Olympus 35 RC

[br1078lum]

I got this little Oly in a trade for my beat up Rollieflex Automat, and it needed a bit of work itself.  I put in new seals, and re-glued the frame counter disk that had come loose in the top of the camera.  After that, it was simply a matter of stealing the Wein cell out of one of my handheld meters for some power, and loading it with some Kodak BW400CN. I shot these over two days, with the first group taken out in the countryside, then on the next day in an old industrial part of town. I like the aspect ratio of the 42mm lens, so a lot of these are not cropped.  And I only did some touch-up on the sunset photo to get rid of some spots, and a distracting reflection at the bottom of the photo.  Otherwise, these are all as commercially developed and scanned from our local pro shop.

I like the way this camera handles, and the shutter speed dial on the top is really great to have, as it isn't crowded onto the lens barrel like most compacts.  The rangefinder patch is a bit dim, but not too bad.  The meter is on the money from what I can see, giving me readings that I would have used if doing the Sunny-16 thing. The finder tends to give a close approximation of what will be on the film.  Both shutter speed and aperture readouts are available in the viewfinder, and are very clear.  It has a good weight for such a small camera, and is very easy to operate.  I took all of these in the Auto mode, as my fingers don't handle the cold very well, and I found it much easier to change shutter speed than aperture (Yay, for shutter priority!).  This one will not wind up in the annual RFf or NFf Give-aways.


Rt 785 Farmhouse #5 by br1078phot, on Flickr


In The Light Of Winter by br1078phot, on Flickr


Silo #1 by br1078phot, on Flickr


In The Open by br1078phot, on Flickr


Industrial Still Life by br1078phot, on Flickr


803 Dock by br1078phot, on Flickr


8th And Norfolk Bus by br1078phot, on Flickr


Skidder by br1078phot, on Flickr


Forgotten by br1078phot, on Flickr

Complete set at http://www.flickr.com/photos/7699588@N07/sets/72157628927711929/

PF

[Nick Merritt]

I love these!  Where were these taken?  (While I'd have never traded an Automat away, you did really well.)

[shadowfox]

"Industrial Still Life" and "8th and Norfolk Bus" are outstanding, Phil.

[br1078lum]

Thanks, Will and Nick. The countryside shots are on the road from Catawba, VA to Blacksburg, VA.  It runs in a valley between Catawba Mountain, and Sandstone Ridge.  The industrial shots were taken in Roanoke, VA, along Norfolk Ave.

I never thought I'd trade a Rolleiflex away either, but this one was messed up when I got it, and I damaged it some more later on, so it really was nothing but a parts donor.

PF

[joho35mm]

Sharp photos and striking compositions, PF! I don't think Olympus ever made a camera that didn't have a sharp lens attached to it.

[Major Black]

Nice work PF! Love the high accutance look.

[Nick Merritt]

Catawba -- rings a bell from a camera perspective.  Isn't Frank Marshman (Camera Wiz -- repair guy) there?  Or is it Shutterblade (from which I've gotten any number of terrific medium format deals)?

In any event, lovely country, beautifully rendered.

Thanks, Will and Nick. The countryside shots are on the road from Catawba, VA to Blacksburg, VA.  It runs in a valley between Catawba Mountain, and Sandstone Ridge.  The industrial shots were taken in Roanoke, VA, along Norfolk Ave.

I never thought I'd trade a Rolleiflex away either, but this one was messed up when I got it, and I damaged it some more later on, so it really was nothing but a parts donor.

PF

[jamesmck]

Very nice, Phil.  I have two RCs, and am very fond of them.  The RC is superior, in my hands, to competitors such as the Canonet QL17.

James

[br1078lum]

Thanks, Joho, Mark, and James.  Nick, I think Shutterblade is somewhere up in northern Virginia, but I would have to look up Frank Marshman.  And it is beautiful country.  If I'd had more light that day, I don't know when I would have gotten to Blacksburg.

PF

[melek]

I hade one of these and sold it to a member here. Then sort of regretted it and bought another. They are excellent littlle cameras. Nice body of work shown here.

[br1078lum]

Thanks, Mike.

PF

[melek]

The 8th and Norfolk photo is outstanding.

[Julio1fer]

That lens is so sharp you should be careful with your fingers. Great images!

[br1078lum]

Thanks, Julio

PF