Rollei 35 S
 

Hi all... anyone have any thoughts on these little Rollei's?...

Cheers all,

Jim

From what I have heard they are little jewels, especially the S model with the better Sonnar lens. One of the smallest 35mm cameras ever (sadly trumped by the Minox 35 to which they are often compared to), they carry both great optics and solid metal construction, unlike the Makrolon on the Minox. Like the Minox it has a cult following as a result, though the Rollei is more popular because of its quirky, retro, mechanical look.

I would love to own one in the future, 35mm subminiatures are fabulous cameras because of their portability and the fact you tend to go relatively unnoticed 'there goes another stupid tourist with their trashy camera'-when in fact you are taking pin-sharp, high resolution images. A camera like the Rollei can very easily become a talking point. Do expect to pay a premium because of their collector value.

Thanks for a great reply Alex... I am bidding for one at the moment... so if it goes cheap I will post some results soon : )

Good luck with that, I would love to see what a Rollei is capable of producing in comparison to my Minox 35.

Well thats a bit different Jim.

A couple of thoughts - Most of your stuff is fairly wide angle and wide open aperture. That camera has a 40mm lens and no rangefinder. Even buying a seperate rangefinder to solve that little problem will slow the picture taking process down a bit.

Don

I've just been out bid for my 15 pound limit hehe... so I'll not be getting this one : )

I like the idea of a 40mm and a 80mm... I love making portraits so much... I may be looking at getting an old Bronica or a Mamiya kit with a 70mm or an 80mm lens just for film portraits... I love my d200... and digital sure is in expensive but film really brought out another kind of relationship with making and finding a moment... its a more subtle way of finding and getting a shot I think and for me it suited really well... : )

Hi Don!!! Hope all is really great with you my friend - hope to pop over soon : )

Jim,

Before getting any new toys just buy a roll of 120 film and come over. I have a Yashicamat 124G that you can try for a trial of medium format. ;)

In focal length terms the standard lens on full frame 35mm is 50mm. On 6 x 4.5 it is 75mm and on 6 x 6 it is 80mm. Up to now you have been playing quite a bit wider so that may affect your style.

Don

Oh great idea!!! I have some film here!!!... will call in the week Don : )

Some of Daves old stock ? :D :D

That will be cool. :) Rainy day week so we will be around and I am not doing anything in the workshop that cannot be put down.

I also have a different super compact 35mm, the Olympus XA, that you can check out. At least that has a coupled rangefinder.

Don

Given your style of photography Jim, I think Don's suggestion of the XA is a better bet. I'm sure you've found this link already:
http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~yue/misc/rangfndr.html The Rollei stuff is about 3/4 of the way down. Note in particular "To call the Rollei 35's design eccentric, is an under statement."

Having spent many pleasurable hours studying your work over the time you've been a member, I think the non-coupled rangefinder and subsequent dial-in the distance on the focus ring really would hamper your style of shooting.

Duncan