Topic: Anyone else using a Rollei 35 ?

[gsgary]

I have the 35B which is suposed to have the worst lens, but this little camera is blowing me away only had it a few months now but will probably look for one of the better versions after Christmas
Here's a few examples but would love to see some more from the Filmwasters

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[gsgary]

Sorry about the post not sure whats happened to one of the shots

[02Pilot]

Mine has the Tessar (Singapore). It's really pretty extraordinary how good it is, and the size makes it a great walking around/travel/pocket camera. Here's a few (I think I've posted these here before):

[gsgary]

Those look great, here's another of one of my dogs enjoying his holiday

[tani.P]

It's on my long list of coveted cameras. I'd love one! Handled one in a store once, but they were asking $250 or thereabouts. Way too much for me. Your photos look fantastic, "bad lens" "worst lens," all subjective, honestly.

[Hungry Mike]

Lovely shots. I was wondering if there is a lot of difference in the build quality between the German built Rolleis and the Singapore ones?

[gsgary]

Lovely shots. I was wondering if there is a lot of difference in the build quality between the German built Rolleis and the Singapore ones?

My friend has the biggest collection of cameras you have ever seen almost all the Leica m's Leica 1,2,3's and R's but has every Rollei 35 my 35b feels very light campared to the German made but i only paid £30

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[Mab]

Mine is an early Singapore Tessar. It's one of my all time fave cameras:

[gsgary]

Here's 2 more shot wide open F3.5 at 1/30

[KevinAllan]

I had a Rollei 35LED for a short time before selling it on - I only paid about £30 and got more back. It was cute but the shutter dial was very stiff and the meter didn't work. I probably should have kept it as a display item.

[02Pilot]

Lovely shots. I was wondering if there is a lot of difference in the build quality between the German built Rolleis and the Singapore ones?

My understanding (which is purely anecdotal) is that the Singapore models are considered marginally more reliable, but not too any meaningful extent. The earlier German models also used brass for some parts that were later replaced with their plastic equivalents, which may account for some difference in weight. Plastic parts tend to tolerate neglect of maintenance better than metal (less need for lubrication, particularly if the plastic is designed to run dry), which has likely become a larger issue with the passage of time.

[Hungry Mike]

Plastic parts tend to tolerate neglect of maintenance better than metal (less need for lubrication, particularly if the plastic is designed to run dry), which has likely become a larger issue with the passage of time.

Interesting. Based on the above pictures I'm not seeing a lot of difference in the lens quality (at least to my eyes). I've seen the Singapore made Rolleis go for less then the German ones so maybe I'll have to pick one up.

I picked up a camera lot recently, bought for 2 other cameras to be used as donors, but the surprise in the lot was a Rollei 16s.  It was marked as non-functional but playing with it appears to be working now (I think the person was sure unsure of how to use it). I was really impressed on the build quality. Robustly built and not at all as flimsy as the similar sized 110 cameras I've handled (which makes sense of course). Not sure if I'll use it much, other than to channel my inner Kolchak, but it definitely got me interested in the Rollei 35s. 

[Francois]

Rollei hasn't always made the greatest stuff. I have a Rolleimat AF and I'm keeping it simply because it's a Rollei.
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Rolleimat

[DonkeyDave]

I've got my Dads tessar lensed 35 sitting at home, the meter hasn't worked for ages, and I never really got on with zone focus, but when I hit the sweet spot - it was sharp as...

[gsgary]

I've got my Dads tessar lensed 35 sitting at home, the meter hasn't worked for ages, and I never really got on with zone focus, but when I hit the sweet spot - it was sharp as...

It might be worth leaving the camera on the window cill for a few days with the meter towards the light the meter may come back to life

[02Pilot]

I've got my Dads tessar lensed 35 sitting at home, the meter hasn't worked for ages, and I never really got on with zone focus, but when I hit the sweet spot - it was sharp as...

It might be worth leaving the camera on the window cill for a few days with the meter towards the light the meter may come back to life

Only the later cheaper models had selenium meters; most of the Rollei 35 variants have CdS meters - this won't work on those models. The old mercury batteries are long gone, but modern hearing aid batteries are cheap and work fine. That said, I've become quite accustomed to shooting without a meter, so I rarely use the meter on mine.

