olympus trip 35 loose lens

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Resources to repair an olympus trip 35.

I came across this old Olympus Trip 35 camera at a pawn shop in Central Oregon and couldn’t pass it up for the price. I’ve shot a handful of different Olympus film SLRs in the past, but I’ve never gotten my hands on any of their point-and-shoot or rangefinder models. Make no mistake, the Trip 35 is a true point-and-shoot, grab-and-go camera that can produce some fun and surprising results.

Of course, if you’re seeking out a repair blog, you probably already know all this or you’re looking to patch up your ailing Trip 35 and make some memories.

How to repair an Olympus Trip 35 with the help of a dog on the beach. Photo by Melissa Duda.

I didn’t know much about these cameras before grabbing this one off the shelf, so I just loaded it up with a roll of Fuji Superia 400 film and handed it over to my wife to shoot a test roll. It came back with some spot-on photos, but also some missed opportunities with off exposure and weird focus shifts. So I started digging…

One of the most obvious things was that the lens barrel was very loose and wobbly. It’s a common problem where 4 mounting screws that secure the lens to the camera body work themselves loose overtime. In fact, one even came all the way out and started rattling around in the camera when my wife was using it! I think this was leading to some focusing issues, especially on close-up subjects in low light, where a small shift could throw have a greater affect.

Take these two photos for example, both taken back-to-back in low light in our living room. One came out, the other is blurry even though we’re the same distance apart in both photos.

Ok, so neither photo is tack-sharp, but this little camera did well given the lighting conditions.

One other thing I noticed is that the exposure was off a bit in a few shots, mostly in extreme conditions of bright sun and low light. Digging around on the internets I learned that this may be a death sentence for the camera since it’s full-auto and depends on its meter to function. Scary shit, right?!

But I don’t have much invested in this camera, so I figured this was a great chance to test my knowledge of vintage camera repairs and see if I couldn’t get this old Trip 35 in top working condition once again. These cameras are pretty straight-forward to work on, if you take careful steps and do a few key things that’ll make your life a lot easier.

Here are a few of the helpful resources I’ve come across for disassembling and repairing the Olympus Trip 35, plus a few notes worth keeping in mind before you go tearing into this thing:

Clay Duda cleaning a camera lens. Photo by Melissa Duda.

Wobbly Lens Repair:

Flickr user Math.leduc went through the trouble of solving this one for us , even posting pictures online to help walk you through. Having just done this repair, I can feel his pain and frustration, and I have to offer him my thanks for saving me a lot of headache with this tutorial. This is one of the simpler repairs on the Trip 35, but it’s a little unsettling when you pull the camera apart in 2 pieces. It’s also a great time to replace the inner light seal between the camera body and lens unit.

Disassembly to Fix Stuck Aperture Blades/Shutter Mechanism:

I have absolutely no idea why the guy that runs the ThermoJet Microlight Stove website has a page dedicated to Trip 35 repair, but I’m not going to complain. This is an excellent step-by-step walk through of how to disassemble the lens unit to access inner lens elements, aperture blade assembly, and even the shutter unit (if you so dare). L

***NOTE: Take special care to mark the position of your front lens element and take note of how far it turns to the right (as ThermoJet Guy recommends) before you get it out of whack. This element twists when you turn the zone focusing ring, and if it gets out of place it is a really, really big pain to get it right again. ***

Shallow depth of field on an Olympus Trip 35.

Refocusing the Front Lens Element:

If you’ve come to far and didn’t head the *** warning in the above post, then check out 120 Studio’s guide on refocusing the Trip 35 front lens element using wax paper, a measuring stick, and an upside down newspaper. HEED THE MANY WARNINGS. MARK YOUR LENS BEFORE DISSASSEMBLY AND PROSPER!

Complete Tear-Down and Parts Guide:

This guy Peter Vis has put together one of the most comprehensive guides to the Olympus Trip 35 that I’ve seen thus far . His posts cover everything from basic operation to detailed notes on circuitry, lens barrel assembly, and how the camera functions with its various parts and magical wizardry.

If you’re troubleshooting a problem or looking for a good place to start on your repairs research, this is it.

Modifying Shutter Speed to Stick at 1/200th

This crazy kid K. Praslowicz found a way to jam a paperclip in the Trip 35 and peg shutter speed at 1/200th of a second , thus allowing him to override the camera’s automatic setting and shoot with manual aperture settings. It’s a pretty cool mod that also kind of defeats the purpose of using a point-in-shoot, but hey whatever! Where there’s a will there’s a way I guess.

Adding Light Seals and Green Lizard Skin:

The scribes over at Lomography put together a how-to post aimed at freeing up stuck aperture blades on the Trip 35, but honestly there are other better resources online for that procedure (linked above). They gloss over some important points in that procedure, but offer a good overview of replacing light seals and applying a green lizard skin leatherette covering to the camera. Take for what it’s worth I guess.

Dealing with Light Meter and “Red Flag” Issues:

Somebody hit the panic button. The light meter is basically the heart of the Trip 35. Without it, the camera is toast. If possible you should always do a quick test of the meter before buying a Trip 35. Simply point it at bright light and push the shutter button to see if the aperture remains small (f22 is its default position) and listen to see if the shutter is fast. Next, stick it in a low-light area and do the same, these time checking for wide aperture and slower shutter. It’s not perfect but you can at least see if it’s responding to light in the right manner, although it could still prove to be inaccurate.

I noticed a few exposure errors on the first test roll through my Trip 35, but nothing to warrant too much concern Yet, once I repaired the lens wobble and reassembled the camera, I started getting the dreaded “red flag” pop up in the camera’s viewfinder regardless of the light situation. Even in bright light the camera was indicating there wasn’t sufficient light to take a photo — NOT GOOD!

While the selenium light meter on these cameras have a reputation for being pretty reliable, my research online pretty much gave my camera a death sentence — the “red flag” issue could mean your camera’s meter is dying and you’ve got a nice paperweight on your hands. That’s what I was led to believe, at least.

Yes, some light meters die and they’ll all die eventually I guess. But fortunately that wasn’t the problem in my case. I opened the camera’s top plate to take a closer look at the light meter configuration and see how it was responding using ThermoJet Guy’s details on how it should be reacting .

Confusingly enough, once I opened the camera up again, the light meter seemed to be working as-normal and was responding to different lighting scenes as expected. WTF?!? The more I fiddled with it I noticed that the meter’s needle get stuck randomly, not really hung up but sticky. It looked like the spring or magnet may have been gummed up and was hindering the needle’s movement at times. If I hit the camera body it would often jar it loose and the meter would start bouncing around again, so it seemed that at least the meter was still working.

I wasn’t prepared to open up the light meter housing (that just seems like a recipe for disaster) but with my gummy theory in mind I decided to take a calculated risk and attempt to clean the light meter, specifically where the needle comes out under the housing. Using a spray can of electronics cleaner (which shouldn’t leave any residues), I lightly doused the light meter housing, let it dry, and repeated the process 5-6 times. Slowly the meter started freeing up and behaving as intended. Crisis averted.

