The Olympus Trip AF MD, is a fully automatic point and shoot compact film camera and, despite having the word ‘Trip‘ in the name, is actually part of a series of later and cheaper Olympus cameras, rather than the more famous (and higher quality) Olympus Trip 35 range, which were discontinued by the mid-1980s.
Olympus Trip AF MD technical specifications
The Olympus Trip AF MD has a 35mm, ƒ3.8 lens, a fixed 1/125 shutter speed and a built in flash. That’s pretty much it. It can take DX coded film, but I have been unable to find any information about what the upper, or lower, ISO film speed limits are (I was only able to find a guide for a manual film-wind version of this camera – without the motor-drive). There is no facility to manually set ISO speed.
There is a sliding cover, which protects the lens and also serves as a shutter lock. An auto-wind motor drive forwards the film after each photo is taken and a button, on the base of the camera, will engage the film auto-rewind. On my model, the film rewound, leaving a bit of the film exposed, which is often useful. The Olympus Trip AF MD requires 2x AA batteries to work. An orange light, to the left of the viewfinder, shows when the flash is charged and ready to fire.
Using the Olympus Trip AF MD
The fully automatic aspect of the Olympus Trip AF MD, probably refers to its autofocus lens and motor drive. That said, as best as I can tell, the flash is not auto-focus and has to be enabled manually using a sliding lever, located just underneath the flash itself. Depending on your point of view, this can be a good or bad thing. Personally, I prefer this feature, to point and shoot cameras where the flash automatically engages whether you like it or not – for example the previously reviewed Ricoh FF-7. Whilst the camera continues to function if you don’t engage the flash – unlike the Yashica Auto Focus, which simply refuses to shoot – a red light appears next to the viewfinder, to indicate if it is too dark.
One useful feature was that, after loading the film, there was a ‘spinning’ red and white bar which indicated that the film was engaged and turning, after each shot was taken. Helping to indicate that a whole series of shots were not being wasted. On the other hand, the film counter itself is tiny and very hard to read.
Summary
The Olympus Trip AF MD feels like a cheap camera. The viewfinder is small and cramped, and the limited shutter speed and lack of manual film ISO setting is annoying. But, as I write, it can be found fairly cheaply – mine cost $8. It’s a compact point and shoot film camera.
