Olympus Ace

[compur]

I just bought this Olympus Ace for very little money at an estate sale. The Ace was made in the late 1950s and is the only interchangeable lens rangefinder film camera made by Olympus. Three focal length lenses were made for the camera – 35mm, 45mm and 80mm. All are 5-element E. Zuiko lenses. The lens shown is the 45mm.

Other than the interchangeable lenses it is a very basic, manual-exposure only camera with rangefinder and a full range of shutter speeds of 1-1/500 sec. But, in addition to the lens interchangeability, what sets it apart for me is that the viewfinder is one of the best of any vintage rangefinder camera I've seen. It is big and bright with parallax compensation and is easily used with eyeglasses. There are three frame lines for the three lenses plus some visible space outside the widest frame line so you can always see what lies just outside of the frame.

When I found the camera it was, cosmetically and optically, in near mint condition but needed mechanical work. The film advance was locked up and, as usual, the shutter was gummed up with old lubricant. I fixed these problems and now only have a non-working frame counter to fix plus a little light seal work to complete the refurb.

 

[Jeff15]

Looks interesting I look forward to your results.....

 

[Derrel]

Nice looking little rangefinder.

 

[star camera company]

Congrats on a successful repair!

 

[webestang64]

Nice............

 

[vin88]

I just bought this Olympus Ace for very little money at an estate sale. The Ace was made in the late 1950s and is the only interchangeable lens rangefinder film camera made by Olympus. Three focal length lenses were made for the camera – 35mm, 45mm and 80mm. All are 5-element E. Zuiko lenses. The lens shown is the 45mm.

Other than the interchangeable lenses it is a very basic, manual-exposure only camera with rangefinder and a full range of shutter speeds of 1-1/500 sec. But, in addition to the lens interchangeability, what sets it apart for me is that the viewfinder is one of the best of any vintage rangefinder camera I've seen. It is big and bright with parallax compensation and is easily used with eyeglasses. There are three frame lines for the three lenses plus some visible space outside the widest frame line so you can always see what lies just outside of the frame.

When I found the camera it was, cosmetically and optically, in near mint condition but needed mechanical work. The film advance was locked up and, as usual, the shutter was gummed up with old lubricant. I fixed these problems and now only have a non-working frame counter to fix plus a little light seal work to complete the refurb.

I just bought this Olympus Ace for very little money at an estate sale. The Ace was made in the late 1950s and is the only interchangeable lens rangefinder film camera made by Olympus. Three focal length lenses were made for the camera – 35mm, 45mm and 80mm. All are 5-element E. Zuiko lenses. The lens shown is the 45mm.

Other than the interchangeable lenses it is a very basic, manual-exposure only camera with rangefinder and a full range of shutter speeds of 1-1/500 sec. But, in addition to the lens interchangeability, what sets it apart for me is that the viewfinder is one of the best of any vintage rangefinder camera I've seen. It is big and bright with parallax compensation and is easily used with eyeglasses. There are three frame lines for the three lenses plus some visible space outside the widest frame line so you can always see what lies just outside of the frame.

When I found the camera it was, cosmetically and optically, in near mint condition but needed mechanical work. The film advance was locked up and, as usual, the shutter was gummed up with old lubricant. I fixed these problems and now only have a non-working frame counter to fix plus a little light seal work to complete the refurb.

 

[vin88]

good show and repair ! i have never seen one, I'LL be looking for one in the next camera show. vin

 

[Heidi Rosser]

I managed to pick one if these up too last week. A slightly different model. Mineid an Olympus ACE- E. Only one lens with it, bit it seems to be in good condition.

 

[vin88]

I managed to pick one if these up too last week. A slightly different model. Mineid an Olympus ACE- E. Only one lens with it, bit it seems to be in good condition.

Ace had one at Sears with a different name. similer to Tower. vin

 

[tirediron]

Is that a half-frame camera?

 

[vin88]

Is that a half-frame camera?

I don't know. i would hope it's full frame. i'll look it up.

 

[compur]

Is that a half-frame camera?

No, it's full frame 35mm. Olympus' half frame cameras were their "Pen" series.

 

[compur]

I managed to pick one if these up too last week. A slightly different model. Mineid an Olympus ACE- E. Only one lens with it, bit it seems to be in good condition.

The Ace E was a later version that added a built-in meter. Both use the same lenses.

 

[tirediron]

Olympus' half frame cameras were their "Pen" series.

I'm familiar with those, but I thought they had another line of half-frames. Regardless, neat little toy.

 

[compur]

BTW, I found an 80mm lens for mine: