Need help on buying a Rollei 35 - Quick!

[pizzahut88]

Hi, I am looking to buy a Rollei 35.
I really need some advice.

Been looking around on ebay alot, and some local stores,
there many different models, and a huge range of difference between prices.
I am confused. I just want the best one - period.

Below I've listed some points on things to consider when picking one.
It's note comprehensive . . . Could someone whether I am on the right track?
Hope these points can form the basic of 'quickie 😀 buyer's guide'.

(1) Between Singapore and Germany, try to find one from Germany?

(2) There are 3 types of lenses, Sonnar, Tessar, Triotar.
Where possible get Sonnar, I suppose Sonnar has the best quality and being a stop brighter at F2.8.

(3) Metering? Which type? I need one which is reliable and accurate.
Batteries for the meter ought to be easy to get, not some exotic kind.

(4) Which model? Which model is the most desirable?
On the basic, I know there is various special editions, like Gold, silver, platinum.
I am looking for something more practical.

(5) What came with the camera?
Strap, lens cap, flash unit, case, instruction booklet?
I want a complete set, looking to keep it for a long time.

(6) What kind of things should I look out for when pick one from a second hand store? Sticky shutter? Any common problem that I need to check for?


(7) How's the lens quality? How the cam as a whole? How would you rate?
I been at Flickr, looking at samples, the small images don't tell me much about sharpness.

(8) Hey do you have a Rollei 35 gallery? Point me to it, share your thoughts!
How do rate this thing?

(9) what color?
Chrome? Black paint or what? Personal perference?
Which is more rare? Which is more hard wearing?

(10) Lastly did I miss anything?
I really want a good nice one.
I am lost.
I am going to print this thread at the end of day with all the reply and go shopping or it.


Cheers, Manfred, thanks in advance.
😀

 

[jky]

I'll bite....

1. Singapore's usually are a little cheaper - but you won't be able to tell the difference between the two. If you're buying to collect, then Germany is worth more.

2. No experience with the Triotar, but the Sonnar & Tessar are great lenses. The Sonnar is supposed to be better wide open compared to the Tessar, but I couldn't really tell. Since the cam's scale focus, I very rarely shoot wide open on these anyways. At my usual aperatures of f5.6 and smaller - I'd say they're the same (wonderful in other words).

3. Metering - I don't understand what you mean by "type". However, I prefer the top mounted meters compared to the TE & SE models (where you have to look in the vf). The top mounted meter on the other 35's allow you to set your speed & apreture at waist/chest level - not as noticable to your subject. The batteries are the old Mercury type I believe (on every model prior to the TE/SE). However, there are several walk-arounds to this problem (I had my local camera shop calibrate the meter to take the newer batteries).

4. Something more practical? .... don't get the Gold, Silver, Royal Urushi (sp?) or anything like that... just get one of the following - 35, 35T, 35S, 35TE, 35SE. If it has a designation such as "Gold" or "Silver", it'll fetch for more $$$.

5. Usually it'll come with a wrist strap & a faux leather pouch. Sorry, no experience with the Rollei flash - I bought an Oly S20 flash at *bay for $15.00, which works fine.

6. Aside from the regular things like fit & finish, check the slow settings as some may stick. Don't be afraid of a little ding on the top plate as these cameras seem prone to them. If everything else is functioning well, a little ding might just get you a few $ back.

7. My 35T will never leave me. It's a wonderful camera w/ a great lens (mine's the Tessar). Scale focusing isn't that difficult from 6' and farther - all it takes is practice. Besides, the 40mm has plenty of DOF at f5.6 and smaller. I've found it to be durable & reliable. The manual settings mean you don't need batteries so I feel it's a good back up camera. The leaf shutter allows me to hand hold at 1/15 easily (given I haven't had too much Starbucks).

8. Sorry, no gallery just a couple of photos. Take a look at this link though if you haven't already...
http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35020

9. I have chrome, but I'd love a black one. Just personal preference here - I don't know which is more hard wearing.

10. The best thing to do is to go and play with one at your local shop. Its design does not work for some people, but it works for me....

Hope this helps.
Cheers, j

 

[Film dino]

jky has provided a comprehensive answer, which I would second.

I have a black 35SE with the 2.8 Sonnar; like jky I seldom use this wide open at short distances.
(5) I'm sure you know the accesory shoe is on the bottom of the camera, which makes shoe mounted flash somewhat quirky. I too use the Oly S20, & turn the camera upside down for flash pictures
(9) The black cameras are painted (more like an enamel) & this can chip.

Happy hunting

David

 

[pizzahut88]

Thanks Guys!

Thanks Guys!

The advice was very much needed.

