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 Olympus ECR - Rangefinder - 1972 Joining the club here, via a hand-me down present from my GF's dad. I put some black felt into the rims to keep out stray light, cleaned it and put in some batteries. Shutter actuates and it seems to meter. You have no way to affect the exposure or anything. There's a parallax viewfinder and the rangefinder focus screen (double image) is superimposed. Orange light lights up inside of the viewfinder and on the body = OK. Red light = too dark. And that's about all I know. Just put a roll of cheap-rear end chinese film into it, will go on a cycling tour and will see what that gets me. Will report back.
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May 8, 2011 03:34
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VomitOnLino posted:
And I got my first batch of pictures out of the camera. Well it seems that there must be a stuck shutter or something. Because out of a roll of 36 images I only got 4 images back. The rest is exposed as a soft off center white-ish blob, or not exposed at all. I guess that means that there is a stuck shutter? I hope it doesn't relate to me applying some DIY fix to isolate the camera against stray light, as the original isolation had basically dissolved. Thoughts?
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May 16, 2011 01:21
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Dr. Cogwerks posted:If it's a leaf shutter, can you see it firing open? Try testing a slower speed. I'm not 100% sure, but I think it is a leaf shutter. I thought I could hear it every time I took a shot. It's also battery powered, not the hand crank type. Momentarily I'm work, but once I get back - I'll provide some shots of the negatives. The images that came out fine and that those didn't don't seem to follow any specific pattern and are scattered about the roll.
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May 16, 2011 01:49
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Paul MaudDib posted:It would help if you'd scan and post a sample, but yeah, it does sound like a shutter issue. Bad seals would manifest as blown-out areas at the top and bottom of the film. If you're concerned, you could try electrical tape over the seams in the door. Unfortunately, a stuck shutter is actually worse, seals are a wear item and easy to replace. I hope it's not too small of a picture. I think you can already make out the problem pretty easily. I don't have a light table so I had to get creative, heh. 
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May 16, 2011 11:51
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After my previous misadventures with an Olympus ECR Rangefinder, where the camera shutter was uncooperative, producing mostly overexposed white blobs. I decided to have another go.I decided to solve my camera-problem by throwing money at it and bought some Kodak (RIP) 400 speed film and picked up this baby: Olympus 35SP. The lens, finder and interior are super clean and it came with it's bag, lens-cap and strap too. Paid 70$. Hope I didn't overpay. Shutter seems to work, as does metering with a 1.4V hearing aid battery padded with some aluminium foil. Full metering in manual mode, baby! Spot metering, too.  
VomitOnLino fucked around with this message at 07:39 on Mar 18, 2012 |
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Mar 18, 2012 07:34
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nemoulette posted:Yeah the batteries seem to be a real hassle, too bad since the camera is perfect otherwise. Can you order them online? You can either try Amazon, which usually have the drop in replacements. Or, if you are going to shoot a lot, grab these so called MR-9 adapters, which adapt the size and also adjust the voltage to the 1,35V the mercury cells provided. Thus no meter adjustment is required and you also make back the $35 in 6 or so batteries as with the adapter you can use dollar-store LR44 or better CR44 batteries. http://www.kanto-cs.co.jp/english/adapter/adapter_en.html
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Mar 20, 2012 16:29
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I got my test roll back and most of the pictures turned out fine. That means it's probably worth to send this camera off for maintenance and to have the light seals replaced, too. I even got some okay-to-good pictures and a near miss. All IMHO of course. I also learned that my shot discipline is loving horrible and that eyeballing exposure even with negative film is hard. I need to work on that and my subjects more. Also less grab shots and more thinking. Without further ado:     And the near miss:  All shot on 5 years expired KODAK 400 HD (High Definition  ) negative film. No post besides slight levels adjustments.The scans the lab gave me are kind of smallish, one megapixel roughly. Is that all there's in there or can I get more out of my slides? VomitOnLino fucked around with this message at 16:21 on Mar 22, 2012 |
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Mar 22, 2012 16:17
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Awkward Davies posted:I have a problem (but it was $5 on ebay, how could I say no?) That's one sexy mother... I especially love the curvy 70ies design and the atomic logo on the top left. I guess it was intended to show that this is an automatic camera?
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Apr 3, 2012 02:04
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dukeku posted:The problem with Wein Cells is that they're draining when you're not using them. If you're going to not use your camera/meter/whatever for more than a few days, it's in your best interest to reapply the stickers that came with the battery to stop the drain. Or, put on the lens cap to stop the current flow between the CDS metering cell and the battery. It cuts off in darkness. This should yield practically the same results as that's what the manufacturer intended you to do. It gets trickier if your light meter is on the body and not the lens, then you'd need the cameras ever-ready case. But for the Canonet your gold with a lens cap. If this is a specific problem to Wein cells then ignore this advice I guess. I use an adapter that transforms any silver oxide battery to the correct voltage. These last forever and are cheaper than the Wein cells, you'd probably make good on the adapter expense quickly.