Now, time to burn another roll.

If you have any helpful Trip 35 repair links, insights, or other tidbits feel free to comment below. Per usual, attempt any of your own repairs at your own risk, or send it to me and I’ll fiddle with it for you.

Clay Duda is a freelance journalist and photographer. People usually pay him to write things. Here he does it for free.

Olympus Manuals
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Olympus Trip 35 Repair Instructions

Instructions manual (13 pages)
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Digital Camera Olympus TRIP 35 Instructions Manual

Summary of Contents for Olympus Trip 35

Page 1 Olympus Trip 35 Illustrated Repair Instructions Olympus introduced the Trip 35 in 1968. The camera remained in production for 20 years, and Olympus sold over 10 million of them. Both of these numbers must surely stand as records in the annals of camera history. The popularity of this camera was due to the convergence of two factors.
Page 2 1. Remove the top of the camera. The top is held on with three screws. One is on the right side, just under the wrist strap lug. The other two are under the film rewind crank. To get to these two screws, it is necessary to remove the film rewind crank.
Page 3 3. With normal daylight shining into the cell, the needle will deflect about half way to the right. If this happens, the selenium cell and meter are working fine. If the needle doesn’t move, the cell and the meter might still be working OK.
Page 4 4. Push down the shutter release half way. The trap bar will rise up to trap the needle against the brass plate. The aperture setting cam rises right after the trap bar. If the meter is working, but the cam does not move, then the problem is with the aperture blades.
Page 5 5. Once you have verified that the problem is not with the cell or the meter, it is time to remove, clean and lubricate the aperture blades. You can desolder the hot shoe wire to set the top aside and out of the way. This makes the camera easier to handle, but is not necessary as long as you are careful.
Page 6 6. The front, inner ring is connected to the front lens element by three set screws, so the front lens element turns as the front ring rotates. The front lens element is mounted on threads, so it moves in and out as it turns. A tang on the front ring engages the focus ring, so that the front ring and the focus ring move as a unit.
Page 7 7. Note the position of the front lens element. Use a red marker to mark the 12:00 position. Then just to make double sure, screw the lens in the whole way and note how far it turned. In the picture below the lens turned to about the 2:30 position.
Page 8 8. Unscrew the front lens. Clean both sides thoroughly. Put it in a plastic bag to protect it, then put it in the next cup of your ice cube tray.
Page 9 9. Now loosen the wires that run to the photocell. These wires run behind the tripod mount, and must be loosened before the photocell can be removed.
Page 10 10. Remove the screws that hold the photocell in place. Put them into the next cup of the ice cube tray.
Page 11 11. Gently lift up the photocell. Grasp the wires and gently pull them thru the camera body.
Page 12 12. Remove the three flat head screws that hold the ASA ring and focus ring in place. Be careful not to lose the ball bearing detent on the ASA ring à it’s only about 1mm in diameter. It may be held in place by grease. Put the screws (and the ball detent if it’s loose) into the next cup of the ice cube tray.
Page 13 13. Remove the aperture ring. Be careful, this has a ball detent, too. You know what to do with the screws and the ball.
Page 14 14. This will reveal the middle lens element. Remove it, clean it, put it in a sandwich bag, then put it into the next cup of the ice cube tray.
Page 15 15. You’re almost there. The aperture assembly is next. Remove the three screws that hold it in place. Clean it thoroughly in the lighter fluid. You may have to soak it several times. Work the blades back and forth. Make sure all of the old lubricant is removed.
Page 16 16. While the aperture assembly is soaking, remove the rear lens assembly and clean it.
Page 17 17. The shutter assembly is next, but it is unlikely there is a problem with it. So you’re finished! Just retrace your steps to reassemble everything, working your way backwards thru the cups in the ice cube tray. A little graphite between the aperture ring and the focus ring will make these move smoothly.

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Classic Manual Film Cameras

Olympus Trip 35 lens repair

By a_e_daly November 15, 2007 in Classic Manual Film Cameras

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Yay! It's fixed - I think. I'll post the details here in case anyone else finds them useful. Bear in mind this fix looks and feels right, but I haven't run any film through yet.

If you loosen the 3 tiny screws described above around the foremost lens element (the ring engraved Olympus, D. Zuiko etc.), you can remove this ring - it may take some manipulation but it basically twists loose and then lifts out. (You shouldn't need to take the screws out completely). You'll see this ring has a kind of spoke sticking straight down into the camera. Once you take the ring out, the front lens element is visible and can be gently unscrewed. If you do this and lift out the lens, then look down into the space vacated while moving the focusing ring, you can see the focusing ring internally has what looks like a small C-shaped black clip which is moved back & forth by the focusing. It's clear that the end of the 'spoke' on the outer steel ring is supposed to fit into this groove so that, when that and the lens are fastened back together, the focusing ring will move it and thus turn the lens.

You'll see the lens is set in a dark matte black outer fitting. This has a tiny groove running all around the outside. The ends of the 3 tiny screws on the outer ring, once tightened, fit into this groove to hold the lens in place.

Screw the lens back in, carefully, then turn the focusing ring all the way round so that it's set at the greatest distance (i.e. the point at which the lens is fully retracted). Lower the outer ring back into place, making sure the spoke does fit into the C-shaped socket (I think this was the cause of my problem). Once it's snugly in place, tighten the 3 screws to join ring and lens. Now, when you turn the focusing ring, the lens should turn back and forth as expected. Voila.

Apologies for the non-technical language, btw. I'm sure all these things have proper names rather than 'that steel ring with the lettering on' and so forth.

Overall I'm quite pleased, this is the first repair I've done that wasn't light seal replacement. Even if the focus is off, at least I'll know where to correct it.

michael_frangos

Have you checked whether the camera can now focus correctly? Screwing the front group all the way in does not guarantee correct focus. Fixing the focus is easy enough. Remove (again) the name ring and mark the rim of the front group with a pencil any place. Take a series of pictures turning the front group a couple of rows (those on the selenium meter) at a time. Develop and check for the sharpest picture of the set. Turn the front group so that your pencil mark is in line with that point and attach the name ring... happy shooting!

charles_stobbs3

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Tuesday 8 April 2014

Olympus trip 35 repair coming up...if i can just undo three little screws..

8 comments:

Nice little bit of kit there. I've never used one of these guys, but I am curious about them. Good work on the lens, too.

Heh, a hundred pictures of typewriters & cats - I know those subjects well (: Another good reason to have a bulk loader - it's nice to be able to roll up short 6-shot rolls for testing. Found a seller on ebay that has brand-new 100-ft bulk rolls of B&W film for $30 - and since ebay saw fit to send me a $10 off any order coupon, it worked out to $27 with shipping. I'll report later on how it compares to the Ilford HP5+ I'm using now. Gotta feed the machines :D Good luck with the screws - those tiny buggers are tough when they don't wanna come loose. Also, if you've got the skin off, you should look for something exotic like red snakeskin to re-cover it - that'd look *sharp*!

