Olympus Trip 35 (part 1)

A look a the famous Olympus Trip 35. In part 1 we look at how the camera works and describe its functions. Part 2 shows what to look for when buying today and the inside workings of the camera.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Olympus
• Trip
• 35
• 70's
• camera
• review
• test
• retro
• david
• bailey

[christos1973]

"Rival modern digital compacts"? Pardon me but this fixed lens outshines many modern lenses (my canon G12 lens is an optical dwarf compared to this)

[fredintheshed1]

@christos1973

Yeah your right. Its been a while since i ran a film through a Trip but some of the pics on Trip websites easy out shine a modern compact. You would need to look more nearer the high end market to match it. Its amazing when you think about it and such a shame this quality is no longer available to buy new on a budget. Great little camera's.

[fredintheshed1]

@christos1973

Greece ahhh Hols in the sun, its snowing here today ;-(

Here in the UK around the mid 90's you would often see a well looked after Trip in a charity shop window for around £3--5. Thats all changed now and ive not seen one for some time. One door closes but another opens with Ebay where upon you can normally find a dozen or so priced £15-30. The 35 series Rangfinders were always a collectors camera. They can sell quite high on Ebay but are not as rare as folks make out.

[christos1973]

@fredintheshed1 I hail from Greece where finding old trips or 35RCs is not an easy task, since we have no photo equipment fairs that I know of and even a trip was not a cheap camera back in the 60s or 70s for our standards (my folks got theirs as a gift from Canada). In my visits to flea markets here in Athens I never came across a trip or an 35RC (Although I found some dilapidated Pens), and it's very difficult to find someone to modify or even repair a trip, so I treat mine like a rarity.

[fredintheshed1]

@christos1973

Its a pity they did not include a simple manual switch to let you choose the higher 1/200 setting with the aperture ring in use. I have seen a guide where you can modify a Trip to do this. Olympus sold the Trip simply as a point and shoot street type camera. If you step up the rangefinders (see my 35RC video) you have much greater manual control and an even sharper 5 element lens as well. Of course they do tend to cost a little more though. ;-(

[christos1973]

@christos1973 Or maybe I was using the two or three smallest aperture settings, hence no overexposure? I can't really remember. Maybe I'll go get some test shots and get back to you. Very informative video by the way. I feel so lucky owning this little fella!

[christos1973]

@fredintheshed1 This makes sense, this used to be my parents' camera (tricked them with a Canon A80) so no user's manual to get that info. However, I have 2 or 3 test shots taken in a corn field in bright light, where the difference in depth of field obtained by changing aperture is substantial without overexposure. I don't think that would be possible with a fixed 1/40 shutter speed. But then again the 'for flash' inscription on the aperture ring wouldn't be there, would it?

[fredintheshed1]

@christos1973

The manual aperture settings could only be used with the slower 1/40 speed which was quite restricting for any creative photography. Olympus recommended to use the camera in A mode and only really intended these settings to be used with a electronic flash, via a guide chart.

[christos1973]

Aperture settings can be changed without a flash and can have a great effect on depth of field. The presence of just two shutter speeds (ingeniously 1/40 and 1/200) is rather limiting but different apertures produce different exposures, so i don't get the "for flash" comments

[fredintheshed1]

@caspargrindcore

Nice one ! They feel good in the hand dont they? , very solid and well made. Set it to "A " and try the "cover and fire" tech with the lens and hopefully you will see the red flag in the view finder. Enjoy your camera.