Found Olympus 35 SP and don't know if it's broken or not.

Hey guys, I recently found an Olympus 35 SP in the house. I really want to shoot some photos with it but it when I look through from the lens, it's closed shut. Is it because the shutter blades are stuck or is it because I don't have a battery? Which one of these is the answer? I looked up some pics of 35 SP's and they all have closed shutter blades. I tried shooting from 1.7 to all the way but it seems like it's stuck. I really don't know if I should get it CLA'd or to buy batteries and see if that is the solution.

Gonna need a battery for it either way....

Arstine wrote in post #13496535
Gonna need a battery for it either way....

Would these be the appropriate battery?

http://www.amazon.com …?ie=UTF8&m=A19R​3BN6ZSO9A1

The Olympus 35SP was from 1969 to about 1976, so it relies upon the constant (unchanging) 1.35v of a mercuric oxide cell, rather than the constantly declining voltage of an alkaline cell. The alkaline cell will make for some metering error; you can use the Wein air cell in lieu of the mercury cell with accuracy. The shutter is a mechanically timed and actuated shutter, and it what is known as 'between the lens'...it is always closed except for the moment of exposure. You ought to be able to select a wide aperture liked f/2.8 and a slow shutter speed like 1/2 with the camera in Manual, and watch the diaphram close down slightly with the shutter fully open, while peering in through the back of the camera (where the film is loaded) and see a white wall in front of the lens.