Olympus 35 SP
The Olympus 35 SP was a technological tour de force for Olympus back in the '70's when it was first introduced, and in many ways, still is: completely automatic exposure, exposure metering even when in manual mode (very unusual), centre weighted averaging and user selectable 6 degree spot metering immediately put this camera at the head of its class at the time (1969 to mid '70's), along with a superb lens and extended feature set. It is one of the finest cameras of the type that they ever produced, and should easily take top spot on my list of all time favourite cameras…but while it comes very, very close, it doesn’t. I will happily own one, and enjoy it for the engineering marvel it is, but I probably won't shoot it as often as I would other cameras, because ironically enough, one of it's greatest selling points ends up being, for me, one of it's greatest drawbacks. Still, it is an absolutely superb camera, one of the finest ever made, and something to be jumped on when you can find a good one at auction (generally between $90 - $150 in excellent condition on eBay, higher if you can even find the very rare black finished models).
The Olympus 35 SP definitely occupies a place in that elite group of higher end cameras of the '70's, targeted at those who wanted the most camera for their money, and the SP's overall quality, fit and finish back that up. The lens was a superb, 7 element, 5 group G. Zuiko formulation, ending up as a slightly wide, 42mm and fast, F/1.7 optic producing razor sharp and nicely contrasty photographs. The extremely quiet, Seiko programmed shutter provided speeds from 1 full second all the way up to 1/500th of a second, plus B for bulb time exposures, and synchronizing with electronic flash across the entire range of speeds (excepting Bulb, of course) in manual mode; in AE (Automatic Exposure) mode, shutter speed ranged from a low of 1/15th of a second up to 1/250th of a second as selected by the camera. Apertures ranged (in manual mode) from F/1.7 down to F/16; in AE mode, they added F/22 at the low end, but this is not selectable by the shooter. The CdS (Cadmium Sulfide) exposure meter cell is not mounted in the lens barrel as is almost traditional on these types of cameras, so 49mm screw on filtres are NOT automatically compensated for; not only is this something of a disappointment for me, but unusually for Olympus, who writes some of the best camera owner's manuals around, there is absolutely no mention of this in the SP manual. There is no "Off" position or switch on the camera to cut power to the exposure meter to conserve battery life; due to the unique placement of the exposure meter cell, one wonders if you are expected to keep the camera in it's case when not in use in order to conserve battery power.
The lens barrel has three rings on it, the outermost one being the shutter speed selection ring, the centre ring being the aperture selection ring, and the innermost one being the focus selection ring. Lens focusing is silky smooth, as are all the controls on the SP, from 2.8 feet to Infinity; my only pet peeve about this is the addition of the "quick focus" lever protruding from one side. The majority of photographers love these things for they do indeed make focusing quickly a snap, with just a few minutes of practice. I, deviant heathen that I am, find them to be an annoyance in that they get thoroughly in the way of my normal "cradle grip" method of focusing, as mentioned elsewhere on this site. Fortunately for me, close examination of this lever on the Canon GIII QL-17 reveals a uniform seam where the lever meets the focusing ring, indicating that it is probably screwed in from the other side of the ring; it can probably be removed with no effort at all in the course of a thorough CLA (clean, lube and adjustment service). I suspect this is probably the case with the SP as well, and I will undoubtedly have this done in the future.
In addition to the marked shutter speeds, the shutter speed ring has a small window cutout in it where the letter "A" (for "automatic") can be displayed, along with a central index mark engraved on the lens barrel sleeve just forward of the shutter speed ring. The F/stop (aperture) ring also has an "A" setting (along with the marked F/stop range, F/1.7 to F/16), with an index mark just behind the ring. To the left of the "A" setting are guide number settings for the automatic "flashmatic" flash exposure system (simply line up with the centre index mark to set); the 9 second delay self timer lever is just behind the aperture ring, in the lens barrel sleeve: the shutter must be cocked before the self timer is set, and it can not be canceled once it has been activated. When both rings are set so that their respective "A" positions are lined up with their respective index marks, the camera is now set in the AE exposure mode. What this means is that the camera will now select both the shutter speed and the aperture automatically for you, leaving you free to concentrate on the aesthetics of picture composition. This is a wonderfully liberating feature for many people who don't want to fiddle as much with the technical side of achieving proper exposure, and is an enormously powerful selling point for the SP; it is not, however, without its drawbacks for the slightly more demanding photographer. When in AE mode, the effective exposure measuring range is from a low of 1/15th of a second at F/1.7, to a high of 1/250th of a second at F/22; the 1/500th, 1/8th, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 full second shutter speeds are never utilized. This has the effect of cutting you off from the highest shutter speed setting for action photography, and from some of the lower end shutter speeds that are invaluable for low light photography (although these speeds would normally be useless if the camera weren't solidly braced or mounted on a tripod anyway). My personal quibble with this is that not being able to control one or the other settings, I've no easy way to select a fast shutter speed for an action situation, or perhaps a lower one for smaller aperture if increased depth of field (DOF) is my goal (or conversely, a faster shutter speed for a wider lens opening if my intention is to throw the background out of focus to emphasize a foreground subject). Making this situation even worse, in my mind, is the fact that there is no indication to the photographer whatsoever of which shutter speed and which aperture has been chosen by the camera. Obviously, I'm not a photographer who is well suited to the AE mode of exposure measurement, which is why shutter preferred (or even aperture preferred) metering systems provide a much higher level of comfort for me. Oddly, the manual indicates that while the camera shutter release button will lock to prevent under exposure (when the shutter speed reaches below 1/15th of a second), it will not lock in overexposure situations: it is apparently still possible to trip the shutter when the viewfinder needle indicator wanders into the red, overexposure warning zone.
