Mostly about my amusement
While perusing blog posts about the camera, I came across a really good scan of the Olympus Trip 35 manual on Scribd.
I got my manual from Trip Man for “why not?” but the online version is very handy.
Click on the view in full screen button to make it really readable. You can also download the scan as a PDF.
As an aside, embedding oEmbed content in WordPress is so easy to do.
There should be a Cave Johnson fan club. And no, not the 19th century congressman.
The game is worth it, go and install it now, if only for the Life gives you Lemons speech.
I’m finding it really amazing that this extremely talented con-artist talks about running for the office of the POTUS and the press just eat it up. What next, Howard Stern for office?
And don’t think I’m being negative by referring to someone as a con-artist; except for banks (who likes them anyway?) I don’t think he’s ever needed to pilfer from old ladies. It’s not easy on him going on a press road show while pimping his television program.
What does this character have that qualifies him for office? He appeals to the racist birthers, he’s a to-big-to-fail business man, and he has a show on TV. Oh, and he see hatred coming from the eyes of Bill Crosby.
Except for demonizing President Obama, does this bad comb-over qualify get Tea Party branding? I thought they were for smaller government and debt, not “let’s make a deal because I can’t pay my loans”. It is true that he is wealthy and gets away with a lot, but does the “Tax Enough Already” crowd see this man as their candidate?
The only good thing for the GOP is that the other nuts in the field are beginning to look rational and sane. I can easily see Rudy starting his new campaign with “Hey, at least I’m not that guy!”
My playing with film cameras continues! But it’s not out of hand yet. I now have the following film camera equipment:
The kids and I shoot with the Olympus Trip 35s and its great fun. Except for the one from TripMan, it all came from sellers on eBay.
At this time I don’t have any urge to develop my own film myself. It’s just so easy to develop the film at Costco.
My routine is to shoot rolls during the week and then Lily takes them to Costco for development on the weekend. A roll of 24 exposures costs less than $5 with just the CD of the film scans. I also picked up an Epson Artisan 725 and print out what I want on glossy photo paper.
The film was purchased via an Amazon seller and I got 12 rolls of a mix of 200, 400, and 800 ISO speed Fuji Superia. The Costco scans are not bad and I generally don’t do any editing at all. I put a roll of 400 in one of the Trips and put it in my backpack. When the mood strikes me I take photos.
Here is a sample of what I’ve taken already, you can see more via my Flickr account.
Okay, film is not better than digital. But it is different, and it’s tough for me to describe the difference. On my digital cameras I shoot hundreds of photos. With film I’m conscious of the 24 limit and (generally) think before I shoot. When I get the photos back I do very little if any Photoshop work. I like the way the film comes out.
Could I get the same or better results using a DSLR? Absolutely. I’m proud of the digital photos I’ve already taken and will continue to use my Nikon. But film is less instant satisfaction and more planning. When I get back the CD of the roll I shot days ago, I rush to the computer, pick out what I like and upload to Flickr.
I picked up the Canonet because rangefinders are cool and slick metal camera opens up to f/1.7 and I can shoot 800 film on it.
With the Canolite D flash, the rangefinder adjusts the aperture bases on focus distance. Nearer focus means stepping down to f/16; farther out mean opening the aperture to f/2.8. For a 1972 camera design that’s pretty cool! I ordered a Wein MRB625 replacement battery and I’m good to go. The light metering is good.
The Canonet is fun and cool but the Trip 35 is a better all around street shooter. You set the focus to infinity and just shoot. No battery to worry about, just keep it in your bag and go. I do use the Canonet but the Trip is my favorite and I take it with me everyday to work.
My advice to anyone who has a digital camera is to try film. It’s really easy to do, just go onto eBay and bid for a Olympus Trip 35. Don’t bid more than $50 (that’s too much) because there are a lot of Olympus Trip 35s out there.
But do get your battery free camera, load up some 400 film and start shooting. You’ll have great fun with the results.
How Star Wars should have been done.
Must see Paul when it’s out on DVD (seriously, it’s just easier that way with my schedule). Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were made for each other.
I took my Olympus Trip 35 on a short stroll this morning and had the film developed near work. I like the results and shot another roll around lunch time.
It’s an easy camera to have on you and fits in my coat pocket pretty easily. It’s a little on the heavy side but not too much so. I’ll probably get a pouch for it so I can just toss it in my back pack.
These samples were from the CD I received when I developed the roll. All I did was re-size them but this gives a good idea of what this little camera can do.
More photos on the way; I develop the afternoon roll at Costco tomorrow. I still am trying to get the knack of zone focusing. The photos are good and look fantastic on glossy paper, but I want to work on getting sharper results for nearby subjects.
This started with my looking for a good compact digital camera with a viewfinder. As a result I bought a film compact camera that was manufactured in 1972.
