Olympus 35 RC

 Of all the classic '70's 35mm compact rangefinder cameras, the Olympus 35 RC has to rank as one my all time favourites. It may not qualify as the best camera if all you're doing is measuring features point by point, as there are some cameras that have a one F/stop faster lens, or perhaps an extra shutter speed or two, but the Olympus stands out in my mind as having the very best blend of the most meaningful features that are important to me as a photographer. For this reason, the 35 RC ends up being the camera I shoot more often, and the one I get the most enjoyment out of shooting. These cameras can fill a dual role unusually well: they are a perfect camera for beginners that want an easy camera to learn with as they concentrate on the elements of style involved in making good, interesting photographs, and yet they offer a full feature set and extremely high quality that makes them an ideal second, casual camera for professional photographers as well. Let's take a look at this unique feature blend…

In terms of sheer size, the Olympus 35 RC ranks as # 1 in my humble opinion: to my knowledge, it was the very smallest compact 35mm rangefinder camera ever made. The classic, and beautifully made Rollei 35S and the Minox 35mm compact cameras are smaller still, but both lack that wonderful rangefinder focusing capability, having scale focusing instead. Only the rigid lens of the 35 RC keeps it from fitting in a shirt pocket. This makes the camera delightfully handy, easy to carry, and easy to use, and thus, more likely to be around when you need it. A small belt case would make this a very useful camera to carry on a regular basis.

 The RC has a very nice aperture range for a camera of this size, a fast F/2.8 all the way down to a pinhole F/22…many cameras of this type stopped at F/16, so shooting fast film in bright light is a little easier with this camera. The shutter speed ranges from a low of 1/15^th of a second up to an action stopping 1/500^th of a second, a very reasonable speed range: most people can't hand hold a camera steadily beyond 1/30^th of a second without inducing handshake blur into their pictures, and the really skilled can do it down to 1/15^th…beyond that the camera would need to be tripod mounted anyway, so most people are going to use flash. On that topic, the RC will, of course, synchronize with electronic flash across the entire range of shutter speeds. However, in a nice and thoughtful touch, Olympus included the B (bulb) shutter setting for those advanced people who want to play with really low light exposures: set the shutter to B, press down and hold the shutter release button, and the shutter will stay open for as long as you continue to hold it down. Obviously, the camera would be tripod mounted for this sort of work, and the user will be pleased to know that the shutter release button is threaded for a standard cable release for long time exposures without having to hold your finger on the button. For day to day shooting, a good ISO 200 film works fine in the camera, providing a super range from bright sun outdoors to a very decent level of low light shooting in brightly lit indoor settings; with today's modern ISO 400 film formulations, you can even shoot outdoors in all but the very brightest beach or desert daylight (that F/22 setting, combined with the 1/500^th shutter speed is a real help here) and still have an very nice low light capability.

The RC has a silver lens ring flush with the body of the camera that controls the selection of F/stops, as well as providing a flash setting (lightning symbol), an "A" for automatic exposure setting (shutter preferred automation: you select the shutter speed, the camera automatically selects the proper aperture), and, unusual for cameras of this sort, a most highly welcome "Off" setting which turns off electric power to the CdS exposure meter, greatly extending the life of the PX-625 button cell battery. Other cameras rely on you to cover the lens with a lens cap when not shooting; however, if you forget, the light striking the meter cell continues to draw juice from the battery, causing it to run down faster.

The black, ribbed lens focusing ring is forward of the aperture selection ring, and is clearly engraved with scale focus markings in bright, eye catching orange for feet, with metric equivalents engraved below it in white, another nice touch; focusing range is from 3 feet to Infinity. Further along the focusing ring on the right (as you look down from the top) are another set of numbers: guide numbers marked in orange for feet, and white for metric. A small notched lever protrudes from between the guide number scales. Slip a finger nail in the notch, or press down on the entire lever with a finger tip, and slide it left or right until it click stops into place by the guide number you select for the flash unit and film speed you are using. When ready to use flash, simply dial the aperture ring to the lightning symbol, and the camera apertures are directly linked to the focusing ring for fast, accurate, and fuss free flash photography. The standard cordless flash hot shoe on the top deck is universal by now, but the PC flash synch contact on the left end of the camera is a reminder of the older flash units that connected to the camera with these short electrical cords.

