OLY 35 RC tip

[Bill58]

After getting my RCs CLA'd, I still had problems w/ the meter. Often in good daylight, the meter would show that a more open reading than f2.8 (off the scale) was required and the shutter wouldn't fire at any speed.

Frustrated and in deep despair, I decided to do an intelligent thing (for once) and read more about the RC. I went to Andrew Yue's website(http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~yue/misc/rangfndr.html) and discovered that the shutter release must be depressed (long travel) VERY, VERY slowly in Auto (A) mode. Bingo! It worked.

No more problems. Passed on to ya'll as a public service.

 

[lilin menyala]

oh very interesting. i never got my meter to work and have simply abandoned it. by now i have a fairly accurate judgement of which aperture / shutter speed is needed to get the right exposure, but it would still be good to get the meter to work. must try your suggestion.

 

[Trius]

I was playing with my RC tonight and I believe the symptom described in the OP also shows when the battery is dead.

 

[Bill58]

I was playing with my RC tonight and I believe the symptom described in the OP also shows when the battery is dead.

Good point--I guess if you depress the release button slowly and you still don't get a reading at any speed, then you got a dead battery.

A question not answered in Andrew Yue's website is whether you can leave the meter on Auto but deativate it by putting the lens cap on and not running down the battery?

 

[Trius]

Bill: I don't know the answer to that one, and I'm not inclined to do any long-term experimentation nor to open up the camera to check voltages. 😉

Maybe Dave/greyhoundman knows the answer.

 

[Spider67]

Does Anyone know what happens to the battery when you have the aperture set at any value but not at "A" . Does this influence the Battery?

 

[clintock]

I have left my RC on many times in the A position for months with the cap on and the battery didnt seem to mind, I'm not certain about leaving it on a fixed aperture setting; since it does not meter unless on A, I'd assume the batt is switched out.
A CDS cell is pretty much an open switch in total darkness, so the lens cap does ok, and is way easier to grasp than that miniscule control ring. But still I try to turn it off whenever I remember..

 

[ruben]

Good point--I guess if you depress the release button slowly and you still don't get a reading at any speed, then you got a dead battery.
.............

I second Trius. Due to the performance of my 2 RCs, I allways understood the slow depressing as a means to obtain the most accurate exposure, not to make the needle move at all. If I depress the shutter quickly the needle will always move, but achieve a less accurate position, although not so far from the correct one.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[Xmas]

It may take current in manual without the lens cap...

Noel