C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →compact-35mm
The Olympus Trip MD is a 35mm fixed-focus compact introduced in 1985 as the motorised continuation of the Trip name. Where the original Trip 35 (1967-1984) was a fully mechanical camera with a selenium meter that required no battery, the Trip MD is an entirely different product category: a polycarbonate-bodied, battery-dependent, electronically-controlled point-and-shoot with motor-driven film advance and rewind. The "MD" designation stands for Motor Drive.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
View profile →C41
Kodak UltraMax 400 is a versatile consumer-grade ISO 400 daylight-balanced color negative film with T-grain emulsion, delivering warm Kodak colors, fine-for-speed grain (PGI 46), and wide exposure latitude. Currently in production and available globally as a single-roll and multi-pack.
Develop 35mm film
Labs in our directory that process 35mm film.
Before you buy used
About this camera
The 1985 plastic successor to the Trip 35, adding motor-drive film advance to the Trip name.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm (24x36mm) |
| Lens | ~35mm Zuiko, fixed-focus |
| Shutter | ~1s - 1/200s, programmed electronic |
| Meter | TTL silicon cell |
| Exposure modes | Program (auto) |
| Viewfinder | Optical brightline |
| ISO range | 100 - 3200 (DX coded) |
| Battery | 2x AA |
| Flash | Built-in, auto |
| Film advance | Motor drive (automatic) |
| Film rewind | Motor (automatic at end of roll) |
| Focus | Fixed (zone focus) |
| Year | 1985 |
The original Olympus Trip 35 ran from 1967 to 1984, a seventeen-year production run that made it one of the longest-lived and most commercially successful compact cameras of the twentieth century. Its selenium meter needed no battery; its D.Zuiko 40mm f/2.8 lens delivered sharp results; and its simple zone-focus mechanism was reliable. By the early 1980s the Trip 35 was selling on reputation accumulated across a generation of users.
When Olympus retired the Trip 35 in 1984 it faced the question of what to do with the Trip name. The answer was the Trip MD: a camera sharing almost nothing mechanically with its predecessor but carrying the same name into a new product category. This was a commercial rather than technical decision - the Trip name had strong market recognition, particularly in the UK where it had been heavily marketed and remained popular.
The Trip MD's plastic body and electronic internals reflect the direction of the entire 35mm compact market in the mid-1980s, when injection-moulded polycarbonate and integrated circuits were making cameras lighter, cheaper, and more automated at every price point. The motor drive feature helped differentiate the Trip MD from simpler fixed-focus competitors.
Olympus continued the Trip name through several subsequent models including the Trip XB and Trip 300, each progressively updating the formula while retaining the brand.
The Trip MD is significant primarily as a document of a marketing decision: how to transition a beloved product name across a fundamental change in product category. The original Trip 35 and the Trip MD share almost no mechanical or optical DNA, yet the name carried sufficient market equity to justify the transfer.
For photographers today, the Trip MD is an honest consumer compact of its era - not a precision instrument like the Trip 35, but a functional, motorised point-and-shoot that produces usable results on modern film. The Zuiko lens name, even on a fixed-focus budget body, suggests at minimum competent optical design.
The motor drive, while commonplace today, was genuinely convenient in 1985. It also means one less manual step that could introduce camera shake between exposures.
C41
Kodak ColorPlus 200 is an affordable, consumer-oriented daylight-balanced color negative film at ISO 200. Known for warm, slightly muted color rendition, fine grain, and wide exposure latitude, it is currently in production and widely available in Asia and select global markets.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →Olympus Trip MD
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