it's a pretty good camera. one of my favorite range finders.
nice fast lens (f 1.8), works in aperture priority mode. (i.e. set the aperture and the camera selects the appropriate shutter speed.)
it uses an electronic shutter, so you DO need a battery for it to fire at the right shutter speed and in "B" mode. However, it does have a default shutter speed of 1/500 sec. if you don't have a battery. this means you can still use the camera, but you'll have only one shutter speed.
in flash mode, the shutter speed is set at 1/60 sec. (another useful tip to remember.)
i love my electro 35's, neat RFs at reasonably cheap price.