New Rollei 35AF Coming Soon...

[ChrisPlatt]

Marketing rubbish...

"Tailor the ISO settings to your unique style and shooting conditions. By adjusting the ISO allows you to control the sensitivity of your camera's sensor, giving you flexibility to achieve the desired look and mood in your photos."

Seriously, they 'might' know how to make a camera but their promotional effort is total garbage, this is a film camera after all.

In the early 1990s I took an ACE photo course whose instructor repeatedly suggested much the same thing.
He was a sculptor, not a photographer. My wife was in the class so I couldn't get up and leave.

Chris

 

[Richard G]

All marketing degenerates to tautology. Leica proposed that one of their recent cameras was so refined that it allowed the user to concentrate on one single purpose of the new camera, photography. To be honest I’ve often thought that swinging the M5 or M9 at some theoretical attacker might be a good defense. But it’s pretty easy, and quite important, to put such use out of your mind and concentrate on remembering that a camera can be used for photography.

 

[JohnGellings]

The Rollei 35 is not a "brick" ... or if it is, it is such a small brick that the term doesn't apply: the whole camera fits in the palm of my hand.

It is literally shaped like a small brick... or a bar of soap. I like it though and agree. I'm not big grip fan. I did not call it a brick, someone else did. My point was if the Rollei 35AF is a brick, why isn't the 35s?

The only ergonomic issue I see with the Rollei 35AF is that the shutter release is positioned closer to the edge of the body than it is on all the prior Rollei 35 family models (35, 35S, 35T, etc).

However, that does not change the shape of the camera.

That actually might make a difference as your right hand is grasping a somewhat smaller part of the camera body.

True...I can see that.

The Rollei 35S may be small, but the controls on it are not at all cramped and the shutter release is at a distance from the right edge of the body such that my forefinger falls very naturally into place on it, and with the camera held vertically (rotated to the right) it is again in just the right place to release with my right thumb. This difference in placement on the 35AF might cause a little bit of unsteadiness.

G

Ok, but I am pretty sure people can get used the AF version too.

 

[splitimageview]

It’s a very small group who have created this camera, not a manufacturing behemoth like Kyocera and the Contax T series with a marketing team likely 10x the size of the entire Mint company. So I’d cut them a little slack with regards to word choice! 😀

 

[TenEleven]

Marketing rubbish...

"Tailor the ISO settings to your unique style and shooting conditions. By adjusting the ISO allows you to control the sensitivity of your camera's sensor, giving you flexibility to achieve the desired look and mood in your photos."

Seriously, they 'might' know how to make a camera but their promotional effort is total garbage, this is a film camera after all.

I assume that this is again not targeted at us (old hands) but Zoomers from whom this might be their first film camera.... it sort of conveys that you can push/pull your film despite the DX setting - which to be fair not many compacts are able to.

To be clear I am not disagreeing with you, I think that the wording is a load of rubbish. The feature is nice to have. The marketing speak is horrendous.
But I've been around enough to see basically every major camera maker spout similar rubbish - see Richard's humorous example above...

 

[Freakscene]

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 - these are tremendous, and this one is just incredible.

 

[Dogman]

Well...there are small bricks, big bricks and concrete blocks. At least the new Rollei is not a concrete block. But its brickness looks less ergonomic than the small brickness of the original Rollei.

But it's of no matter to me. My old 35SE is in a cabinet with a half shot roll of HP5 in it. The film was from a time back when I was enamored with the idea of shooting film again. That didn't really work out for me. Decided I'm not a film guy after all. But I'm glad someone is building new cameras for those who are into film--be they big bricks and half-frames. And marketing is just BS to wade through. Everything has that kind of crap associated with it these days. Ignore it.

 

[Godfrey]

It is literally shaped like a small brick... or a bar of soap. I like it though and agree. I'm not big grip fan. I did not call it a brick, someone else did. My point was if the Rollei 35AF is a brick, why isn't the 35s?
...
Ok, but I am pretty sure people can get used the AF version too.

😀

It's a simple rectangular box with softened edges/corners, yes. But size matters (as does linguistic nuance): something that fits in the palm of my hand, that my hand can close around in its entirety, is hardly a "brick" to my perception of shape and size; it's more a small, boxy shape. My Argus C3 is a brick, often nicknamed the "plastic brick" in the day since it is made of resin, but it really is a biggish thing with around 2.5x the volume of a Rollei 35 and very hard edges/corners.

