Olympus 35 SP resolution?...

[gusmur]

Hi,
Does anyone have any info or links to resolution (lpmm) data for the SP?
Thanks,
Angus

 

[Eric Rose]

Resolution charts imho are pretty much a waste of time. The best thing to do is load it up with whatever film is your fav and shoot a roll. Then make some prints at various sizes.

The SP is a great little camera, here is a write up from Cameraquest:

"Produced from 1969 to about 1976, the Olympus 35 SP has the distinction of being the only 35 Rangefinder with a dual metering system: spot or centerweighted readings. This is amazing since the camera is over 30 years old and to date no other RF has equaled the 35 SP's dual metering. Yes indeed, it was far ahead of its time. If you don't count the Leica M5 and CL with their large spot meters, the 35 SP is also the only 35 rangefinder with spot metering! Besides that, the 35 SP was the 1st camera with AE exposure AND spot metering!

The sophisticated and sharp 7 element five group 42/1.7 Zuiko lens offers proof of the quality built into the Olympus 35 SP. A simpler less expensive 5 or 6 element lens would have sufficed, yet Olympus choose to go the more expensive route and use the best lens possible for its price range.

The SP offers programmed automatic exposure non interchangeable lens rangefinder with manual over-ride. The lens focuses down to 2.8 ft with a f/16 minimum f/stop and a 49mm filter size. It measures 5 1/8" long x 3 3/16 high x 2 7/16" deep counting the lens and weighs in at 22 oz. Black SP's are quite rare, almost all are chrome."

 

[Alex1994]

Yeah, lp/mm is just finicky, who has ever looked at a great photograph and said 'wow, look at the resolution on that one'

 

[craigclu]

I had 2 of these some years back. The reason for the second one was that my first one wasn't very sharp. The second one wasn't much better. They were both used (both looked new but maybe some damage?) and I had only read good things about them. I liked the function and the spot metering but seemed to be unlucky in the 2 that I experienced. At the time, I was also using a HiMatic-E and a Konica S-3. Both of these were extremely sharp and snappy and gave very solid 8x10's. Perhaps the Olympus SP's were really quite good and the other 2 were especially good units? It's more likely that unit to unit variations stacked up in my case but having 2 behave that way kind of put me off the camera.

 

[Black Dog]

IME Olympus lenses are excellent- I've never known how many lpmm the lens on my Trip can resolve but any bad pictures I've taken with it are purely down to me.

 

[gusmur]

HI Guys and Gals,
I get the drift, and you are right...just forget the technicals and go out and shoot!
I will with my upcoming, soon to arrive RC.
Will post some pics from the Outer Banks in South Carolina later this summer.
Thanks so much for all your comments.
Best,
Angus