After moving from Budapest the collection did not grew for about a year. One of the last cameras I discovered there, was an Olympus Trip 35, the bigger sister of my Pen EE-2 and EES-2. Sadly, it was “hibás” (broken). Of course I looked it up and realized that this gem must be a really great camera, as it not only has a huge fan crowd and over ten million cameras where sold between 1967 and 1984, but, as the following ad suggests, David Bailey also shot with it. And if there is one thing I believe in, then it’s advertising.  In other words: I needed one. So when I found one on the flew market in Mauerpark, Berlin, I bought it. The negotiation with the, of course Hungarian, seller brought the price from 65 € down to 35 € for a camera in mint condition and equipped with an skylight filter, which is quite hard to get for the 43.5 mm filter thread. When I wanted to shoot black & white, I bought another one of the second series (a bit lighter and with a black shutter release) for 25 € one year later from the same guy. The Trip 35 is now my favorite camera as it is incredible easy to use due to it zone focus, has a razor sharp lens, is still easy to repair and of course because the great look of the camera itself. See it here in action:

About the camera: As the name “Trip” suggests, the camera was designed to be carried with you on holidays. It is small enough to be carried in a pocket. The camera uses normal 35mm film. Exposure is measured by the selen light meter, which needs no battery. Although it is often reported that those selenium-meters age and therefore stop measuring proper, mine all work fine. Did I mention that is looks beautiful?

Taking pictures: The cameras works fully automatic: just select the right film speed, (between 25  and 400 ISO) aperture ( F 2.8 – F 22) and shutter speed ( 1/40 or 1/200) are selected by camera in automatic mode. For focus, choose one of the four symbols “Portrait” “Couple” “Group” or “Mountain” or look up the distance in meter or feet under the lens. On the lower right corner of the viewfinder you can check the right settings before you shoot. In situations with insufficient light, the shutter blocks and a red indicator is shown in the viewfinder. In low light, attach a flash (pc or hotshoe) and select the proper aperture manually.
To make photos against backlight, you have to “cheat” the camera by selecting a lower filmspeed, for example 100 instead of 200.  The filmspeed is easily changed by this procedure (and when carried in a bag), so I usually make me a little reminder patch which I place in the hotshoe.

              

Brand	Olympus
Camera	PEN Trip 35
Year built	1975 and 1981, built from 1967 to 1984
Serial number	1992401 and 4728659
Lens	D. Zuiko 1:2.8 f = 40 mm
Shutter	Automatic
Film format	135 film
Special features	–
Accessories	43.5 mm Skylight 1A filter
Manufactured by	Olympus Optical Co. Ltd., Tokio, Japan
Date of purchase	02.2011 and 03.2012
Price	35 € and 25 €
Place of purchase	Flohmarkt am Mauerpark, Berlin

Tips&Tricks: The shutter lock mentioned above is easily misinterpreted as a fault. To test: simply choose 400 ASA, point the camera to light an release. If this works, go to a 25 and cover the light meter, the shutter should block now and the red index flag should show up.

Film purchase & processing: I usually shoot 200 ISO colour and 400 ISO for black and white. Films can be developed everywhere.

Useful Links:
http://olympuszuiko.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/olympustrip.pdf (Manual)
http://www.newvibes.com/blog/olympus-trip-35-shutter-and-aperture-repair/ (Repair guide)
http://www.thermojetstove.com/Trip35/ (repar guide)
http://olympustrip35cult.blogspot.de/2010/06/how-old-is-my-trip-35.html (How old is your Trip?)

Pictures:
My pictures on Flickr
The Trip 35 Flickr group

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