Olympus 35SP Meter / Case / Battery

[r s]

I bought - and love - an Olympus 35SP.

One question though..the camera doesn't have a light meter but no

ON/OFF switch for the metering.

 

It appears as if the light meter is constantly active hence it is

constantly draining the battery.

 

My assumption is that if the light meter is blocked off it doesn't

read and the battery is not drained.

 

Now here comes the catch though. The 35SP doesn't have the metering

cell inside the lens so that it could be blocked off with a lenscap

(like with the 35RC), instead the metering cell is located next to

the viewfinder.

 

Is truly the only way of preserving battery to keep the camera in

it's case when not being used? I'm thinking about designing a small

device that can be placed over the metering cell but want to make

sure that it actually will do anything in terms of preserving battery

life.

 

Anyone have any idea what I am trying to ask here - and even better

have any answers/ideas/etc?

 

Regards,

Richard

 

- since the light meter is not inside the lens

[david_mount]

Richard,

 

all the classic Olympus 35's I've seen (all 3 of them) were originally supplied with a close-fitting case, even the modest but still groovy Trip 35; I'd have to say the case lid was probably the off switch.

 

I've just gone and taken the case off my Trip to try it, but the SP is a fair bit bigger.

[Andrew in Austin]

Yep, the case is the on-off switch. On the road I use a black Lowe Z-3 belt pouch and keep that pretty leather case at home. The current draw while I'm using the SP doesn't seem that significant. When I'm not actually taking a photo I keep the SP cased. I also use a very beefy wrist strap rather than a neck strap, so the camera will come out of the case easier.

 

Other than a custom made slip-on leather cover over the entire top of the camera, I don't know any way to cover just the metering window.

 

The G Zuiko lens delivers stunningly sharp images for a fixed-lens Japanese RF. By the way, it's the only one with a metered manual mode versus the usual unmetered manual mode.

[kurt_weiske]

Some people make unmetered manual mode sound like it's a show stopper thing. With my Canonet, you leave the aperture ring on A to meter, then if you want to make an adjustment to the exposure, you turn the aperture dial to the preferred setting and shoot. The SP doesn't show shutter speed/aperture in the viewfinder, just EV, so it's about as practical as the unmetered mode on most contemporary viewfinders.

 

As an added benefit, the meter on my Canonet turns off when the camera's in manual, so taking the aperture dial off A works as a power switch. :)

 

The SP is a nice looking camera, and being able to choose between centerweighted and spot metering is a unique feature. I'd love to get my hands on one.

 

There's a manual available at http://members.fortunecity.com/canoneos/manuals/olympus35sp.html and it doesn't say anything at all about a power switch, so an opaque camera bag is your best bet.

[r s]

Kurt,

 

actually I like seeing EV values. My other camera is a hasselblad so I'm quite comfortable thinking in EV.

But yes, I would love to have a powerswitch like the Canonet or the 35RC (or even the 35RD which I believe has the cell in the lens so a simple lens cap can be used as an on-off switch).

 

BUT there are things with the SP that makes me live with that inconvenience;

* spotmetering (its surprising accurate),

* an outstanding 7 elements lens,

* the look and feel of it.

 

When it comes to these 60's and 70's RF's you sometime have to make compromises when it comes to features.

 

My next purchase will be a Minolta 7SII :-)

[Andrew in Austin]

Kurt, kudos for keeping the shutter blades excercised on the Canonet. On the 35SP where the aperture needle would be handy is in the full automode. My rule of thumb is if the meter reads from EV 7 to EV 10, either focus very carefully or switch to the manual mode should i need a greater depth of field.

 

I have a couple of Gossen light meters that get used with my two 50's meterless medium format folders and a Rollei 35 SE, with a perfectly functioning meter. After a period of time you get use to it and can usually guess the EV number of a daylight exposure within a +or- EV.

 

Ergonomically the 35SP is very much a child of the 1960's, but for the reasons Richard mentioned it's worth forgiving its idiosynchrasies. Its spot-meter is usually so damn close to my Gossens set to measure an incident value that I leave the meter at home.