Olympus 35 rc aperture issues

Gavg60 · Sep 30, 2023

Hi everyone , I have just purchased a olympus 35 rc and everything appears to be working with the exception of the aperture clock. It will allow me to turn the clock and select A, off, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8 but not 11,16 and 22. The clock stops turning at 8.

Any help welcome
Cheers
Gav

perkeleellinen · Sep 30, 2023

Hi Gav,

Welcome here. What happens when you try to turn the aperture ring all the way to f11, does it come stiff or is there a hard stop?

Gavg60 · Sep 30, 2023

perkeleellinen said:
Hi Gav,

Welcome here. What happens when you try to turn the aperture ring all the way to f11, does it come stiff or is there a hard stop?

Hi mate,

It comes to a hard stop

perkeleellinen · Sep 30, 2023

OK, here's a test for you, with the camera facing bright light (probably a light bulb rather than the sun this time of the year in Newcastle!), set your camera on 'A' and maybe a shutter like 1/30. Do the aperture blades go smaller than what they look like when you manually set f8?

Wondering if the hard stop is an issue with the ring or with the blades.

Gavg60 · Sep 30, 2023

perkeleellinen said:
OK, here's a test for you, with the camera facing bright light (probably a light bulb rather than the sun this time of the year in Newcastle!), set your camera on 'A' and maybe a shutter like 1/30. Do the aperture blades go smaller than what they look like when you manually set f8?

Wondering if the hard stop is an issue with the ring or with the blades.

Yes they go smaller on A than at f8

Gavg60 · Sep 30, 2023

Gavg60 said:
Yes they go smaller on A than at f8

perkeleellinen said:
OK, here's a test for you, with the camera facing bright light (probably a light bulb rather than the sun this time of the year in Newcastle!), set your camera on 'A' and maybe a shutter like 1/30. Do the aperture blades go smaller than what they look like when you manually set f8?

Wondering if the hard stop is an issue with the ring or with the blades.

The blades do fully open on A... Where they only slightly open on f8

perkeleellinen · Sep 30, 2023

So, fully open (big hole) is f2.8 and fully closed (small hole) is f22. If you can see that range on 'A' then the camera is working well that way. If it is like that, I wonder if the ring just needs a bit of exercise to losen up, perhaps it hasn't been used in ages.

Did you buy it from a dealer? If so, you could send it back if you really need manual control. If it wasn't from a dealer, can you make it work as it is?

Gavg60 · Sep 30, 2023

perkeleellinen said:
So, fully open (big hole) is f2.8 and fully closed (small hole) is f22. If you can see that range on 'A' then the camera is working well that way. If it is like that, I wonder if the ring just needs a bit of exercise to losen up, perhaps it hasn't been used in ages.

Did you buy it from a dealer? If so, you could send it back if you really need manual control. If it wasn't from a dealer, can you make it work as it is?

Yes I'm hopeful that when I put a battery In, the camera will work fine in 'A' auto mode. I bought the camera from an auction site for cheap but the camera is immaculate and looks like it hasn't been used since the 70s. No wear and tare anywhere on the camera. I will try using it in auto mode then look to get it repaired.

Thankyou for your help

perkeleellinen · Sep 30, 2023

Ah, you definately need the battery otherwise that lightbulb test won't work. Modern batteries are too strong so you'll need to decrease your ASA setting about 2/3 stop to adjust. For example if you have 200 speed film set the camera to 125.

FotoD · Sep 30, 2023

Or use the 625 hearing aid batteries (zink/air). They are close in voltage and work well.

I think there's a catch-needle mechanism in the bottom of the camera which picks the aperture in A mode. Like @perkeleellinen says it shouldn't work without a battery.

Henning Serger · Sep 30, 2023

Gavg60 said:
Yes I'm hopeful that when I put a battery In, the camera will work fine in 'A' auto mode. I bought the camera from an auction site for cheap but the camera is immaculate and looks like it hasn't been used since the 70s. No wear and tare anywhere on the camera. I will try using it in auto mode then look to get it repaired.

Thankyou for your help

As the camera looks like generally in a very good condition, it probably is worth to get repaired.
You can send it to Olympus specialist Benjamin Menge in Germany. He has been trained by the former head of the Olympus Europe Service center, Frank Timmann. And he has original Olympus factory tools, measurement instruments and spare parts:

https://www.instagram.com/om.analog

START | OM-ANALOG

www.om-analog.de

Best regards,
Henning

Olympus 35 rc aperture issues

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