Oh, don't worry, Ted. I found a seller who has both navy blue and red lizard-patterned, leather-style vinyl. These things are gonna look great by the time I'm done with them.

The only tip I have come across to remove stubborn tiny screws is to apply a drop of superglue to the tip of the screwdriver - let it harden in place and you should get s really snug interface with the screwhead. If finger pressure isn't enough, grab the screwdriver with a pair of pliers for some leverage. Good luck!

Those screws can bind like they are holding a skyscraper. I'd stay clear of WD-40 and go for a better penetratin oil like KROIL or even LiquidWrench or similar to those as I do not know what may be available to you. Then be sure to clean everything really good before reassembly. I've use Rob's trick before and it works.

Man, that is a gorgeous rangefinder. I'm looking forward to metallic and fuzzy object photos! Those little screws are the bane of my existence. I always lose at least one. I count at least three Typospherians playing with film and am feeling left out. I have some ancient rolls of Fuji Reala that deserve exposure. Now, which camera

HELLO! Did you ever fix your little screw problem? I'm sat here in the exact same predicament, the tiny buggers won't budge. Would love to here what you have to say, thanks

Hi Kieran, yes I did. It involved a very tiny amount of WD-40 sprayed onto a toothpick then gently placed on the screw-head. Ten minutes later, gentle twisting with the correct-sized screwdriver, before wiping off any residual WD-40. Look for my post about how I refocused the lens on this Trip 35. I think I went into more detail there. Search in the 'Cameras & Photography' section of this blog. Good luck!

All cameras come with a roll of film, discount codes & more!*

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Olympus trip 35 repairs & refurbishments.

If you would like your Olympus Trip 35 repaired or refurbished please fill out the contact form at the bottom of the page.

Full service

The following will be completed as standard during a full service:

1. All cameras will be fully checked over to ensure they are functioning correctly before work commences (if a repair is required you will be contacted to confirm if you want to proceed).

2. Shutter system cleaned and lubricated

3. Dust, debris and fungus removed from the lens and re-lubrication of the focus mechanism

4. ISO, focus and aperture selection rings cleaned and lubricated

5. Fitting replacement light seals (including the internal light seal)

6. Cleaning the viewfinder and replacing the internal cover

7. Internal and external clean

8. Paint touch up for damaged parts

9. New leather finish

In order to properly service the camera the old leather finished needs to be removed. All of the available coloured leathers can be previewed here .

Prices start at £40 depending on how much work is needed and if any replacement parts are required. If your camera is already in for a service the cost of any repairs will be reduced.

The Olympus Trip 35 was a well designed camera therefore many faults are fixable. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Stuck aperture blades & faulty red flag

This is the most common issue seen in an Olympus Trip 35! Oil makes its way onto the aperture blades causing them to stick, this also prevents the red flag from working.

2. Oily shutter blades

This is less common than the issue above but is still seen on occasion. Oil on the shutter blades may cause the shutter speeds to be sluggish or the shutter may not fire at all.

3. Stuck film advance

A number of small cogs within the camera's film advance mechanism can break if the camera has been dropped or mishandled and stop the thumb-wheel from spinning. This can be repaired by replacing the broken cog.

4. Out of focus lens

The lens can become out of focus due to the camera being damage or incorrectly reassembled when taken apart. The lens will need to be re-calibrated using a collimator.

5. Flash not working

Sometimes the wire that attaches the hot shoe mount (where you attach your flash unit) can become detached.

6. Damaged filter ring

If your camera has been dropped it's likely the filter ring has become dented. Minor dents can be reshaped but larger dents may require a complete replacement of the filter ring.

7. Missing parts

Some parts of the camera can break off such as the eye piece for the viewfinder or a camera strap lug. These parts can be replaced on request.

Sadly there are a couple of things that I am unable to repair simply due to a lack of available parts, this includes:

Replacing dead selenium cells
Replacing the glass element of the lens if it has been damaged

If your camera has either of these issues please get in contact if you would like to sell your camera for parts and help save another Olympus Trip 35!

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If you are getting in contact regarding a repair or refurbishment please indicate the camera model and what work you would like completed.

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The Olympus Trip 35 Review: Everything You Need To Know

I’ve worked with many Olympus Trip 35s over the years and I’ve discovered the pros and cons of this brilliant little rangefinder camera!

The Olympus Trip 35 is so popular because it’s very easy to use, it has a great lens and it’s ideal for the novice photographer. Also, the Olympus Trip 35 is one of the only 35mm cameras powered by the sun, making it really handy to take on holiday with you. Since 1967 10 million units have been sold, which is a tremendous amount even today.

If you want to know how this camera compares to others, how much you should be paying, some of its common issues and much, much more then read on!

I’ve worked with a hell of a lot of Trip 35s over the last few years and I like them because they’re really simple. If there’s something wrong with a Trip 35 I usually know it pretty much instantly because they aren’t especially complicated.

I’ve sussed out all the common issues, what can be fixed easily and what spells the end for an individual Trip 35. Usually, it’s lens fungus or an unreactive aperture that means doom for this little camera.

After years of working with them, I took one to the south coast of England to do a full review and I was actually pleasantly surprised by it. As you’ll see throughout the article, there are actually some good pictures that came from this ancient camera.

Some shots were let down by the very real limitations of this camera but on the flipside, due to the brilliant 40mm Zuiko lens, when the exposure is correct, its shots are great.

There are a lot of pros and cons to this camera so it’s well worth reading up on it to figure out if it’s the right fit for you. I enjoyed shooting it more than I expected but it wouldn’t be a camera that I’d rely on regularly.

Olympus Trip 35 Specs

Format – 35mm

ISO – 25 – 400

Battery – Solar Powered Selenium Battery

Exposure – Automatic

Shutter Speeds – 40 – 200

Flash – Hot Shoe

A Brief History Of The Olympus Trip 35

Introduced in 1967 and rolling on until 1984, the Olympus Trip 35 was completely ahead of its time. Sporting a solar-powered light meter in the late 60’s was pretty special.

Of course, Olympus’ market audience was pretty obvious, being named ‘Trip’, it’s kind of spelt out for you. Strong, reliable, doesn’t need any batteries, anyone could use it, that pretty much ticks all the boxes when it comes to a holiday camera.

Incredibly, over 10 million Trips were sold (Up for debate) and of course, they’re still being bought and sold to this day.

How Does The Olympus Trip 35 Battery Work?

The Olympus Trip 35 is powered by the sun using a selenium light meter which is the ring around the lens. This powers the light meter and allows the camera to choose the shutter speed and aperture (depending on which settings you have on). This would have been very unusual in its time but the fact that it’s still reliable today is brilliant.

