Olympus 35-S II Repair?

[rick_coulby]

I have an Olympus 35-S II with a 42mm 1.8 lens that Im in desperate need of getting repaired. The camera has two issues, the lens is partially separated from the camera the bottom most screw that I assume holds the lens on has degraded, also the rangefinder is not aligned.


Anyone know where a good place to get fixed lens rangefinders repaired?

 

[Blanc]

I doubt the camera is worth being serviced; you're going for at least 60$ if the front lens problem is not due to an "amateur servicing". I doubt you can't find any of those for cheaper on a garage sale.

 

[nikon_sam]

This is a great camera worthy of being serviced...it's on the same playing field as the Olympus 35SP...

I have owned at least five of them and currently have three in good working order (Olympus 35-S II 4.2cm 1.8)...one is a parts camera (48mm 2.8 lens) and the last one was given to another RFFer to repair their 35-S...
I will also say that all the cameras I have were not working when I got them...now they are...
I truly doubt that the lens is getting ready to fall off due to a loose screw...there's more involved to removing the lens...most likely there are loose screws and some fine tuning needed to get this little gem back up and running...
The focusing ring may be what is loose...that is held on with three very small set screws or the top half of the lens may be loose also causing you to think that the lens is about to fall off...I've removed one of these lenses (twice) and they just don't fall off...(I have also sworn myself to never, ever remove another one)
If you can provide pictures of what you've got going on there this might help in explaining what you need to do next...
The rangefinder alignment is a somewhat easy fix and the adjusting screws are accessible by removing the plate/cover on the flash mount...
I taught myself how to work on these cameras through some trial & error and finding all the info I could on-line...you don't need specialized tools just mostly small screwdrivers...

I do agree with Blanc that some of these problems could be due to "amateur servicing" but unless they really screwed up this could be salvaged and put back into use again...
To me the camera is worth repairing due to this great lens mounting on it...I have many photos that I know were taken with this camera because of the signature look of the lens...
Good luck...let me know if I can be of any help...

 

[Blanc]

I just gave my professional opinion. You can find the camera on a garage sale for nothing (regarding its photographic worthness) I've seen some in shops for less than 150€.
Now consider that if I (for example) happen to work on this one, count around 40 if the screws problem is just due to vibrations (40 is expensive but if there are problems on the lens screws there could be elsewhere so I'll need to check it) and age; plus 20 for the RF.
If the camera has been amateur serviced to ensure my guarantee and cover myself against a camera comming back few months after it left my shop I would go threw a full overhaul that would cost around 250 at least if no damage has been done.
So if Rick was a client I would advice him to look for an other camera of the same kind this option should be way cheaper thant attempting a repair.
Amateur repairs are the real new plague of old cameras. I've got nothing against it when done for educational purposes on your own gear. But nowadays around 60% of the cameras on my bench were openend by untrained and unqualified people that made severe damage on the whole thing. The worst part is that even if repairs are more expensive I earn less money on a wrongly serviced camera than on a untouched one.

 

[nikon_sam]

Hey Blanc.
I was just giving my personal opinion...I happen to love these little cameras and what they can produce...
I'm not sure if I would send one out for service knowing what that would cost verses the actual cost of one of these cameras...and from my experience most of these cameras will need service on them at this point just due to their age...now, if the one you have has been hacked by some amateur that just adds more time and a bigger headache for the person trying to get it all back together...but as long as all the parts are there one could get it working again...
I don't have a problem working on them myself and that's where I was trying to direct Rick...