One of the perks of city life is access to a lot of garage sales, flea markets and thrift stores. Since coming to Albuquerque, I've picked up a five-dollar Agfa Clack and two Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim at 99-cents each. My latest acquisition is a six-dollar Olympus 35rc.
I always pick up any camera that says "Olympus", but when I retrieved this one from the jumble in the bin at the thrift store, it took me a long moment to realize what I was holding because it was so unexpected. The 35rc is a great Chrome-Age classic.
I cleaned the lens, put in a new battery, and took the camera along to a Saturday car show.
I've already got two of these cameras which I considered bargains at nearly ten times the price I paid for the last one. I suppose I shouldn't keep this one, but I think I'm going to have to run a few more rolls through it before I can part with it.
3 comments:
Great find, Mike.
I think I paid almost $50 for mine last year and the meter doesn't even work. The focusing ring also is a little loose. One of my favorites though, would love to get another one with a working meter.
I've been lucky that the meters worked in all of mine, though they all needed adjusting to fit new 1.4 or 1.5v batteries. Also, most need a piece of foil or a small washer on top of the battery to ensure a good contact. And, the plus end of the battery needs to be up and visible when you look at it in the battery compartment. The repair links in my web page on the 35RC have good info for just about any problem.
Well done with that 35RC, both in value and photographically. Indeed, there is convenience to urban settings for us aficionados.
It is interesting to compare the car with the Argus series.
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