Old Rangefinder Cameras...

Uxon

Uxon

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Alex
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So I have a quick question, I'm thinking about picking up an old Olympus rangefinder camera which is advertised in a local classified ad for quite a lot cheaper than the going rate on ebay (as is often the case with local ads for photography kit). I'm wondering what I should look out for if I was to go ahead with the purchase in terms of things to check before handing over the money as I'm not sure what usually goes wrong with this kind of camera. It's not a lot of money so it's not exactly a disaster if it doesn't work when I get it home but all the same I'd prefer to know that I'm buying a working camera, particularly as these rangefinders look like quite fun toys and a bit different to SLRs.
 
Lots of pitfalls with buying old gear like this, fungal growth in the lens or around the shutter due to poor storage, corrosion caused by damp conditions can be anywhere, corrosion from battery leakage will rot away electrical contacts. And they are just a few of the myriad problems that can occur.
You have to remember that these old cameras were built to last maybe 10 or 15 years and the old Olympus your looking at is probably from the 70's.
Today, with the benefit of the internet everyone can be an expert because so much information is out there, so if it's cheap, it's cheap for a reason.
But, and it's a big but, you may pick up a minter because there are ignorant people with little or no knowledge about these things.

I assume you shoot film already and already know what a pain it can be developing stuff yourself, good fun but a lot of effort.

Sorry if I've been a bit negative (no pun intended) but I've wasted a lot of money over the years buying stuff that simply was not up to scratch.
 
Check lens for fungus and that it's focusing smoothly. Rangefinder should at least appear to be working when focusing the lens. Check that shutter speeds sound different. Check that the winder isn't jammed.

I've got an old Oly 35 SP that works perfectly (along with an original Trip, also perfect), they're fairly simple cameras. If it's a good price you can still flog on eBay for spares / repairs if you do find issues and not lose out too badly.
 
Which camera is it? XA, Trip?
The light seals are probably not in good shape. Open the back and check them.
They're easy enough to change.
Does the rangefinder work?
 
If it has a release timer then use it at your peril! I have found that they can be the cause of instant camera death. The other pit falls have already been mentioned, fungus, light seals, I would also check that the speeds are what you would expect, and the aperture settings work as you would expect them to do!
Good luck with your purchase!
 
There is a shop in Leicester in the Malcolm arcade has many old film cameras and associated
stuff,an Aladins Cave if you like that stuff.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys, was obviously going to check for fungus etc as I always look for that when buying SLR lenses anyway. It's actually one of the cameras mentioned above (Oly 35 SP) and I have a feeling even if there was something wrong I could probably break even selling it on ebay if it was no good to me. The seller has mentioned they've tested different shutter speeds etc so I would think they have some kind of idea about the camera but I'll obviously double check that stuff myself too.
 
Bung a roll of slide film through it to check its meter (if it has one) and shutter. If it's very cheap, don't worry about fungus too much, just keep it away from other kit to avoid cross infection. Above all, enjoy playing with it!
 
Have a look at the stickies in the Film & Conventional forum; there's one on getting a film camera for the first time (or for a long time) with suggestions on what to check out. My suggestion: go for it, IFF the rangefinder patch is bright enough to focus, the optics look reasonably clear, and the shutter sounds are reasonable!

And please let us know in the F&C section what you got and how it performs!
 
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