Newbie to rangefinders

[Michiel Siegers]

Hi all,

I am new to rangefinders. I have treated myself to 2 Olympus rangefinders.
Trip35 and 35SP.
Will take some time to get used to shooting a rangefinder opposed to a SLR or my Hassy for that matter.
Here they are...
The 35SP came without anything, so I made my own neck strap out of a leather shoe-lace and some left over leather offcuts and some string. Cost: £0 as I had everything lying around.

I do have a question though about the meter in the 35SP.
When I meter a scene and then use the spot meter, it always without fail jump up an EV or so, no matter if I point to a lighter area or a darker area. I have checked it with my Minolta Spot meter and that one does go down in value when pointing to a darker area. Is this behaviour due to the Alkaline (1.5V) battery I am using or is there something really wrong with the meter in the camera?
I am still going through the first roll and conducting several tests, but thought asking the question on here might be useful anyway.

Cheers,

Michiel

 

[tyrone.s]

🙂Hi Michiel and welcome to the forum!

I've not got a lot of experience with the Olympus 35SP, but I believe that the meter won't work correctly with a 1.55volts alkaline battery. You might be able to address the issue by altering the ASA setting for the camera - up perhaps if it's reading too high?

There are, I think, adapters that you can fit that add a resistor to lower the voltage to the correct 1.35 volts.

Alternatively you can buy a Wein Cell MRB626 which provides equivalent voltage to the old mercury batteries - these cells are used for hearing aids I believe. They don't last as long as alkaline or the original mercury cells, but they're pretty cheap and will get you out and using the camera. Just keep a few spares as they tend to die and they also don't discharge in a helpful way - i.e. voltage drops and meter readings go off, I think.

At any rate you'd need a correct voltage battery to really check if the meter is working correctly. If the camera's are new to you also look out for light leaks as the foam on a lot of japanese cameras of this era seems to want to return to its natural state - ie. oil 🙂

Both of your Olympus' are great cameras. The trip is a scale focus one with a very well regarded lens. It was my first camera and I have a real soft spot for it. The 35SP is well regarded and the Zuiko lenses are of excellent quality. Nice job with the camera strap!

 

[Michiel Siegers]

Newbie to rangefinders

Thanks Tyrone,

The Trip was bought as refurbished and the light seals are ok. The 35SP I thought I tested first with the roll I'm putting thought it.

I have read many different things about the battery, but I think I will opt for the sensible option and do as you say, buy the Wien cell.

I was drawn to the Olympus 35 series as I heard they have legendary lenses, I always fancied a Leica, but they are out of my price range anyway, plus I set myself a challenge in the use of lenses. Only the standard lens, zooming with the legs... I also have a Hasselblad with only the standard lens. This way I simplify my options and photography and on the Olies I can't change the lens anyway.
I have seen some really nice photo's on this forum before I decided to join, so am really excited about the results.

Michiel

 

[sweathog]

Hi Michiel,
just to add my two cents' worth to this thread:
Whilst I've no experience with the 35SP I've seen some cracking results from others, think you've got yourself a nice bit of kit there.
The Trip 35 is one of my top 5 cameras. Beautiful lens for such a small camera,and as long as the selenium is good it'll work like a charm. I do regret getting ride of all of mine.

 

[bobby_novatron]

Hi all,

I am new to rangefinders. I have treated myself to 2 Olympus rangefinders.
Trip35 and 35SP.
Will take some time to get used to shooting a rangefinder opposed to a SLR or my Hassy for that matter.
Here they are...
The 35SP came without anything, so I made my own neck strap out of a leather shoe-lace and some left over leather offcuts and some string. Cost: £0 as I had everything lying around.

I do have a question though about the meter in the 35SP.
When I meter a scene and then use the spot meter, it always without fail jump up an EV or so, no matter if I point to a lighter area or a darker area. I have checked it with my Minolta Spot meter and that one does go down in value when pointing to a darker area. Is this behaviour due to the Alkaline (1.5V) battery I am using or is there something really wrong with the meter in the camera?
I am still going through the first roll and conducting several tests, but thought asking the question on here might be useful anyway.

Cheers,

Michiel

Word of caution: rangefinders are dangerously addictive. 😉

 

[TXForester]

Here is a source for the mr-9 adapter to allow 1.5v batteries to work in the SP. There are other sources for them.

http://www.criscam.com/mercury_battery_adapters.php

 

[Michiel Siegers]

Hi Michiel,
just to add my two cents' worth to this thread:
Whilst I've no experience with the 35SP I've seen some cracking results from others, think you've got yourself a nice bit of kit there.
The Trip 35 is one of my top 5 cameras. Beautiful lens for such a small camera,and as long as the selenium is good it'll work like a charm. I do regret getting ride of all of mine.

I have one regret, that I sold all my analog cameras at some point in the past. Have no regret selling my digital slr bodies last year and buying a sony a6000 system, kept the glass though...:angel:
Don't think I'll sell another analog body ever again or I'm sure to regret it...

 

[Michiel Siegers]

Here is a source for the mr-9 adapter to allow 1.5v batteries to work in the SP. There are other sources for them.

http://www.criscam.com/mercury_battery_adapters.php

Thanks for the advice. Will have a look at that option too.

 

[julio1fer]

I have used a SP for about 9 years now.

When using an alkaline instead of the original mercury battery in the SP, the meter gets optimistic by about 2 stops. You need to mark a lower ISO than the one on the film box. Another approach is to use a zinc-air battery, which has about the same voltage as the original mercury one, as said above. Or a silver oxide one (such as the SR44, you will have to make a ring so it fits) which is maybe half a stop off instead of two as with the alkaline.

Besides this systematic exposure error, which can be corrected by setting another ISO in the meter, the operation should be pretty much the same with an alkaline as it was with the original battery. The button for spot metering takes in about the area you see in the rangefinder patch.

I'd recommend using the camera in full manual mode, with a known meter in order to check operation, before getting into the auto modes. The real value of the 35SP is in the lens anyway.

 

[Michiel Siegers]

I have used a SP for about 9 years now.

When using an alkaline instead of the original mercury battery in the SP, the meter gets optimistic by about 2 stops. You need to mark a lower ISO than the one on the film box. Another approach is to use a zinc-air battery, which has about the same voltage as the original mercury one, as said above. Or a silver oxide one (such as the SR44, you will have to make a ring so it fits) which is maybe half a stop off instead of two as with the alkaline.

Besides this systematic exposure error, which can be corrected by setting another ISO in the meter, the operation should be pretty much the same with an alkaline as it was with the original battery. The button for spot metering takes in about the area you see in the rangefinder patch.

I'd recommend using the camera in full manual mode, with a known meter in order to check operation, before getting into the auto modes. The real value of the 35SP is in the lens anyway.

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. I think my meter is not working properly as it overexposes by 2 to 3 stops. Not a real problem because of the lattitude of the negative film. Come to think of it... If I get a yellow or orange filter for my b&w work, it is just about right anyway as you normaly need to compensate manualy.

I will try another roll completely in automatic mode or using the internal meter and see how the photo's turn out. The first roll I have shot was surprisingly good. And indeed, a very sharp lens... Realy pleased about that.
Assoon as I have some time, I will scan some negatives from the first roll and post them.

Michiel