olympus trip wiki

Olympus Trip 35
Edit source
View history

The Trip 35 is a fully-automatic 35mm compact camera , manufactured by Olympus from 1967 [1] to 1984, during which time over ten million units were sold. [1] (This oft-quoted figure is likely to have included later plastic-bodied Olympus cameras with Trip branding, as the original Trip 35 had serial numbers going up to around 5,400,000.) [2] The auto-exposure mechanism is effectively solar-powered by a selenium cell surrounding the lens, and consequently the camera runs entirely without batteries. Until June 1978, the shutter button was silver-coloured metal. After that date, all Trips had a black plastic button.

1 Auto-exposure mechanism
3 Viewfinder
4 Common failure and fix
5 References

Auto-exposure mechanism [ ]

With the aperture ring set to "A", the camera operates as a program automatic with a working EV range of 8.32-17.4 at ASA 100. [3] Half-pressing the shutter-release button locks the exposure with both the aperture and shutter speed (of which there are only two, 1/40 and 1/200s) fixed by a delicate but accurate mechanism. As explained by one repair page ,

The combination of aperture and shutter speed that the exposure mechanism chooses depends on the amount of light available. The precise amount of light that triggers a change of the shutter speed is not documented in the user manual, but it is believed to be around EV 13. When brightness of EV 13 or more is detected, the Trip 35 will increase the shutter speed to 1/200 sec in preference to using a smaller aperture, and use a narrower aperture as light levels increase from there, presumably to avoid the diffraction effects that affect all 35mm cameras below f/11. [4] Below EV 13, it will use the 1/40 sec speed and widen the aperture for lower light levels. The camera will refuse to fire if there is not enough light, with a red plastic flag appearing simultaneously in the viewfinder. This mechanism makes it impossible to make the error of shooting with the lens cap in place.

When the aperture is set manually (primarily for flash photography), the shutter speed is set to 1/40th of a second. However, the meter is still active even in this "manual" mode. Setting the aperture manually merely sets the widest permissible aperture, and the auto-exposure mechanism may still choose to set a smaller aperture than this if it sees fit. [4]

Other than this, the camera offers no controls for setting exposure manually, though one can easily set exposure compensation by changing the film ASA dial to a higher or lower value.

The Trip 35 has a 40mm f/2.8 Zuiko non-interchangeable lens, with four elements in three groups. This lens has a reputation for being extremely sharp, even in the corners. The lens provides simple zone-focusing with 4 cute distance symbols marked on the top-left of the lens. These correspond to the real distance markings on the underside of the lens: 1 meter, 1.5 meters, 3 meters, and infinity.

Viewfinder [ ]

The viewfinder is an albada-type, with parallax markings for closer focusing. The windows are made of plastic. There is a second, very small window under this, nicknamed the "Judas window", which shows the current aperture setting and distance symbol which are on the lens barrel.

A small red flag will appear in the viewfinder if the auto-exposure mechanism decides there is not enough light and refuses to fire.

Common failure and fix [ ]

Although Trip 35 units are considered to be well-built and mechanically reliable, many vintage units are experiencing a similar symptom: stuck or sticky aperture.

Identification of misbehavior: On a normal Trip 35, the aperture hole must automatically retract to minimum f/22 whenever shutter button is not pressed. Set the lens to different manual aperture setting and press the shutter, the aperture bore should open to different size accordingly and retract to minimum as soon as the shutter button is depressed. If the aperture does not respond, get stuck somewhere in the middle, then the aperture assembly has a lubrication problem.

The following webpage described the remedy in detail: http://www.thermojetstove.com/Trip35/ . However, there are a few steps that can be improved.

1. It's not necessary at all to open the upper cover to take out the aperture assembly. Keeping the top cover in place has 2 advantages: improved handling and what's more important, top cover is the best position to draw reliable referencing dots which is explained later.

2. When disassembling upper cover, it's not necessarily at all to have the rewind crank removed. simply lift the handle and rotate, and screws will expose.

3. Since focus in this model is done by rotation of screw type front lens element, positioning is absolutely crucial and messing up will be very painful. The online article documented this step however is confusing. The detailed steps should be as follows:

1. Remove the outer ring while having the focus ring set to infinity ('Mountain') 2. Use a marker pen to mark the position of 12 o'clock on plastic edge of front lens. This dot is temporary and shall be removed in step 4. For accurate matching, it's best to use a ruler to mark another spot on metal top cover in a line along the diameter. (Call it 1ST DOT for reference) 3. Rotate the front lens fully clockwise till the bottom(in the article, the term 'the whole way' is really confusing and caused big trouble for me). Then, again using a ruler, draw another dot on metal top cover (2nd dot) along the center and the marked spot on front lens, . 4. Remove the mark on the front lens. 5. When reassembling front lens, first double check the focus ring is in position of infinity, then screw the lens in fully clockwise to the bottom. Draw another dot on the lens edge along 2nd dot and lens center. Let's call it 3rd dot. 6. Rotate the lens counter-clockwise until 3rd dot is aligned with 1st dot. 7. Reinstall front ring, be sure to insert the extend directly into the pit in focus ring, tighten 3 screws and make sure outer ring (With Olympus Zuiko Made in Japan mark) rotate symmetrically with focus ring.

Follow this procedure, factory-level focus accuracy should be retained after a lubrication maintenance.

References [ ]

↑ 1.0 1.1 Olympus' history of EE-equipped cameras
↑ Serial numbers collected by Flickr group
↑ Specifications in the user-manual.
↑ 4.0 4.1 See the Trip 35 program graph , and the explanation in this thread .
Olympus Trip 35 - Sample Images
Olympus Trip 35 Users - Facebook Group
Salerno's Olympus Trip 35 age identification page.
Jim Simon's Trip 35 page
Lionel's Olympus Trip 35 page in French at 35mm-compact.com
Olympus Trip 35 page at Retrography.com by Simon Simonsen, Denmark
Manual for Olympus Trip 35
Olympus Trip 35 group on Flickr
A modification that allows a 1/200 shutter speed with manual aperture control
Illustrated instructions for repairing a Trip 35
Olympus Trip 35 short intro and use with Kentmere 100 film
Trip 35 in the Olympus Global History
This is a trip at Classic Cameras by RaúlM.
Video Manual by Shawnee Union
Olympus Trip 35 Instruction Manual in English.
1 Radioactive lenses
2 Helios-44
3 Soviet Factory Logos

Olympus Global Homepage

History of Olympus Products

Olympus TRIP 35

The Olympus TRIP 35 is a full-sized compact EE camera based on the Pen EES. It first went on sale in 1968. The name reflects its suitability as a convenient camera to take on trips. The TRIP 35 became very popular as a camera that combined ease of use, reliability and a low price with superb photographic performance. It remained a best-seller for over the next 20 years since its launch.

Olympus Trip 35: Perfect for Trips

A classic camera with legendary status, makes taking SLR quality photos a breeze and is the perfect camera for taking out, a real grab and go camera.

After sorting out my box of negatives, I found some from when I first started film photography and back then I shot with colour film, whereas now I’m purely black and white.

I picked this camera up on ebay after hearing many many good things on flickr and reading reviews here. I can’t remember how much I paid, but it wasnt much, around £7 I believe. My sister has recently bought one for a trip (that word is going to be used a lot in this review). She’s going on and cost her £18, I think this increase in price is due to the fact more people are realising just how good this camera is.

When my camera arrived, I did all the rudimentary checks you should do with a Trip 35 and that’s half depress the shutter to make sure the aperture blades are moving freely and make sure that the famous red flag rises in the viewfinder. When not enough light is available in “A” mode, simply do this by looking through the finder and cover the lens and press the shutter. The camera passed all the best and was ready to go.

Here are the specs for the Olympus Trip 35 you probably know them already:

Focus: Manual by scale, visible through viewfinder. Lens: 40mm f/2.8 Olympus D. Zuiko, 4 elements, three groups. Close Focus: 2.9’ (0.9m). Diaphragm: two bladed, diamond-shaped, stopping down to about f/22. Shutter: 1/40 or 1/200, automatically selected. No bulb setting. Meter: Selenium cell around lens. (automatically incorporates any filter factors.) Exposure: Program automatic (A) and fixed-aperture for flash. Note: if you chose a large aperture for flash and work in bright light, it stops down accordingly but keeps the shutter speed at 1/40. Film Speed: Third stops from ASA 25 – 400, except ASA 32. Filter Size: 43.5mm screw in. Flash: Hot shoe and PC terminal. Size: 4.912" W x 2.861" H x 2.269" D (124.77mm W x 72.67mm H x 57.62mm D). Weight: 13.77 oz. (390.5g).

Anyway, the following weekend me and my girlfriend and her friend went to Leeds, England. I took the Trip 35 with me, it fit nicely into one of my larger pockets due to the lens, and was easy to carry. I found the camera great to use on the street and hardly anyone notices it and if they do, they look intrigued. Here are some of the results from Leeds.

For my next roll, I decided to experiment a little. I used a roll of self redscaled film. It was iso 200 so I rated it at 50. Here are some results.

Overall, this camera is great and one everyone should own. Over 5 million were made so you will be able to pick one up, put any film init and it will perform fantastically. My two favourite things about it are the fact it doesn’t use batteries and well, it’s amazing zuiko lens. I believe the meter is accurate enough to use slide film and it is very consistent. Thanks for reading, keep shooting.

written by brandkow93 on 2012-05-17 #gear #street #review #colours #colour #olympus #olympus-trip-35 #david-bailey #sharp #redscaled

zorki , lizkoppert , spookydirt , joshuadleach , thepolaroid , foodeanz , alex34 , cloudishballon , chib3h , gengorou , concrete-monstaz , tomkiddo , wuxiong & neanderthalis .

Really wanted one of these for a while but told myself I couldn't buy any more cameras :/

I'm quite fond of this camera, i have never seen one with a lens cap!

@street_smile , I've got one with cap, recently brought from the auction: ic.pics.livejournal.com/romson/2316906/74569/original.jpg The logo has changed slightly since 1970, so possibly it's original cap.

Marce's Summer Adventures with the Sprocket Rocket

Busan-based film photographer Marce takes us back to summer and a trip filled with beautiful scenery and memorable moments, all captured using the Sprocket Rocket 35 mm Panoramic Camera.

A Visual Trip with the LomoApparat by Angela Izzo

Both known for their world-distorting and experimental styles, LomoAmigo Angela Izzo and the LomoApparat make the perfect pair to take us to another reality. Check out Angela's latest shots!

Dreamy Bokeh With the New Petzval 55 MM F/1.7 Mkii

Jump outside of your comfort zone and take sensationally striking shots with the signature bokeh of the New Petzval 55 mm f/1.7 MKII! Available in Brass, Black Brass and Black Aluminium finish!

Available in our Shop

A Light, Wide, and Compact Lens To Always Carry With You: The LC-A MINITAR-1 Art Lens

Sometimes we just need to free our creativity and wander around, with the only decision being the camera and lens choice we take when we step outside. The Lomo LC-A Minitar-1 Art Lens is the perfect tool for this occasion.

Mahnoosh Niakan's Timeless Portraits with the LomoGraflok

Large format is often slow and clunky. It takes a lot of time and effort to get the perfect image. But with our LomoGraflok, the first instant back for 4x5 cameras, we have broken these barriers. Photographer Mahnoosh Niakan shares her incredible portraits taken with the LomoGraflok.

Tipster: Night-time Adventures With the Fisheye No.2

With its 170° lens mixed with features such as multiple exposure, bulb mode, and flash, the Fisheye No.2 is perfect for nights out. Here we share some tips on how to get the best low light photos with your Fisheye No.2.

Lomomatic 110 Glass Lens Camera

The Lomomatic 110 is your compact companion for every adventure! Featuring a glass lens, automatic exposure, day and night aperture modes, controllable ISO settings and a flash, get ready to capture your memories in vibrant, super-sharp 110 frames, with a depth of field you’ve never seen on a 110 image ever before!

Get it in our Shop

Enjoy Summer on Film with the LomoApparat Fluffy Omelet Special Edition

Thai artist Proei-Natchariya Laosrisin, also known as Fluffy Omelet, has designed a beach-themed new edition of our LomoApparat camera, perfect for capturing summer holidays on film. Check out the colorful camera and some photos taken by the artist!

Isabelle Baldwin's Large Format Experimentation with the LomoGraflok 4×5 Instant Back

Arizona-based photographer Isabelle Baldwin has a love for environmentalism and analogue photography, so when we found out that she takes her large format camera on her adventures, we knew she'd be the perfect match for our LomoGraflok 4×5 Instant Back.

The Fisheye No.2 and Double Exposure – A Multilayer Adventure

Make a bold statement and break from the straight lines of a classic lens. And if that is not enough, switch the multiple exposure feature on for an extraordinary circular adventure.

Film Photography Day Deals are On!

In celebration of Film Photography Day there are tons of exclusive discounts and fab freebies available so shop now and enjoy sweet savings before it’s too late!

Jonathan Mok on His First Impressions of the Diana F+ and Love of 120 Film

Jonathan Mok is a California-based photographer and creator with a knack for medium format photography. We knew the Diana F+ camera would be a perfect photographic companion for him!

Charm Within Everyday Life – Anna Starr Shoots With the Diana F+

Anna Starr has a passion for medium format experimental cameras, so we knew she’d be a perfect match for our endlessly creative Diana F+. In these photos she brings attention to the little things we might miss when going about our daily lives.

Your Lomography Holiday Gift Guide 2023

Let's take a look back at Lomography's 10 Golden Rules and find out which gifts are perfect for you and your loved ones! Film, instant cameras, art lenses, scanning kits, cute gadgets. . . you're sure to find something that suits you!

Find Out More About

35mm Lenses
Camera Reviews
Point and Shoot

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. ]

Share this post!

Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
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.

Olympus Trip 35 (1967)

This is an Olympus Trip 35, a 35mm scale focus camera made by Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. between the years 1967 and 1984. The Trip was an extremely popular compact camera and is credited as one of the first truly successful point and shoot cameras, ushering in a new age of simple cameras to those who otherwise would never have bought a rangefinder or SLR camera. The Trip requires no batteries and uses a selenium cell exposure meter for programmed auto exposure, but also allows for the option of manually selected f/stops. The Trip came with an accurate metering system, a reliable shutter, and a quality lens which meant that it was both dependable and delivered excellent results for the millions of people using them. Many can still be found in good working condition today, making them an ideal point and shoot for film shooters looking for an easy to use, but high quality, vintage shooting experience.

When you look at the progression of 20th century camera development, you can see some themes surrounding the style and features of cameras that were released in a particular period. Folding and box cameras dominated the earliest parts of the 20th century, Leica and other 35mm “miniature” cameras were all the rage in the 30s and 40s. By the 50s, the Single Lens Reflex began to be the preferred style of camera over the rangefinder, and at the start of the 60s, “electric eye” cameras opened up doors with auto exposure to people who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to (or didn’t want to) shoot high quality and properly exposed images.

It seems that by the end of the 1960s and going into the 70s, the industry was getting the idea that people wanted more compact and easy to use cameras, but without too many sacrifices in quality. Auto Exposure not only eliminated a lot of the guesswork that would have stumped novice photographers, but also meant that the manual controls that are needed to set things like shutter speed and f/stops could be eliminated from the design, making them simpler to produce and cheaper to sell. The prevalence of electronics, both in shutters, metering systems, and viewfinder displays also helped decrease the size of cameras compared to fully mechanical ones a decade earlier.

Of all the major players at the time, Olympus seemed to be the one company who did the most to differentiate themselves in the compact camera market. The half frame Olympus Pen model made it’s debut in 1959 before anyone else was making a serious effort in the compact camera segment. Each of Olympus’s subsequent full frame cameras were smaller than those released by their competitors, and although it wasn’t out yet, the upcoming OM-series SLR would offer a fully featured semi-professional level camera system in the smallest package possible.

In 1968, a new model called the Olympus Trip 35 would make it’s debut to relatively little fanfare. This new camera broke very little new ground, it didn’t have the credentials of the Pen’s designer Yoshihisa Maitani , and none of it’s specifications would have excited semi or professional photographers. The name “Trip” was chosen to suggest the camera’s intended purpose as a vacation camera for people who wanted a capable, yet compact and simple camera.

Originally retailing in 1968 for $59.95, when adjusted for inflation this compares to about $450 today which is right in the realm of what a capable, yet not out of reach camera would sell for today. The Trip had a quality 4-element D.Zuiko lens, fully automatic programmed auto exposure via a selenium meter, and an easy to use focusing system with click stops for Portrait, Group, and Scenery. The camera was only slightly larger than the very popular Pen series yet exposed full sized 24mm x 36mm shots on regular 35mm film.

Throughout it’s decade and a half of production, the camera only saw very minor changes. The two most obvious were the switch from a chrome to a black plastic shutter release button and an expansion of the ASA film speeds from 200 to 400.

In my research for this article, I found very little information about the Trip around the time of it’s release and into the early 1970s. The most prevalent form of advertising was a series of commercials that aired in the UK featuring famous photographer David Bailey and his Trip.

Check out the following commercial featuring Bailey and Monty Python alum, Eric Idle .

It doesn’t seem as though the camera caught on until a few years after it’s release, but once it did, it remained a very popular model being sold until the early to mid 1980s. Many sites on the Internet today suggest that up to 10 million Trip 35s were sold , but based on serial number research, the actual number is probably closer to half that. But even with 5 million units sold, the Olympus Trip 35 remains one of the most successful single models of any camera ever made.

By the time the Trip 35 went out of production in 1984, there were already a huge number of more advanced cameras with more features, yet the appeal of a mechanical camera that worked without a battery and could still deliver quality results is why it stayed around for so long.

Olympus recognized the success of the Trip name and would reuse it in a series of simple auto focus cameras that were in production from 1984 to 2000, but none with the long lived popularity as the original Trip 35.

Today, the Olympus Trip 35 remains a very popular model for collectors and film enthusiasts alike. A combination of a plentiful supply of them that can be found cheaply, good reliability, and an easy to use design that produces excellent results means that almost everyone who uses one, still has favorable things to say about them. This is a model that is highly recommended by many, including me, and one that definitely deserves a place in your collection.

Year of Production

The Olympus Trip 35 was in production for about a decade and a half, and a common question among collectors is when was my camera made? There are a few articles online suggesting that the earliest models have 6 digit serial numbers and the first 7 digit serial numbers appeared in 1971 – 72, but the Olympus Trip 35 Flickr group has a post that suggests the month and year of manufacture can be revealed by a date code stamped on the underside of the film pressure plate.

The pressure plate is easy to remove as it simply needs to be pulled off on one side. Do it slowly so as not to bend the clips, but I was able to get mine off without any damage to it. Sure enough, on the back of mine, I saw the number 26 which suggests mine was made in June 1972. I’ve copied the relevant information from that Flickr group here, and take no credit for this information.

1st Japanese character or letter (in later models) signifying the assembly plant.
2nd number representing the last digit of the year of assembly (e.g. 5 = 1975, 0 = 1980).
3rd number or letter representing the month of assembly, 1-9 for Jan-Sep, X, Y, Z for Oct-Dec.

The Trip 35 was manufactured between 1967 and 1984, so if you are unsure if you have a 1968 or 1978 model, the chrome shutter button is the earlier and the black the later.

Further reading through the discussion in this thread, it appears that later Trips either don’t have this number stamped anywhere, or the numbers that are there don’t make any sense so it’s possible that the later cameras either used a different system, or none at all, but this should at least allow a good number of Trips to be dated.

My Thoughts

How good could it be? This is a simple compact camera from the “electric eye” era with a large selenium meter and a limited number of shutter speeds, after all. There were tons of cameras like this made over the years, so despite the overwhelming evidence that the Trip 35 was something special I had to find out for myself.

For starters, the Trip is small, but not too small. This was a camera that was designed to be packed into luggage and taken on vacation, so portability was factored into it’s size. Of course Olympus already had their well known half-frame Pen series, and the Trip 35 in someways looks like a full size Pen. At a weight of 390 grams, the camera is light enough to not be noticeable when hanging from a wrist strap, but isn’t so lightweight as to feel cheap.

The overall design of the camera has a very minimalist Japanese look to it. By that I mean, no unnecessary bumps, curves, or protrusions. The top plate is very straightforward featuring a rewind knob with fold out handle, the flash hot shoe, cable threaded shutter release, and automatic resetting exposure counter window. The shutter release on this one is chrome as were all the earlier Trips. At some point in the late 70s or early 80s, the shutter release was changed to a black plastic type, but otherwise looked the same.

Flip the camera over and the bottom has the rewind release button and a centrally located 1/4″ tripod socket. While I always appreciate the inclusion of a well thought out tripod socket, the lack of a Bulb or any shutter speed slower than 1/40 likely suggests that not too many Trips ever saw use on a tripod.

The back of the camera continues with the same squared pattern vinyl body covering from the front and features a rectangular viewfinder window and to the right, the film advance wheel.

This style of rear film advance wheel was a hallmark of most of Olympus’s compact cameras. It first appeared on the original Olympus Pen in 1959 as a way to make the camera as inexpensive as possible and continued with the Trip and the later XA-series of cameras.

Although a cost cutting measure, in reality it works quite well, as two quick left to right swipes of your right thumb across the wheel is enough to advance the film one full exposure while simultaneously cocking the shutter. I can’t honestly say that a film advance lever would have been much faster.

Loading film into the Trip is an uneventful affair. There is a small release on the bottom of the camera’s left side which unlocks the door. Film loads from left to right onto a multi-slotted fixed take up spool.