Quote:
4. Something more practical? .... don't get the Gold, Silver, Royal Urushi (sp?) or anything like that... just get one of the following - 35, 35T, 35S, 35TE, 35SE. If it has a designation such as "Gold" or "Silver", it'll fetch for more $$$.

Which model do I choose?
There's quite a few . . .
which is most desirable?

Thanks!

 

[mike_j]

Well I was going to put a nice, little used, 35T chrome with original case on ebay (UK) this afternoon. Haven't taken pics or checked the battery and shutter speeds yet but it was all fine last time I used it a year ago. If you might be interested send me a pm and I'll give you the details.

 

[mbisc]

4. Something more practical? .... don't get the Gold, Silver, Royal Urushi (sp?) or anything like that... just get one of the following - 35, 35T, 35S, 35TE, 35SE. If it has a designation such as "Gold" or "Silver", it'll fetch for more $$$.
Which model do I choose?
There's quite a few . . .
which is most desirable?

Half your choices are over once you decide on the lenses. AFAIK, the model designations of Tx and Sx stand for having the Tessar or the Sonnar. BTW, the model with the Triotar lens (which I would avoid) had the designation 35B.
This is all from memory, but I am pretty sure that this correct. I have fond memories of these camera, but haven't owned one for a few years.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[jky]

As mbisc had mentioned, once you decide on a lens, then you're pretty much there. If it doesn't matter to you whether you have a Sonnar or Tessar, then any of the ones mentioned will be fine. As to which is more desirable, I'm guessing it would be a 35S w/ the f2.8 Sonnar lens. The SE's usually cost a little bit more than its siblings.
Cheers & good luck, j

 

[FrankS]

I prefer the S model, due to its lens (though the Tessar is still fantastic) and more importantly becasue the meter readout needle is on the camera's top deck. The TE and the SE that I've had previously have meter LEDs in the viewfinder.

That being said, they are all great little cameras that offer what no others can: full manual control in a tiny well-built package.

 

[Keith]

Just hijacking Manfred's thread (sorry Manfred) I have a 35 with a Xenar lens which no one has mentioned ... is it less common for some reason and how does it compare to the other lenses. It has a problem so I've never used it. (****ing ebay) 🙄

 

[FrankS]

Keith, I've read that relatively small numbers of the Xenar lens camera were made, so that could give it some collector value over the more common Tessar lens version. In Rolleicords and 'flexes, the Tessar and Xenar lenses are about the same in performance I think.

 

[Jeremy Z]

My grandpa had a German B35, with the Zeiss Triotar. He took some fantastic slides with it when he was visiting Europe during the 70s and 80s. They were very contrasty.

You'll notice that no one can say for sure whether the Triotars are worse than the Tessars or Sonnars, because no one will try them!

In favor of the B35 Triotar models, they are a much cleaner design. They don't have those two big dials on the front; the controls are on the lens.

The B35s don't have the full range of shutter speeds; they only go down to 1/25 or 1/30s. However, they do have selenium light meters, which don't need batteries. I believe all but the TE and SE use mercury batteries, so unless you have a good fix, the slide exposures are going to be off.

Correct me if I'm wrong guys, but I don't believe there was ever a Sonnar that was made in Germany. I thought that by the time the Sonnar models were made, production had been moved to Singapore.

Therefore, the "most desirable" is going to depend on your intended use. If it is for collecting, the most desirable will be an early, mint Rollei 35, Made in Germany, with an f/3.5 Carl Zeiss Tessar. The most desirable users are the 35S' from Singapore, on account of the f/2.8 lens. When they moved to Singapore, they were no longer allowed to put "Carl Zeiss" on the lens, though they were able to keep the lens design name. (i.e. "Rollei HFT Sonnar")

 

[hjfischer]

Ditto all the above. I've had the 35T since 1968 and highly recommend it. You can get a battery adapter from several sources that will enable use of a modern battery for correct readings. No one else mentioned it but this camera has one of the quietest shutters around. Just a "snik" and you've taken the shot. Good luck.

 

[FrankS]

Ditto the ditto above, except for the shutter sound. I had a Rollei with quite a loud click. The one I've got now is quieter.

 

[Keith]

The black ones are so good looking ... the other couple I have are silver and look like they've been in a combat zone. I'm amazed how many RFF'ers seem to have at least one of these!

It always amused me that on the Rollei site the reviewer had this theory that some one on the assembly line was assigned to belt each one with a hammer as it went past ... he was sure he had never seen one without dents! 😀

 

[easyrider]

Rollei 35

Rollei 35

I have a black Rollei 35 with the 40mm 3.5 Tessar, bought in Germany in 1969. It was the camera I constantly used when my kids were small and also when occasionally illustrating stories I have written. (I worked as a print and TV journalist for a long time.) It was my constant companion for many years. The lens is excellent even wide open. And, yes, the camera has a ding on the top plate.