The SP is one of the very, very few (possibly the only?) cameras of this period made where setting the camera to manual mode doesn't disengage the exposure meter. It is possible to meter in manual mode, and then transfer the settings indicated by the viewfinder EV (exposure value) scale to the shutter speed/aperture rings for proper exposure. The good news is that when used this way, the metering range is extended to encompass the full range of shutter speeds and apertures (remember that the user selectable apertures end at F/16, not the camera selectable F/22 in AE mode). The bad news is that it is a bit awkward to select a shutter speed appropriate to the photographic situation, meter with the camera to your eye, note the EV setting in the viewfinder, then remove the camera from your eye to rotate the aperture ring, observing the cut out window on the shutter speed ring for the proper EV setting to appear (effectively providing a shutter preferred based system of exposure metering). If the shutter/aperture combination is not to your liking, the manual advises that you grip both rings together simultaneously and turn them together to get the desired f/stop, or desired shutter speed, while still keeping the proper exposure setting. It works, but it's definitely not a "thoughtlessly simple" process…
The unique and advanced exposure meter system is the heart of the SP's flexibility. The CdS metering window, as mentioned previously, is not mounted in the lens barrel, so you sacrifice automatic filtre exposure compensation. Instead, the metering window is a square located at the far right end of the viewfinder/rangefinder module (when looking at the camera from the front, lens on). The meter has a 20 degree angle of acceptance in normal use; however, pressing and holding in a button on the back of the camera puts it in to spot metering mode, and switching the meter cell to one with a 6 degree angle of acceptance. This 6 degree area is marked in the viewfinder by the yellow, double image rangefinder focusing patch: simply settle this patch onto the area to be metered, press and hold the button while recomposing the picture in the viewfinder, and the press the shutter release to take the photograph. Effective, and a wonderful, compelling feature of this unusual camera classic. Setting the ISO film speed rating for the meter is done by rotating the ISO film speed selection wheel mounted on the left side of the camera body, near the top; ISO ratings are a generous 25 to 800 (the dial actually displays the old, ASA ratings, which are identical to the modern ISO ratings, and displays the old European DIN settings as well).
The viewfinder is bright and roomy, displaying the traditional bright frame lines, with parallax correction index marks used for close focusing. Along the top of the viewfinder is the previously mentioned EV scale, red on the far right end for underexposure (shutter button locks) warning, yellow for slow shutter speed warning (1/15th, 1/30th of a second zone), and red on the far left end for over exposure warning (shutter does NOT lock). A black, floating needle indicates the EV whether in AE or manual mode. A nice feature of the viewfinder is the pale white strip mounted on the front of the camera near the rangefinder window: a light gathering strip to help illuminate the viewfinder. A standard PC flash synchronization cord socket is mounted on the other side of the lens on the camera body, just under the viewfinder panel.
The SP top deck is fairly standard in its layout, a single stroke, short throw (120 degree) film advance lever with a non-magnifying exposure counter along side it. The shutter release button is polished steel, unlike the matte black of the RD, and has no slop or side play in it at all: it releases crisply at the bottom of its stroke. The hot shoe in the centre of the deck is standard, as is the folding rewind crank/knob assembly; unlike many 35mm compact rangefinder cameras of this type, lifting up on the knob does not open the camera back: a release catch on the lower left side of the camera does that. The bottom deck has a standard tripod socket, circular screw in battery compartment cover with the traditional coin slot milled in (covering a chamber that takes the PX-625 or equivalent battery), the rewind button (push in to release the film advance clutch before rewinding the film into its cassette; it pops out automatically again the next time the film advance lever is wound), and the nice cutout in the floor plate for true drop in loading of the film cassette, a' la RC and RD.
There is an awful lot to like about this superlative little technological wonder: it is small, light, rugged, wonderfully well made and handles just beautifully. Every time you use it you can't help being conscious of holding something special, a unique blend of features found in no other camera of the time. Manual metering is a bit awkward, but perhaps that's just not the point: you actually have manual metering available to you on this camera, and that is something to celebrate. The shutter speed range is the most complete you'll see on cameras this type; many others stopped at a low end of 1/15th of a second - even the beautiful Canon GIII QL-17 only went down to 1/4 second. Those extra two or three shutter speeds can make a difference in low light shooting, and will truly be appreciated by the discerning photographer. What can be said about on board spot metering? Try to find another 35mm compact rangefinder camera from this period that had it…Fully AE programmed exposure, especially with no readout, could take a lot of getting used to depending on what you're looking for in a fine camera, but there are undoubtedly millions who would appreciate it for the freedom from technical complication it affords them as they concentrate on good photographic composition. There is no doubt that this is a compelling and powerful selling point in this camera, certainly not to be underrated.
I wonder if I might not end up shooting this little marvel a lot more than I thought I would…and perhaps even enjoying it more.
Note: a special note of appreciation to the unknown eBay sellers who recently listed Olympus 35 SP's for sale; the photographs they used in their auction descriptions have been reproduced here to illustrate this page.
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© May, 2002 by D. Scott Young