Olympus 35-ECR assessment

So the camera I recently ordered has been delivered and the assessment of the unit has begun. The original post claimed it wasn’t winding, I wasn’t concerned about this as nine times out of ten it’s purely because the batteries are not installed.

The original batteries that came with the unit back in the day were PX640 mercury batteries x2 . These are now outlawed for sale so we have to now look at alternatives to use, this may involve using a converter to achieve the results we require. I have decided to use these converters for this camera.

On first inspection I was worried as there looked like some battery acid damage to the terminal on the left (see picture) however with a wipe with some alcohol on a cotton bud it appears to be only age as it cleaned up ok. With these cameras sometimes the damage goes beyond the terminals and requires new wires soldering within the body. I dodged a bullet on this occasion.

You have a choice of batteries now, you can use two LR44 batteries or 675 air batteries. Difference here is all to do with the working battery limits of the camera. It was designed to work at 2.8v with the old Mercury batteries, the LR44s give you 3v that has been noted on some chat groups to require you to make exposure changes as it can overexpose sometimes by one stop.

The other option is to use the 675 batteries that have a lower voltage total of 2.8v however as soon as these batteries are opened they start depleting and have a shorter shelf life as such ( they are meant for hearing aids) however they are much cheaper than the LR44s . The choice is yours, I have gone with the 675s.

Batteries in place the shutter works well as does the winder and the shutter check light, excellent result as in theory the camera is working.

Cosmetically the camera needs a clean, the light seal around the film door is old and could do with replacing so I will do this in the coming weeks.

Overall I’m really pleased with this camera, I just now need to source some 35mm B&W film and put it to a test. I can then develop and scan this at home to see the results. But first I’m going to do the cleaning as stated earlier as well as replacing the light seals. It has also come with an Olympus pen lens cap that I may replace. I will also source a wrist strap to complete the look.

Hopefully this will be a nice little addition to my collection.

Come back to see what happens next.