I wanted a camera that did not look threatening but was a serious piece of equipment. The little Rollei played that role well. Many of my photos were published, including in TIME magazine where I worked for a while.

I picked up a manual rangefinder at a camera show but never really used it. Too slow to take the reading, look at the distance and then set the camera. One gets pretty good at judging distances and the 40mm has excellent depth of field.

I also used flash a lot at events, using an external cord and and a Braun flash of about the same vintage. In fact, I still use it. The camera is awkward to use when the flash is put into the hotshoe. You have to hold it upside down.

A few years ago it began to leak light -- very slightly and only in bright sunlight. I was flush at the time and bought a Contax T3. I never loved it as much as I did the Rollei that I still have but I have now gone digital.

I have a DSLR but my pocket camera is a Minolta G400 that I also love and carry with me.

I also have a Rollei TLR and two screw mount Leicas. Reading this forum makes me want to try B+W film again . . . maybe one of these days.

In short: Get a Rollei with a Tessar or Sonnar with a recent body in good condition and you won't go wrong. Prices are all over the map. Maybe look for one near your location that you can check out in person.

BTW: An excellent Rollei reference book is "Collectors Guide to Rolley Cameras" by Arthur Evans, published in May 1986 and distributed in Europe by Hove Foto Books, Hove East Sussex, UK. I bought mine at a camera show in Toronto.

Sorry but I don't have any Rollei 35 pix in digital. Maybe I will scan some one of these days and post them.

You will love the Rollei 35. 😀


Addendum. I finally shot a pic of the Rollei35. (a few days after the original post)

 

[richard_l]

I've owned the following:

Rollei 35 - Original Tessar model, black, made in Germany.
Rollei 35 - Original Tessar model, silver, made in Singapore.
Rollei 35 S - Sonnar, black, made in Singapore.

There is no difference in fit and finish or image quality between the Germany and Singapore cameras. Also, the Tessar and Sonnar lenses are both excellent. The Camera Hunter has accessories for these cameras. You will probably need a lightproof pouch of some kind since the meter stays on all the time. The original Rollei pouch is nice, but I prefer my Lowepro, a small soft case with room for an extra roll of film, a hood, and a couple of filters.

I like the models with the meter on the top. It's convenient to look down on the camera and see all of the variables - meter, shutter speed, focus, and aperture. It also may be a bit more stealthy than those with the meter in the viewfinder. My recommendations would be the Rollei 35 or 35 T (which are identical with the Tessar lens) or the Rollei 35 S (Sonnar lens).

Some Rollei photos are here and here.

Richard

 

[KoNickon]

I have a black 35SE, a chrome 35TE, and a chrome 35T. All are fine performers. (The slow speeds on the SE don't work, but I don't care.) I agree that having the meter readout on the top deck can be quite convenient, but for me there's nothing like seeing the readout in the viewfinder, as with the SE and TE.

I will note, though, that the PX27 battery those two models take is very hard to find -- there are online places to get them, though, or maybe a really well-stocked camera store has them. (I don't know what other cameras used this size battery.) On the other hand, it is convenient being able to replace those batteries if they die in the middle of a roll, since the battery compartment is on the top of the camera (not in the film chamber, as with the earlier models).

I find that the location of the meter cell on the SE and TE, a little closer to the lens, is slightly less likely to be blocked by my right hand -- something for larger-handed users to consider.

 

[Jeremy Z]

For those of you with Rolleis that are less than perfect, mechanically:

http://www.rolleirepairs.com/index.htm

(Check out his credentials)

I think I'm going to buy a cosmetically-good Rollei 35 from ebay, then cough up the money for Harry to give it the ol' once-over.

 

[mbisc]

For those of you with Rolleis that are less than perfect, mechanically:

http://www.rolleirepairs.com/index.htm

(Check out his credentials)

I think I'm going to buy a cosmetically-good Rollei 35 from ebay, then cough up the money for Harry to give it the ol' once-over.

Harry is a true rock star in the world of Rollei repair, particularly for Rolleiflex TLRs, but unfortunately that is also reflected in his turn-around time. You better check with him before you go that route, especially if you plan to take the camera for a spin in 2007. Back in the days when I had a R'flex TLR, folks were talking about turn-around times for CLAs in terms of double-digit months...

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Film dino]

I've just had an email from Harry Fleenor quoting an 11-week turnaround time for a Rolleicord.

David