Is The Trip 35 Lens Good?

Yeah, the Olympus Trip 35 has a pretty good lens but I’ve got to say, there are quite a few drawbacks. The lens itself is a beautiful 40mm 2.8 Zuiko lens, it’s pretty high quality for a camera that feels like a point-and-shoot.

I’d say the main drawback is that the focus is zonal and you only have 4 options. You should be able to see above, there’s a picture of one person, then two, then a group and then a landscape symbol. These are your focus options and it’s basically, 1.5m, 2m 3m and 6m and beyond.

This does limit the camera quite a lot but you’ve got to forgive a 50-odd-year-old camera sometimes.

The focal length is interesting, 40mm is pretty unusual but it’s still just wide enough to take the kind of pictures you’d usually take when you go on your holidays. It’d probably be preferable to have a 35mm lens but beggars can’t be choosers.

The Olympus Trip 35 Compared To The Olympus OM10

It’s worth comparing the Olympus Trip 35 with the Olympus OM10 as they’re currently at similar prices.

The Olympus Trip 35 isn’t that similar to the Olympus OM10, the Olympus Trip 35 is a small point-and-shoot rangefinder and the OM10 is an SLR however, it’s good to see what the Olympus Trip 35 is like in comparison to another well-known camera.

The Olympus OM10 would provide much better shots as it has better quality lenses and more control however, the Olympus Trip is more convenient, more compact and easier to use.

How Much Is The Olympus Trip 35 Worth?

Currently, the Olympus Trip 35 is worth around $100-125 or £70-100. You can of course get the Trip 35 for less if you try bidding for it on eBay or search thrift stores and flea markets but it’s worth trying to make sure that your Trip 35 is all working correctly.

What Kind Of Photography Is The Olympus Trip 35 Best For?

The Olympus Trip 35 is unsurprisingly best for travel-type photography. This camera was made with travel in mind as it’s small, compact, strong, easy to use and doesn’t require any batteries. Otherwise, this is also a good camera for day-to-day use. Photographers like David Bailey championed the Olympus Trip 35 believing that it was an incredibly high-quality camera.

Although the Olympus trip 35 has a great lens it’s not necessarily overly accurate and it’s not easy to focus correctly so despite the fact that it has a 2.8 lens it doesn’t mean it’s very likely that you’ll be able to focus correctly close range and get the most out of that lens.

This is not necessarily ideal for more professional types of photography and is definitely better to be used in day-to-day life and travel photography.

Is The Olympus Trip 35 Fully Manual?

The Olympus Trip 35 has two settings, one is an automatic setting that chooses your aperture and shutter speed for you, it decides between a shutter speed of 40 and 200 and between apertures of 2.8 and 22.

Alternatively, you can decide the aperture and the shutter speed will be decided by the camera. All focusing is manual and all ISO needs to be changed manually.

How To Use The Olympus Trip 35

Olympus Trip 35 is a very simple camera to use once you get the hang of it, until then understanding its limitations can be slightly hard.

If your camera seems not to be working properly try to leave it in the sun for some time to effectively charge its battery.

To open the back of the camera there is a small lever on the bottom of the side of the camera which just needs to be pulled down until the back pops open.

To change the aperture just rotate the ring at the base of the lens, this ring will show numbers from 2.8 two 22. If you want to shoot in automatically then turn it all the way around until the red ‘A’.

To change the ISO you just need to rotate the ring on the outer edge of the lens until you are to the correct ISO.

In order to focus you need to rotate the black ring on the lens. The closest focus mode is portrait mode, then there is middle-range portrait row mode, next, there are people standing further away from you and finally, there is a full landscape mode.

To attach a flash you simply have to slide it into the hot shoe located on the top middle of the prism.

To shoot and wind on you just have to press the shooting button on the top of the camera and then wind the black winder on the back of the camera until you can’t wind it any further.

To rewind the film you must first press the black button on the bottom of the camera to release the film and then wind the silver winder on the top left of the camera all the way back until it feels loose.

Common Faults Of The Olympus Trip 35

As the Olympus Trip 35 is a very old camera it has a number of common faults, hopefully, I can shed some light on these and help you avoid them or potentially fix them.

Commonly the red flag of the Olympus trip 35 will stop working, the red flag usually shows you when the scene would be too under-exposed. The red flag would appear at the bottom of the viewfinder when you are looking through it and would usually stop you from taking a picture if it’s too dark.

Sometimes the lens won’t react correctly to light, this is a great thing to check because if this is happening then it’s not really something that you can stop and it will ruin your photos. If this is happening the only advice I can give is to put it in the sun for a bit to see if this charges your selenium battery.

It’s likely that the light seals have worn away unless you bought your camera from a reputable dealer. You will probably have to replace a small number of light seals just to ensure that you do not get light leaks, this is fairly easy and if you want to find out how to do it then go to this link .

Lastly, the lens may have fungus and if the fungus is internal and it’s not something that would be easy to fix it would be much simpler just to get another one.

Final Word On The Olympus Trip 35

This is a great camera for travel and is certainly a camera to consider using. Personally, it’s not my kind of camera, I prefer more control and this just doesn’t cut it for me!

For a camera of its age, it truly is fantastic, a solar-powered vintage wonder that can still produce some beautiful shots!

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Olympus Trip 35: Every bit as good as its reputation

I didn’t just stumble on the Olympus Trip 35. I knew all about its excellent reputation as a sharp, simple camera with a good pedigree.

I’m fairly certain I first heard of the Trip 35 on the the Film Photography Podcast some years back, when the hosts were going through a bit of an obsession with the little powerhouse.

It’s the 1960s equivalent of a point and shoot — much more than a box camera, but almost as hands-off as can be. Set the ISO and the focus range, and fire away.

I mentioned the Trip 35 back in February , and discussed a little about production numbers and dates, etc. The important parts are: black ones were only made for a couple years and tend to command much higher prices, especially in good shape — but they’re the same as the silver ones underneath the enamel.

Description

The Trip 35 is a small camera, just a little larger than the later Olympus 35RC , and fairly lightweight. It still feels good, though, in line with many other cameras of its era. Though it has some plastic in it, it is primarily a metal camera with all that vintage solidity.

Being a product of an era when high standards of quality seemed to apply across the board, it’s a whole lot better than one might expect today based on the quality gulf between high-end and low-end, which started to broaden noticeably in the 1970s and is now rather abyssal. The lens is exceptionally sharp, the auto-exposure system is at the top of its class, and the viewfinder is bright and accurate.

The lens is a 40mm f/2.8 D.Zuiko — a four-element design that bests a lot of the Trip 35’s direct competitors’ three-element lenses. While it’s not as fast as some of the f/1.9 and f/1.7 lenses in the pack, the sharpness is tough to beat.

The light meter uses a selenium photovoltaic cell, with a large light-gathering matrix surrounding the lens. The Trip 35 requires no batteries to operate, but if the meter dies, the camera will not function in auto mode.