The 42mm, 5 group, F/2.8 Zuiko lens is a superb performer, providing sharp, contrasty photographs certain to please. The CdS (Cadmium Sulphide) exposure meter cell is mounted in the lens barrel, just to the left of the front lens element itself, meaning that any screw in filtres that are mounted on the lens will be automatically compensated for by the fast, and very accurate CdS metering system. This is a wonderful feature of many rangefinder 35mm cameras, but on the Olympus 35 RC, unfortunately, it is the size of the filtres required that may present a small challenge: the filtre thread size is an odd, 43.5mm size (as is the lens cap), meaning that you'll do some hunting among the bigger camera stores to find filtres, screw in or snap on lens caps, and/or close up lenses if you want them. On the other hand, I was fortunate enough to find on ebay just two weeks after I bought my RC, an original Olympus close-up lens complete with plastic storage case and cardboard box, so they are out there if you do a bit of looking. To the right of the front lens element is the ISO/DIN film speed setting window; press down gently on the knurled plastic ring surrounding the front lens element by placing a finger on either side of the element, on the ring, and turning to rotate the numbers in the window to the film speed setting you want.

One of the things that makes the RC such a charmer is the fact that both the selected shutter speed and the aperture are clearly indicated by needles on a scale located at the very top and very bottom of the viewfinder, respectively. This means that you can operate the camera without having to take it from your eye to make setting selections, when the camera is in either automatic or manual mode. This is a good place to point out that when the camera is in manual mode, the CdS exposure meter is disengaged; it functions only when the aperture is in the "A" position (and the lens cap removed). By the way, the exposure system in the automatic mode won't let you take a badly exposed photo: the shutter button locks if the light is too bright or too dim, another nice feature of many of these classic '70's rangefinder cameras. The viewfinder is very bright and clear, with the very faint bluish cast that all rangefinder camera viewfinders have. The yellow focusing patch is proportionately smaller in this small camera, but "snaps to" instantly, making sharp focus a breeze. Close framing marks aid in eliminating parallax error, while red patches at the left end of the aperture scale indicates when light is too low for the film you're using.

A few more things that make the RC feature set such a well rounded blend: a truly "drop in" film loading system, as the floor area under the cartridge is actually a part of the hinged film back; this means you really can just drop the cartridge in, unlike most other cameras where you have to angle it in first. You don't have to pull up on the rewind knob to open the back of this camera, the sturdy film latch on the lower left side takes care of that. A silky smooth, ratcheted film wind is one of my favourite features: a slightly curved piece of metal that engages your thumb easily projects out of the back of the camera through a slot cutout. Ingeniously, the slot has a spring loaded sliding metal dust cover over it, one that rides up as the lever goes through its stroke, and comes back down again automatically to help seal against dust. The shutter release button has no slop or side play in it at all, and releases crisply near the bottom of it's stroke; a really very nice feature is that by pressing the shutter release half way down and holding it, it locks in whatever the exposure reading is at the moment. This allows you to meter one part of the scene, lock in the exposure, then recompose the scene to your satisfaction in the viewfinder: simply press the button the rest of the way down to take the photograph. An extremely well placed and easy to use self timer on the front face of the camera gives you a 9 - 10 second delay: simply wind the film to cock the shutter, press the lever down 90 degrees to set it, and then press the shutter release button to begin the countdown. As with most cameras of this type, the mechanical self timer can not be canceled once it has begun it's countdown. Combine all the other features previously mentioned and it becomes very easy to consider the RC possibly the best compact 35mm rangefinder of that period. The Olympus 35 RC was only produced in a brushed matte silver coloured finish, no black bodied RC's were ever manufactured. 

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© May, 2002 by D. Scott Young