The Olympus 35 SP Rangefinder

$6000+. That is how expensive a Leica rangefinder camera is. Its worth a second hand car or a pro level DSLR body. With prices like this for rangefinders, it almost seems like a dream to own one. However, thanks to the big guys from Olympus, Yashica, Canon, Nikon, etc we can own a rangefinder at a price we can pay for. Of all the rangefinders released by these companies, the one that really interested me was the Olympus 35 SP. The O-35 SP is one of the many compact rangefinders made by Olympus around 1969 to 1976. It was in another league of cameras when compared to its competition back in the days. Today, it is still a very fine camera sought after by collectors and people who just want to try using a rangefinder.

One of the things that got me interested in this camera is the glass that is sitting in front of it. A 42mm f1.7 Zuiko Lens (7 elements in 5 groups). Great for low light and just about enough wideness to cover street style and regular shots. I got my copy in mint condition with its original case, strap and battery at a thrift store for $25. It usually goes for around $90-$400 on eBay, depending on the condition, color, and what comes with it. I got myself a really good deal here. This camera can run without batteries, that is the other thing I liked about it, however, all your shooting will have to be manual. Not SLR-like manual, but pure manual. If loaded with a PX625 cell, its built in meter will start working and it can assist you in getting the right exposure the same way as digital cameras do. Unfortunately, the battery on this one has died. I already ordered the PX625 Mercury Cell alternative (Wein Cell MRB625). The replacement batteries only cost around $2-$4 a piece.

I have yet to explore the camera and will post updates once I thoroughly check it.

Instant!

Summer is great! Garage sales everywhere and that means more odd and vintage stuff are being put on sale at rock bottom prices. On my way home from work, I happen to pass by just that, a garage sale. I usually don't bring cash with me, but today was my lucky day because I happened to have $15 on my wallet. So I went browsing, lots and lots of baby toys, some furniture and some electronics. I was drawn to this yellow object that seemed to be protruding from a pile of wires and computer parts. To my surprise, it was a Polaroid JobPro. Now if I recall correctly, this Polaroid was made to be tough for use on areas like construction, police work etc. 

I had no way of testing it, but it appeared to be in very good condition so I grabbed it and bargained with the lady doing the sale. Well, we came down to a very good price of $10 for the camera. I just told her it might not be working and it would just end up as a display piece so she said ok for $10. She asked me to pay her $15 for it by the way (yes I know, I'm not that good at bargaining). The awesome thing about Polaroids is that they can do an instant print of the picture. They have, however, discontinued production for their instant film but thanks to a company called Impossible, the polaroid film is back! I will have to try this camera with some film that I have ordered from Impossible. The film is not cheap, but hey, I bet it would be fun to do instant photography! 

How about you? Have you gotten some rare finds lately? You can share them on the comments below.

First Roll

I just went through my first roll of film on the Olympus Trip 35. I picked the Kodak BW 400 film for starters. I loaded the film and just kept shooting until the counter got to 24. When I had the film processed, I was a bit disappointed (no, not because of the film or camera) because some of my shots were out of focus. This is due to the fact that the camera has a different method of trying to get subjects in focus compared to the easy focusing system of the DSLRs that I have used.

Zone Focus System. Symbols on top side. Distance in ft/m on the bottom

The Trip 35 has what is called a Zone Focus system. See the symbols on the top side of the camera? Each symbol indicates a certain distance where a subject can be of focus. No, focusing does not happen in the view finder. The first symbol, represented by a single person engraving means a subject can be in focus at a distance of 1 meter. Then the rest of the symbols represent 1.5m, 3m, and infinity respectively. It takes a bit of practice before getting the shots right. Don't worry, if you tend to forget about what the symbols represent, there is always the standard distance in ft (top)/ m(bottom) on the bottom side of the lens. There is a lot of experimenting done when taking a shot using this camera and that's what makes taking pictures more fun. Did I mention it does not need batteries at all? Yup, you heard me right but we'll talk about that next time.

Here are some sample shots from my first roll:

My oof brother

Somehow this was oof too

I think I had this set to the wrong symbol

Old Chevy

Trip 35

Hey! It's me again. So for this time, I will show you this very handy camera that I have started to use more. It's the Olympus trip 35. I picked this up at an estate sale for $20. I really like how small it is. It takes 35mm film too. The best thing about this camera is its built in lens. The lens is a Zuiko 40mm f/2.8, with four elements in three groups and a very sharp one that is. It came in black leather but I thought I could pimp it up a bit, so I cleaned it opened some parts (yes, I'm a bit techy but not that much) and applied the new (red lizard) skin. Here is how it looks like:

Now with regards to film. There are a lot of them around and they come in different number of exposures and sizes. The ones that I use are films from LOMO and KODAK. They are cheap and readily available down at the local photo store.

From left to right: Lomo 400 CN, Lomo Lady Grey 400, Lomo Redscale, Kodak BW400CN

Watch out for pictures soon.

                            

Hello!

Hi. My name is Rey and I absolutely love photography. In this blog I will share some photos that I shot myself. I am not in any way a professional so this will more likely be a picture-story blog. I will upload pictures once I finish transferring them from the camera.

That's me and my Underwater Camera.