Olympus Auto Eye II

[Andrew McPhee]

I recently acquired one of these (without the instruction booklet of course) and while I can usually work out a camera's functions a couple on this one have me puzzled.

Underneath the lens barrel on the aperture ring there are three markings, D (in red), M (orange) and B (white). They don't seem to align with any obvious mark anywhere, can anyone tell me what they mean?

Just forward from the aperture ring is another movable ring that can be rotated by pressing a small release button and turning it via the ASA marker knob. This ring has a red A on it - I assume it interacts with the shutter speed ring to set it to automatic..?

When both the SS and aperture rings are set to A the red marker in the viewfinder always displays when the shutter release or preview button are pressed. This happens in bright sunlight with 100ASA selected. Does this mean the meter is dead or am I doing something wrong?

Can anyone answer my questions or (even better) supply me with a copy of the instruction booklet?

 

[Trius]

Andrew: I have an Auto Eye (I think it's a II) at home, but it's in pieces as it was not functioning properly so I decided to be camera repairman, as I had not paid a lot for the camera. I'll take a look after the weekend (I'm off to Toronto and Niagara) and see if I can decipher something. I may even have a user manual, IIRC, or at least I've seen one on the web.

Since these are old models and use selenium cells, I wouldn't be surprised if the cell were dead.

Trius
Member of Olympus Odyssey...

 

[Andrew McPhee]

I did a Google search but didn't find any manuals, I'd appreciate any help you could give. I don't normally have trouble deciphering the workings of old cameras but this one has me stumped!

As for the selenium cell being dead you may be right. If I set the aperture to Auto the exposure selected by the camera is out a long way. But then maybe I'm doing something wrong, I don't know.

Also, the viewfinder aperture display is 'sticky' and erratic which makes me wonder about the health of the internal mechanism. But the shutter speeds sound (relatively) correct.

The other bonus is that it's in very good cosmetic condition which I take to indicate an original owner who was careful with it. I won't be taking it apart myself and doubt that I'll spend any more money on it for a CLA but I hope to have fun taking photos with it as-is.

 

[Trius]

Andrew: I looked, and mine is the Olympus-Auto Electroset, not the same model as yours, so I'm afraid I won't be of much help. Sorry!

Trius

 

[wierdcollector]

Hi Andrew,
Not sure if this will be of any help, but you might try: http://www.claus-marin.de/autoeye2eng.htm or http://kotisivu.dnainternat.fi/lauro/olympusee.htm. I have an Auto Eye although mine is not the Auto Eye 2. Mine has no D, M, or B or for that matter, no aperture ring. According to McKeown's, the A is for a shutter priority automatic system. On either end of my aperture display in the viewfinder is a red underexposed or overexposed indicator. The metal tag affixed to the back of my camera has instructions for easy picture taking: A. Set knob on A (Automatic) B. Set ASA Film Speed C. Select Shutter Speed D. Set Distance for Close, Group, or Scene (or use rangefinder E. Sight and snap Caution: If red indicator arrow appears in viewfinder, turn Shutter Dial in direction indicated until white number appears. Also I found several shops offering manuals for the Auto Eye 2 but none for free. I use Dogpile rather than Google as I find the search results are displayed in a more user friendly manner. Hope any of this helps. I've used mine several times with 200 film and have some good shots from this very nice lens. Take care, Curt.

 

[wierdcollector]

OOps, that should read http://kotisivu.dnainternet.fi/lauro/olympusee.htm .

 

[Andrew McPhee]

Thanks for your help guys, I'll report back in due course when I suss this baby out.

 

[gzuiko]

any update?

any update?

andrew,

I found your thread here some 2+ years later and was wondering if you ever figured this camera out. I've just found one myself and am not finding ANY information online. Mine seems to work in manual mode fairly well, but would love to find a copy of a manual for this one. Seems to be kind of rare.

Jim

 

[cyclops]

Solution ?

Solution ?

Hi - This is my first post here. Just googling having found an Olympus "auto eye" on ebay. Decided not to go ahead but it includes an instruction booklet. finishes tomorrow, any good to you ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-OLYMPUS-AUTO-EYE-35mm-VINTAGE-c1960s-CAMERA_W0QQitemZ180214956628QQihZ008QQcategoryZ3333QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[gzuiko]

didn't win this one

didn't win this one

But thanks for the tip! I was watching that one anyway.

My Auto Eye II has taken a tumble and the rangefinder window has cracked. What a stupid mishap... Oh well.

At least it wasn't an Olympus with the G Zuiko lens.