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“How previous is that one?” My daughter pointed to the Olympus 35-S in my arms. The glistening, silver digital camera with its coal-black lens pointed again.
“Let’s see,” I mentioned. Primary math, however I needed to suppose. “It’s… 67 years previous.”
“Is that older than you?” She requested.
“That’s older than Papa!” I replied, and pressed the shutter launch to catch her look of disbelief.
This math equates the delivery 12 months of the Olympus 35-S to 1955, and it’s a formidable digital camera for its period.
A compact physique made completely of steel, an acceptably succesful mounted lens, a viewfinder with built-in rangefinder focusing patch, a quick focusing tab, speedy wind lever, and the primary ever speedy rewind knob constructed right into a Japanese digital camera (the rewind knobs of prior Japanese cameras had been all easy knobs, missing the flip out lever of the 35-S which later grew to become ubiquitous), the Olympus 35-S is not any slouch on the spec sheet. Not less than, not in its personal time. For movie shooters in the present day who’re searching for a set lens rangefinder to burn their 35mm movie, there are higher decisions. Minolta, Canon, and Olympus themselves all made cameras within the Sixties, ’70s, and ’80s which successfully evolve the formulation of 1955’s 35-S.
Nonetheless, for collectors of Olympus cameras or individuals who merely respect all-mechanical, all-metal and glass movie cameras with no electronics and easy design, the Olympus 35-S is fairly good.
Olympus 35-S Spec Sheet
- Format – 35mm full body
- Lens – Olympus E. Zuiko F.C. 48mm F/2.8
- Aperture Vary – F/2.8 – F/16
- Shutter – Seikosha MX leaf shutter; speeds Bulb, 1 second, 1/2, 1/5, 1/10, 1/50, 1/100, 1/250, 1/five hundredth of a second
- Taking pictures Modes – Handbook Solely
- Focusing Modes – Handbook focus, rangefinder built-in into viewfinder
- Gentle Meter – None
- Flash Functionality – Exterior flash sync X/F/M
- Different Options – Accent shoe (chilly), movie body counter, movie velocity reminder, strap lugs
- Weight – 620 grams
I shot my Olympus 35-S at a coastal park amongst stunted conifers and sandy seawalls. It was the form of late-March sunny day that appears like spring however looks like winter. The wind by no means stopped for a second and I may really feel the salt sticking towards my face and lips. My daughter hung in there admirably, screaming into the wind between exposures and doing her finest to not squint. The ocean lapped on the ft of the gulls, and I questioned how the hell any creature may stand to face within the one-inch-deep ebb and stream of frigid sea water at low tide. However they do it. And I photographed it.
The wind did its finest to freeze my fingers and pry the digital camera from my mitts. However the Olympus 35-S suits properly within the hand. It lacks contoured grips of any sort, however it’s massive sufficient that my fingers can discover buy. The lens is dense and balances the burden of the physique completely when held two-handed.
The controls are all localized on the lens barrel in order that adjusting aperture and shutter velocity are simply achieved with one finger and one thumb. The aperture choice is displayed in a cut-out window on the highest of the lens barrel (which is fantastically completed), and these are accompanied by easily-legible scale focus markings. The focusing tab permits speedy focusing and the main focus scale is marked in ft. All of that is executed fantastically, comparable in design and high quality to the various related West German cameras of the period (lots of which I’ve written about beforehand).
The shutter launch, movie advance lever, and movie rewind lever are all situated on the digital camera’s prime plate. These all actuate as one would count on (assuming that one has used an previous movie digital camera earlier than). The inner movie compartment is typical fare, with a steel stress plate, steel rollers, and a stunning steel sprocket advance gear. The movie take up spool is sheathed in plastic, which could possibly be a weak level within the digital camera’s reliability, although mine appears sturdy and secure.
There’s a movie body counter and a movie velocity reminder on prime as nicely. These do what they do.
The viewfinder is small and considerably dim. Nevertheless the rangefinder focusing patch is constructed into the viewfinder, one thing that not each 35mm rangefinder of its period may declare. If there’s a weak spot within the general Olympus 35-S bundle it’s definitely the smallness of the VF. And for these of us who put on glasses, nicely, the VF could possibly be a deal-breaker. Not simply because it’s even more durable to look by for glasses-wearers, but additionally as a result of its bezel is steel and it scratches lenses. I became contact lenses simply previous to capturing this factor after testing it first with my glasses. It’s dangerous.
The Lens
Previous lenses are nice, they usually have character that may generally be missing in the usual fare of in the present day’s Canon and Nikon and Pentax and Sony do-everything-perfectly trendy lenses. An enormous a part of this passion, actually, has coalesced round simply adapting previous movie digital camera lenses to digital our bodies. There’s simply one thing about photographs made with previous lenses that’s arduous to quantify or replicate, however every time I see a shot from an previous ~50mm lens I immediately know that I’m seeing a picture that was made by one thing apart from Canon’s newest nifty-fifty.
Fastened-lens cameras just like the Olympus 35-S supply a lot the identical, let’s name it attention-grabbing, picture high quality.
This specific fixed-lens digital camera makes use of a 4.8cm (48mm) Olympus E. Zuiko F.C. with a most aperture of F/2.8. Photographs are very sharp when stopped all the way down to F/8, and sharpness continues to be wonderful even when shot vast open. At this aperture, F/2.8, and with a detailed topic the background is properly blurred as nicely. There’s beautiful gradual shift from out-of-focus to in-focus areas of a shot, and on the entire, the lens is a strong performer. It’s only a good, previous lens that packs loads right into a small, inexpensive bundle.
Last Ideas
The Olympus 35-S is a ravishing digital camera. It’s properly made and competes simply with the flamboyant West-German cameras of its class and period. Its rangefinder works nicely, its controls are laid out intelligently, and it’s simple to make use of (as long as we’re snug utilizing a totally guide digital camera with zero person aids). The mounted lens is of a flexible focal size and with a fast-enough aperture that we’ll be lined in all however the dimmest gentle. It’s only a tremendous fairly and succesful traditional digital camera, and one which’s flying beneath the radar as of late. After all, that is partly as a result of they’re considerably unusual within the USA and Europe.
For these questioning if they need to purchase – I can’t advocate this digital camera for somebody who merely needs to make good movie images. There are significantly better cameras for that. Level and shoots from the Nineteen Nineties will do the identical issues as this Olympus, and extra, and simpler. SLRs supply far better bang for the buck. And for these of you who’re particularly searching for a set lens, traditional rangefinder movie digital camera, I’d advocate later fashions (a few of which had been additionally made by Olympus!).
Should you’re an Olympus collector or somebody who merely loves true classics, by all means search out your personal 35-S and benefit from the tactile, old-world expertise of capturing a digital camera made after the large struggle and nicely earlier than the period of electronics. However for everybody else, the Olympus 35-S will most likely really feel slightly too previous and restricted. That mentioned, it’s a stunning factor.
Get your personal Olympus 35-S on eBay right here
Store for this (or anything photographic) at our store F Cease Cameras
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