Topic: Olympus Trip 35 -- who needs light seals?

[hookstrapped]

I found this Olympus Trip while cleaning my apartment last week. I never used it after getting it off ebay about 10 years ago. The seleniun light meter still works -- the cool little red flag pops up in the viewfinder and the shutter doesn't fire when there's not enough light, and the aperture seemed to open to varying degrees under varying light...




but those light seals, or what used to be light seals...




Anyway, thought I'd shoot a test roll (Kodak 200 Gold)

















Well, glad I didn't order that light seal kit 

Lens seems pretty decent, like I've read. Not as sharp or contrasty (though this might not be a fair test) as the Rollei 35S but pretty good. Definitely a decent street shooter. And like the Rollei, it's very fun to shoot. Fun and easy -- zone focus and auto exposure.

[Bryan]

Looks like a good Lens on that camera, great job!  The seals are sometimes just there to keep dust out, not always necessary.

[Indofunk]

Wow, that looks great!!

Does this mean that I can keep the Contax? 

[hookstrapped]

No, but you can borrow the Trip 

[Late Developer]

Lovely photos Hookstrapped.

My first Trip was my first pocketable walk-round camera and I had it for years, until it was stolen when our house was broken into.

I had another, second-hand, one a few years ago but the film transport was a bit flaky and the meter only worked when it felt like it.

I've got a Rollei 35T these days but I might see if I can pick up a good Trip - but I won't be too concerned if the light traps look a bit dodgy 

[cs1]

Great shots, Hookstrapped.

Though there're no light leaks I'd still recommend renewing the light seals depending on their condition. Some old light seals become a sticky mess which can get onto your lens and even on mechanics. They crumble and contaminate the film chamber. It's perfectly fine if the seals on the Trip don't crumble and feel intact but it might be a good idea to replace them when they start to crumble. I've had bad cases of sticky stuff in film chambers and it'd be a shame to soil an otherwise perfectly fine Trip. It's a lovely camera, I hope that you're going to have heaps of fun with it.

[Late Developer]

Great shots, Hookstrapped.

Though there're no light leaks I'd still recommend renewing the light seals depending on their condition. Some old light seals become a sticky mess which can get onto your lens and even on mechanics. They crumble and contaminate the film chamber. It's perfectly fine if the seals on the Trip don't crumble and feel intact but it might be a good idea to replace them when they start to crumble. I've had bad cases of sticky stuff in film chambers and it'd be a shame to soil an otherwise perfectly fine Trip. It's a lovely camera, I hope that you're going to have heaps of fun with it.

Yes, that's a really good point. Years ago, I had an old Pentax S2a (I think) that were a crumbly mess and it took a while to get all the crud out of the film chamber.

[hookstrapped]

Fortunately my Trip has no sticky crumbly residue. It's as if they vaporized.

[cs1]

Ah, yes, I know these types of seals from other Olys. The foam sort of loses its fluffiness and seems to have become almost completely flat. As long as there's no crumbling or light leaks you should be fine. In any case, it's a nice camera and I'm looking forward to more shots with it.

[hookstrapped]

Some more... I think I need to be careful in relatively low light because it switches from 1/200 to 1/40 (without you knowing about it ahead of time)














And a few doubles