On the subject of scale focus/zone focus, one thing that helps take some of the uncertainty out of it is to use higher speed film. This allows smaller apertures and thus greater depth-of-field, reducing the chance of focusing errors.

[gsgary]

Ive only shot HP5 in mine so far, i though if the battery was higher voltage it made for a different light reading

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[02Pilot]

I haven't found much difference in the reading when measured against modern digital. There's a only a minor voltage difference (I'd have to look and see exactly which battery I settled on to tell you precisely how much); the bigger issue is longevity, with the modern zinc-air batteries lasting a much shorter time than the old mercury cells. I've heard that Wein cells are better in this regard, but I haven't tried them.

[Francois]

I've heard that Wein cells are better in this regard, but I haven't tried them.

I did... I feel they're just overpriced and not all that good. They still screwed-up the meter on my mom's old Konica T3 in a very big way (I had to set the meter on 25 for 400 ISO film). You're better off either building or buying a adapter for silver cells (they're just the casing from an old Alkaline cell and a diode). They're cheaper, more reliable and you get to keep the adapter. Also, some cameras will just work fine with Alkalines, it's worth the try.

but modern hearing aid batteries are cheap and work fine.

[Juvenile humor on] What? I can't hear my meter! [/Juvenile humor off]

[02Pilot]

but modern hearing aid batteries are cheap and work fine.

[Juvenile humor on] What? I can't hear my meter! [/Juvenile humor off]

Try sticking the camera in your ear. 

[gsgary]

but modern hearing aid batteries are cheap and work fine.

[Juvenile humor on] What? I can't hear my meter! [/Juvenile humor off]

Try sticking the camera in your ear. 

And ear wax lyrical ?

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[hookstrapped]

My friend just gave me his old pristine 35S (made in Singapore) and I went shooting with it yesterday for the first time and, wow, I love the way it handles and the nice precision clicks to every adjustment.

He went and replaced the battery in it with a zinc air but I noticed that it registers less light than there is, i.e., for a sunny 16 situation it was suggesting an exposure about 4 or 5 stops over-exposed.  The needle responds to light, so it works but I figure it needs re-calibrating.  Or... could it be the window for the light meter (I have no idea where that is) is partially obstructed?

Anyway, is re-calibration something I could do?

[Jack Johnson]

I have a 35S that I enthuse about periodically. It's something of a love/hate relationship. I love to shoot with it, I love the way I shoot with it, but my distance estimation sucks.

I tend to hold it waist-level like a TLR, fiddle with exposure, DoF, and distance, then bring it eye level and compose and shoot. In good light, if you stop down, you can get away with a lot. Unfortunately, I like a little bokeh, and you can find a lot of people complaining about front focus issues on Sonnars on any camera, and I think between front focus and scale focus I have recurring issues on average days.

My light meter tends to be pretty reasonable:


Winding down by knapjack, on Flickr


Chinatown by knapjack, on Flickr

...but with the 35S the battery compartment on the inside, my battery is almost always dead, so sunny/16 is my friend:


Independence Mine by knapjack, on Flickr

I've had good luck with the Wein cells, but I've started just using size 675 hearing aid batteries ( http://www.filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=5408.0 ), and still my battery is almost always dead. I'm a slow (lazy?) shooter. Just the way of it, I think.

If I'm honest, I think the number of decent shots per roll is lower on my 35S than my other cameras, but I also think maybe half of all my decent shots are from that camera as well. It would be the first camera I would take as a wedding guest and the last camera I would take as a wedding photographer.

As an aside, it also made me love 40mm lenses. To me, 50mm is like, "This is what I saw," and 35mm is like, "This is what it felt like," and 40mm is, "This is what it was like to be here." I suspect if I could score a Bronica with a 65mm lens I'd love that FoV all the more.

[gsgary]

Jack those shots brilliant, i have i 40mm for my Leica's but havn't used it for a few months, next roll

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