Will An Olympus 35RC Work W/O a Meter?

[Steve M.]

I bought an Olympus 35RC (lot bigger than I thought it would be), knowing it had a dead meter. Fine, I figured to use it in manual mode. But I can't get the aperture to change settings. The aperture ring on the lens turns nicely, goes click, click, but when I set the shutter on B I see that it stays stopped all the way down no matter where I set the f stops.

Is this normal? Is it necessary to have a working meter to make the apertures change? I know it sounds like a dumb question, but everywhere I look on the web I see no clear answer to this. It talks about using the camera in manual metered mode vs aperture priority, but I'm not sure it will work w/o a battery.

 

[yossarian123]

Steve, you don't need a meter to use the 35RC. It should work with or without a battery AFAIK. Sounds like you've got a problem with it.

And wait - it's a lot bigger than you thought? I always thought it was super tiny 😉

 

[Steve M.]

Oh, it's small, but I briefly had a Minox 35 MB and that thing was really, really tiny. I was afraid I might have an internal problem. Thanks for the info. I'd best send it back to the seller. Too bad because it's a cute camera and everything is in exc condition, but the dent on the top (that probably accounts for the meter not working) may have messed something up w/ the aperture itself too. Sounds unlikely, I know, but I can't think of what else it might be. I haven't a clue how to take the lens element off the front and ck out the aperture itself, so back it goes.