Rollei 35 - one year

Yesterday I bought my fifth Rollei 35, a made in Germany model.
I visited a photo fair and watched a guy who tried to sell a Voigtländer Vito to a dealer, who was not interested, Then he pulled a Rollei 35 out of his bag and offered it, but having some damaged corners on the top plate the dealer wasn´t really pleased. When I showed interest in the camera, the dealer stepped back and I made the deal with the guy. He told me he had bought the camera in 1969 when he was working abroad and that he wanted to sell it, because he went digital two years ago. With the exception of the usual dents on the top corners the camera is in very good condition, with working speeds and a very clean lens. It came with an original Rollei R1,5 filter and a soft pouch; I payed 20 Euro for it.
At home, reading about this special model I realised, that fifty years ago, on Photokina 1966 the Rollei 35 was introduced to the camera market!
Congratulations!
 
Just wanted to say that this thread, the whole project and the quality and consistency of your work were very inspirational to me. Thanks for your sharing. I have often wondered about a Rollei 35 and now I might just get one as I like to scale focus manual cameras anyway. I also tried to do a 'one camera, one lens, one year (and one film!)' project but like you I could never quite make the full year 🙂 Still, you did several years of adding to the project bit by bit which has still been very impressive to so many of us. I did get about eight months in with an M6 and a 35 lux but that was the best I could ever manage, I'm too much of a gear head I guess. Your work is really so good, I love how you see the world.
 
From roll 384; Tessar (made in Germany)
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This is tremendous stuff! I have my Rollei 35T with me everywhere...any tips on scale focus...I am not so much worried about the light meter (which doesn't work anymore)...scale focus??? troubling for a rookie what to look for? and how to do correctly with these cameras? Thanks for the inspiration. Mark
 
Thank you for your nice comment!
In scale focusing nothing beats practice.
If it comes close, it´s useful to know the length of your arm so you can use it as a measuring device. Visualizing the length of your steps is also helpful.
 
Scale focusing

Scale focusing

Nice commitment here and many cool images -in this group particularly from 384, the window set in dark siding 🙂

I agree that scale focusing takes practice and knowing the length of one's arm is good. With my arm, I am at about 2 feet so I approximate double that when I take a pic of a subject (as in portrait 🙂 and bracket for distances +/- 4ft. Also if it is important, stop down to f4 and most of all, be patient. When you nail the focus close-in it can be really nice!
 
You know, I'm a huge GRD III fan, but the images on your GRD III blog just don't have the same visual snap as the Rollei 35 images. Very cool that the new/old Rollei you bought was 50 years old!

How long would it take you to shoot one roll on the Rollei? Do you find your methods and regularity of shooting are different with the GRD III?
 
I´m a GRD III fan too, but in the last months I realized, that the Rollei is the camera I will stick to. The GRD blog is close to closing.
The time to shoot one roll in the Rollei is dependent on my mood and the circumstances. I carry it almost everywhere, but sometimes other cameras are more interesting. Some rolls in my blog were finished within an hour, some were finished in 4 weeks.
The shooting with the Rollei is very different from the GRD. I shoot way too many frames in the GRD and have to edit strictly. With the Rollei I use my brain more often and have to edit much less; that´s the reason why the Rollei way is a more pleasing one. I even think that shooting the Rollei in the last years has improved my film photography (even my SLR images look like the Rollei pictures now).
 
Excellent work! Diverging a little, I noticed that you (used) to use Agfa optima Sensor cameras. How did they compare to the Rollei 35? Both have 40mm lenses, both (apart from the 1535) are scale focus. Both have metal bodies (Agfa metal coated w/ plastic). Agfa is AE only, Rollei is manual exposure only.
Thanks!
 
Huss, thank you for your kind words!
I started with the Agfa Optima 335 Sensor in 1992, when I used it as my only camera during the vacation, shooting slide film and I was very pleased by the outcome. Later I purchased the 1035 and the 1535. I use the 1535 occasionally and I like the finder most: bright, clear and a very good rangefinder patch.
The camera´s feel is not like the Rollei. All external controls are plastic, but that´s a sign of the production time. (The Agfa Optima sensor line was designed by Schlagheck Design, who also designed the famous red Sensor shutter release button that is in the Agfa Logo today. BTW the "sensor" is simply a normal release button with a red foil over it)
The scale focus models have an even brighter and bigger finder (1:1). The distance ring feels a little bit plasticky. The shutter sound is similar to the Rollei 35, the advance lever sound too. The rewind process by using the advance lever makes much more noise than a regular rewind crank, but I always loved the tricky reduction of parts. It´s a strong contrast to the dial-and-button-filled body of the Rollei. In my hands the Optima sensor series feels very comfortable. The lack of aperture control is no problem for my way of shooting. I have a strong affinity to odd camera constructions.
Feel free to ask more questions!
 
Thanks for the reply Petronius! The Rollei is gorgeous and you show what it is capable of. But I just opted for a 1535 (on it's way to me..) as I do not trust my focus estimation abilities! I'm ok with a 35mm lens and wider (using Nikonos, Leica MD-A or 1g cameras) but still not that good at it. You don't seem to have any issues!
🙂

There is a black 35SE locally that looks very very nice though...
 
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