New 35 ECR owner

[kparkrobs]

After a quick inspection of my 'new' Olympus 35 ECR I have a couple of questions to which I have not been able to find answers in the manual or in previous posts. There are two things I'm not sure about. Firstly the film advance wheel seems to be either jammed or locked. There are no batteries as yet which I understand locks the shutter, but does anyone know whether it also locks the film advance wheel?
The second thing I notice is that there is a hole where the film rewind button should be on the bottom plate. The manual says that the button stays depressed until you load a new film when it pops back; however I can only see a small screw inside the hole rather than the image shown in the manual. Does anyone know whether this is right or if they suspect something is missing?
Cheers!

 

[petronius]

My ECR has a black plastic rewind button next to the battery chamber.
When the battery is removed/drained after winding, the wheel is locked until you put in new batteries.

 

[kparkrobs]

thanks Petronius. I guess that answers it. Will have to experiment with a film and see whether the lack of a button is a big issue or not. Cheers.

 

[David Hughes]

The wheel is locked until a picture is taken and the shutter released and that depends on batteries.

Regards, David

 

[petronius]

The ECR is a great and IMO underrated camera; it´s not often seen here. I bought mine on a flea market and never saw another since then.
Some pictures are here

 

[kparkrobs]

thanks all for the info. Just got to order up some batteries and stick a film in to give it a shot. I'm hoping that there will be something to press later to unload the film, or perhaps shove a pen in to the hole to release it. Its certainly a beautifully designed and engineered little camera. I'm still experimenting with its brother the Trip which I acquired earlier and I'm looking forward to using the rangefinder rather than guessing at focus.

I seem to have missed this whole era of cameras, having gone straight to SLR's whilst still at school some 30+ years ago and it wasn't till the early 90's that I got a compact camera when my Pentax gear was all stolen.

 

[OlympusRF]

ECR wheel locked

ECR wheel locked

Hi,
I have the 35 EC & EC2, that share the same system as the 35 ECR camera, and misssing batteries don't lock the wheel.
If the shutter lock level (in the front of the camera) is in the up position you should be able to push down the shutter release button. Without good batteries it will not open the shutter blades but it will move all the other mechanisms, and then you have to be able to turn the film advance knob. If this doesn't happen then something is wrong with your camera. What batteries did you order for this camera?
Regards,
Denny

 

[farlymac]

I was just recently given an EC-2, and believe me, it will lock up without batteries, just like the Fujica GER. Nobbysparrow (on that big auction site) sells adapters for the Yashica GX and Olympus EC series that allow the use of 675 Zinc Oxide 1.4v cells. They work fine in my Yashica, but I haven't film tested them in the Oly yet because it needs seals.

PF

 

[kparkrobs]

Hi,
I have the 35 EC & EC2, that share the same system as the 35 ECR camera, and misssing batteries don't lock the wheel.
If the shutter lock level (in the front of the camera) is in the up position you should be able to push down the shutter release button. Without good batteries it will not open the shutter blades but it will move all the other mechanisms, and then you have to be able to turn the film advance knob. If this doesn't happen then something is wrong with your camera. What batteries did you order for this camera?
Regards,
Denny

I kinda assumed that the winding mechanism was mechanical rather than electrical. I guess I'll know for sure once the batteries arrive (hope that was not a wasted purchase). I ordered two PC640A's from the Small battery Company, which it says are compatible with the ECR.

 

[kparkrobs]

well folks; batteries arrived and fitted no problem. Shutter releases and film wind thumb-wheel now works - so I guess that 'Petronius' and others were right. Looking forward now to trying out a film. Will post up some pics once everything's tested.

 

[petronius]

That´s good! Have fun with the cam.

 

[OlympusRF]

Hi,
I'm glad, I was wrong. It seems that the ECR is different from the EC.
Regards,
Denny

 

[Greyscale]

I just got my scans back from my ECR, it has a superb lens:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/greyscale3/sets/72157632633116871/

I think the reasons for its rarity is due to both its battery-dependency, and because the particular mercury batteries that were recommended for it were quite prone to leakage and corrosion would destroy the camera's electronics. A fate quite similar to another excellent camera that is often overlooked, the Minolta Hi-Matic E. I also wonder how many of these cameras ended up in landfills because they were "broken" when all that they needed was new batteries. I bought my "broken" one for $5.00.

 

[David Hughes]

Oh No! Everyone will know now... ;-)

Regards, David

PS Nice set of photo's. Great lenses aren't they?

 

[shadowfox]

I just got my scans back from my ECR, it has a superb lens:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/greyscale3/sets/72157632633116871/

A very nice set indeed.
Let the love for this little RF gem of a camera continues.