Joining the Olympus rangefinder club

[Jeremy Z]

I had a 35 RC years ago, focusing was off and I didn't want to pay for a CLA, so I moved it on down the line.

I tried a couple other fixed lens RFs over the years: Konica Auto S2, Yashica Electro 35 GS, Rollei XF35, Vivitar 35ES.

Last month, I came across a nice XA and a nice 35 RC. Could only buy one, but I never had a properly-working RC before, so I went for that.

This one is right. I'm shocked at how good the lens is. I'd put it right there with the Tessar and Sonnar lenses on the Rollei 35 and 35S. It's faster to use and not much bigger. I might have a light leak or it might be flare, but it looks more like a light leak. I'll need to find some adhesive foam and small diameter black yarn to fix it and my OM1N.

Inbound, I've got a 35 SP coming. I wanted one ages ago; seems like a more elegant and flexible camera than the Electro 35 GS I have. But good-working ones were $200+ and I can't really justify it in any practical way, no matter how hard I tried.

Fast forward to last week, when a buddy on a Facebook group wanted to sell his to make ends meet due to being deemed "non-essential" in this time of coronavirus. He was asking $150 and said everything works as it should. The price was good and it is helping a buddy out, so I got weak and bought it. It should be here Saturday.

I can't imagine the images coming out any better than those of the 35 RC, is it just that it's a stop and a half faster and has a spot meter? What can I expect? I've never even held one in the steel.

 

[charjohncarter]

I've a few Olympus compact cameras. All have been great until something goes wrong. But like Roger Hicks said, 'They were only made to run 100 rolls through them.' My 35RC is a great camera and like you say you get top quality sharpness. I've said before on RFF it is the camera for some reason I get my best images from (the following aren't the best but are taken in less the easy situations).

Using Flashmatic:

TriX HC-110h by John Carter, on Flickr

TriX HC-110h by John Carter, on Flickr

Good for quick shots:

trix at 200 HC110h Olympus 35RC by John Carter, on Flickr

 

[02Pilot]

I still have occasional anguish over having sold my 35SP. The camera wasn't so great in terms of build quality or tactile function, but that lens...oof. Good enough that I sometimes wonder if I should have just put up with the other shortcomings. If someone figured out a way to put that thing in a RF-coupled Leica mount I'd be all over it.

 

[Austintatious]

The RC is a sweet little camera.

Japanese Garden Bridge by Carlos Yashinon, on Flickr

 

[Jumillar]

"The RC is a sweet little camera."

That's a beautiful image Austintatious. Do you still use the inbuilt meter?
My last roll of film was disappointingly underexposed. My own fault of course as I am aware of changing the Wein Cell battery regularly and I didn't. Because of the Coronavirus lockdown I'm now using my film cameras sparingly and feeling the battery depletes even when the camera is turned off, i'm exposing this roll manually with the aid of a light meter app. fingers crossed.

 

[AlexBG]

I've always wanted an sp but the price now puts me off as I know from experience that I use these small fixed range finder cameras for a while but then always revert back to my leica and they get left in a drawer until I sell them on.

 

[Austintatious]

That's a beautiful image Austintatious. Do you still use the inbuilt meter?

Yes, this was using the AE setting. The camera was CLA'd and the meter updated to use modern batteries. New camera leather as well.

 

[zuiko85]

I have an RC and have found one essential aftermarket accessory. That is a 43.5 to 43mm step down filter ring. Already owning a modest Pen F system with the four primes I have all taking 43mm it was a no brainer to match filter sizes. The 43.5 size is real hard to source anyway. The ring doesn’t obscure the meter eye and I can fit a short hood too.

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

I can't imagine the images coming out any better than those of the 35 RC, is it just that it's a stop and a half faster and has a spot meter? What can I expect? I've never even held one in the steel.

I've always been curious about the 35SP. I have a 35RD and love it, but have noted that the RD's 6-element lens routinely gets panned as an inferior cost-cutting downgrade to the SP's 7-element. Odd, as in my experience the F.Zuiko 40/f1.7 in the RD is excellent.

At the end of the day, I expect any of the Oly rangefinder Zuiko's is going to perform well. The big differences are going to come down to personal preferences around size, ergonomics, speed and so on.

35RD and HP5+

 

[02Pilot]

I found that the 35SP produced a particular sort of a look that I never quite got from another lens. I can't quite explain it, but textures and reflective surfaces seemed richer in those photos. For all the praise the lens receives one is right to but skeptical, but it never gave me reason to doubt that it deserved it.

 

[Jeremy Z]

I've shot a few rolls with my 35 SP now, and I'm finding a miss an f-stop display in the finder. I set the shutter speed, but have no idea what f-stop is used unless I shoot in M.

If that's the case, I may as well stick with my Electro 35.

 

[Bingley]

I have a couple of Oly XAs and an RC. Been using the RC recently on walks during lockdown. My sample is in pretty good working order, including the meter. Here's a recent shot, using Kodak Color Plus 200:

Social distancing by bingley0522, on Flickr