Olympus Trip 35 Review – A cult classic point & shoot

By Hamish Gill

I’m certainly not the first and I suspect I won’t be the last to write a little something about the Olympus Trip 35.
I have read this camera had sales figures of around 10,000,000. Olympus used the ‘trip’ moniker on a lot of cameras subsequent to the one in question here, so who knows how many trip 35’s were sold? What is clear is that the number is vast! You only need to go on eBay and see how many are for sale at any one time. Just search for ‘Olympus trip’ on google and you will find entire websites dedicated to the things.
This camera is a popular little snapper and has been since it hit the market in the late 60’s.

Olympus Trip 35

It’s production ran from 1967 through to 1984! It’s popularity was helped along by David Bailey and by the fact that the very simple 40mm lens is exceptionally high quality. It was touted as a camera that could take professional quality images yet is small and very easy to use … No wonder they sold so many!

The name “Trip” comes from the the idea that it was intended as a camera for taking on holiday. I guess this translates to a camera for everyone. And that it really is! This camera is a true point and shoot that even the most inexperienced photographer could use with little chance of failure. This is due to the slightly limited but very simple design and operation.
The camera is almost entirely automated for all situations apart from shooting with a flash. Load the camera with a film between 25 and 400iso, set it as such on the dial around the front of the lens and you can let the camera do pretty much the rest.

The selenium cell based light meter effectively powers the cameras operation. With the camera set to ‘A’, based on the light hitting the meter it will choose the most appropriate aperture between f2.8 and f22. It will also choose either 1/40th or 1/200th for the shutter speed. If the amount of light isn’t adequate for at very least 1/40th and f2.8 it will simply prevent the photo from being taken. It tells you this is happening by popping up a little red flag in the viewfinder. If this happens it is intended that the user attach a flash.

If taken off ‘A’ and an aperture selected manually the meter and the flag are disabled and the camera set to shoot at 1/40th. The assumption is that a flash would be attached and that an appropriate aperture for the subjects distance would be selected. Of course it also means that as long as you are happy shooting a 1/40th you can just choose your own aperture and shoot without the little flag stopping you. This does lead to the camera being used more creatively and outside of the way it was intended but more on that later!

Focusing is achieved by selection of one of four possible preset distances which are denoted by four familiar pictures. A head and shoulders for the closest focusing and a picture of mountains for infinity. The second furthest focusing distance (denoted by three little people) is highlighted in red. The same red as the ‘A’. This is no accident, in daylight set the camera to ‘A’ the the three little red people and you can shoot away with little worry of out of focus images.

This simplicity does make for a very enjoyable shooting experience, but with a little imagination the camera can be used (as previously mentioned) outside of the intended way.

The first little trick is quite an obvious one really. The camera can be tricked into over or under exposing by changing the film speed. Eg 200 ISO film in camera and up to 1ev of under exposure can be achieved by setting it to 400iso. You could of course also dial in up to 3ev of over exposure. An example of where this might be useful would be shooting a backlit subject eg a person stood in front of a window.

Another trick is for low light shooting. When set to ‘A’ low light shooting is somewhat limited. That pesky red flag rears its little head and a 400iso limit is a little low.
As mentioned before though, the little red flag can be disabled, and if not using the lightmeter there is no need to worry about what ISO the camera is set to. So as long as you are happy at 1/40th you can put whatever ISO film in you like and manually select exposure with the aperture control. There are in fact many people who do this some of whom post in the Flickr group. It’s not something I have tried since resurrecting the camera… But I’m going to … And will post some shots when I get around to it!

So what’s all the fuss about? Surly there are more highly specified cameras that allow shooting in more circumstances without such limitations. Well yes, but it’s the simplicity that is the charm, combined with a superb lens and the fact that they so rarely go wrong it’s hard not to love this camera!

So that’s the Trip 35, a cult classic, incredibly simple to use, hardy, cheap as chips and packed with charm … Basically, buy one! Use it, love it!

