Olympus Trip 35

JamieB · Jul 28, 2017

Hi everyone

Anyone have or used the Olympus Trip 35? I'm thinking of getting one. Are they fairly reliable? My only concern is the little red flag that pops up in low light. I am wondering if you can override this or indeed how often it happens. Does it rule out shooting outdoors in a city or in a pub at night? I suppose it's testable on another camera. 1/40th at 2.8 ISO 400 seems to be its limit. I love that it works without a battery.

Ko.Fe. · Jul 28, 2017

It is camera made in millions and copies. It is possible to find which still works. I have one. If you keep cap on lens between shots it is reliable. Yes, you can override, switch from A to 2.8, but better to use flash.
The way it rules is in the name of the camera.

Gerald C Koch · Jul 28, 2017

The Trip 35 is a nice batteryless camera. I have two of them. The Zuiko 40 mm F/2.8 lens is very sharp. They can be picked up very reasonably. A good camera to keep in one's pocket. Make sure that you get a lens cap since the selenium cell is exposed.

Kodachromeguy · Jul 29, 2017

The Trip 35 is a little jewel of a camera, made with typical Olympus precision. You need to recognize that there are only 2 shutter speed, and you have no manual control other than adjusting the ASA dial. I bought one recently at a great price but have not yet developed film #1. Note the 43.5 mm filters are an odd size.

albada · Jul 29, 2017

I have several, and have become expert at repairing them. I even created a web-page here on a way to modify it to have manually-settable shutterspeeds (turn the camera upside-down to get 1/200th). So you could say I'm familiar with this camera. The Trip 35 has an unusually sharp lens, is attractively styled, and needs no battery. Also, the Selenium cell is often fully alive, or close enough to it, even at this old age. However, the earlier models are more easily damaged by a frontal bump, so be wary of a camera with a metal release-button that has a dent on the filter-ring. As mentioned above, if you select f-stops manually, you will always shoot at 1/40th.

Mark Overton

G1DRP · Jul 29, 2017

Absolutely superb point and shoot and very easy to repair.

macfred · Jul 29, 2017

My friend Andrew has several Olympus Trip 35 - he takes some remarkable photographs with those https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajweller/albums/72157661904273834

Thorpelyon · Jul 29, 2017

Yes, great camera. And yes, you can override the Auto feature... but only by varying the aperture. That's really the only control you have over which one of the Trip's 2 shutter speeds it decides upon. I shoot it mainly in "manual" using fresh film which generally gives me a 2-3 stop latitude anyway... because I find the red flag mostly annoying. It seems more sensitive than it needs to be, which may be because the meter has degraded with age. But that lens... oy!!!

rpavich · Aug 1, 2017

I have 4 trips and love them!
In answer to your questions:

JamieB said:
Anyone have or used the Olympus Trip 35? I'm thinking of getting one. Are they fairly reliable?

Yes they are if they've had a CLA. Sometimes you can luck into one that's in good shape with no hidden issues for cheap too, I've got two that I got cheap and they work fine.

My only concern is the little red flag that pops up in low light. I am wondering if you can override this or indeed how often it happens.

Well, it's really a good thing. The slowest shutter speed that the trip will do is 1/40th and if you want to override that, just set the aperture to 2.8 and shoot away. You might not like the results though. For myself, I just use the trip as intended and if I know I'll be in really low light, I use another camera. It doesn't pop up that much and I find it's a good way to make sure you get acceptable negs.

Does it rule out shooting outdoors in a city or in a pub at night? I suppose it's testable on another camera. 1/40th at 2.8 ISO 400 seems to be its limit. I love that it works without a battery.

Me too...I love trips.

I know it seems like it's expensive but I'd recommend getting one from www.tripman.co.uk or from a guy named "creativeclimber" on ebay. Both go through the cameras piece by piece and make sure that everything is sound and the old lube is cleaned off and everything is re-lubed and working great so you can use it for another 60 years!

In today's market, even crappy Trip 35's go for $40.00 to $60.00 and for just 10.00 more you can have peace of mind. It's worth it to me.

JamieB · Aug 1, 2017

rpavich said:
I have 4 trips and love them!
In answer to your questions:

Yes they are if they've had a CLA. Sometimes you can luck into one that's in good shape with no hidden issues for cheap too, I've got two that I got cheap and they work fine.

Well, it's really a good thing. The slowest shutter speed that the trip will do is 1/40th and if you want to override that, just set the aperture to 2.8 and shoot away. You might not like the results though. For myself, I just use the trip as intended and if I know I'll be in really low light, I use another camera. It doesn't pop up that much and I find it's a good way to make sure you get acceptable negs.

Me too...I love trips.

I know it seems like it's expensive but I'd recommend getting one from www.tripman.co.uk or from a guy named "creativeclimber" on ebay. Both go through the cameras piece by piece and make sure that everything is sound and the old lube is cleaned off and everything is re-lubed and working great so you can use it for another 60 years!

In today's market, even crappy Trip 35's go for $40.00 to $60.00 and for just 10.00 more you can have peace of mind. It's worth it to me.

Thanks for the in depth answer I just got a trip yesterday. Waiting for it to be delivered and it is from a guy who totally refurbishes them, cleans them up and sells them on, as a part-time job. I guess much like Tripman. He also offers a 3 year warranty of some kind. Anyway, it is well worth the extra money as you said.
I did so much research of small portable cameras and the Trip basically won for a mixture of reasons: availability, repairability, price, no battery issues, build, look and so on. Will post pics here when I try it out. Going to run a roll of Ektar through it during the course of next week to see it is working fine but it should hopefully be.

rpavich · Aug 1, 2017

JamieB said:
Thanks for the in depth answer I just got a trip yesterday. Waiting for it to be delivered and it is from a guy who totally refurbishes them, cleans them up and sells them on, as a part-time job. I guess much like Tripman. He also offers a 3 year warranty of some kind. Anyway, it is well worth the extra money as you said.
I did so much research of small portable cameras and the Trip basically won for a mixture of reasons: availability, repairability, price, no battery issues, build, look and so on. Will post pics here when I try it out. Going to run a roll of Ektar through it during the course of next week to see it is working fine but it should hopefully be.

Great!
Was it Alan Smith?

OptiKen · Aug 1, 2017

macfred said:
My friend Andrew has several Olympus Trip 35 - he takes some remarkable photographs with those https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajweller/albums/72157661904273834

Remarkable indeed.
Beautiful

JamieB · Aug 1, 2017

rpavich said:
Great!
Was it Alan Smith?

Yes, indeed it was/is. I guess he is well-known in these circles.

rpavich · Aug 1, 2017

JamieB said:
Yes, indeed it was/is. I guess he is well-known in these circles.

Yes he is and you will be pleased.

Olympus Trip 35

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency