Rollei 35

[bernardsia]

I am looking for a street shooting camera, spent lots of time looking around for rangefinders. But I was attracted to the little Rollei 35 cameras I saw around the second hand shops. Could those who own this camera give me some advice?

I tested out the camera and found the build, feel and general use very pleasent. I noticed distance markings on the lens. Is one able to focus thru the viewfinder? Or is it one of those estimate distance and use DoF to cover it all? Aka. Like those Bessa L. Does anybody find such a system of shooting produces alot of misses?

How is the glass on the Rollei 35S? Is it any good, or should I get a Bessa R instead?

 

[NikLeica]

U might want to get your hands on the 23 Oct 2004's Amateur Photographer...it has the write up on the Rollei 35 series with advice on how to select one for yourself.

BTW there is focussing scale but this is no rangefinder with parallax focussing. u basically set the distance based on estimation.

Buy the mag.

Cheers

 

[surfer18]

Rollei 35 basically are classfied into 3 type of glass built.

Sonnar - the best among all.
Tessar - second class, produce decent picture.
Troitar - third class. Produce normal pictures.

Don't under estimate is little machines. I have enlarge pictures it till 10R, still looks great. Be careful those Cds meter because of their age. They are not accurate in-doors even working. Out-door should be ok, but check them out.

I would recommed this to anyone. Small in size Big in picture. Load them with slide film, they will blow those normal glass/plastic many SLRs are carrying. Silent operation & Guestimation focusing capture street pictures very well. I just love my 35SE.

Pros:
Great Glass (Sonnar & Tessar forget the Troitar).
Flash syn till 1/500.
Fully manual operations even meter not working.
Small in size (Big in picture).
Closes focusing is 0.3m enough for most usage.
Use the gestimate scale for pre-forcus.... running children cannot escape.. :bsmilie:
Silent in operation, just a click sound on MRT.

Cons:
Flash mount is in the wrong place (Bottom).
Film Winding Lever on left.
Cannot change battery if film loaded (Except for those "E" model).
It's a full manual camera.... (But I like this one. :heart: )
No Self-Timer.

 

[crapshot]

The Rollei 35 cameras are very good machines but most of them in the local second hand shops aren't ready to use without a servicing. Most of them were made in Singapore, so good techs for them do exist here.

Prices are also quite high here, especially when the machines are not in working condition. I would check ebay, get a nice one and spend about $100 on a service/lube.

They are not easy to get used to if you've never used an old camera before. The focusing is done thru estimation/scale focusing unless you have an external rangefinder.

At apertures of 4 or 2.8 your estimation of subject distance has to be pretty spot on. Otherwise they are best used in the day with 400 film, so f8 or 11 can be used. At f8 the lens is very sharp with good contrast.

Although very capable, they are not rare cameras, so don't pay too much for them. Like surfer18 said, the Rollei 35S with Sonnars are the best of the lot.

 

[pipefish]

As a previous poster mentioned, if you need f4 and below, then it might be better not get the Rollei unless your distance judging skills are really good.

Btw, the small size of the Rollei will not give you much of an added advantage for street shooting. I've found that it is the act of bringing a camera to your face that makes people notice you, and not whether your camera is 2-3 cm smaller than another RF.

 

[bernardsia]

Thanks for all the good advice guys. I'll look for a Sonnar lens in one of the S or SE models.

The price locally is indeed very high and unrealistic. The price is being pushed to $400 and beyond. At such a price, ebay has got mint condition units with the case, starp, manual and sometimes even filters. There seem to be no lack of good units on ebay. I'll take my time and try to spot a great deal.

 

[lazarus_lauw]

Hello,

I want to help a friend selling her camera, and it is Rollei S35 with Sonar lense. There is a manual book that comes with it. Made in Singapore.

Please check http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/forsales/rollei_35s.

Please send me PM if you are interested.

 

[lazarus_lauw]

Hello,

I want to help a friend selling her camera, and it is Rollei S35 with Sonar lense. There is a manual book that comes with it. Made in Singapore.

Please check http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/forsales/rollei_35s.

Please send me PM if you are interested.

Please put .htm after the link to make it work. Here is the corrected link again:
http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/forsales/rollei_35s.htm

 

[alvin]

Why not get a rangefinder like a Yashica 35 or Canon QL17 off ebay? They have meters, and rangefinder for precise focusing. If you're doing street the Yashica Electro 35 may be more suitable as it has dof scales built into the lens. A nice normal lens. Me, I'm searching for a G1 with a 45mm - kinda tired of manually exposure nowadays.

Alvin

PS: If anyone is interested, I do have a Yashica 35 GSN to loan out for you guys who wish to try rangefinders for the fun of it. It's in a bad condition and the lens has fungi but bottomline its a workhorse. I've used it for B&W and have no issues with it.

 

[bernardsia]

Hi Alvin,

Actually that was what I did. I won a mint Yashica 35 GSN yesterday. I figured it's a cheaper then Bessas and Leicas, but more practical then a Rollei 35.

 

[alvin]

Cool! Happy shooting!

Alvin

 

[bernardsia]

Thanks man. If you gavce me your advice two days earlier. I won't have to think so hard. :bsmilie:

 

[alvin]

Hehe ops

Alvin