The auto-exposure system features only two shutter speeds — 1/200 second and 1/40 second. In auto mode, it hunts through apertures at 1/200 in an attempt to make a proper exposure, and then slows down to 1/40 to continue the hunt if necessary. If a proper exposure isn’t possible at 1/40 second and f/2.8, a translucent red flag will pop up in the viewfinder. Otherwise, the exposure is made.

Looking through the viewfinder, you’ll notice a simple brightline frame with some parallax correction marks. It’s not huge, but it’s big enough, and it’s bright enough, too. Below the main viewfinder is a tiny prism that adds a view of the markings on the control rings on the lens barrel so you can see the aperture and focus.

On the lens barrel you can set the film speed (from ASA 25 to 400) by turning the 43.5 millimeter filter ring, and also the aperture for flash mode. The aperture ring has an “A” for auto mode, and the rest of the fixed aperture settings are meant to pair with the subject distance to match a flashgun’s guide number. When a manual aperture is selected, the shutter is locked at 1/40 second. The shutter can be permanently modified to stay at 1/200 , but this will limit the camera’s low-light abilities.

The third setting on the lens barrel is the expected one — focus. The Trip 35 uses zone focusing rather than a rangefinder. The four pictographs correspond to fairly standard distances: a little head and shoulders for 1 meter, two little heads and shoulders for 1.5 meters, two full-length people and a kid for 3 meters, and a mountain for infinity. In case you forget (or just prefer numbers to pictographs), the opposite side of the focus ring has distance markings. The pictograph is what gets shown in the viewfinder, though.

The shutter release button is threaded for a cable release. The rewind knob has a flip-out crank, and there is a frame counter on the right shoulder. The film advance is a thumbwheel on the back edge of the top cover behind the shutter release button.

Be sure to push in the take-up spool release button on the bottom cover before rewinding, and rewind before opening the film door with the small silver latch tab on the bottom left corner of the camera.

There is a standard tripod mount on the bottom, and the top features a hot shoe (and there’s a PC sync socket on the front cover, below and to the right of the lens).

And that’s about it — there just isn’t a lot of technical detail to the Trip 35, but there is elegance in simplicity.

With that, let me tell you what I like about it.

I didn’t expect to like the Trip 35 so much at first. I mean, hearing it talked about and seeing so many articles, I expected it to be just another 1960s-70s rangefinder-wannabe. Don’t misconstrue that to mean I expected it to be bad — but I didn’t expect it to set itself apart.

I think I was wrong. It’s not the best camera I’ve ever used, by any means, but its euphony of size, fit and finish, function, and image quality is really pretty special.

I’m not shy about my troubles with zone- and scale-focus cameras. I have terrible luck with them, mostly because I don’t remember to focus them before I press the shutter. I don’t know that I wouldn’t have better luck if I used them (or, more likely, one of them) more of the time, but in the limited experience I have with them, I just don’t remember more than half the time.

The Trip 35, though, solves that problem for me by showing me the focus setting clearly and brightly in the viewfinder. For me, this clears the biggest roadblock in the way for me to get good images with this class of camera. And for me, at least, it was by far the biggest roadblock.

Okay, okay — the images I’m attaching here aren’t so great — but they’re meant to check the thing out: to see lens distortions and aberration, focus across the breadth of the frame, and so on. And a lot of them also are taken as opportunities for me to test out the feel of the camera.

The film counter on mine was stuck at first. In fact, it was stuck all through my testing. I didn’t figure out how to unstick it until I was writing this. I’m not sure how I managed to miss the solution — I just opened the film door with the shutter uncocked and operated the advance, and the counter reset to the “S” (for Start). Everything else worked right from the start.

I found my Trip 35 at an antique mall, and while I paid below market for it, I didn’t get a thrift-store price. I’m okay with that. I’d been expecting one to turn up in a thrift store after all the talk, but not having actually seen one in five years of trawling thrift stores for photographica, I decided to go for it. Once I had it my hands, it pretty much wasn’t going back in the cabinet.

As stated above, it’s the much-less-common black version of the Trip 35. It’s not perfect — it has a few scuffs and signs of use on the enamel. But the lens is crystal clear and everything works as it should.

I found the size exceptionally right. It’s almost as small as a camera could be and still feel like it fills my hands adequately. The arrangement of the controls is good — really good. The film advance is smooth and fast. The shutter release has just the right amount of tension.

The shutter is quiet, too. Not silent — or even quite as silent as some others — but it’s impressively quiet. I can see why it’s prized for street photography. No batteries required, easy to zone focus, and, in decent light, no fiddling with exposure. It truly becomes point and shoot.

The results are great, too. Sharp from edge to edge, no noticeable distortions, and minimal chromatic aberration. My color tests were with expired film, but the results struck me as good. Contrast on the black and white shots, taken with Ilford Delta 100, was excellent.

If I had a complaint, it would be that the Trip 35’s aperture ring is narrow enough to be difficult to operate with my big sausage fingers. But it’s not really designed to be used without a flash attached, which is something I just don’t do very often.

One minor issue I had — and it was all me — was missing a ton of pictures because I didn’t check that it was loaded. With or without film, the Trip 35 happily clicks away. I think, at one point, I took about 40 pictures and started to wonder why I wasn’t out of film. Turning the rewind knob a bit, I realized there wasn’t any film in the camera, so I loaded it and spend some time retracing my steps to re-take what I could.

The only realistic avenues for improvement with the Trip 35 would be to give it fully manual controls, or a coupled rangefinder. Those deficiencies prevent me from rating the Trip 35 a perfect five stars, but don’t take that to mean you shouldn’t try one out if you have the chance — it’s a really great little camera.

Here are the rest of the test shots I feel like displaying:

Getting the Best From the Olympus Trip 35

The Olympus Trip 35 is a cracking little camera that is capable of some stunning results from its 40 mm f/2.8 Zuiko lens. Here is a short guide for getting the best results from this camera.

The lens of the Olympus Trip 35 is as sharp as a pin. As good as this camera is it does have its limitation. The main limitation with this camera being the shutter, don’t get me wrong it works very well.

The shutter speed of this camera is limited to just two, which are 1/40 and 1/200s. If you have loaded a slow film like 100ASA and you are shooting in low light, the camera will default to 1/40th which can be a little slow for handheld shots. This, in turn, can cause a camera shake, resulting in blurred pictures. This is fine if that’s the result you are after. But if you would rather have a much sharper image, then you could use some form of rest for the camera, like a tripod, monopod, or a beanbag.

But if you’re bag is street/candid photography, that kind of gives the game away. A better option would be to load the camera with a faster film like 400ASA. This will keep you’re Trip shooting at 1/200th longer and will avoid blurred photographs due to camera shake. I hope you have found this useful, have fun with the Trip.

All the photographs were taken with my Olympus Trip 35. Long live film!