Additional – I have done a ‘Through the viewfinder’ article on this camera which can be found here Through the Viewfinder – Olympus Trip 35

Some useful links:
Help with dating your trip
Instructions for repairing your trip 35
A possibly useful modification

 

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About The Author

By Hamish Gill
I started taking photos at the age of 9. Since then I've taken photos for a hobby, sold cameras for a living, and for a little more than decade I've been a professional photographer and, of course, weekly contributor to 35mmc.
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Comments

Trip 35 and some very cheap film and Connie. on Olympus Trip 35 Review – A cult classic point & shoot

Comment posted: 23/05/2013

[...] You can read my views on this camera here A cult classic point and shoot – Olympus Trip 35 [...]
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Olympus Trip 35 on Olympus Trip 35 Review – A cult classic point & shoot

Comment posted: 24/05/2013

[...] hit the market in the late 60′s. Olympus Trip 35 by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr Continued ... http://www.35mmc.com/08/05/2013/the-...ympus-trip-35/ Last edited by Hamish Gill; Today at 10:06 AM. Sony RX100, Nikon D800, Nikon FM2n, [...]
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Dave on Olympus Trip 35 Review – A cult classic point & shoot

Comment posted: 09/04/2015

To over expose, wouldn't ypu put 400 In and tell it 200?
Seems like 200@400= 1 stop under....
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 09/04/2015

Yeah, thats what I'm saying ... Put 200iso film in and set it to 400 and it will under expose it by 1ev Put 200iso film in and set it to 100, 50 or 25 and it will over expose buy 1,2 and 3ev respectively... Thats right isn't it??

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Christos Theofilogiannakos on Olympus Trip 35 Review – A cult classic point & shoot

Comment posted: 16/10/2015

One note: Even when not in Auto mode, the light meter will protect you from overexposing. If your chosen aperture is larger than necessary, the Trip will stop down as needed. For example, if you set your aperture at f5.6 and the correct one for the given lighting conditions is F11, the camera will stop down to that! Of course, it doesn't work the opposite way (i.e the camera can't shoot at apertures wider than the one you've chosen) so you're not protected against underexposure. So when in doubt, set to f2.8 and the Trip will expose correctly.
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 16/10/2015

Huh, that's interesting! I didn't know that ... Very clever little cameras really!

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Neilson on Olympus Trip 35 Review – A cult classic point & shoot

Comment posted: 25/02/2016

One of my all time favorite cameras. It's been getting neglected lately because of all my fixed lens rangefinders but I'm going to rectify that.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/21156896@N07/05mB9r
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5 Frames With An Olympus 35 RC - by Julian Higgs - 35mmc on Olympus Trip 35 Review – A cult classic point & shoot

Comment posted: 03/05/2018

[…] on from my revelation with the Olympus Trip 35 I was hooked, you can read about that experience here. I started reading numerous blogs and posts […]
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Olympus Trip 35 review - Kosmo Foto on Olympus Trip 35 Review – A cult classic point & shoot

Comment posted: 15/04/2019

[…] * 35mmc’s in-depth profile of the Trip […]
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Camera Review Blog No. 06 – Olympus Trip 35 – Alex Luyckx | Blog on Olympus Trip 35 Review – A cult classic point & shoot

Comment posted: 26/11/2019

[…] just take my word on the Trip 35, you can check out the reviews by other awesome camera reviewers! 35mmc – A Cult Classic Point and Shoot Olympus Trip 35 Down the Road – Operation Thin the Herd: Olympus Trip 35 Kosmo Foto – Olympus Trip 35 […]
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Robert Gerrish on Olympus Trip 35 Review – A cult classic point & shoot

Comment posted: 10/04/2020

Hmm, sorry I got here so late! A fine review of a terrific little camera. After a hiatus of around 4o years, I"m finally back into my Olympus Trip 35 and in fact my obsession has led to me buying 50 of them! I"m gradually rebuilding them from head to toe in the hope they'll last another half a century. If you're interested, or if I can help at all, please reach me via https://trip35.co/
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David Wignall on Olympus Trip 35 Review – A cult classic point & shoot

Comment posted: 11/11/2021

No wonder that this wee gem of a camera is going up in price. It works great! Its strengths are simplicity and convenience which allows the user to pay attention to composition. The clear viewfinder gives you a rangefinder type experience. No pesky controls to fuss over and possible get wrong. No batteries! = amazing. The lens is great quality and 40mm is an almost perfect focal length for general photography. The 40mm angle of view is both naturalistic and versatile, actually closer to the human eye’s perspective than a 50mm. This camera is a great choice for “street” photography and even trips! It’s also very cool and retro looking, this camera wouldn’t have been out of place in the hands of Audrey Hepburn. My favourite function is the exposure lock; simply point at the exposure you wish to “set” such as a mid-tone and push the shutter button half way down and hold it. Then recompose and take the shot. Easy.
The only downside of this camera is its low-light shooting capability as 1/40th of a second at f2.8 is its minimum exposure setting and its maximum ISO is only 400. Even so, it can handle medium bright indoors lighting with ISO 400 film. The only option under very low light is to use a flash. Highly recommended : )
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