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The Trip 35 is a 35mm compact camera made in Japan, first introduced by Olympus in 1967
and manufactured until 1984. The camera is named “Trip 35” as it was designed to
be the perfect 35mm camera to take with you on a vacation.
The lens is a 40mm prime lens which accepts any 43.5mm threaded filters.
The back of the camera features the film compartment door, as well as the viewfinder window in
the top left hand corner and the film advance wheel in the top right hand corner.
The left hand side features the release mechanism to open the film compartment on the reverse
of the camera.
The right hand side features the camera wrist strap.
The bottom of the camera features the film rewind button, as well as the tripod mount.
The top of the camera features the film rewind ***, a hot shoe to hold flashes which connect
to the camera through the pc socket, the camera’s serial number, the shutter button complete
with treads for using a cable release, as well as the film counter window.
The front of the camera features the viewfinder window in the top right hand corner. There
is a pc socket to attach your flash’s pc cable to the camera on the bottom left side,
and beside the pc socket is the camera’s 40mm prime lens.
Surrounding the glass lens is a built in solar powered selenium cell, which powers the camera’s
light meter to assist the photographer in getting the perfect exposure.
The aperture operates between f2.8 and f22, with indicators at f4, f5.6, f8, f11, and
f16 as well as having an automatic mode for shooting with shutter priority.
The Trip 35 has two shutter speeds, 1/40th and 1/200th of a second, controlled automatically
by the meter of the camera.
The camera has four set focus settings for taking pictures at distances ranging from
close up photographs all the way to infinity focused landscape shots.
The camera features twelve ASA/ ISO settings of 25, 40, 50, 64, 80, 100, 125, 160, 200,
250, 320, and 400 for manually controlling your film speed.
The aperture, focus setting and the film speed can all be set and controlled directly through
the lens of the camera, with the aperture controlled through the ring closest to the
camera body, the focus setting through the second ring from the body, and the film speed
controlled through the ring on the edge of the lens.
To open the film compartment, you must use the release mechanism on the bottom left hand
side of the camera. This will allow the back door to pop open, revealing the inside mechanics.
The back door of the camera features a pressure plate to correctly position the film once
the camera is closed. Trip 35s were manufactured by several different plants, and thus were
not produced in chronological order by serial number; however, the camera can be dated by
a stamp located on the back of the pressure plate. To remove the pressure plate, grab
the outermost edge firmly at both sides and pull the plate away from the back door. The
two sides of the pressure plate should slip out of the pins that hold it in place, allowing
the entire piece to be removed.
The stamp contains 3 characters, the first of which represents the factory in which it
was produced, the second of which represents the last digit in the year of assembly, and
the third of which represents the month of assembly with 1-9 being January to September,
and X,Y & Z being October, November and December. If you are unsure which decade your camera
was assembled, check to see if it has a chrome shutter button or a black shutter button,
as they switched from chrome to black in the mid 1970’s.
To replace the pressure plate, insert one side of the plate under the first pin on the
back door and use light pressure to force the plate towards the same pin until the other
side can slip back into place under the other pin. Make sure the slits on the pressure plate
are on the left side, otherwise the pressure plate will disrupt the film advance wheel’s
operation.
Make sure that the take up reel and film advance sprockets are indeed functioning by firing
the shutter button and pushing the film advance wheel. You should see the sprockets and take
up reel rotating counter clockwise.
At this point it is always a good idea to test the camera to make sure it is functioning
properly before loading your film. To do so, first set the aperture to the biggest opening,
aka the smallest number). Then advance the film advance wheel and press the shutter while
looking through the lens using the back of the film compartment as your viewfinder. If
all is working as it should, you should see the shutter fire and a flash of light in the
middle of the lens.
If the shutter won’t fire, make sure the film advance wheel has been fully advanced.
If you don’t see a flash of light when the shutter fires, make sure the lens cap is not
covering the lens. If you still don’t see the shutter open, your shutter may be stuck,
which will require more attempts to loosen it, or you may have to take it in to be either
repaired or CLA’ed.
Once you have checked the shutter, adjust the aperture ring and fire the shutter to
see if the aperture opening is expanding and contracting as it should. If the aperture
ring is not rotating, the blades may be stuck, which can be fixed by delicately rotating
the ring back and forth to loosen the blades. If you still cannot adjust the aperture, you
may need to take the camera in to be either repaired or CLA’ed; however, if all functions
are operating as they should, you can now load your 35mm film.
To load the camera, pull up the film rewind *** on the top of the camera to allow the
35mm film cassette to fit upside down into the film compartment.
You must now restore the film rewind *** to its original down position, which may require
you to rotate the film *** slightly for it to fit in place within the bottom of the film
cassette.
Once the film cassette is firmly in place, extend the film leader across the length of
the camera until it is resting above the take up reel on the sprockets. Thread the end of
the film leader into the slit in the take up spool. It is recommended to fire the shutter
and use the film advance wheel to make sure the take up spool has a good hold on the film
and advances it properly.
You may now close the back door and shoot a couple frames to advance the film to the
first frame of the roll.
Before taking your first shot, make sure that the ASA / ISO is set to the desired film speed,
according to the type of film you’re using. Also make sure that the lens cap is off whenever
you are taking a picture, as the separate viewfinder window allows you to compose a
shot, even when the lens cap is on the camera.
You should also check the built in light meter is functioning by switching the aperture ring
to the automatic “A” setting, pointing the lens at various lighting conditions and
pressing the shutter half way down. If a red flag appears in the viewfinder, the light
meter is registering the shot as either over or under exposed. If the red flag appears,
the camera will also lock the shutter to prevent frames from being wasted. If all types of
lighting conditions including full sunlight are causing the red flag to appear, the selenium
cell has worn out and the light meter and automatic mode will no longer work. This can
be prevented by attaching the lens cap while the camera is not in use. If the light meter
does happen to be non-functional, the camera can still be used in manual mode by changing
the aperture manually, through either the use of an external light meter, or by following
your own knowledge of light conditions, including the “Sunny 16 Rule”.
When shooting, compose your image in the viewfinder window and keep all the details you wish to
be included within the guide lines of the viewfinder. Adjust the aperture to get the
desired result and judge the distance from the subject in order to set the correct focus
setting for the shot.
Once you have the settings set and the shot composed, you are ready to press the shutter
button down and expose your photo.
Push the film advance wheel to set up the next frame and you are ready for you next
shot. The window on the right side of the top of the camera will tell you how many photos
you have taken. You will know when you are at the end of your roll of film when you feel
tension on the film advance wheel and can no longer advance the film.
At this point you must press the film rewind button on the bottom of the camera, and rotate
the rewind *** clockwise while it is still in the down position. You should be able to
feel the tension release and the winding become much easier once all the film has been rewound.
You can now safely open the film compartment and remove the exposed roll of film for development.
This has been an in depth look at the technical aspects of the Olympus Trip 35 camera. Be
sure to check out how this camera stacks up against other cameras we have featured, by
checking out our review video and feel free to send us any questions, comments or requests,
as we would love to hear from you. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exciting and
informative videos on everything photography and until next time… Happy Shooting.