(Likewise, a Minox IIIS or B is a "pack of chewing gum" which, despite the diminutive size, is actually quite ergonomic to hold stable and get very sharp photographs with ... which Minox cocked up a little bit with the change in placement of the shutter release on the LX model. 🤷‍♂️ We all make mistakes sometimes.)

But yes, I agree: Ultimately human beings can adapt and 'get used to' a slightly different shape/dimension/control placement. I'm sure many people will find the Rollei 35AF delightful, and since I've decided not to buy one, I'll never get the up-close-and-personal experience with it.

G

 

[splitimageview]

Well at least we are now discussing the truly important features. 🤣

 

[Godfrey]

Well at least we are now discussing the truly important features. 🤣

... Well, I for one consider ergonomics to be one of the most important features to discuss when a new camera comes up. Nearly any recently designed lens works beautifully, film transport and metering should certainly be no problem, it's a film camera so forget about menus etc... What else is really important compared to whether I can set focus, aperture, and shutter speed, and have a shape and control placement that allows me to easily and without jiggling the camera release the shutter?

I'm not buying a Rollei 35AF because it has no ability for me to manually set a focus distance that I want, that's its most important lack from my point of view; I'm unwilling to rely completely on AF. The shutter release might prove a little awkward at first due to the different placement of the button compared to prior Rollei 35s I've owned, but I'm sure my fingers can learn how to deal with that.

Others will likely differ on these two points of interaction.

G

 

[splitimageview]

Ergonomics are surely important.

My point was simply regarding the discussion: "Is it a brick? No it's not a brick! Why yes, it most certainly is!"

 

[JohnGellings]

Anyone have a side by side of say there Rollei 35s and the new one?

 

[splitimageview]

 

[splitimageview]

Anyone have a side by side of say there Rollei 35s and the new one?

time stamp 7:05

 

[Retro-Grouch]

All marketing degenerates to tautology. Leica proposed that one of their recent cameras was so refined that it allowed the user to concentrate on one single purpose of the new camera, photography. To be honest I’ve often thought that swinging the M5 or M9 at some theoretical attacker might be a good defense. But it’s pretty easy, and quite important, to put such use out of your mind and concentrate on remembering that a camera can be used for photography.

You really need to ditch those paltry Leicas and step up to medium format. The advantages in self-defense capability are enormous. Get yourself a Bronica S2 and no one will mess with you!

 

[JohnGellings]

time stamp 7:05

Ok, now I understand how it’s more of a “brick.”

 

[Evergreen States]

To be honest I’ve often thought that swinging the M5 or M9 at some theoretical attacker might be a good defense. But it’s pretty easy, and quite important, to put such use out of your mind and concentrate on remembering that a camera can be used for photography.

Joel Meyerowitz has a story from 1963 where he and a friend were out shooting on the streets of New York and spotted Henri Cartier-Bresson hurling his Leica into some irate pedestrian's face and yanking it back with the strap right before it made contact to scare the guy off.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

Joel Meyerowitz has a story from 1963 where he and a friend were out shooting on the streets of New York and spotted Henri Cartier-Bresson hurling his Leica into some irate pedestrian's face and yanking it back with the strap right before it made contact to scare the guy off.

Yes, I know that story (and I believe the fellow was drunk), but it's hard to imagine HCB using his camera that way. I mean, he was such a gentleman, in that classic European fashion. But I guess a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!
On the other hand, I'm such barbarian, in that classic American fashion. Mess with me at all, and I clobber you with my Bronica! >Insert loud chest-thumping noises here<

 

[wlewisiii]

I never had any excitement for the original and the more I read about this one the more i think that if I want another pocket rocket, I'll buy another Zeiss Contessa. That little 40mm Tessar RF was killer 🙂

 

[Retro-Grouch]

I never had any excitement for the original and the more I read about this one the more i think that if I want another pocket rocket, I'll buy another Zeiss Contessa. That little 40mm Tessar RF was killer 🙂

The original was pretty cool, and I was excited about mine back then. This one had my attention until I learned about the autofocus. Regardless of the camera, if I can't focus it myself, I don't want it.