Despite it’s economy pricing, the film compartment is as good as cameras costing quite a bit more with it’s over sized and dimpled film pressure plate which helps maintain film flatness while decreasing resistance, and even featuring a metal spring on the door to help keep the cassette stable while shooting. In the previous image to the left, you can see this camera’s degraded light seals which like many cameras of the era, needed to be replaced before I could shoot it.

Although lacking a rangefinder or any other kind of optical focus aide, the Trip 35 has a simplified focusing system that uses 4 click stops for various types of photography. At each click stop is an icon which can be seen through a small window from within the viewfinder. The four stops represent the following distances:

Closeup – 1m (3.2 feet)
Portrait – 1.5m (5 feet)
Group – 3m (10 feet)
Scenery – Infinity

Although not visible from this angle, a focus distance scale with marks in meters and feet is on the opposite side of the lens, visible for the bottom in case you don’t like the icons.

Combined with the wide depth of field offered by the 40mm D.Zuiko lens, guessing focus in most brightly lit scenes is very easy and quite a bit faster than had the camera come with a rangefinder.

Also visible from this angle is the aperture scale ring which enables full and partial auto exposure modes. Turning the inner ring to the A position allows the camera’s meter to select one of the two shutter speeds (1/40 or 1/200) and any range of f/stops from f/2.8 to f/22 to get the exposure right. If there is insufficient light to make a properly lit exposure, a red flag will appear in the viewfinder window and the shutter release will be locked.

For flash photography, or those who want a little more control, you can choose partial auto exposure mode by turning the aperture ring to any position from 2.8 to 22. In each of these positions, the auto exposure system is not fully deactivated, it will still measure light output and select an appropriate f/stop up to that point. So for example, if you manually select f/16, and the exposure meter thinks that f/8 is the right choice, that’s what it will use. In this partial mode, the shutter speed is fixed at 1/40 and cannot be changed. If you require a 1/200 shutter speed in manual mode, there are articles online showing you how to open the camera and modify it to do so . Without this modification however, the camera should not be used for fast action shots in manual mode.

Lastly, at the very front of the lens, is a ring for setting the ASA film speed for the meter. Earlier Trips were limited from 25-200, but were later increased to allow ASA 400 film to be used.

The viewfinder is large and bright, showing projected frame lines for the 40mm frame. The frame lines do not automatically correct for parallax, so there are hash marks to indicate the frame at close focus.

In an effort to make the camera as small as possible, the viewfinder is a bit too close to the lens which causes it to protrude into the viewfinder in the bottom right corner.

Below the viewfinder is a peep hole that allows you to read both the selected focus distance and shutter mode at the same time. In the previous two images, the camera is set to Portrait and Auto.

Lastly, when there is insufficient light to properly expose an image, a red flag will appear in the viewfinder window and the shutter release will be locked, preventing you from making an exposure. This could be a problem for people wanting to use faster film as the fastest speed supported is 400 but for most general shots it should be fine.

The Trip is very easy to use and I’ve found it’s best with cameras like these to not overthinking these, and to use them to their strengths, which is exactly how I intended to use it.

For my first roll through the Trip, I loaded in a fresh roll of Fuji 200 and took it with me to the Chicago Bears training camp prior to the 2019 season, and like the Bears season turned out to be, that first roll was a disaster as I foolishly used the camera without replacing the light seals and the entire roll had major light leaks in every single image. Whoops!

Into the repair queue went the camera, and after having a free weekend to replace the degraded light seals with some new ones, I loaded in another roll of Fuji 200 and took some fall pictures with it.

There is a reason the Olympus Trip 35 almost universally receives constant praise and was in production for over a decade and a half. This is an immensely fun and easy to use camera that delivers excellent results, and perhaps shocking to no one, my results were excellent too.

I left the camera in Auto mode for the entirely of it’s first two rolls and tried to use it as closely as possible to how it’s target audience would have. Looking at the images I got, they are all properly exposed, sharp across the frame, and show no signs of optical flaws common in lesser cameras. A tiny amount of vignetting was evident in a few images, but nothing that should bother anyone. As is the case with any lens marked Nikkor or Rokkor. Olympus’s lineup of Zuiko lenses make spectacular images.

The Olympus Trip wasn’t the first at anything except possibly being the first truly capable point and shoot camera and for that, has quickly become one of my favorite cameras in all of my collection. As much as I’d love to tell you that a folding plate camera from the 1920s or some quirky 1950s SLR is going to be my “go to” camera when I want to shoot film, the reality is cameras like the Olympus Trip will get the call far more often than 95% of what’s in my collection.

I could probably come up with a few nitpicks about the camera like for example the cramped viewfinder that is blocked by the lens in the bottom right corner, or being limited to only 2 shutter speeds and not having a true manual mode, but frankly, if Olympus had changed any of those things, it likely would have negatively affected the success of the camera. Having such a simple shutter meant that it was more reliable and cheaper to produce. Had the camera cost even as little as $10 more, less people would have bought it and it likely wouldn’t have been in production for as long. If there were more features it might have not appealed to the entry level consumer like it did.

The Olympus Trip 35 is a perfect example of “less is more” and in this case, it is WAY more. As this article tops 3400 words, I regret to say that I have nothing new to add to the countless number of positive articles about this camera that already exist.

They’re all right. This is a wonderful camera and one I strongly recommend you check out!

Like this article? Share it!

Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
Click to print (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Now I understand why this camera is a consistent good seller on That Auction Site. For your readers who may not know, the letter preceding the name “Zuiko” on Olympus manual focus lenses indicates the number of elements, with A = 1, B = 2, etc etc through H = 8 (found on the H. Zuiko 35mm f2.0 in the OM series, which I think is the most complex prime lens Olympus made). . Early manual focus Nikkors of the pre-AI variety use a similar scheme, but the letters are based on Latin or mathematicians’ designations for the number of elements: T = tri, Q = quadra, P = penta, H = hexa, S = septa, on up thru D = deca.

Thanks for the feedback Roger, perhaps this would make for an article of it’s own as Minolta did it with their lenses too.

First Letter (no. of groups): T=3; Q=4; P=5; H=6; S=7; O=8; N=9. Second Letter (no. of elements): C=3; D=4; E=5; F=6; G=7; H=8; I=9; J=10; K=11; L=12.

For example, the 58mm f/1.2 MC Rokkor – PG contained 7 elements in 5 group

I have 3 Trips and really must rationalise and sell a couple of them

String pull Kodak first successful point and shoot?

Thanks Mike and Roger for the Groups/Elements codes here. I knew Nikon, but not theothers

Great article! There was one change/variant you didn’t mention – the all black model produced for two years between 1968-1969. I have three Trips, one early Chrome button, one later black button and, of course, the Trip Noir, which is my faithful travel companion. I’ve even run some infrared film through it (successfully) – it truly is an exceptionally capable camera.

Mike I’ve had a few trips in my time and found them so easy and fun to use. There is a one thing to look out for when buying one, check the red flag pops up when you cover the meter with your hand indicating insufficient light – if it doesn’t show and the shutter still fires then you may have a problem. Also i thought the apature settings were mainly there for when a manual flash was attached and the user then sets the appropriate f stop for the subject to distance coverage needed.

