29 November, 2005

Welcome



Welcome to the new Blog for users of the wonderful Olympus Trip 35. This amazing little camera is a far cry from the digital cameras of today but it a beautiful piece of engineering that can produce professional quality images with beautiful colour tones and ultimate resolution particulary with transparancy film.

The best bit is that you can pick these up for next to nothing in camera shops, car boot sales and ebay - not new of course but there must be some still around unopened in their boxes!

My advice to anyone who appreciates photography, engineering and design should pick one up and give it a try. I get emails from all over the world from people who have done just that and have been amazed by the result. My wife and I have been using one for almost 30 years and during this time we have also owned an OM1n and an OM4 with a large supply of lenses and other equipment, an Olympus Mju 35, a Bronica ETRSi medium format, a Sony Mavica and currently an Olympus Mju and a Nikon Coolpix 5400 digitals. All these cameras have their place but the one that's been used most and I would never be without on holiday is the Olympus Trip 35.










Petra, Jordan













This picture was an example of not only the quality of the Trip but the speed at which it can be operated. I was part of a group of tourists and when this view appeared I knew I had to act quickly before people walked in front of me. The Trip has no batteries - the meter is powered by selinium cells - so it was just a matter of composing and shooting. Also, it's not the easiest of scenes to get a correct exposure. The Trip got it spot on, with just enough shadow detail and perfect highlight exposure. (I haven't done any manipulation on the image other than slight cropping).

I then tried to repeat the shot with my Nikon 5400. By the time it had been switched on, come to life and the shutter delay had played its part in slowing things down, the shot was lost as people had walked past me. The resulting image had excellent shadow detail but washed out highlights. Obviously this could have been corrected using its various manual controls but not easily in this situation.

It could have been luck that the Trip pruduced by far the best shot but if that is the case I have been incredibly lucky over the years!

The Trip can always be ready for a shot. I hold it in one hand with my finger on the shutter when I am anywhere that a shot might appear. The shutter is mechanical but silent and the shot can be taken with no delay, capturing the moment. I have done this countless times and it's one reason why I would not part with the camera. The other practical reason is that there are no batteries to go flat.

9 Comments:

Blogger wickedwarhol said...

The image registered is beautiful and I totally agree with the description of your little Trip. As Ken Rockwell put it out "Performance is great, in some ways better than the best digital cameras. Just set it to A and shoot, not worrying about anything. No delay, no waiting for AF, no WB setting, no battery charging, no wasting time looking at the LCD after each shot, no viewfinder blackout, no nothing - just great photos." and I totally agreed.
I always have my little Trip tucked somewhere in my bag along with my DSLR.

14 April, 2009 00:49  
Blogger Elen Elizabeth said...

i love this camera. the past 3 years i have been traveling Europe, the middle east, and Asia. The first year and a half i was using the trip and i absolutely loved it! it fell in a river and i couldnt get it fixed-- ive been looking for the trip ever since and i cant find it anywhere.

If you hear or know a place i can get it in asia let me know please! i'm dying to get it back.

-Elen
Toshiba Notebook Batteries

11 June, 2009 06:29  
Blogger Mark said...

Olympus Trip 35's are available from Tripman in the UK http://www.tripman.co.uk/

or much cheaper ones are generally for sale in large numbers on e-bay in the UK for £0.99- £15

04 September, 2009 19:27  
Blogger Antona said...

Felicidades por su blog.Yo tambien tengo esta camara.Es una maravilla

saludos

30 October, 2009 06:40  
Blogger Lanthus Clark said...

Just got a beauty from a second hand shop here in Pretoria. Just running my first film through it now and will post on my blog when they are done. Looks like a great camera!

06 March, 2010 09:14  
Blogger original seed said...

great to find a blog dedicated to the trip. I got given it by my dad which was his dads i think.oh how i wish i was born in the 70s to photograph things with the trip,by far my favourite camera

01 July, 2010 16:55  
Blogger ShazAli said...

My first camera was a Trip 35 bought for me by my mum and dad in 1974 - price $35 (New Zealand dollars). I have lots of photos off it from the 70's which are strikingly good. More than 35 years later it is still here in my hand. Thanks to your blog I'll fire it up and see how it looks. But I've lost the battery charger - oopps - I don't need one!! That is refreshing already.

P.S. I'll never sell it - your first camera is a mate for life...

12 August, 2010 08:19  
Blogger c@ said...

I've just acquired a Trip 35, and I'm all giddy - there's been nothing but good reviews, and I've been itching to take some 'graphs ! Now I seem to have the best reason to !
Hope you keep posting, and if I ever remember to come on blogger, I shall let you know if I accomplish anything - looking for a flash for it at the minute :)

( set up so many tumblr blogs due to uni .. and twitter, linked in .. phew ! )

16 November, 2011 13:40  
Blogger Mauricio Sapata said...

Hi...

Thinking about getting one of those beauty to use as a "point-and-shoot" camera. Considering the sellenium meter won't be working, how easy is to use the camera on the very limited manual setting?

Thanks!

18 March, 2012 20:44  

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