New Rollei 35AF Coming Soon...

[TenEleven]

I am still fence sitting.

However I have to say despite the aggressive branding this would not be a Rollei 35S replacement for me. Seriously for street snaps it will be impossible to beat zone focus for accuracy and speed. This is hard to overstate. I have gotten hits with the R35 that due to its size and basically permanently cocked shutter (in order to transport it) I could not have easily gotten with any other camera.

So the primary appeal of the Rollei35AF, for me is it could be something to replace the Contax T3 which I have been tossing into my work bag when I go to work every now and then. Or use it as a everyday camera or side-arm. Basically something besides the "serious" shooting.

Aka it's a premium autofocus compact with modern technology that is not 20+ year old and of questionable reliability. There's a lot to be said in praise of that. Just whether it's the right thing for me? That I am still very uncertain about.

 

[TenEleven]

TBH this camera looks really intriguing. The original never grabbed me because of the zone focusing, but this new AF system with LIDAR makes in much more attractive.

One thing that worries me in this video is that the flash samples (no flash/flash) are both very visibly out of focus even at youtube video size on my laptop. The focus ended up on the wall in the back despite the subject being smack dab in the middle. Hmm...

 

[Freakscene]

It's intriguing. I like aperture-priority automation as long as it includes AEL (auto-exposure lock); otherwise I find it useless.

Regarding lidar autofocusing, if this bears any resemblance to some of the old sonar-based autofocus systems of the past, it won't focus through a window. It will focus on the window. As far as I know, lidar detects the nearest solid object. I don't really know much specifically about lidar, so I could be wrong.

- Murray

Lidar has a lot of trouble detecting glass. But it depends on reflectance. If you see it as completely transparent, so, likely, will the lidar. But dirt, reflections, angles etc create complexities for lidar the same as they do for us.

Focusing through windows is hard with all autofocus systems.

 

[trix4ever]

Rollei 35B, the real cheap one

This was guess focussed on tri-x at the Epson Derby.
I was blind drunk and I'm still very happy with the whole set.
Have no idea where an af camera would focussed, probably on the guy in the mid distance, so with af I would have had to focus and reframe, and I was not fit to do that after a major pub crawl...
I have not had a drink for over 20 years but even sober I would have been happy with these photos.
Still have the camera and it still works fine.

 

[Freakscene]

Rollei 35B, the real cheap one

This was guess focussed on tri-x at the Epson Derby.
I was blind drunk and I'm still very happy with the whole set.
Have no idea where an af camera would focussed, probably on the guy in the mid distance, so with af I would have had to focus and reframe, and I was not fit to do that after a major pub crawl...
I have not had a drink for over 20 years but even sober I would have been happy with these photos.
Still have the camera and it still works fine.

Blend drunk!? Stick to single varietals 😜 More seriously, congratulations on a lengthy period of exercising your decision about how to live.

And is a really great photo. Cutting coherent chunks out of crowds is hard, and this is basically perfect. And the combination of grain and tones, just amazing. If I could go anywhere, it would be the past.

 

[Bingley]

Ordered a black one. I love my Rollei 35S and 35 cameras, and am quite comfortable with scale focusing, but this new Rollei is too interesting to pass up (I passed on the Pentex 17).

 

[Jonathan R]

For me, the thing that definitely counts it out is the 35mm rigid lens. Although I’m really a 50mm guy, I can put up with the 40mm of the original, happy that it collapses away when the camera is not in immediate use. It looks as though the new camera is a bit thicker than the original to accommodate the back focus of the rigid lens (and presumably all the other new gubbins).

 

[petronius]

Who was it here that did a 365 project with an original Rollei 35 and Tri-x? Was it @petronius ?

It was me and it was Polypan F and the Rollei 35 hasn´t left my side since then (around 600 rolls so far).

 

[AntonioC]

Rollei 35B, the real cheap one

This was guess focussed on tri-x at the Epson Derby.
I was blind drunk and I'm still very happy with the whole set.
Have no idea where an af camera would focussed, probably on the guy in the mid distance, so with af I would have had to focus and reframe, and I was not fit to do that after a major pub crawl...
I have not had a drink for over 20 years but even sober I would have been happy with these photos.
Still have the camera and it still works fine.

I don’t care about the camera, I just love this shot. Kind of a martinparresque feel to it… 👌🏻

 

[Godfrey]

For me, the thing that definitely counts it out is the 35mm rigid lens. Although I’m really a 50mm guy, I can put up with the 40mm of the original, happy that it collapses away when the camera is not in immediate use. It looks as though the new camera is a bit thicker than the original to accommodate the back focus of the rigid lens (and presumably all the other new gubbins).

The Rollei 35AF body is about 4-5mm larger in all dimensions compared to a Rollei 35S. One of the reviews on YouTube showed that clearly. The AF lens, the battery compartment required, the built-in flash, etc, all made it a very tough packaging job to fit into such a small 35mm FF camera.

G

 

[Jonathan R]

And is a really great photo. Cutting coherent chunks out of crowds is hard, and this is basically perfect. And the combination of grain and tones, just amazing. If I could go anywhere, it would be the past.

I wholeheartedly agree. Where can we see the rest of the set, @trix4ever ?

 

[trix4ever]

Well here's another with the 35B

This was in the middle of the Gypsy camp in the middle of the Derby course.
I nearly started a riot taking these, luckily my mate Nick who is a massive member of the Hells Angel was my guardian angel and physically dragged me out of there...

 

[trix4ever]

Another with the 35B

 

[trix4ever]

Another with the 35B

These guys were also pissed and had about as much culture as a pot of yoghurt

 

[trix4ever]

What the hell, you asked. So here's another with the 35B

 

[trix4ever]

Yet another with the 35B

 

[Jonathan R]

Hell, these are truly wonderful. Especially love the gypsy one. I need to acquire a Hell's Angel.

 

[Godfrey]

@trix4ever : Excellent work, all of them. 🙂

G

 

[trix4ever]

Another with the 35B obviously cropped to square, I thought the kids rifle made it but the little girls face on the left capped it for me. Also I liked how direct and confrontational the gypsy woman staring at me is.
Anyway that's derailed the thread quite enough, just wanted to point out that a Rollei 35B can take just as good a photo as any camera if you know what you're doing.

 

[sara]

I reallllyyy like the black version but won't be getting one since I just got a Pentax 17....and I have a Rollei 35S sitting around doing nothing lol.

But it's a beautiful camera. Hope more companies jump onto the bandwagon. Just makes more sense to create newer film cameras so that we don't have to spend tons of money fixing older ones.