Olympus 35 RC shutter priority mode problem

<p>tAfter a long watch on ebay, I bought an olympus 35 RC.<br>

However shutter priority mode is not working, at least seems like.<br>

I set the ring to A for aperture, then tried all the shutter speeds, however camera didn't fire, probably due to low or high exposure prevention shutter is was locked.<br>

So, what might cause that problem ? Drained batteries ? If so, what kind of batteries can I use.<br>

Moreover another question about rangefinder system.<br>

The yellow patch is quite hard to see sometimes, is there a way to make it more clear and visible, kind of cleaning ?</p>

<p>On the rangefinder patch, have a look at Rick Oleson's trick: <a href="http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-165.html">http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-165.html</a></p>

<p>The correct battery is the now banned and discontinued PX-13 mercury cell with a stable 1.35V output. In my 35RC I use a generic #675 zink air hearing aid battery. The battery has a 1.4V output and activates after you pull off the blue seal. They last about 4~5 months in my RC. The battery is smaller in diameter but I don't even use a centering spacer and mine works fine. I buy them at Walgreens in a 12 pack for about $8. If you find that the meter is inactive even after you install a known good battery then clean the contacts in the battery compartment and battery cover. If the meter still will not work then you cannot use the camera on the 'A' setting and will have to use manual exposure control using either a handheld meter, a reference card that shows exposures for various lighting, or your own eyeball exposure judgement based on experience.</p>

<p>The top of a 35RC is not hard to remove so as to clean the VF and RF optics. The caution here is that you be *very* gentle cleaning the half aluminized mirror in the viewfinder so that you do not remove the coating and render the RF useless.</p>

<p>One more note, never leave a battery in a camera that you are not going to use for 2 or 3 months. Store the camera with battery removed.</p>

<p>Actually the needle on the viewfinder moves, which means the battery is okey according to olympus (that's what I read on web).<br>

Well, mine is moving but auto exposure doesn't work. Might that mean there is a problem with camera other than drained battery ?</p>

 

<p>The needle needs to be not on the red part (IIRC) for the shutter to fire. Are the ISO and shutter speed set correctly?</p>

<p>The needle will move with the ring set to 'A' with a dead battery or even with no battery installed. The exposure system is called a trapped needle type and the meter controls a toothed pallet that let's the needle move to a certain value depending on the light and ASA setting. With the aperture ring set on 'A' as you press the shutter button the aperture starts to open from it's smallest value and stops when the needle is trapped by the meter controlled pallet, then further pressure on the shutter button trips the shutter. If the meter is working but there is not enough light for the shutter speed set then the needle goes all the way into the red and the shutter won't fire. If you don't have a battery installed, or the battery is dead, or the meter is not working, then the needle will always travel into the red when the aperture ring is set to 'A'.</p>

<p>Now....attend carefully. I want you to rotate the aperture ring to f2.8, now the camera is in manual mode and the condition of the meter has no effect on the operation of the camera. Looking through the viewfinder slowly press the shutter button. The needle should swing all the way to f2.8 and then the shutter will fire. That is, the shutter will fire if the camera is not broken in some other mechanical way. Now I want you to cock the shutter, and look at the front of the lens. As you press the shutter release slowly you should see the aperture open from it's smallest aperture to wide open and then with continued pressure the shutter will fire, you will see this happen looking into the front of the lens. Now set the aperture ring on f4 and repeat. The aperture should open to f4. Check each opening moving them one at a time; f5.6-f8-f11-f16, each time the aperture will open to the set value. In this manual mode where you set the shutter speed will have no effect on aperture, it will open to what you have set on the ring.</p>

<p>Even if the battery is dead or missing, or the meter is broken, you can still use the 35RC as a fully manual exposure control camera. For example, you have determined that the camera works, at least on manual so you load a roll of ISO 400 color print film. Now look outside. Is the day bright and sunny? OK, set the shutter speed to 1/250 and the aperture to f16 and you are ready to go for sunlit subjects. Cloudy rainy day? Set the shutter speed to 1/125 and the aperture to f5.6, and if there is any doubt then open up to f4 @ 1/125 because fast color print film can soak up overexposure by 3 stops at least.</p>

<p>Well, hope this long winded reply does not discourage you and good shooting with your RC.</p>

<p>PS: If it turns out that, with a new battery the meter is working then don't forget to set the ASA (ISO) for the film you are using on the front of the lens before you take pictures.</p>

 

<p>Thanks for that explanatory reply, but I don't want to use the camera with manual exposure. Even consider selling it back but no way to use with manual exposure unless I instantly see the result as on digital cameras. I suppose I'm not that good to use a film camera manually :)<br>

One more thing. I didn't load any roll, since I don't want to waste it while learning. So, might that be a reason for not working auto-exposure ? I don't think so but just want to be sure.<br>

Thank you.</p>

<p>I owned an RC many years ago. After the shutter needed replacing a 2nd time (for the cost of the camera), I junked it. Are you sure the shutter is not jammed?</p>

<p>Even though a mercury cell is specified, you can use an alkaline battery in this without harm, so if you are unsure whether the battery is good, try an alkaline, and that will tell you whether or not it works. I have used an alkaline in my 35RC with quite adequate results on color print film, and you can probably do so too with a little ASA compensation to fine tune it.</p>

<p>The RC does, of course, work well as a manual camera, but has the quirk that you can't use the meter except in automatic mode, so it's not well suited to manual work unless you carry a meter in your hand or in your head.</p>

<p>You can still get the alkalines, at least for now, and I think Radio Shack sometimes has them. </p>

<p>IIRC the alkaline is 1.5V and the meter (if working) will need to be recalibrated. If the meter is working, I'd just carry a bunch of hearing aid cells and fashion a spacer; If the meter is not working, just carry a small handheld (even though it's a pity that pocket size spotmeters are not made nowadays, and olympus decided to put it's spotmeter in the convoluted SP instead of this one).</p>

<p>Bought a GP Alkaline Cell PX625A 1.5V<br>

Placed into the battery compartment but the metering is still not working. So that precisely means the metering is not working, or might there another reason, or something I'm doing wrong.</p>