Am I alone in thinking that the Trip 35 is the full frame version of the Pen EES2? I have both.

Olympus’s design theory back then shared a similar family resemblance across many models. I am certain that was intentional! 🙂

Like this Post? Let me hear your thoughts! Cancel reply

Browse Over 250+ Film Cameras Shop Now

Trusted By Over 30,000 Customers On Their Photography Journey Early Access

Free Worldwide Shipping on Orders Over £200 Learn more

Russia (GBP £)

Returns & Exchanges

Hassle Free Returns Policy

Free Tracked UK Delivery

Tracked & Next Day Delivery

30 Days Guarantee

Market Leading Assurance

Free Worldwide Shipping

On All Camera Orders

Why the Olympus Trip 35 is a Classic Camera Worth Owning

David Johnson | April 14, 2023

History of the Olympus Trip 35

Design and build quality.

Zone Focusing

Light metering, easy to use.

Affordable Price

Shooting experience.

Film Availability

Repairs and maintenance.

Tweet on Twitter
Share on Facebook
Pin on Pinterest

Previous Next

Your cart is empty

Subtotal: £0.00 GBP

Free Delivery Service

UK & Worldwide Delivery

Reliable Delivery

Hassle Free Returns

Choose options

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!

Olympus Superzoom 70g/76g/80g/100g/105g Review – Are They Good?

Date written – 28/08/2023 I’ve been shooting film for 7 years now and over that time I’ve had a lot of experience with Olympus Superzooms. The Olympus Superzoom G series is comprised of zoom point-and-shoot cameras with 38mm to 70-105mm F 3.7 to F 9.5 lenses. They’re reliable, compact and easy to use, making them…

Olympus OM1 VS OM2 – What’s The Difference?

Over the years I’ve come across a lot of OM1s and OM2s and I’ve discovered the pros and cons of these classic cameras. The Olympus OM1 is a small, fully manual SLR camera with shutter speeds from 1s-1/1000s and the Olympus OM2 is a super compact, auto/manual SLR camera that has an electronic shutter. There…

The Pentax ME Super Review: Everything You Need To Know

I’ve shot and tested a hell of a lot of Pentax ME Supers over time I’ve got to grips with this fantastic SLR, this has provided me with great insight on this compact king. The Pentax ME Super is one of the best 35mm Aperture Priority cameras ever made. Many people agree that the Pentax…

The Lomography Apparat Review – Everything You Want To Know

I took the Lomo Apparat out for a spin so I can show you how to use it and get the best shots with it and find out if it’s worth the price! The Lomo Apparat is a film camera that Lomography released in 2022, it comes with a massive range of accessories and attributes…

Kodak Portra 160 VS Kodak Ektar 100 – What’s The Difference?

I’ve been shooting film for over 7 years and over that time I’ve shot a lot of Ektar 100 and Portra 160 and found the small differences between the two. Kodak Portra 160 has fine grain, pastel colour saturation, perfect skin tones and brilliant dynamic range, making it perfect for a number of different types…

Olympus Trip 35 on Holiday – Part 1 – Keeping it Simple in New Zealand – by David Hume

28 October, 2022

Post Categories:

Share this post:

The Olympus Trip 35 is a compact 35mm viewfinder camera released in the late 1960s that sold millions of units and had a long production run. It’s a famous benchmark camera for sure. (A look at the Olympus website is instructive here.)

It was a pretty basic camera in the Olympus lineup and came out after the Pen EES of 1962 that shared the electronic exposure system and before the more advanced Olympus 35DC compact of 1971 (that needed a battery) and the OM-1 of 1972. Obviously it was spot-on for the time it was made – its sales success attests to that.

Today the situation is different. This is a camera that was designed to produce great holiday snaps and be easy to use. It was superseded though, by a style of camera that also produced great holiday snaps and was even easier to use. An obvious example would be Olympus’s own AFL from 1984 or Mju from 1991; cameras with auto focus, built in flash, auto wind, auto load; all that stuff. So there was a time when Trip 35s were plentiful and a bit obsolete, and as such could be picked up for a song. But what’s the story as we move into the 2020s?

First thoughts.

As anyone who reads 35mmc would know, the electronic point-and-shoots that edged out the Trip 35 and which were themselves so cheap on the used market that they were almost disposable are now much more expensive. As well as being expensive they’re fragile, as their now-aging electronic internals get flaky and they brick up with no hope of repair. As a new generation of shooters coming to film from a digital upbringing cast their eyes around for usable cameras, the Trip 35 has every right to be reexamined.

Let’s take a look.

It’s light but made of metal. It sits well in the hand. Its silver satin finish is really nice and the controls are smooth. Some bits are plastic, but the bits that matter work really nicely. The focus is well-damped and smooth and the aperture, focus and ASA rings are all machined metal. It’s the sort of camera that looks better the closer you look. I think it’s a good looking, classy unit. And it’s not pretending to be anything it’s not; it looks 60s cool because that’s when it was designed, not because it’s being nostalgic.

The Trip 35 occupies the interesting position of being auto-exposure but having no batteries. The small amount of electricity it needs to work its light meter and control the shutter speed and aperture comes from selenium photo-voltaic cell around the lens. This means that there is no problem with unobtainable batteries or corroded battery compartments – as long as the selenium cell still works you’re in business. The cells appear to last well if they’ve been kept covered up by the lens cap, and the Trip 35 is a today pretty viable proposition. It’s easy to test if it works, and actually quite fun, as it also lets you see the aperture blades moving. If you look at the lens from the front, as you press the shutter release you’ll see the aperture blades opening and closing to the correct aperture. To test the shutter – with no film in it, open up the back, wind it on and look through the lens at a bright scene as you fire the shutter. If you see a little diamond shaped fleck of light the shutter has fired and you’re in business. If you cup your hand over the lens to block the light and try again you should get a red flag in the viewfinder and no shutter action.

Practicality

To me it’s an interesting camera but I’m not sure if it really has a comfortable home these days. It does not offer the level of control of a manual rangefinder or SLR, and it does not offer the automation of an auto-focus compact with flash, exemplified Olympus’s own Mju. However, they look cool and are sold for reasonable money. As I write this, you can pay a couple of hundred dollars and get a tested or refurbished one, even with snazzy custom leatherette. Back in the day, anyone who wanted to bring back holiday snaps needed a film camera. Today, shooting film means that you want to, not that you have to. If there’s a problem with the Trip 35 I’d put it like this: it’s not quite easy enough for those who want to shoot film but don’t want to know anything at all about cameras, and yet it does not quite offer enough control for those who want to do it all themselves.

Specs and features

What’s the heart of a Trip 35? The auto exposure and a great lens in a nice compact and light metal body.

The lens is a 40mm f 2.8 and it’s sharp. That just about covers it. But how sharp is sharp? Sharp in this case means if you shoot the 400 ISO colour negative film that (I reckon) you should be shooting the lens will out-resolve the film. If your shot is soft it’s because you missed focus or something moved. If you know you’ll be shooting in good light then by all means pop in some Ektar 100 and go for your life – you won’t be disappointed. If you’re feeling brave put in some Ektachrome. If you’re thinking, “AHA – but a 40mm 2.8 at minimum focus of three feet will give me a DOF of… etc. etc.” then go your hardest but I’d say the Trip 35 is not a camera that makes that kind of promise.

