I had a decent scanner and darkroom (no-room to store chemicals and trays and with small kids, with out a locked away cabinet it's bit risky).

EDIT: Corrected newspapers name.. oops 😀

 

[matthewm]

BTW your drugstore film looks pretty good! The color cast looks like it's almost a re-branded Agfa product ... maybe Fuji? At any rate, it has nice colors and minimal grain.

Thanks for both of your comments. I felt the same way when I saw the negatives. Very surprising and definitely a fantastic little camera.

I really do like that film. I have no idea what it is. I got 150 12 exposure rolls of it from a seller on eBay for about $30 or so. I actually bought one box of 50 and liked it so much that I offered to buy all he had, which was another 2 boxes of 50.

It sort of reminds me of Agfa more so than Fuji (a little too rich in the reds for Fuji). Either way, I like it and it was cheap so it's easy to shoot through it and experiment with it. I've been shooting it at ISO160 and having Walgreens develop and scan it and it's looking good so far.

Again, thanks for commenting.

 

[matthewm]

This was my first ever camera, and I still have it and use it regulary. I got mine from my father who bought one from Australia while working for The Age (by recomendation by photographers of the paper). I got it from him when he bought Nikon F2 (first he got FG and Oly was back-up, then F2 came and FG became back-up). Roughly around 1986 or so. And it still keeps getting amazing pictures. If only I had a decent scanner and darkroom (no-room to store chemicals and trays and with small kids, with out a locked away cabinet it's bit risky).

EDIT: Corrected newspapers name.. oops 😀

Cool story! Glad yours is still firing away. 🙂
I've just been shooting mine and letting Walgreens develop and scan them for me. It's working out well so far. For any larger scans, I'm just using an Epson V500 that I got on clearance from their site for under $150 shipped. Not bad for what it is, really.

Thanks!

 

[kb2qqm]

I just ran my first Roll of Kodak Tri-x 400 through the 35RC. Rodinal 1:50 (Agfa Adonal), 13 minutes at 68F. I purchased this camera last year and took it apart and cleaned it. The viewfinder is so bright it looks new. I mounted the camera on my Monopod, and took some photos of my Son at a park earlier this week. Every one of the negatives looks good so far.
My meter does not work even with the battery, so I have been using a free lightmeter app on my iPhone, to measure the light. It works pretty good for a phone. I will scan some tomorrow and post to flickr. I can't wait. I love that camera, it goes with me everywhere. I cannot WAIT to scan the negatives tomorrow. I feel like I'm a kid again and tomorrow is Christmas 🙂

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kb2qqm/5652471039/in/photostream/

 

[bobby_novatron]

I love the 35RC. Awesome little camera. Reading this thread makes me want to go out and shoot with mine ASAP! 🙂

.

 

[nikku]

Fantastic camera with a lens that works wonders with b+w film. I've sold mine but want to get another eventually...