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Apr 26, 2012 01:04
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Sadly no pictures from me, so have some ramblings instead: Despite not needing any more rangefinders or point-and-shoots I stumbled upon two nice looking Yashica Electro 35 CC's. Paid roughly $15 for both. They came with dirty viewfinders and a bit of fungus, but whatever - time to test my tools and skills. So I managed to clean the first one. Removed the top - cleaned out the finder, adjusted the infinity setting and re-glued the light-seals. Then I went on to take apart the lens. The fungus cleaned off nicely using a solution of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide. Some tiny spots where it probably etched the coating remain - but I doubt it will seriously affect the picture taking ability. Also cleaned the the shutter mechanism while I was at it. Put it all together. It worked. And then while "exercising" the camera a bit it started to develop that "thunk!" sound when winding often known as the POD, or pad-of-death. Named after a small pad that basically disintegrates and causes the camera to run at only the fastest shutter speed and also sometimes causes the shutter button to fail to return. Then I checked the other camera and within minutes it started to develop the same problem. Fixing it requires to basically take the camera apart in it's entirety. That means removing the malt, removing the lens assembly, removing the top. and then digging around wherever the stupid pad may be. Haven't been able to find any documentation for the CC on the web. So thus I'm not really sure I'm willing to do that. I tought only Yashica GC* series of cameras could develop this problem. But it seems that almost all electrical Yashica cameras are affected by it. Also their light seals turn really nasty, not just the usual type of goo - but some brittle yellowed moldy substance that is just pure yuck. No more Yashica for me.   (The thing resting on the lens cloth in the up-most right corner is the front element.)
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May 25, 2012 06:31
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Spedman posted:I'm guessing something in the internet k-hole vibe: Fashionably late to the show, as per usual, but I want to echo that this rules. Also it's very 35mm point-and-shooty. It really captures the essence of the medium.
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Sep 24, 2013 06:06
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Santa is strapped posted:
I just realized the we're probably IKEA table buddies. Sup?!
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Dec 14, 2013 05:46
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dorkasaurus_rex posted:What country were these taken in? That Hitler shirt is pretty, ahem, bold. Didn't know you had a tumblr, consider yourself followed. And that's Japan. The use of Katakana (Says: Pachinko) is a dead giveaway.
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Jul 9, 2014 07:03
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unpacked robinhood posted:My main problem with the XA at the moment is to get the focusing working correctly though, any picture where the subject is less than 2m away is woefully out of focus. I'm pretty sure I paid attention each time so I'm thinking I'll have to open this thing again and try to recalibrate the whatitscalled. The rangefinder, that said it's odd that it's the most noticeable for you at short distances, it should be far worse at mid/long distance unless of course the large 35mm DOF covers that up. Let me explain: Basically the rangefinder moves linearly through its' focus range, but the distance increases a lot faster than that. (For something similar, see how the distances are spaced out on the lens, if they are marked.) So at close distances you might be off by 1-2cm - that at 10m turns into 1-2 meters, becoming much more noticeable.
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Jul 22, 2014 01:22
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First of all if you use 60 seconds of work you can hack your cartridge to be perfectly usable with your intended film push/pull. I did and it works well. You can even use that cartridge and bulk film so you'd only have to do it once! Here's how: http://www.diyphotography.net/oldschool-hacking-dx-film-annotations/ Secondly, as a MF shooter I love my 35mm P&S! They're a simple, speedy and frictionless way to document life without having to get out my heavy and slower MF cameras. They're also very light and cheap as gently caress. Just toss it in your jacket/bag/glove compartment. If you're using them for anything else, e.g. serious work, I don't know what to tell you. Maybe shoot digital?
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Feb 6, 2015 02:09
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dorkasaurus_rex posted:This is awesome. Don't get the Big Mini F. Save your money and get the normal one, they all die anyway. It's always the ribbon cable OR frame spacing issues. Yes the F models, too! (I have a stack of three dead ones to attest to this fact...) Also the normal big mini has IMO a better lens configuration, rendering much more pleasantly in color and BW, too. That 1/2 of a stop doesn't matter, really. The camera has a flash for crying out loud. And if you shoot BW or Portra the stop difference is academical anyway.
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Feb 20, 2015 02:13
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SMERSH Mouth posted:Do you know why your exposure is faded along the bottom like that? Everything I take in low light with my Minolta XD11 comes out with the same effect... Your light seals probably need replacing. And -- or it's a friction exposure and the low signal/noise ratio of an already underexposed picture makes it more visible. I get it on 120 film with various cameras, too. First time to see it on 135 though.
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Mar 25, 2016 02:28
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| # ¿ May 4, 2024 01:41 |
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Not much to add, SMERSH Mouth largely covered it. Maybe this: The XA is a nice camera, the lens is very sharp but can vignette a bit at times. Also don't overestimate the value of the rangefinder, it's nice to have for close-up, but that aside pretty much everything is in focus with a 35mm lens at f/5.6 or f/8 anyway. Also you won't get a RF Spot in there that is comparable to say an Olympus 35RC or even a dedicated interchangeable lens rangefinder. The finder is squinty and feels cramped, even without glasses I usually can't see the selected shutter speed without moving my eye. On the flipside you get a rangefinder, auto exposure and a nice 35/2.8 lens in a camera that's basically the size of a Rollei 35 and it is a good bit lighter to boot. However I actually prefer how my Rollei 35s Sonnar lens draws. Last but not least, I've found the XA's flash to be on the crappy side. It's slow to cycle, you need to shoot at f/4 & 1/30 and it's relatively weak and doesn't balance all that well.
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Sep 8, 2016 02:30
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