BUT let’s see how this plays with the aperture and exposure.

The auto exposure works like this: the meter selects one of two shutter speeds, 1/40 th or 1/200 th of a second. Other adjustment comes as the camera changes the aperture from f 2.8 to f 22

If there is too little light for 1/40 th and f 2.8 a little red flag pops up on the viewfinder and the camera will not fire (unless you make it fire – more on that later.) ASA is set manually around the lens barrel, so if you want to shoot your Portra 400 at 320 it’s entirely up to you. (ISO tops out at 400 though.)

This really is what makes this camera what it is; there’s the ability to bend the rules somewhat regarding how you make it behave, but it will keep you out of trouble unless you persuade it not to. (In part two of this series I take it to Italy and go all arty with it.)

I bought my Trip 35 at a time when I had not yet returned to shooting film. I saw it looking neat and clean in a camera shop, was aware of its provenance and how it functioned, but had no real use for it. It was $50 so I bought it. In the 80s I had used a few different types of viewfinder cameras, at least one compact viewfinder camera that had auto exposure out to a second or more and an electronic shutter, but I have no idea now what model that was.

The first time I used my Trip 35 was a trip (see – a trip!) to Aotearoa/New Zealand in 2019 with my daughter who had been shooting my old FM for a couple of years, having lugged it around the world on her travels. I was dabbling in film again – but only roll film at that time. I had just rediscovered a 6×6 folder in the cupboard and was using that to make in-camera multiple exposure panoramas. I took the Trip 35 just for fun, thinking that the shots on my Fuji XE-2 with the 27mm pancake would be the money shots. This was the trip where I learned that the film shots were much nicer. We were both shooting Portra 400 exclusively in those days (I now shoot Portra 160 in 135 and Portra 400 in 120). I recall that we’d look at the light on a scene and instead of saying “Oh, that looks nice!” we’d say, “Oh, that will scan up nicely!”

The set that I brought back from New Zealand (I shot two rolls of 36 over ten days) highlighted for me a different type of travel photography. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say it’s an older type of photography. It was not trying to be arty or clever, it was just about making nice photos of our trip; the things we did and the places we saw. It was the lakes and the mountains, the places we hiked and camped.

The Trip 35 is still ideal for this type of shot. Let’s have a look at why I think this is:

Manual Zone Focus. To focus a trip you choose one of four distance settings, essentially very close, close, near, or far. Most of the time it’s far. If you want to get fancy theres a distance scale on the bottom of the lens barrel. This is often better, quicker and more reliable than an AF camera where you can hear it hunting, or where Infra Red AF might get tricked by heavy fog. The only downside is that you might leave it on the wrong setting. There is a reminder in the viewfinder window, but that is very easy to overlook. I only lost one shot because of the oversight, but, yes, it is possible to forget and loose a whole bunch if you screw it up.

Manual Winding. The camera is ready as soon as you take the lens cap off and it just makes a nice click as you shoot, not a clunk and buzz as it winds on.

No Flash: The Trip 35 is a great outdoors camera, and not such a good indoors camera.

Here’s where it’s a good time to talk about how clever the camera is:

Lots of point and shoots that have built in flash are too eager to fire it, and they’re not clever enough to know that their built-in flash will not illuminate a mountain on the horizon. This does not happen so much these days now that people use their phones, but if you think back to concerts or sports matches years ago there would always be flashes going off in the audience when people were trying to take photos of the action. The camera would sense it was dark and fire its flash, without working out that the flash was absolutely no use in that situation. You would have to disable the flash manually which was often a pain in the arse.

The trip 35 senses if there is enough light for a shot, and if not it will throw up a little red flag in the viewfinder and the stutter will not fire. This also prevents you from taking a shot if you’ve left the lens cap on. Bonus. If that’s all you want to know, fine, don’t take the shot. If you’re a more advanced shooter and want more control, you can have that too. If you flip the aperture ring away from A and set an aperture, the camera will shoot anyway at the aperture you set and 1/40 th of a second. This is great when you’re using your manual flash, but also useful if you want to make a low-light shot. Let’s say it’s dawn or dusk and the light is nice but it’s a bit dark for a correct exposure. Just flip the ring to 2.8 and you’ll have a frame made at 1/40 th and f 2.8. Bingo. Flip it back to A afterwards and you’re back to auto again.

Heading home there was a shot left on the roll so I zone-focussed for this dual portrait mirror-selfie as we were leaving the hotel. The Trip 35 is not the camera you’d pick for this type of shot, but it shows that it can be done and the lens performs nicely if you nail focus. The best camera is the one you have with you and all that.

In part two of the “Trip 35 on Holiday” series I take the camera to Italy and go all arty with in-camera panos in the Dolomites, multiple exposure window selfies in Venice, and more… Stay Tuned!

You can also find Hamish’s old review of his Trip 35 here

Find more similar content on 35mmc

Use the tags below to search for more posts on related topics:

Contribute to 35mmc for an ad-free experience.

There are two ways to contribute to 35mmc and experience it without the adverts:

Paid Subscription – £2.99 per month and you’ll never see an advert again! (Free 3-day trial).

Subscribe here.

Content contributor – become a part of the world’s biggest film and alternative photography community blog. All our Contributors have an ad-free experience for life.

About The Author

Markus Larjomaa on Olympus Trip 35 on Holiday – Part 1 – Keeping it Simple in New Zealand – by David Hume

Comment posted: 28/10/2022

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Bob Janes replied:

Ah - that makes sense! I'd been thinking that my Trip was faulty because the aperture was closed down more than the indication on the ring...

David Hume replied:

Roger that Markus, and thanks for clarifying. In my piece I talk about flipping the ring when you’re already underexposed at f 2.8 so it’s not going to be closing down any more than that, but it’s good to point this feature out. I think this is a handy feature for balancing fill and ambient (if that’s what you want… ) but apart from that situation I wonder who would do this with a Trip 35? If you’re using this feature please let me know. I’d love to hear how people are using theirs. I’m working on part 2 at the moment where I talk a bit about pushing it out of its comfort zone. Cheers.

Yeah there's a bit of info out there about this - it doesn't feature specifically in the manual (at least the one I have) But I sort of figured that people who were interested would dig it out and although I tried I could never do an explanation that didn't just turn into an unholy mess. There'a also a chart out there somewhere that shows the crossover points between the 1/40 and 1/200s and the apertures as light changes if you want to dive down the rabbit hole. I saw it once but again thought there was not anything in it that would affect how I shot so I just moved on. Cheers

David Hume on Olympus Trip 35 on Holiday – Part 1 – Keeping it Simple in New Zealand – by David Hume

Bob Janes on Olympus Trip 35 on Holiday – Part 1 – Keeping it Simple in New Zealand – by David Hume

Cheers re the shot. Yes, I just saw a good opportunity, zone focussed and went for it. It's funny you should say that about the XA2... I think one of the first pieces I ever did was a comparo of the Trip 35 and the XA2 over on Emulsive before I even knew about 35mmc. https://emulsive.org/reviews/camera-reviews/olympus-camera-reviews/the-olympus-trip-35-vs-the-olympus-xa2-in-the-field It's not a great piece (one of my first as I say) But, as things work out - I actually took both these cameras to Italy and ended up preferring the Trip 35 - even though I only threw it in the bag as an afterthought. I'm writing part 2 of this at the moment and I'll mention the differences that I found on holiday, as it has resonated with you. (I thought it would be interesting to collect feedback before finishing Part 2.