This article was written by Community member trip35snapper .

written by trip35snapper on 2011-12-01 #gear #tutorials #trip #olympus #tipster #asa #shutter #film-fpeed

munizada , bradsimpson719 , lomosapien73 , thorolvsen , jiske , mohsendavoudi , andrewdhall1988 , rulito , elcalamare , busyd , darlim , elsje , wernzteh , frantisek , lomo__lurv , uncle_jay , k_melancholy , robotmonkey1996 , gvelasco , kneehigh85 , adzfar , jawatembak & area51delcorazon .

My dad had one.

My sis got one :o))

I got mine from my Dad :) and I use it all the time so this is a handy tip to know

I have one! my O.T is my baby <3

I got my First Olympus Trip 35 a few months ago. I developed my first roll Yesterday and All the pictures were blurry. I used a Kodak Kolor 200 ASA, Is It too low? Should I use a 400 ASA?

@natalia_dep Hi 200asa film should be fine in sunny conditions, 400asa film would be a better all round film to use. when pressing the shutter button hold the camera as still as possable. Better luck next time and dont give up. Brian.

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Olympus Trip 35 – Camera Review

Josh solomon.

October 3, 2016

As enthralling as photography can be, long days, months, and years spent shooting can wear you out. In the worst case, it can lead to a photographic malaise that can dismantle even the most well-built minds from the inside out. It can render the best shooters incapable of even the simple task of pressing a shutter button. It’s shooter’s block, our equivalent to writer’s block, and it hit me hard over the summer.

I jumped out of bed one morning full of energy, ready to take on the world with my trusty Nikon F and Leica M2. But instead of plunging into a world filled with beauty, intrigue, and possibility, I found my surroundings cold, ugly, and indifferent. The images I tried to form seemed trite and overplayed, and I soon lost confidence in my ability to make a decent picture. Even the storied reputations of my F and M2 failed to inspire me. Every time I peered through their viewfinders I saw nothing but dust in the pentaprism and emptiness between the framelines.

Sufficiently depressed, I decided to stay home and put my cameras on the shelf. And it was while I was lying face down on a pillow listening to the opening lines of Chicago’s “Hard To Say I’m Sorry” that I realized I did, in fact, need a little time away. But I didn’t need a full-on vacation from the hobby itself – no, that would be too drastic. I just needed a change from the manual cameras that sat on my shelf. I needed an easier camera, and I had a feeling one camera in particular could fit the bill – the Olympus Trip 35.

The Olympus Trip 35 is a camera I’d heard a lot about but had never tried myself. Its reputation for ease of use and high quality seemed the perfect cure for my shooter’s block. And if the Trip 35 was the prescription, the Pasadena Camera Show was the pharmacy. There I found a beautiful Trip 35 for an absurdly low price, bought it, and quickly threw it in my bag.

One would think the Olympus Trip 35 would seem out of place next to legendary cameras like the aforementioned Nikon and Leica, but it actually fits right in. This camera, although not as capable as the other two, holds an equally lofty place in photographic history. Just as the F and the M defined the SLR and rangefinder genres respectively, the Trip 35 defined the point-and-shoot game. More impressive still, the Trip 35 actually outsold the Nikon F and the Leica M2 by millions. Take that, fanboys.

Olympus achieved these massive numbers by appealing to the casual shooter rather than pro photographers, specifically focusing on the new generation of moneyed vacationers. Racing from landmark to landmark and airport to airport, these sightseers simply lacked the time and interest needed to learn the boring particulars of photography required to operate a camera. Instead, they required a camera that was simple to use, but sophisticated enough to beautifully capture their memories.

Good design marries aesthetics to functionality, and the the camera gods couldn’t have picked a better company to bring the Trip 35 to life. Olympus’ design house, fresh off the ingenious half-frame Pen F, struck gold again with the Trip. The design is classic Olympus; clean-cut lines and an impossibly small form factor, the Trip wastes no time and gets straight to the point. It’s as well designed as any machine of its day, more impactful when we recall that the Trip came of age in an era where cameras were still fully mechanical, save for the occasional battery powered light meter. Automation seemed a distant (and expensive) fantasy, so when Olympus created a genuine auto-exposure camera out of primitive nuts and bolts, the world took notice. This was in no uncertain terms an engineering miracle.

The Trip 35 accomplishes this sorcery by determining the amount of light that enters a Selenium photo cell surrounding the lens, and choosing a correct aperture based on this reading. The camera then chooses a shutter speed of either a 1/200th or 1/40th of a second and we get a perfect exposure. When the camera’s incapable of making an acceptable exposure, a little red flag shows up in the viewfinder and the shutter locks out. The magic of this system is that it takes all exposure-related worry out of our minds. We don’t have to agonize about aperture, shutter speed, or even battery life, a godsend for vacationers and anxious photo geeks.

But before we experience it, it’s quite easy to question the Trip 35’s simplicity. After all, how accurate could a camera this old and primitive be? And could the lens be good enough for our 21st century eyes? As I drove home from the camera show, my new Trip in the passenger seat next to me, these questions rolled through my mind. I really needed this camera to be decent, if I was to pull out of my photographic death spiral.

Just then, I received a text message from my sister. Can you pick up some pork buns in chinatown? thx. With this, I had my mission; buy some pork buns, shoot the Trip, and see if this ancient camera could walk the walk.

The first thing I noticed was its build quality. Comprised of metal and plastic, the Trip 35 is solid, but never heavy; lightweight, but never flimsy. The only disappointing aspect of the camera’s feel is its film advance wheel. A dinky plastic affair reminiscent of disposable cameras, this lackluster cog is forgivable when we remember that the Trip was built to be a consumer-level camera.

Peering through the viewfinder showed bright frame-lines with tick marks both for up-close shots and for landscape shots. These are helpful in view of the Trip’s lack of automatic parallax correction. Having used fancy Leica , Nikon , and Contax rangefinders renowned for brightness and clarity, the Trip’s viewfinder beats most of them. Its relative simplicity is a nice change from the cluttered and overly complex viewfinders of other machines. The Trip 35 also features a small window in the bottom right of the VF (affectionately dubbed the “Judas Window” by Trip 35 disciples) which shows both the chosen aperture and exposure setting on the camera.

So far, so good. But how was I to determine focus? I quickly realized that the Trip’s a scale-focus camera, which is not ideal for accuracy. But before I started feeling like Olympus left me all alone and helpless, I realized that they were kind enough to provide some handy distance-measuring tools. Settings along the lens barrel show a picture of one person for portraits, two people for pictures of two people, three people for group pictures, and a mountain symbol for everything in the distance, including mountains. I stopped hyperventilating, and realized that, for a point-and-shoot camera, this is more than enough. And for all you nitpickers, Olympus also included precise distance measurements in both meters and feet on the underside of the lens. Phew.

