Repair person/shop for 35 RD?

[82univega]

Hello.
I’m considering buying a 35 RD, but I’ve read that this model is especially prone to having grease migrate onto the shutter blades.
With that in mind, I have two questions:

1. Can anyone recommend a person or shop, ideally in the United States, to perform a thorough CLA on a 35 RD?
2. How frequently should a 35 RD get a CLA to keep it working reliably?

Thanks in advance.
Andy

 

[Brian Legge]

I spend a bunch having a 35RD cla’d by one of the best people around. I loved the image quality from the 35DC but missed manual control. The 35RD felt like the perfect camera.

It remained useable for a year before oil migrated to the blades.

I gave up on the camera. It’s a shame they bitched the design. It was so close to being my perfect compact option. :/

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

I’ve had a similar experience to Brian. My 35RD is wonderful when it works, but it was serviced when I bought it, and it’s been serviced twice since, and in each case it’s taken about 12-18 months before grease makes its way back onto the shutter blades.

I’d look elsewhere. 35SP perhaps?

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Bad sign- almost all the ones on Ebay are "untested" or "Shutter Stuck" or "as-is". $150 for one with a stuck shutter, if it was $15 would be closer to actual value for a display piece.

This sounds like a good camera if you like doing your own repair work. The Canonet QL17GIII: once the shutter/aperture is glood cleaned and working, tends to stay that way. My $15 Canonet has been working for almost 20 years after fixing myself. Same with a Minolta Hi-Matic 9 bought for $25 in the box, stuck shutter.

Prices on fixed-lens rangefinders are all over the place on Ebay. Cameras such as the Minolta AL-E often go under-the-RADAR, mine did for $40.

I avoid cameras such as the Minolta Hi-Matic E and other early electronic cameras: the discrete components often go bad. The Olympus 35RD: one of the few cameras I tossed out.

 

[82univega]

Thank you all for your responses! It sounds like the service interval for the 35 RD is much too short to be practical for me, so I will investigate other cameras.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

I see John Hermanson at Camtech in New York ( zuiko.com ) no longer accepts the 35RD.
However he still services the Olympus 35RC and 35 SP/SPn rangefinder 35s.

Chris

 

[82univega]

Thanks Chris. The attributes I’m hoping for are:

• Compact and relatively light
• Reliable
• Lens f/2 or faster and about 38mm focal length, give or take a few mm
• Meter
• Manual exposure capability
• Shutter speeds down to 1/2 second or slower
• Quiet

The 35 SP/n might end up being the best compromise, and knowing that there is a specialist still working on that model is a big plus, in my opinion.

But reviews appear to be mixed regarding the 35 SP’s sharpness, which makes me wonder whether there might have been a lot of sample variability due to quality control issues, or some strange issue with vibration causing some people to get unsatisfying sharpness (as some people report that the shutter is surprisingly loud)?

Sonnar Brian’s mention of the Minolta AL-E led me to learning about the Minoltina-S/Minoltina AL-S, which looks appealing and is currently my top candidate.

 

[Evergreen States]

My 35 RC is at Blue Moon Camera and Machine in Portland, Oregon right now. I needed seals replaced, meter adjusted for modern batteries and rangefinder calibrated. Estimated turnaround time is 6-8 weeks. Price was quoted at $150 USD, plus shipping.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

https://www.35mmc.com/24/03/2018/olympus-35-sp-vs-olympus-35-rc-review/

https://www.35mmc.com/11/01/2014/olympus-35rc-review/

https://www.35mmc.com/01/06/2021/olympus-35-spn-review/

Though it is not a high-spec'd as the larger Olympus rangefinder models I really like my little Olympus 35 RC,
especially the shutter speed dial in "the right place" - up on the top deck - and the full-information viewfinder.

Chris

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Thanks Chris. The attributes I’m hoping for are:

• Compact and relatively light
• Reliable
• Lens f/2 or faster and about 38mm focal length, give or take a few mm
• Meter
• Manual exposure capability
• Shutter speeds down to 1/2 second or slower
• Quiet

The 35 SP/n might end up being the best compromise, and knowing that there is a specialist still working on that model is a big plus, in my opinion.

But reviews appear to be mixed regarding the 35 SP’s sharpness, which makes me wonder whether there might have been a lot of sample variability due to quality control issues, or some strange issue with vibration causing some people to get unsatisfying sharpness (as some people report that the shutter is surprisingly loud)?

Sonnar Brian’s mention of the Minolta AL-E led me to learning about the Minoltina-S/Minoltina AL-S, which looks appealing and is currently my top candidate.

Minolta AL-E, Canonet QL17L or QL17GIII, Konica S3, Minolta Hi-Matic 7s-II.

And- the AL-E is my current favorite of the bunch.

https://cameraderie.org/threads/minolta-al-e-removing-top-cover-to-clean-the-viewfinder.50172/

 

[Sonnar Brian]

On the Olympus 35SP and SPn: I find the lenses are first rate, but the mechanical build quality and design is not as good as Minolta and Canon fixed-lens RF's. The 35SP "film clutch" mechanism that prevents winding past a frame is a poor design, has a hair-thin spring under constant pressure. I picked up a broken one for $15, finally found a donor spring from a Minolta that fit and was much thicker- worked fine. Sold it quite some years ago for $100 or so. The 7-element lens is very good, lots of contrast.

 

[Brian Legge]

The Canon is QL line is solid and common. I think there is less mystique largely because of its commonality… but it’s a good user.

The Olympus 35SP has a great lens but is a bit larger than the smaller compacts. It’s underrated if you find a working one. As with most of these cameras, repairability is an issue if you have a part failure. Blocks of parts were meant to be swapped with these cameras rather than fixing atomic parts - and spare parts usually mean finding a camera to cannibalize.

I also like the Minolta 7sII as a direct alternative to the 35RD. Avoid ones that stop down to f8-11 regardless of the aperture setting; it’s a small broken part in the meter. Many of the ones for sale have this issue but I haven’t had a working one break yet.

 

[zuiko85]

I remember John Hermanson referring to a RD repair as a ‘time pit’, shame really, but not all Olympus fixed lens RF’s were as reliable as one could wish.

 

[82univega]

Thanks everyone for these suggestions and details. Lots of good food for thought here.