Huss on Olympus Trip 35 on Holiday – Part 1 – Keeping it Simple in New Zealand – by David Hume

Cheers Huss; I'll check out those Ricohs - I was not aware of them. Look a bit like a MegaMinox! (I had a Minox or two in the 90s and liked them. I like a folding front door!) Re the wheel; I actually like them. I'm going to talk about that in part two - but in the mean time if you like, have a look at, https://www.davidhume.net/canaletto/ in which the first shot under "Illustrated Catalogue" was shot on the Trip. Best, David.

Mats replied:

Much sharper lens? The most surprising thing to me reading reviews of the Trip is the apparent sharpness and quality of the lens. Though the FF-1 also seems very surprisingly sharp judging by samples I could find online, and the camera seems very nice and and for some reason relatively unknown. I haven't tested either camera though..

Huss replied:

I don't mean to say the Trip does not have a nice lens, it creates very nice images. Just that the Ricoh is bitingly sharp. Trip 35: https://www.flickr.com/gp/39133227@N08/qBTGSooj1E https://www.flickr.com/gp/39133227@N08/024PB7c5NR https://www.flickr.com/gp/39133227@N08/WZTe3U58B7 Ricoh FF1: https://www.flickr.com/gp/39133227@N08/7Dm6n3V200 https://www.flickr.com/gp/39133227@N08/0sp8RYLq85 https://www.flickr.com/gp/39133227@N08/8qA67W1uM7

Shawn Granton on Olympus Trip 35 on Holiday – Part 1 – Keeping it Simple in New Zealand – by David Hume

Thanks Shawn - re the aperture ring, does that fix the speed at 1/40 (which is my understanding) or does it allow it to shoot at 1/200 as well? I can see that this is a really neat solution fr balancing flash and ambient when you're using manual flash, but I can't see a reason for using it without flash (except to override the red flag of course...) I'm keen to find out how people use it. Cheers.

Shawn Granton replied:

David, as far as I know, once you move the aperture ring from "A", the shutter will always be 1/40. I don't think they really designed it for anything other than flash. Being able to eke out a shot when the meter says the light is too low is definitely a bonus.

Steven G replied:

Thanks for the article David. I always enjoy them! I thought I might mention that if you want to 'override' that aperture override that closes down the the aperture if there's enough light, one can just set the aperture, then pop a lens cap (or your hand) over the lens, push the shutter halfway, uncover the lens, then take the shot! You get full manual this way, albeit with only 1/40th of a second.

Wow! Thanks Steven. That makes sense but would never have crossed my mind. I'll file it away. You never know...:-)

Vazma on Olympus Trip 35 on Holiday – Part 1 – Keeping it Simple in New Zealand – by David Hume

Comment posted: 29/10/2022

Cheers Vazma - it's great to read of cameras still being used after 50 years in one family.

Cheers Vazma - It's great to read of still cameras being used after 50 years in one family.

Nick Orloff on Olympus Trip 35 on Holiday – Part 1 – Keeping it Simple in New Zealand – by David Hume

Cheers Nick - I'm glad to hear about these cameras being kept in use. And just maybe it "delivers spectacular analog results" with sunflares? ;-)

Hi Nick - I've not noticed that, But maybe we can refer to the flaring as "character" ;-)

Dan Smouse on Olympus Trip 35 on Holiday – Part 1 – Keeping it Simple in New Zealand – by David Hume

Comment posted: 31/10/2022

Thanks Dan. There's a lot to like n'est-ce pas? I don'y really use mine at all when I'm home though. I guess you an only use so many cameras.

Contribute to 35mmc

Paid Subscription

£2.99 per month and you’ll never see an advert again! (Free 3-day trial).

Subscribe here

Content contributor

Become a part of the world’s biggest film and alternative photography community blog. All our Contributors have an ad-free experience for life.

Olympus Trip

Olympus used the name Trip for several 35 mm cameras:

Trip 35 (perhaps the most familiar) or
Any of several autofocus Trip cameras

View source
View history
List of Companies
Community portal
Recent changes
Random page
What links here
Related changes
Special pages
Printable version
Permanent link
Page information
This page was last edited on 20 December 2012, at 18:57.
Text is available under GNU Free Documentation License 1.3 ; other licenses apply to photos.
Privacy policy
About Camera-wiki.org
Disclaimers

IMAGES

Olympus Trip 35 (1967)
Olympus Trip 35 35mm Zone-Focus Film Camera Review
Olympus Trip 35mm Compact Film Camera
Olympus Trip 35
Olympus Trip 35, A Look Back
Olympus Trip 35 (1967)

VIDEO

1984 Olympus Trip AF Quartz Date Point and shoot Film Camera How to Use And Load Film
Olympus Trip XB400
Olympus Trip 35
Olympus Trip MD Короткий Огляд for Sale
Olympus Trip 35. Testing the meter
Olympus trip

