Olympus 35 RC

Weighing 15 oz, the Olympus 35 RC may be the smallest AE rangefinder ever made.  However the Olympus 35 RC is a substantial camera, capable of excellent results.

For me the 35 RC isn't as shirt pocket friendly as the Olympus XA, however it easily fits in a pant pocket. I used the manual mode with the 35 RC since it requires an old mercury battery or its equivalent.  After my first use I am thinking that I may want to work out the battery issue with the 35 RC.  With its small size, quiet shutter, and excellent lens having the auto exposure option would make it a nice walking around camera.

I read that the E.Zuiko f/2.8 lens gives 80+ center resolution at f/5.6 to f/16. From my results I don't find that hard to believe.

I can't think of much more to say about the Olympus 35 RC.  From my experience it is a camera that lives up to its hype.  Here are a couple of links that give more details.
Smallest 35 Rangefinder ever with AE Exposure and Manual Override?
the essence of 35mm photography in a small package

I think that the title of the second link sums up the Olympus 35 RC pretty well. Checking on Ebay the 35 RC has been mostly selling for between $50 and $100 in good working condition.  If you are patient and willing to take a chance on condition you might find one for less.

Konair 35

I saw the Konair 35 on Ebay with what seemed like a cheap buy-it- now price and so I bought it. I couldn't pass up a 1950's rangefinder with a  f/1.9 lens.  As I found out I don't think that many people have heard of this camera.  There is next to no info about it online.  The only listing I could find for this specific camera model is in McKeown.  It appears that the Konair 35 was made in 1956 by the Windsor Camera Company.  The same camera was also sold as the Windsor Deluxe. The Windsor Camera Company was a Japanese company that was originally called Toko Photo Works.

I am not sure what the source of the Konair name is.  I had no better luck with info about the Konair 35's Velex shutter.  The shutter speeds are 1 to 1/400 and B.  The f/1.9 Super Color Sygmar lens seems to be just as obscure as the rest of the camera.  On Ebay other than the auction that I won there are no current listings or recently closed listings for the Konair 35 or for the Windsor Deluxe.  There were a couple of sold listings for the Windsor 35, which seems to be the one Windsor Camera company product for which there is info available online.  One sold for $61 and the other for $76.  Since the Windsor 35 with its f/3.5 lens and slower shutter appears to be more common than the more fully featured Konair 35, maybe I got a good deal at $22.

In actual use the Konair 35 should satisfy any fan of the 1950's all-mechanical rangefinder.  Even after nearly 60 years the operation is still smooth and the rangefinder is bright and contrasty.  For a test I loaded up just 10 exposures of bulk HP5.  I think the results look promising. 

Hanimex Compact R

Hanimex was a company started after WWII to import cameras and other photo equipment to Australia. Sometimes Hanimex rebranded or co-branded cameras made by other companies.  Other times they actually did the design work and had the cameras manufactured by another company.  The Hanimex Compact R appears to be a slightly altered version of the Ricoh 500 G.  Introduced in 1972 the Hanimex Compact R is one of the compact fixed lens rangefinders that were popular in the 1970's.  Originally the Compact R used a mercury PX675 battery to power its aperture priority exposure option.  However if you can't find a battery the Compact R will still work in manual mode.  The range of shutter speeds is from 1/8 to 1/500.  The lens stops down to f/2.8.  At least on my version the rangefinder spot is quite good and remains usable even in fairly dim light.  The shutter is quiet and the camera is light and small.  Not quite shirt pocket small, however easy to fit in a decent sized pant or coat pocket.  As far as usability I think the Hanimex Compact R is in a league with the better compact rangefinders of its era.  As far as picture taking results it may be just slightly below what some of its brother compact rangefinders can do.  Although the difference probably isn't all that great.  However if there is a difference  I don't think it is great enough to detract from an otherwise well-made image.

The Hanimex Compact R must not appear often on Ebay.  I couldn't find any recent listings for it. However the Ricoh 500G is common and usually sells for between $10 to $25 dollars on Ebay. There is also a version made for Sears called the Sears 35 RF. 

I made a few images with the Hanimex Compact R that were not made under the best of conditions.  Basically I just popped outside on a cold snowy day to take some pictures to make sure the camera was working.