Rollei 35S help please

john neal

john neal

fallor ergo sum
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Well, I got the bad news about my 35S - I dropped it in the ice & snow at the end of last year and, apart from some superficial dents on the top plate, it has a broken casting lug. This means the lens does not lock properly when extended. I can still use it, but it's just too much hassle to constantly check that it is in the right position.

My local repairer (Newton & Ellis can do the work, but have no parts (think hen's teeth or rocking horse ***). I contacted Harry Fleenor, and he can do it, providing it's one of the lens lugs and not the body casting (I need to check), but it's at least $135 for the repair, plus post/insurance and the "opportunity" to pay 20% VAT to UK HMRC when it gets back. Starting to get costly.

So, I seem to have a no. of choices:-

- find a 35S that has some other problem at a realistic cost and get N&E to salvage the part required (preferred solution?)
- sell mine for spares
- buy another S

Has anyone got any other bright ideas?

Oh yes, to keep the amount of Rollei 35 in my blood in balance, I bought a 35T almost as soon as I dropped the S 😉 Interesting LED setup - I think I prefer the match needle to be honest, just can't get used to twirling the wheels while looking through the VF!
 
If it were me, I'd check out what it would cost to buy another 35S. Seems to me they've come down quite a bit, so it wouldn't surprise me if you could find one for not much more than the cost of repairs, and save lots of hassle and uncertainty. Keep yours for spares or sell it for parts.
 
John,

Sorry to hear about what happened to your Rollei 35s.

Ultimately your best option may be to get another 35s, but it's probably worthwhile having a look around to see if you can find another broken one for spares first. Now that John Waller seems to have stopped fixing them, are there any Rollei specialists in Europe who may have some parts?

John
 
I would simply buy another Rollei 35 S. There are plenty of them on the used market.

Regarding the LED models, sounds good in theory. Sort of clunky in real world use.

The camera's meter was designed to be operated from waist level, looking down while you can adjust and see the aperture and shutter speeds.

Trying to make those adjustments while peering through the viewfinder of a small camera is very awkward.
 
John,

Thanks for that suggestion, but it seems all they ahave are some top plates and filters.

I guess I will have to consider buying another (maybe sell the T to help defray the cost) & keeping the original for spares. prices on that auction site still seem to be steep though 🙁
 
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