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Olympus Trip 35 lens repair


a_e_daly

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Yes, I know they're really cheap and I'd be better off buying another than

trying to fix one, but this one's in nice condition apart from this issue and

I'd like to learn another repair skill. This Trip 35 has a focusing problem

whereby the front lens element (the one that ought to move in and out as you

turn the focusing ring) seems to come unscrewed as you focus from far to near,

so that it moves out when you focus in that direction but then stays still when

you refocus back the way. You can manually screw it back in again, then the

next focusing turn will work as before, and so on.

 

It seems as if the front element and the focusing ring have come loose from

each other, or out of alignment so they don't stay locked together. It was

cheap enough that I'm happy to have a go at sorting this out. I see 3 tiny

screws around the edge of the front lens element. What would happen if I undid

those? Any advice or experience to share?

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Yay! It's fixed - I think. I'll post the details here in case anyone else finds them useful. Bear in mind this fix looks and feels right, but I haven't run any film through yet.

 

If you loosen the 3 tiny screws described above around the foremost lens element (the ring engraved Olympus, D. Zuiko etc.), you can remove this ring - it may take some manipulation but it basically twists loose and then lifts out. (You shouldn't need to take the screws out completely). You'll see this ring has a kind of spoke sticking straight down into the camera. Once you take the ring out, the front lens element is visible and can be gently unscrewed. If you do this and lift out the lens, then look down into the space vacated while moving the focusing ring, you can see the focusing ring internally has what looks like a small C-shaped black clip which is moved back & forth by the focusing. It's clear that the end of the 'spoke' on the outer steel ring is supposed to fit into this groove so that, when that and the lens are fastened back together, the focusing ring will move it and thus turn the lens.

 

You'll see the lens is set in a dark matte black outer fitting. This has a tiny groove running all around the outside. The ends of the 3 tiny screws on the outer ring, once tightened, fit into this groove to hold the lens in place.

 

Screw the lens back in, carefully, then turn the focusing ring all the way round so that it's set at the greatest distance (i.e. the point at which the lens is fully retracted). Lower the outer ring back into place, making sure the spoke does fit into the C-shaped socket (I think this was the cause of my problem). Once it's snugly in place, tighten the 3 screws to join ring and lens. Now, when you turn the focusing ring, the lens should turn back and forth as expected. Voila.

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Apologies for the non-technical language, btw. I'm sure all these things have proper names rather than 'that steel ring with the lettering on' and so forth.

 

Overall I'm quite pleased, this is the first repair I've done that wasn't light seal replacement. Even if the focus is off, at least I'll know where to correct it.

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Have you checked whether the camera can now focus correctly? Screwing the front group all the way in does not guarantee correct focus. Fixing the focus is easy enough. Remove (again) the name ring and mark the rim of the front group with a pencil any place. Take a series of pictures turning the front group a couple of rows (those on the selenium meter) at a time. Develop and check for the sharpest picture of the set. Turn the front group so that your pencil mark is in line with that point and attach the name ring... happy shooting!

 

cheers

Michael

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Thanks for all the advice, everyone. Sounds like (as I half suspected) it's a more complex process than I first thought. If it's not a silly question, why *isn't* it as simple as screwing the lens in fully then setting the focus ring to infinity before reassembling everything? Isn't the fully retracted lens position assumed to be infinity? Or is there just a telling millimetre of so of error either way?
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