# Olympus Ace



## compur (Jan 21, 2020)

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.


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## Jeff15 (Jan 21, 2020)

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


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## Derrel (Jan 21, 2020)

Nice looking little rangefinder.


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## star camera company (Jan 21, 2020)

Congrats on a successful repair!


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## webestang64 (Jan 23, 2020)

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


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## vin88 (Jan 28, 2020)

compur said:


> 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.
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compur said:


> 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.
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> 
> 
> ...


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## vin88 (Jan 28, 2020)

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


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## Heidi Rosser (Feb 6, 2020)

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.


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## vin88 (Feb 7, 2020)

Heidi Rosser said:


> 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


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## tirediron (Feb 7, 2020)

Is that a half-frame camera?


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## vin88 (Feb 7, 2020)

tirediron said:


> Is that a half-frame camera?


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


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## compur (Feb 7, 2020)

tirediron said:


> Is that a half-frame camera?



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


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## compur (Feb 7, 2020)

Heidi Rosser said:


> 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.


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## tirediron (Feb 7, 2020)

compur said:


> 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.


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## compur (Feb 7, 2020)

BTW, I found an 80mm lens for mine:


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## vin88 (Feb 8, 2020)

there was a full size Konica camera in half frame.     that might be rare.      vin


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## vin88 (Apr 17, 2020)

I was licking my chops for an ace at the next camera show;  the club was cancilled due to the "comie  virus".    mabey next year.      vin


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## vin88 (Aug 17, 2020)

trying to keep in touch with my vintage camera club pals and officers.    not easy, with the various "lock downs",   may be gone.    vinn


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## canaccorded (Sep 10, 2021)

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW many were produced and the lenses and the 80 f4 when did it arrive


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