Once shooting the Trip started to shine, and I was easily able to focus on exactly what matters most in photography – composition. From the first frame I found myself joyfully snapping away at whatever tickled my fancy, even though I didn’t know what aperture values and shutter speeds the Trip 35 was choosing. Frankly, I didn’t give a damn. All that mattered to me was finding different angles, new ways to play with light, and how to capture Chinatown’s unique charm. It felt like with each and every frame, the Trip was dissolving my shooter’s block more and more, and I wanted to just keep shooting.

So the little Olympus and I danced through Chinatown’s colorful landscape, happily snapping away. In no uncertain terms, it was the most fun I’d ever had with a camera. Even though the heat of the afternoon beat on my shoulders and the sweat sizzled on my brow, the Trip 35 and I ran through the city without a care in the world. The streets led us to the door of a steamy Chinese restaurant, then a pile of steaming pork buns, then back to the equally steamy interior of my car. I didn’t care how long the journey took or how much fluid I lost in that heatwave. It seemed like I sweated out my shooter’s block, and I eagerly raced home to deliver the buns, and develop the film.

But something was nagging me about the camera the entire way home; the focus issue. Had I gotten the focus correct for every shot? How was I to trust those markings? How could I possibly live without a focusing aid? Anxiety began to rear its head again and I had to stop myself from speeding over to a one-hour photo lab to assuage my fears. I gripped the steering wheel tight and told myself to trust the Trip. Besides, I still had a job to do. These pork buns weren’t going to deliver themselves.

After delivering and munching on said pork buns with my contented sibling, I decided to get the roll developed and scanned. My fears were partially founded. Some of the shots, especially photos of close subjects or darker scenes, came back fuzzy due to a combination of my poor distance estimation and the nature of the Trip’s exposure and focus systems. While the Trip automatically helps achieve sharp focus by selecting a smaller aperture for greater depth-of-field, this is only possible in bright light. As things get dark, the ability to shoot at a smaller aperture quickly disappears. In these situations it can be really difficult to nail correct focus. One minor consequence of this is that shooters with an affinity for portraiture and those sweet bokeh balls will probably be disappointed by this camera.

But expecting creamy bokeh and close range performance from the Trip 35 (or most point-and-shoots for that matter) is like expecting a ‘93 Honda Civic to outpace a Tesla Model S. It just won’t happen, and trying will lead to frustration. But just like that Honda, if you regard the Trip 35 as a reliable machine good for an occasional joyride, it will never disappoint. The Trip 35 is capable of a great many things , but we must be careful to recognize and respect its own limits.

When we get the focus right, the Trip’s fantastic 40mm F/2.8 Zuiko lens delivers in spades. The lens is a front-focusing Tessar type lens, which means that it’s very simple and very sharp, and it retains this sharpness edge to edge without chromatic aberration, spherical aberration, or any kind of distortion due to its simple optical formula and Olympus’s masterful execution. The lens’ quality even overcame the limitations of expired film, and ended up giving me some great results.

For whom is this camera best suited? First and foremost, the Trip 35 might just be the perfect camera for the casual photophile. Olympus built this camera to document the daily adventures of the everyman, and the Trip does this beautifully. And for experienced shooters, the Trip 35 can be a great way to break free of shooter’s block, or inject our shooting with something fun and carefree. It emphasizes the art of composition rather than the cold calculations of exposure, but even more importantly, it reminds us to relax, have a pork bun, and not take ourselves too seriously.

Want to try the Trip 35 for yourself?

Buy it on ebay, buy it on amazon, shop b&h photo’s vintage gear, follow casual photophile on facebook and instagram.

[ Some of the links in this article will direct users to our affiliates at B&H Photo , Amazon , and eBay . By purchasing anything using these links, Casual Photophile may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps Casual Photophile produce the content we produce. Many thanks for your support. ]

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Camera Review
film camera
olympus Trip

Josh Solomon is a freelance writer and touring bassist living in Los Angeles. He has an affinity for all things analog. When not onstage, you can find him roaming around Southern California shooting film and humming a tune.

29 comments

Very nicely done.

Great review of the Trip! This is the camera that lured me away from Lomography and the whole low-fi aesthetic. While the metering system is somewhat primitive and the zone focusing can be imprecise, especially in low light, it’s obvious that all the money and work went into the lens. In the right circumstances it’s absolutely tack sharp. Once I started getting sharp images from my Trip, the Lomo LC-A+ and the Holga started looking a lot less appealing.

The Trip definitely has some big limitations but on its own terms it’s a great camera.

Here’s my Trip album on Flickr to get an idea.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21156896@N07/sets/72157645739914959

Thanks for adding your Flickr album. It’s great for people to be able to see what these cameras can do in varied situations.

Thanks so much! Those images are fantastic; they really showcase what that lens can do. Funny you mention the LC-A+… ?

Thanks! The LC-A+ was the camera that got me back into using film after an extended dalliance with digital photography. I used it really heavily for about 2 years before becoming curious about other cameras. The fact that the Lomo is also a zone focuser made it very easy for me to switch to the Trip and the XA2.

Great write up Josh, and really nice album Neilson! I had to do a double take on some of those shots, especially the close up portraits, realizing that you had used a Trip.

I agree, what a great review and some fine shots on that flickr gallery. I’ve just bought my 50th Olympus Trip 35 and am steadily rebuilding them from head to toe. I’ve posted some reviews and other helpful reviews on my site https://trip35.co/

Great pictures from the Trip. You got to love these little cameras!

The Trip 35 was *made* for landscapes and group photos in good light outside. It’s really dang good for those things. For everything else, not so much! But like you, on a day when I’m just out and about shooting stuff, I find the Trip 35 to be big fun.

My last outing with my Trip 35: https://blog.jimgrey.net/2015/04/20/olympus-trip-35-revisited/

If I ever get on an airplane again I think I’ll be bringing this camera… We’ll see. Josh and your post have helped convince me. Thanks for sharing.

Great review of one of my favourite cameras and one of the best free cameras I’ve ever been given. The quality you can get from this little package has always astounded me, this is an example taken with just bog standard Poundland special film (Agfa Vista 200) https://the6millionpman.wordpress.com/2016/09/30/cardiff-bay-sunset-3/

And yet again I confess to being an Olympus fanboy.

Beautiful colors and range on that.

Great article Josh, and thanks for publishing it James. There wasn’t a link, but I started the Olympus Trip 35 users group on Facebook, here is the link. P.S. A few famous photogrpaphers in the group.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/OlympusTrip35

Hey my friend! Thanks for commenting. We did include a link there, it’s in the third to last paragraph where it says the Trip is “capable…” etc.

And for anyone down here in the comments, do check out the FB group. Amazing talent there shooting with all kinds of Trips.

The Trip Flickr group is worth checking out too. Lots of good stuff there.

https://flic.kr/g/5jsssh

Great write-up! I have three of these and, while I’m by no means a great photographer, I do love the pick-up-and-go nature of the Trip 35. For those who are interested, I spent an entire day refocusing the lens on one of mine;

https://teeritz.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/re-focusing-lens-on-olympus-trip.html

Almost drove me nuts!

