Removing the Olympus Trip 35 Top Plate

The Olympus Trip 35 top plate, also known as the top cover, may require removing for repair work. If the viewfinder is dusty and you need to clean it, or if the selenium cell is no longer working and you need to measure its voltage levels then access to the wires from the top is possible. Sometimes the meter needle may be stuck and you may need to clean the meter assembly and gain access to this part. If you need to replace the thumbwheel, then the top cover will require removal, and as you can see, much of the mechanisms and wiring is accessible from here.

Top Plate Removed

This is how a brand new untouched camera appears when straight from the factory. Note that just a paper card covers the viewfinder lens assembly, and it is very easy for dust to get into it.

As you can see, there is a green wire from the shutter synchronisation switch soldered to the accessory shoe. Since there is already a join in the wire, it is probably better to separate the cover by cutting the wire than soldering on the hot shoe socket, as the plastic may be brittle. The selenium solar cell panel in the lens barrel powers the moving coil meter through the red and black wires seen here.

Hidden Screws

As well as the obvious screws to the side of the cover, there are also hidden screws under the film-rewinding crank, which will of course require removal. With the cover removed, you can see that there is a combination of clockwork mechanisms and electronics in the design of this camera. This Japanese engineering is of course far more reliable and superior to than anything we can make. As you can see this one has quite a bit of dust in the mechanism, yet was still performing admirably.