Olympus 35RC and Kodak Gold 200

I love misspellings on Ebay.      Olmpus = cheap camera!

I was very excited to get an Olympus 35RC rangefinder last week. This is a little gem of a camera that is all metal, doesn't need batteries to work (except for the auto exposure meter, if needed), and a fantastic 42mm f2.8 lens that produces outstanding pictures. When I unpacked it, it was very dirty. In fact the rangefinder spot was dark because the window was full of dirt. I spent a few hours cleaning it up and it looked great, but it seems the aperture is a little sticky. It is two sticky for the auto exposure to work. The 35RC adjusts the auto exposure by opening and closing the diaphragm to match the shutter speed chosen. I brought it to the local camera shop for a internal cleaning and lube, but the wussies wouldn't touch it. Curse you Darkroom. Well, I wanted to make sure that everything else worked, so I went and bought the cheapest C41 film available, Kodak Gold, and ran a 24 exposure roll through the camera.

Cool Old Truck. I am glad I didn't bring my Canon with because I would have gotten distracted trying to get a cool HDR photo of this truck. PS. I might go back with my Canon to get a cool HDR photo of this truck.

I had to guess at exposures since I don't own a meter and didn't feel like carrying my Canon around to cheat. So I just jotted down some notes from the googlesphere about cloudy day exposures and then bracketed +/- 1 stop. It was a really crappy day for photography, but I do enjoy hiking around in the woods and up and down the river. 

Bitterroot Auto Lot. These tractors are all available to a good home. I would have liked to get closer, but the big barbed wire fence was a deterrent. 

I couldn't be happier with the results. First of all, what a fun little camera to shoot with. It is heavier than one might expect for it's tiny size, but the thing is built like a tank. It is very easy to focus and compose. The rangefinder is bright and apparently accurate. All but a couple of the photos are tack sharp, and I'm sure the ones that aren't were because of user error. 

Fence Post and Barbed Wire. A little cliche, but whatevs. Very first photo with the camera, and I forgot to bracket the exposure, so I am glad I guessed right. 

The color on the prints is pretty amazing. Kodak Gold is not known for super saturated and artistic images, but I think these look great. The lens on the 35RC is multicoated for good color transmission and contrast, which I think really shows since shooting conditions were dull and low contrast.

Red Twig Dogwood and Pines. Very tough scene with bright whites and very dark shadows. Sharpness and detail really shine in this photo.

Also, I think I should mention that COSTCO did an amazing job. Their scanning software must do an auto exposure correction and Kodak Gold must have great latitude because I cannot tell the difference between the three exposures on the shots I bracketed. I am impressed. The film cost 2.99 and the developing and scan to CD cost 4.58. The Darkroom has gotten my last roll of film.

Birds Eye View. You are seeing here a result of not paying attention. The horizon was not level on this picture but when I used Iphoto to straighten it, it lost it's sharpness. When I put it back, it is fine. In this picture, the tilted horizon was not tolerable. I don't mind it in the fence post pic above.

I am just really pleased with this little camera, but I am bummed about the sticky aperture. There are camera shops in La Jolla and San Francisco that work on these, but I am looking at a minimum of $50 plus shipping for a repair, maybe more. I see them on ebay normally in great working condition for about $100, but even ones like mine, that work great but have issues, go for $50-$60. I will probably sell this one, and try again.