Rollei 35 RF Finish...

[George Bonanno]

Hi All,

I have a Rollei 35 RF camera that I've been using for about five months. I bought it used, actually second hand, in mint condition with the 40mm Sonnar. I've run dozens of rolls through it with nice results and it works just fine.

However, now the silver finish (paint, plating or whatever it is) is flaking and peeling off the front of the camera exposing the shinny underneath metal surface. Cosmetically the camera is starting to look awful. That's not the problem as I just use the camera for taking pictures. BUT the flaking silver bits that appear like glitter reattach themselves all over the camera body and lens. They are very hard to clean off using a brush and compressed air. This almost daily routine is really starting to bug me, it's a PITA !

Has anyone else encountered this with their Rollei 35 RF or have any suggestions on how to deal with this ?

TIA,
George

 

[fuwen]

I have 2 Rollei 35RFs. One bought new and used for at least 6 months now keep as spare body. The other one bought used with moderate wear and have been using since 2006. Both do not have this silver flakes problem.

Not sure the one who sell u the Rollei 35RF tried to paint the body before selling u ........... just speculating.

 

[George Bonanno]

I just take the pictures...

I just take the pictures...

The flaking is from the original factory finish. It now appears under close inspection that the metal body was not prepared properly before the plating or painting process. I think the camera I now have is an early model, SN/R001186. The Rollei 35 RF camera I originally owned had a stiff film winder and a stiff focus lens from what I remember. It was returned to the dealer. I bought this one from an acquaintance who did not use it except maybe once or twice. BTW: The original one was SN/R601851. At least that's what the original invoice states however it might have been SN/R001851. I'm not complaining here anymore, just stating facts about my findings on this camera so far. Today I shot three rolls of film, two of Fuji color and one of B&W. I'll process them soon and I expect the negatives will look very good as always. The internal LED meter seems to work very well too. Although I do compensate the exposure when I feel it's necessary like in back lit situations, etc. Today I also started to notice the 40mm Sonnar lens is developing focus backlash in the order of 1 mm when focusing. This observation, although not a big problem, does slow down the focusing time since I have to rock the tab back and forth a bit to align the patch. I was shooting mostly indoors wide open at 1/30th and 1/15th. Oh, and another queer thing has been happening lately too. The center red round LED that indicates correct exposure sometimes flashes rapidly. Who knows what that's all about but the batteries check OK. I'm beginning to think that these boutique 35mm RF cameras like the Rollei and the Zeiss are not seriously meant for everyday snapshots but intended just for an occasional photo spree. It's really unfortunate to me that the quality control and quality in general of these cameras are projected as quality items. This is very far from the truth in my opinion. Well, it seems that for most of my future RF snapshots I'll be relying on my IIIf and Konica Auto S2.

So, that's that on that.