That post is scary. You’re a brave man.

Bought a Trip after reading a recommendation by Ken Rockwell. At the time I thought I only ever needed one camera – an FE – and I had one. However, the Trip is great for other things. As you say, the pictures are so sharp. And its so easy to use.

I love my Trip 35. Fantastically sharp lens and incredibly easy to use! The zone focusing took a bit getting used to and I do still occasionally misfocus, but when that happens I embrace my inner William Klein. Also, my copy came with a lens cap and zipped up in a bag so the selenium is not at all worn out and the AE is spot-on. I actually trust shooting slide film in this camera more than any of my all-manual cameras!

Hi! Thank you so much. I am seriously considering to buy a Trip. I want to go traveling and bring a good camera. Do you think this one will do? And some people say it’s not really for taking photo’s in the dark/on parties. Are they right?

Thanks again 🙂

Hey Nikki! The Trip is the perfect camera for travel and casual outdoor shooting IMO, but it does suffer in low light without a flash. A little compact flash will help, and it does have a manual aperture override for accurate flash exposures.

If you’re going to be spending lots of time indoors I would suggest either picking up a cheap P&S with a built in flash, or upgrading entirely to a compact SLR/fixed-lens rangefinder with a fast (f/2 and under) lens for low-light shooting without a flash. Hope this helps!

Hello Nikki, I am the Admin of the Olympus Trips 35 Users Group, I recommend you join to get advice, and there are trustworthy sellers in the group.

See the website link below my comment

I’ve recently picked up aTrip 35 and have been very pleasantly surprised by the ease of use and picture quality. I even tried some low light close shots and had better results than I expected. Tip #1: use 400 speed film to increase versatility. You get more depth of field in any situation and therefore more focussing accuracy. You will also hold off the “red flag” for a stop or two. Tip #2: learn how to guesstimate the zone distances as accurately as possible. If you’re shooting close-up in lower light try to nail the actual distance e.g. set the lens on 1 meter and try to be 1 meter away. Use a tape measure at first so you can see what the distances look like. As the light falls or distances get closer then more accuracy is required from the photographer. Tip #3: remember that you can press the shutter button half way down to lock the exposure. Meter off a mid-tone then recompose and shoot. This will help with back lighting and other tricky light. Tip #4: try to shoot within the limits of the design and you will get good results. The Trip 35 was meant for family holidays and a whimsical approach to photography. If you require critical focussing or metering the Trip was never really designed for that. Enjoy!

Hi, Josh. Great writing. I enjoyed reading your review and laughed so much at the pork bun adventure! Thanks!

Thirty-seven years of shooting film and the Trip 35 was a camera I’d always ignored for being ‘too simple’. I spotted one in a local charity shop last week that was cased, boxed and in lovely condition and I got it for next to nothing. I ran half a roll of FT-12 ASA50 cinema film through and the results were far better than I expected. I started out on Olympus all those years ago (still use them) but I’m a bit ashamed of myself for ignoring this little gem. My 8 year old is just starting to take an interest in photography and this is going to be ideal for her.

Thanks for a great review and for pointing out a couple of little features I hadn’t spotted.

Quick pedantic note: In virtually everything I’ve seen online about the Trip 35, there’s one thing that nobody ever seems to say:

The Trip 35 is essentially the full-frame version of the earlier half-frame Pen EES and EES-2.

I had an EES-2 and it was a great shooter for an inexpensive camera. It worked exactly the same way as the Trip: the selenium meter around the lens chose one of two shutter speeds or raised a red flag if there wasn’t sufficient light; it had a four-icon zone focus lens; there was one manual speed for flash along with adjustable f-stops when not in Auto. Of course, the Trip had a different focal length lens to produce a full-frame image, but I suspect it’s of a very similar design to the EES-2’s. And note that the Trip 35’s top plate includes the EES-2’s hot shoe, along with the back cover/rewind knob from the Pen series (and frame counter from the Pen F series), and the viewfinder is essentially the same as the EES-2’s.

My point is: the Trip 35’s super-successful design wasn’t actually new, the camera was scaled up from the already successful Pen EES series.

Thank you… Now I’m on my way for fun an Mindfulness 🙂 A very brilliant text who give me interests and energy. Thank you 🙂

Just bought one, trying it out tomorrow. I would suggest to buy a tripod and a self-release cord, set it to A and just set for the distance. I used to carry a 110 film camera back in 1977 and was taught photography back in 1981 from a WW2 vet. Warhol used a Pentax 35afm because he could set a high iso without flash.

Extra Credit

Nice leather case, but adds a lot of weight. So I did the same trick I did with my Kiev 4 case and replaced the rivet with a snap so the top comes off easily. One small note – the rivet is pretty small and close to the case bottom, so there’s not much clearance for the larger snap component. To get around this I trimmed a little slice off the edge of the inside snap base with some tin snips to have a flat side to rest against the bottom of the case. I’m sure you could file it down if you don’t have tin snips.

Tips & Tricks

One, remember to fold up the flipout rangefinder and setting the focus to infinity before closing the camera. Also, though the back door opens with a sliding switch at the handle as per usual, it is not hinged, but pops right off! Actually the removable back thing is true of my other vintage Russian cameras and my large older folders, but for some reason I was surprised enough that at first I thought it was broken.

Speaking of broken, the manual indicates that you must cock the shutter only after changing speeds; e.g., change speeds with the speed ring first, then cock the shutter, or you could damage the shutter. Counter to the advice for most Russian cameras! But I think true of many rim set shutters you see on folding cameras. Also you should only set the self-timer at speeds of 1/100 or slower, faster is not recommended per the manual. I actually don’t recommend ever using the self timer on old mechanical shutters that haven’t been CLA’d, they’re the weak link in the chain that often causes old cameras to jam.

There is a general purpose focus setting as you find on some folders (Agfa, Voigtlander) — the red dot on the focus scale indicates 10 meters and the dot on the f-stop ring indicates 1:11, setting both will give acceptably sharp pictures from 4.5m to infinity.

This camera has a double-exposure prevention lock that is working but a little differently than I expected – how I thought it’s supposed to work is that after cocking and firing, the red dot appears next to the shutter release and resets to silver after you wind on sufficiently. My example seems to work the other way, only firing when the red dot appears and locking when it’s clear. I think maybe the red doesn’t mean ‘stop’ as I’m used to seeing, but ‘ready’ as a gun would. Those Soviets!

I was lucky to get the (apparently elusive) frame mask with this example, though I’m not likely to use it – I have enough 6×6 format cameras, I would use the Baldix before this one if I was going to shoot 6×6. The mask is a thin metal thing that aligns with some bumps and presses into place at the film plane. It is easy to bend when removing, so be careful. You could probably even cut yourself on it, come to think of it. If yours is missing you can get a new replacment at rafcamera.com .