Olympus 35 ED.

Might as well start with the one in the background to this blog (which you can't actually see, but never mind, it's in the picture above!)  The Olympus 35 ED. A Rangefinder, and the first one I got that actually worked, though there's a story about that. I got it for £10 on eBay in September 2017, and the item description mentioned that the shutter didn't work.looking at the picture in the listing, I noticed that the self timer switch seemed to be down - having done (as I always do) a Google search for the ED, I found a bunch of posts on various discussion boards stating that all that was needed was a fresh battery - one this was put in, the self timer switch would activate; having activated, the camera would then work.  It needed the battery to activate it though.

I bought the camera and ordered a battery.  Hey Presto, it worked, and the ED has been a reliable little camera from that day to this.

It's built to the standard at the time Olympus compact form factor - if it wasn't for the lettering and the self timer switch, you could mistake it for one of the classic Trips.  It's the rangefinder that makes the difference though - in case you don't already know, it's that other little window on the front. Behind that is a tiny mirror that reflects a tiny second image into the viewfinder. Align the second image (in Olys it's usually yellow) with the main viewfinder image (using the lens focusing dial) and take the picture - it should be, more-or-less, perfectly focused.

I've had excellent results from this camera, and it runs my Black Trip (of which more in a later blog post) a very close second as my perfect travel camera.

Details:

Lens: Olympus D-Zuiko 38 mm f2.8

Dimensions: 114mm x 71mm x 51mm, 415g.

Film Type: 35mm ISO/ASA 25-800

The Manual can be downloaded at the excellent Mike Butkus site.

Sample pictures: Colour - Taken around Basildon Town Centre. Can't remember which film, but I was buying a lot of Agfa Vista 200 from Poundland for £1 a roll at the time, so probably that.

 Black & White: Berlin - Film was probably Kentmere 100.