Recollimating Olympus Trip 35

[Hamster]

Just finished rebuilding the lens unit of a Trip 35 with bad selenium cell. However I have stupidly forgotten to mark the position of the front element before I took it apart. So I will have to recollimate at the film plane.

The problem start when I realise there isn;t a B mode on the Trip, and I dont; seem to find a way to keep the shutter open long enough for me to adjust focus to infinity.

Do anyone know of a way to keep the shutter open without too much disassembly?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Cale Arthur]

Do anyone know of a way to keep the shutter open without too much disassembly?

I think i can help, but the means by which you can do this are a bit dangerous, and would likely make every repair tech on the planet shudder with fear. I guess what i'm saying is, proceed with great caution.

--First, cut a small rectangle of stiff (non-corrugated) cardboard (or thin plastic with dulled edges) that is slightly smaller than the shutter blades (for extra credit, bevel one end slightly so that you can perform the last step a bit easier).

--Next, set the aperture ring on your Trip to one of the non-auto settings (doesn't matter which - you're looking to be able to fire the shutter over an over).

--Then, with a pair of tweezers, carefully insert and support (but don't hold tight) the piece of cardboard into the rear of the camera and rest it on the blades, vertically & perpendicular to the blades.

--Now, fire the shutter, which will (eventually) allow the cardboard to drop in & hold the blades open so that you can check the focus with ground glass (or a piece of translucent plastic, etc.). When your focus is set properly, carefully, and i mean very carefully remove the cardboard.

This is the method that i used to reset focus on my Pen EES-2, which i'm thinking should be exactly the same on your Trip.

Hope this helps!

--c--

 

[Hamster]

That really sounded scary. I did found a way in the end. I notice the axis of the brass gear under frame counter spin when the shutter is triggered. What I did was to jam some paper between the axis and the frame counter and that's enought friction to jam the shutter open.

 

[Muggins]

Have you visited the Trip 35 group on Flickr? I'm sure they'd be interested to know how it's done, as the lack of a Bulb setting is a pain!

Adrian