Olympus's 35-series fixed-lens rangefinder — fast 40mm lens, CdS auto exposure, leaf shutter, 1973.
The Olympus 35 UC was part of the company's 35-series of fixed-lens rangefinder compacts, produced in the early 1970s. It belongs to the family of coupled-rangefinder cameras that Olympus built around fast lenses and leaf shutters, sitting among the mid-to-upper models of the range and closely related to the automatic 35 DC in specification.
The 35 UC is a fixed-lens 35mm coupled-rangefinder camera with a fast lens of around 40mm and a leaf shutter. It uses a CdS meter for automatic exposure control in the manner of the 35 DC, and the meter was designed around a mercury battery of about 1.35 volts, which should be taken into account when fitting a modern replacement cell so that exposure readings remain accurate.
In use the 35 UC suits a photographer who wants a compact metal rangefinder with a fast lens for general, street and travel photography in a pocketable form. Its automatic exposure keeps operation simple while the coupled rangefinder allows precise focusing, giving it more focusing accuracy than a zone-focus compact of similar size.
When buying, check the rangefinder patch for contrast and correct alignment and confirm the leaf shutter fires cleanly at all speeds. Test the CdS meter, remembering it was designed for a 1.35V mercury cell so a voltage adapter or zinc-air cell may be needed. Inspect the lens for haze and fungus, check the light seals, and look for sticky aperture blades and battery-door corrosion common to cameras of this era.