Any Rollei SL35 & SL350 lovers out there?

LeicaFoReVer

LeicaFoReVer

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I recently bought a bundle of one SL35 (german) with 1.8/50 (unknown country) and a SL350 with 2.8/35 (singapore) all for only 250€. Both in working conditions. Pretty good deal isnt it? I know that only SL350 body goes for that price.

Are there any Rollei SLR lovers in here. I am specifically interested in figuring out whether the planar I have is german or singapore. The seller says it is not written anywhere. It looks like a QBM I mount (first version). Early german versions have carl zeiss name on and later models have made in singapore written either on the barrel or at the bottom. Can this one be a late german made one? Can it be a rare one?

http://m.ebay.com/itm/ROLLEIFLEX-SL...BM-sehr-gut-/111998809020?txnId=1526704464001

http://m.ebay.com/itm/ROLLEI-Kamera...nalogkamera-/112016040641?txnId=1526704846001

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I own several SL35 cameras and lenses. The lenses are among my all time favorite lenses. I especially like the trio Distagon 35/1.4, Planar 50/1.4, and Planar 85/1.4. There were very few dogs among the many versions of lenses produced then for the QBM system. My first SL35 came to me with a 50/1.8 Schneider. It is an excellent lens. The 50/1.8 Planar is of course also a great lens. On a M 4/3 camera, it becomes a lens with a view of a 100mm lens, which is great for portraits.
 
The Sl350 probably qualifies as the last good 35mm Rollei, but it already is more fragile than the Japanese counterparts (the shutter froze twice on mine - I gave up on it after the Rollei expert in town died). But it still is much better than its successors, and period lenses outside the 50mm were still German Zeiss productions. Some strange fancy once forced my to buy a Rolleiflex SL 3003. Still nice lenses, Zeiss designs, but their production quality was down from the earlier ones (and Contax/Yashica sold Japanese made C/Y ones for 2/3 the price of their less well fabricated Rollei/Singapore QBM counterpart). But the 3003 (supposedly less bad than the 2000/2002) was less reliable than a Kiev 80 - a jumble of poorly fitted modules with failing electrical connectors.
 
I got an SL2000 which looked new, but its main board fell apart quickly. The camera just died. A service by the main Rollei repair facility in Germany kept it alive only another three months. I may have it as paper weight somewhere at home now.
 
Yes, people say to stay away from Singapore made Rolleis. That is why the two bodies I bought are made in Germany. Hopefully they will not fail me. I am inclined to keep SL350 and later sell SL35 but who knows maybe I will fall in love with them. I bought the Distagon but I will probably sell after couple of test rolls. I also would like to buy Schneider copies of Distagon and Planar (Angulon and Xenon).

Any idea on my planar's country of origin? I suspect that it is German made? If yes I will keep it.
 
When a QBM lens is labeled as "Made by Rollei", I suspect it is not made in Germany.
 
Yes Raid but interestingly all singapore made planars have Rollei-HFT word on the lens. And all german made Carl Zeiss QBM planars have either no HFT marking or says only HFT. Mine is like a hybrid. So I cant surely say it is made in Singapore. Even so maybe it was an error not to put Rollei-HFT marking and the country inscription. I cant find a similar lens on ebay.
 
I bought two new 3003's back when they were in production. Fantastic cameras when they worked but unfortunately they spent a lot of time in the shop. The tech at Rollei said there was a plastic gear or gears in the transport that didn't hold up. Also the magazine idea was great but after about 6 months the backs would start scratching film and had to go back for service. When I owned them Rollei only had one tech that could work on them and my two kept him busy. My cameras were so unreliable Rollei loaned my a third body for over a year.

I used them for commercial work and put thousands of rolls through them. I had in addition to the 2 bodies, 6 backs, battery packs, polaroid back, 16 Fisheye, 18, 25, 35 f1.4, 50 f1.4, 85 f1.4, 60 macro, 135, 200 and 400. All but the 400 we're Zeiss and most were German. I also had a Tollei zoom but can't remember the fl.

I also had a couple of used SL35 bodies but they never felt like they were well built but they never broke.

Another commercial photographer fridnd had a set too but experienced the same problems.

I eventually traded everything for a. pair of Nikon F4's and lenses.
 
Not 35mm but I had 3 SL66's for nearly 30 years. They were my primary MF cameras for both field and studio use. Once every couple of yeas I'd have to have backs rebuilt. I had almost no problems with them and 2 were bought used. I can count the problems with bodies and lenses on one hand in that period. I figured I had put about 25,000 rolls through each body when I sold them.
 
Have you had any experience with 35mm bodies? Rollei was a big company famous with its TLRs which were always made in Germany so I would expect the same quality for german made SLRs and lenses.

Anyone else with experienced out there?

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The 35mm SLR cameras were poorly made. Only the lenses were good.There is no comparison possible with their wonderful TLR cameras. Their SLR cameras were very unreliable.
 
I used a German made SL35 for years but needed to move on because of reliability issues with the shutter. I find the SL35 to be one of the nicest looking SLRs of all time. It's small and simple which makes using it feel very intuitive. Lenses are top-notch and I believe many of the formulas were available in the Contax mount as well. My personal favorite was the 85mm f/2.8.
 
The 85mm/2.8 was a Sonnar design optic. I have it too, but I have not used it often.
 
So fragile... my dad swore by their lenses, but their bodies were rubbish... even the full mechanical sl35 will eat it's winding mechanism
 
LeicaFoReVer said:
Have you had any experience with 35mm bodies? Rollei was a big company famous with its TLRs which were always made in Germany so I would expect the same quality for german made SLRs and lenses.

Anyone else with experienced out there?

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Click to expand...

The 3003's were 35mm. Fantastic concept but poorly executed. Basically the 3003 was a 35mm Hasselblad EL/M.

The SL66's which are 6x6 are fantastic. Imo they're the best 6x6 SLR ever made.
 
I see that there wasnt much love for SL35/SL350 bodies probably because they werent built sturdy enough. Can they be worse than Leica R4? Really?

I am still hopeful that the bodies I bought can serve me ok as I shoot time to time.

I also quite like the look of those bodies. I will post some photos and my impressions after they arrive.
 
SL35 Pictures:

50 f1.4 Planar

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85 f2.8 Sonnar

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