I prefer cameras with a viewfinder because I take better photos when I hold the camera close to my face (my arms shake). There are several good digital candidates such as the Canon G11/G12 or even the Nikon P7000. But they’re also not inexpensive and I already have a fine DSLR that I take hundreds of photos with.
Why not go back to film? I hadn’t even owned a film camera since 1997. So I started looking on eBay and Flickr and was inspired by the cult following that the Olympus Trip 35 has created.
The Olympus Trip 35 was sold between 1968 and 1984. It’s been reported that ten million units were sold, but that’s questionable since that number may have included other Trip models. Serial numbers shared online never seem to reach 6 million.
Less than 6 million is a respectable number. But what I find amazing is that virtually the same model was sold for 16 years. Today that’s unheard of for a consumer product to be left alone with just minor internal production changes.
The Trip 35 has 4 zone focusing at 1 meter, 1.5 meters, 3 meters, and infinity and takes a 43.5mm filter size. You guess the approximate range and set the focus accordingly.
This camera does not use batteries. The light meter is a selenium cell that moves a needle. That movement determines the aperture size and shutter speed. You can read up on this at the top of this web page and see the light meter in action at this YouTube video.
It’s a solid camera made out of metal and has some weight. It’s not bulky and it feels comfortable to use.
I ordered 3 and there is a method to my madness.
The first one I ordered was from Paul Lamb’s Trip Man website in the UK. This company obtains these cameras, refurbishes them, and puts on a replacement for the original leatherette. They have a selection of colors, textures, and accessories.
This is a good buy because the camera comes with a 6 month warranty. This is not a modern SLR that you can get serviced anywhere. While I am not mechanically clueless, I want to be able to enjoy the camera without replacing the light seals or un-sticking the aperture blades. Trip Man has earned a good reputation and many people recommend him. I had made a small mistake with my order and this was responded to very quickly and satisfactorily.
If you want to buy a Olympus Trip 35 that just works, then get one from Trip Man.
The second Trip 35 was from eBay and sold as-is. That one arrived first (pictured above) and I bought it with the intention making repairs, replacing the light seals and leatherette.
The purchase was inexpensive and came with a strap, original leather bag, and original lens cap. This camera was going to be my experiment in stripping the old leatherette and possibly take apart and clean the aperture blades. See this link for a great step-by-step with photos for taking apart one of these cameras.
A great plan except this second camera is apparently perfect! The camera is in wonderful condition and only needs replacement light seals for the film chamber and possibly a little cleaning of the view finder.
I shot a roll of Kodak ISO 400 and will get it developed tomorrow. If the exposures are mostly good then I’ll leave this one alone and just replace those seals. Stripping the leatherette would feel like tossing a rock though a window. I may do it sometime, but not this month.
And my third camera from eBay? I want one that works but has not been refurbished. Call this one my reference model, it’s a late version with a black button. A quick bid and I have another one on the way.
Now I take pictures. Lily and I use Costco which not only develops 35mm film but for about $3 more you can get a DVD with scans of your film. Near where I work are a couple of labs that a friend recommends. Film is not dead yet, it’s just hibernating.
At this time I’m not interested in developing my own film. That may change but I’m more interested in improving my photography.
This is a 1970’s era viewfinder camera. While the exposure and aperture are automatic, you have to think before take the photo. When I use the DSLR I intentionally shoot hundreds of photos and cherry pick the best ones. Those end up on Flickr.
I am hoping that by using this film camera that I’ll learn for compose my shots better. Not just point and click but plan my shots. I’ll still waste film, but the ones that I like will be posted online.
Okay memory, my bad. F.E.A.R. 2 really is creepy. I remembered it differently and the updated UI, graphics, etc. really make the game more playable.
After I completed the first game again, I instead replayed the DLC add-on F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn. That went quickly and I then started F.E.A.R. 2 from scratch. The key bindings are a little different from before (F is flashlight, E is use) but the game play really flows.
Just like the first game, playing the game late into the night and in the dark can freak me out a little. I’ll still complete the game quickly but I really can’t wait to get the third game once it comes out.
Once again I have completed F.E.A.R. and even played it in the dark. According to STEAM, it took me 9 hours. I must be out of practice because I had to quick save the game a lot. Due to the graphic violence and language I couldn’t play around the kids. The final scenes still gave me goose bumps.
Now to move on to F.E.A.R. 2. Project Origin. This game came out in 2009 and has updated graphics. The first time I completed this game, I rushed through the game a little quickly, this time I’ll take my time.
Since I have the F.E.A.R. games all on STEAM, I’m playing them over again from scratch. Between the music and sudden appearance of creepy bad guys, the game still is frightening.
This game was released in 2005. The graphics are definitely dated but the play is still very good. The next installment is supposed to have a more random appearance of bad guys but the original still feels like you are starring in a gruesome horror movie.
