Olympus 35DC Exposure Metering Question

[beepilot]

I have recently acquired an Olympus 35 DC and I have put a film through it which confirms that the auto exposure system works just fine producing well exposed images. However it seems that the auto exposure system works in a way I hadn't quite expected and I wonder if it is working correctly. What I have noticed is that under the same light conditions the system produces different exposure settings for different focus settings. For example at 2.8 feet it sets at F16 at 1/500 whereas at Infinity it sets at F4 at 1/60. I can find no mention of this in the Instruction Manual and wonder if it is normal operation. I would appreciate any comments from other 35DC owners or anyone sufficiently familiar with this specific camera as to whether or not this is normal.

 

[beepilot]

After someone on another forum checked their 35DC and confirmed that this is not normal camera behaviour I have delved a bit deeper myself. What I have found is that the Flashmatic system when invoked links aperture to focus distance and sets the shutter speed to 1/30. The Flashmatic system is invoked when either a flashgun or hotshoe cover are inserted into the hotshoe which then operates a small switch on the righthand side of the hotshoe. In my case I bought the camera with a hotshoe cover fitted so in effect the camera although producing correct exposures behaves in this odd way. With the hotshoe cover removed the camera works correctly. This is not mentioned in the Instruction Manual and I thought it worth mentioning in case anyone else notices this odd behaviour or has fitted a hotshoe cover. I also own a 35SP and a 35RD neither of which work in the same way.