Olympus 35 SP "normal" shutter operation

[vince_maes]

Hello,

I purchased an Olympus 35 SP. Cosmetically it's in

great shape, and the glass looks great.

But here's the rub. When I move the shutter ring to

change shutter speed, it feels a little stiff, and makes

the self-timer whirr sound as its moved. The shutter

fires, and depending on shutter speed that's been set, it

fires faster or slower. (i. e. long on 1 sec, fast on 1/500

of sec).

So, is any one familiar with the camera, how it normally

operates, and if this whirring is a normal function of the

camera.

[Matthew Currie]

<p>A lot of leaf shutters use an escapement for the lower speeds that you can hear winding up when you change the speed, especially if the shutter is cocked. I don't have that model, but several of my leaf shutter cameras do this in varying degrees.</p>

[vince_maes]

Thank you Matthew. I think all

that's left is to get out and

shoot with it. Fingers crossed.

[Mike Gammill]

Before shooting any film, open the camera back and set the lens aperture to a wide opening (around f4 or faster). Set the shutter to 1/500 second and look at the back of the lens through the open camera back. Cock the shutter and press the shutter release. You should see a brief flicker of light. Change shutter to 1/250 and repeat. Try this for each shutter speed. If the light is visible for increasingly greater intervals then the shutter is responding to different settings. This does not guarantee accuracy, but you will at least know if is functioning. Then you could test it with a roll of film.

[John Seaman]

<p>Mine makes a whirring sound, particularly when changing from half a second to one second. I just got back my first set of slides from it and they are fine.</p>

[Andrew in Austin]

<p>The 35SP is a nice camera - but I have found the shutter ring to be a bit knotchy. It's not a smooth click, click, click. </p>

<p>Now with regards to setting the shutter speed to 1/500th of a second from 1/250th - try one without the shutter being tensioned. Set back to 1/250th of second and then wind the film lever all the way. Now try to move the shutter ring to 1/500th. It's way stiff, isn't it?</p>

<p>When I had mine, I tried not to use the 1/500th speed when the shutter was cocked and ready for an exposure.</p>

<p>The 35SP was one of the last Olympus rangefinders to use a lens mounted shutter assembly. The cameras that followed, the 35RC and 35RD have their gear train mechanisms mounted in the camera body. </p>

[Gus Lazzari]

<blockquote>

<p>"I have found the shutter ring to be a bit knotchy. It's not a smooth click" <strong><em>Andrew Y.</em></strong></p>

</blockquote>

<p>These neat little cameras are (due to reliance on grease rather than use of hard & polished materials), usually at this stage of their age, a bit rough to manipulate the exposure rings. When the rings are thoroughly cleaned then re-lubricated, the original "smooth" feel returns.</p>

<p>The buzzing during speed changes is normal. Just keep in mind, that if the camera is <strong>wound/charged</strong> and lube failure is present, damage to this escapement is possible if not manipulated slowly (Give it time to slowly change position).<br>

As a result, I'd adopt a "<em>cock the shutter just before firing</em>" technique.</p>

<p>Finally, it's hard to tell if the 250th and 500th are indeed accurate. Only two sure ways are with film (detecting the exposure difference/accuracy), or with a simple one sensor tester.<br /> BTW, as with torque wrenches, always <strong>release the shutter</strong> before storing the camera. This helps in preventing fatigue of the high tension mainspring...</p>

[vince_maes]

Thank you all for the helpful

input. I'll take my time with it

as I become accustomed to it.