COMMENTS

Olympus Trip 35
390 g (390 g) Made in. Japan. The Olympus Trip 35 is a 35mm compact camera, manufactured by Olympus. It was introduced in 1967 and discontinued, after a lengthy production run, in 1984. The Trip name is a reference to its intended market—people who wanted a compact, functional camera for holidays. During the 1970s, it was the subject of an ...
Olympus Trip 35
The Olympus Trip 35 is a fully-automatic 35mm compact camera, manufactured by Olympus from 1967 to 1984, during which time over ten million units were sold, though this oft-quoted figure is likely to have included later plastic-bodied Olympus cameras with Trip branding, as the original Trip 35 had serial numbers going up to around 5,400,000. The auto-exposure mechanism is effectively solar ...
Olympus Trip 35
The Trip 35 is a fully-automatic 35mm compact camera, manufactured by Olympus from 1967 to 1984, during which time over ten million units were sold. (This oft-quoted figure is likely to have included later plastic-bodied Olympus cameras with Trip branding, as the original Trip 35 had serial numbers going up to around 5,400,000.) The auto-exposure mechanism is effectively solar-powered by a ...
Olympus TRIP 35
Olympus TRIP 35 Type Compact 35mm film camera Released May 1968. The Olympus TRIP 35 is a full-sized compact EE camera based on the Pen EES. It first went on sale in 1968. The name reflects its suitability as a convenient camera to take on trips. The TRIP 35 became very popular as a camera that combined ease of use, reliability and a low price ...
Olympus Trip Fixed Focus
Description. When Olympus discontinued the metal-bodied Trip 35 in 1984, it launched a series of cameras that used the 'Trip' name, but were otherwise quite different. Mostly they had auto-focus, but some were aimed at the bargain end of the market and had fixed focus and a single shutter speed. It is these basic cameras that are listed here. Later models had XB (extra big) viewfinders.
Olympus Trip AF
The Trip AF of 1984 was an automatic 35mm compact camera, with manual winding and 2-point autofocus manufactured by Olympus. It was one of a series of cheap models branded with the famous Trip name. Its simple AF system had focal points at 1.5 and 4 meters. The price was ¥34,300 (including the case). Shutter speed: Automatically chosen between ...
Olympus Trip 35: A World-Famous Classic · Lomography
This article was written by Lomographer adam_g2000. Upload your shots to your LomoHome using the Olympus Trip 35. Ignite the legacy of a fascinating but forgotten scientist, Ibn al-Haytham, and become a master of light with this unique lens designed for spherical aberration control on full-frame mirrorless cameras.
Lomopedia: Olympus Trip 35 · Lomography
The Olympus Trip 35 became popular for its auto exposure system (dependent on a solar-powered selenium light meter), simple zone focusing, and its extremely sharp 40 mm f/2.8 Zuiko lens. It doesn't require batteries, which made them great companions for travelers who may not find access to batteries all the time.
Olympus Trip 35: Perfect for Trips · Lomography
Here are the specs for the Olympus Trip 35 you probably know them already: Focus: Manual by scale, visible through viewfinder. Lens: 40mm f/2.8 Olympus D. Zuiko, 4 elements, three groups. Close Focus: 2.9' (0.9m). Diaphragm: two bladed, diamond-shaped, stopping down to about f/22. Shutter: 1/40 or 1/200, automatically selected. No bulb setting.
Olympus Trip 35
The Olympus Trip 35 is a 35mm compact camera, manufactured by Olympus. It was introduced in 1967 and discontinued, after a lengthy production run, in 1984. The Trip name is a reference to its intended market—people who wanted a compact, functional camera for holidays. During the 1970s, it was the subject of an advertising campaign that featured popular British photographer David Bailey.
Olympus Trip 35: Every bit as good as its reputation
Not quite a rangefinder, the Olympus Trip 35 is a compact 35mm camera with auto-exposure and a selenium-cell light meter. The black model was only made for two years, early in the production run. (Daniel J. Schneider) 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 ...
Olympus Trip 35 Camera Walkthrough
This video is a complete walkthrough of the Olympus Trip 35 Camera. It covers everything you need to know about the camera including everything listed below:...
Olympus Trip 35
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 ...
Olympus Trip 35
In today's episode, Jules, Paul and I review the Olympus Trip 35 - a beautiful, compact 35mm viewfinder camera with built-in selenium light meter, an excelle...
Olympus Trip 35 (1967)
Olympus Trip 35 (1967) This is an Olympus Trip 35, a 35mm scale focus camera made by Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. between the years 1967 and 1984. The Trip was an extremely popular compact camera and is credited as one of the first truly successful point and shoot cameras, ushering in a new age of simple cameras to those who otherwise would never ...
Olympus Trip 500
The Trip 500 is a fixed focus entry level compact 35mm film camera by Olympus.It is part of the Olympus Trip series that was reintroduced in the 1980's. The Trip 500 was launched in 2002 along side the similar but better specified model Trip 505 (as well as the Trip AF50 & Trip AF51).Olympus also sold the restyled Trip 600 and Trip 601 which share the specifications to the Trip 500 and 550 ...
Why the Olympus Trip 35 is a Classic Camera Worth Owning
The Olympus Trip 35 features a modern, straightforward appearance. It has a black synthetic leather covering over a metal body. The camera is really small and barely weighs 400 grammes. It is ideal for carrying around because it fits comfortably in your pocket. The camera is quite durable and has superb build quality.
The Olympus Trip 35 Review: Everything You Need To Know
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.
The Simplicity of the Olympus Trip 35
Today, we're looking at the Olympus Trip 35, the perfect beginner's film camera. The Olympus Trip 35 is a compact fully automatic exposure 35mm film camera, ...
Olympus Trip AF MD
The Trip AF MD of 1986 is a fully-automatic 35mm compact camera, with motor drive and auto-focus manufactured by Olympus. It was one of a series of cheap models branded with the famous Trip name. Shutter speed: Fixed at 1/125s. Integral Flash, with on/off switch. Sliding lens cover prevents accidental shutter release.
Olympus Trip 35 on Holiday
Share this post: The Olympus Trip 35 is a compact 35mm viewfinder camera released in the late 1960s that sold millions of units and had a long production run. It's a famous benchmark camera for sure. (A look at the Olympus website is instructive here.) It was a pretty basic camera in the Olympus lineup and came out after the Pen EES of 1962 ...
Olympus Trip MD3
The Olympus Trip MD3 is a simple fixed focus 35mm camera Launched by Olympus in 1998. It was the last of the MD series of Olympus Trip Cameras which also featured the Trip MD, Trip MD2 and Trip AF MD. Has Plastic shell. If non DX coded film used defaults to 100 ISO.
Olympus Trip
Olympus used the name Trip for several 35 mm cameras: . Trip 35 (perhaps the most familiar) or; Any of several autofocus Trip cameras

Auto-exposure mechanism [ ]

Viewfinder [ ]

Common failure and fix [ ]

References [ ]

Olympus TRIP 35

Olympus Trip 35: Perfect for Trips

More Interesting Articles

Marce's Summer Adventures with the Sprocket Rocket

A Visual Trip with the LomoApparat by Angela Izzo

Dreamy Bokeh With the New Petzval 55 MM F/1.7 Mkii

A Light, Wide, and Compact Lens To Always Carry With You: The LC-A MINITAR-1 Art Lens

Mahnoosh Niakan's Timeless Portraits with the LomoGraflok

Tipster: Night-time Adventures With the Fisheye No.2

Lomomatic 110 Glass Lens Camera

Enjoy Summer on Film with the LomoApparat Fluffy Omelet Special Edition

Isabelle Baldwin's Large Format Experimentation with the LomoGraflok 4×5 Instant Back

The Fisheye No.2 and Double Exposure – A Multilayer Adventure

Film Photography Day Deals are On!

Jonathan Mok on His First Impressions of the Diana F+ and Love of 120 Film

Charm Within Everyday Life – Anna Starr Shoots With the Diana F+

Your Lomography Holiday Gift Guide 2023

Find Out More About

Olympus Trip 35 – Camera Review

Want to try the Trip 35 for yourself?

Share this post!

29 comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Olympus Trip 35 (1967)

Like this article? Share it!

Like this Post? Let me hear your thoughts! Cancel reply

Why the Olympus Trip 35 is a Classic Camera Worth Owning

History of the Olympus Trip 35

Zone Focusing

Affordable Price

Film Availability

The Olympus Trip 35 Review: Everything You Need To Know

Olympus Trip 35 Specs

A Brief History Of The Olympus Trip 35

How Does The Olympus Trip 35 Battery Work?

Is The Trip 35 Lens Good?

The Olympus Trip 35 Compared To The Olympus OM10

How Much Is The Olympus Trip 35 Worth?

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

Is The Olympus Trip 35 Fully Manual?

How To Use The Olympus Trip 35

Common Faults Of The Olympus Trip 35

Final Word On The Olympus Trip 35

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Similar Posts

Olympus Superzoom 70g/76g/80g/100g/105g Review – Are They Good?

Olympus OM1 VS OM2 – What’s The Difference?

The Pentax ME Super Review: Everything You Need To Know

The Lomography Apparat Review – Everything You Want To Know

Kodak Portra 160 VS Kodak Ektar 100 – What’s The Difference?

Olympus Trip 35 on Holiday – Part 1 – Keeping it Simple in New Zealand – by David Hume

First thoughts.

Let’s take a look.

Practicality

Specs and features

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Contribute to 35mmc

Olympus Trip

Navigation menu

IMAGES

VIDEO

COMMENTS