New owner of 35RC

jesse1dog

jesse1dog

Light Catcher
Local time
4:31 PM
Joined
Sep 1, 2006
Messages
1,470
Location
Afon Fathew
View My Gallery
Got delivery of a 35RC bought off Echo-Bay this week.
Looks OK but no instruction book or technical details.
However no problem there cos the web has lots of info.

There must be other users out there somewhere.
So, please, any hints and tips for a new user?
 
I love mine! It's my favorite. It may not be the most solid or sophisticated, not the sharpest or fastest, but the overall features are hard to beat for the size and price. The lens are really sharp and never let me down--not to mention the camera is awfully cute. Its greatest weakness is probably low light, considering that the lens are only f/2.8 and the slowest speed is 1/15 (not counting "B"). The best features for me would be the size, sharp lens, very smooth ratcheting advance lever, and the "off" for the meter/battery.
 
Last edited:
No real tips, other than carry it everywhere with you. It's a fantastic little camera. Mine has developed a light leak so I haven't used it this week, but otherwise it goes wherever I do.

Ian
 
Only advices I can give are...

- Try not to get TOO addicted.
- Remember to turn the camera "OFF" when stashing it away (this will not only turn off the meter which would be off anyways on a manual aperture setting, but will keep you from tripping the shutter accidently).
- DO take it with you almost everywhere, its small enough, not as small as an XA but I like it better than an XA.
- DO NOT be afraid to load it up with some very fast film (1600, 3200, 6400, etc) Just take a reading at the metered 800 speed and switch to a manual aperture to go down two stops from there. (great for indoor low light parties, what not, or just use hyperfocal distances, use dofmaster.com)
-If you do use a filter make sure you set your ISO first. (I haven't tried mine with a filter yet).
 
Thanks for the enthusiasm - I was getting pretty much that way about the handling myself and I haven't even got round to putting in film.
Thought I might treat it to a new cover: perhaps one of Cameraleather's specials! How about a red lizard skin? Perhpa an old fogey like me flaunting such a gaudy might get away with photoing anywhere. I would just have to be a joke!!!!
 
The 35RC uses very hard-to-find 43.5mm filters.
You might want to look for an adapter to allow use
of a more common size, ideally one you already own...

Chris
 
Hi Chris
I realised that but have found a 43.5 Haze filter on Echo-Bay and am watching a lens hood. So maybe, just maybe I will get a nice metal one. There is a Buy-Now rubber one available but .....
It still looks a good camera even on a Monday morning!
 
Does anyone know how the bokeh is with this camera? Doesn't it have a 4 blade diaphragm, hence harsh bokeh? Some examples would help if anyone has some.

Dave
 
DaveW said:
Does anyone know how the bokeh is with this camera? Doesn't it have a 4 blade diaphragm, hence harsh bokeh? Some examples would help if anyone has some.

Dave
Click to expand...

I like the bokeh from all of my old olympus lenses. I especially like the ones from the Oly 35 SP. Unfortunately I don't have a 35 RC to compare with. But, looking at samples on the net, I found this picture, the bokeh looks fine to me, what do you think?

http://www.pbase.com/image/55313954

DISCLAIMER: The picture is not taken by me, it's just a sample I found.
 
Harsh is the last word I'd use to describe any aspect of either the RC or the SP.

This is with the RC. Wide open at around 1/30, Tri-X at ISO 800.

nww8.jpg


Ian
 
Congratulations, the Oly RC constantly trumps my DSLR and my minolta SLR lenses ;-)
I've found that the lens suffers veiling from sun on its side, thus the shade is advisable, too bad that the original one is very rare (I was able to buy the only one on ebay one year ago, after months of searching).
Strangely istead, light directly in the lens doesn't make it suffer, I made some very contrasty photos shooting directly on icy and reflecting surfaces, or in the sun.
The bokeh seems to me ok, just the highlights (or contrasty, thin detals) get square instead of pentagons shaped.
Ah, remember that the light meter is old, sometimes you need to wake it up (half press the button) in winter, or different lighting conditions.
It loses sensibility in low light, so, even if light is enough to shoot, let's say... 1/25 at 2.8 with ISO 800, it would instead say it's not enough. So take some reading in some brighter areas, and then shoot in manual mode.

When I have time i'll post some photos.
 
Last edited:
Cale Arthur said:
I've never even seen an original 35RC shade.. are they metal? I've been looking for a UV filter for mine.. not easy to find.

--c--
Click to expand...

Yes, they're metal with a screw to fix (outside the lens barrel). I've managed to crumple mine (it was mint...) crashing the camera on tarmac... it saved my lens probably....
Fixed it with pliers.....
 
Lens hood

Lens hood

teo said:
Yes, they're metal with a screw to fix (outside the lens barrel). I've managed to crumple mine (it was mint...) crashing the camera on tarmac... it saved my lens probably....
Click to expand...
teo said:
Fixed it with pliers.....[/quote

The one I won on Echo Bay comes in an original Olympus box and says its for a 35EC, 35RC or PenEED camera.
And yes, metal, and yes, clamp on!

I think I paid too much for it at just over £7 ($15) including P&P but who knows? If you want one as I did, and one comes up, you put a reasonable(!) bid on it.
If you don't get it, where do you get another?
However it would be just my luck if 2 more came up in the next week and at cheaper prices!😀
Click to expand...
 
Great Buy

Great Buy

Hi That's my first post,

Carry it always with you. Buy a second one so that you can alwys have two different films with you.


In a more sober manner:

+: looks deceivingly toylike, the lens!, smallest aperture f22, great picturemaker, the off button

- : Looks deceivingly toylike, unconventinal thread therefore difficulty to find hoods ,filters etc. it has become a collectible so prices rise

Great picture iml!
 
First "real" camera I ever used (unless a Kodak X-15 is "real"). My Dad carried one back packing, we must have hundreds of slides taken with it. He always put Kodachrome 64 in it, set it for shutter priority at 1/30th of a second for maximum dof.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
1st Time TLR Owner
Replies
14
Views
2K
Bobonli
B
Dogman
Just need to vent. Our lives are now overly secure!
Replies
14
Views
751
JeffS7444
JeffS7444
G
Konica I Ab and As number of units manufactured.
Replies
0
Views
887
gopalravishankarnair@gmai
G
J
Another new hot-shoe mounted light meter
Replies
0
Views
656
justins7
J
lxforrest
A DIY retro digital camera project - Blog #2 Rethinking of retro digital camera
Replies
4
Views
669
lxforrest
lxforrest
Back
Top Bottom