Rollei 35's - and the winner is....Tessar!

<p>Greetings - Thanks to all the contributions on this forum regarding Rollei 35's. After much deliberation and soul searching between Triotar, Tessar, S-Xenar and Sonnar lens designs / options, I went with Tessar. Will be sure to post a few resulting pics shortly. I shoot strictly B&W and felt for what I wanted to get out of it, was the best selection for me. Am hoping the quality will rival my Retina IIa Schneider-Kreuznach in terms of contrast and resolution (which still amazes me to this day!) Since this is scale focus and my goal is a manual street shooter, figured I would have it stopped down pretty far most of the time anyway. Looking forward to having my little constant companion with me for the remaining summer. How are you enjoying your Rollei 35? Cheers.</p><div></div>

<p>We'll be looking forward to the test shots. Nice simplistic looking camera.</p>

<p>~Jack</p>

<p>I have owned Rollei 35 with Xenar, Rollei 35 B, Rollei 35 TE(meter NW), all gone now, kept German made Rollei 35 with Tessar. I usually carry this one when not wanting to be bogged down with too much gear. I even forget to put a battery in it before loading film but guess at the exposures. I always get great photos with this gem. By the way there is IMHO no difference between Singapore and Germany made examples, thus ongoing Rollei quality control was evident at both locations</p>

<p>I loved the concept of my Rollei 35S but sold it as I couldn't get quite used to operating the camera. Brilliant lens though. Now my daily street shooter and 'have with me all the time camera' is a half frame Olympus Pen S 3.5 viewfinder camera with a 28mm f3.5 lens and leaf shutter from 1/8~1/250 +B. The 28mm on 18X24 has about the same angle of view as your 40mm on the full frame Rollei. The little Zuiko lens is good but cannot equal the contrast of the T* Sonnar on the Rollei 35S. That said, I think your going to love your little Rollei, quirky control positioning and all. It's actually no bigger than my half frame but is still a full frame camera. Congratulations on your purchase.</p>

<p>I have an original German Rollei 35 and the first Singapore model. The Singapore model shows some changes in the exterior of the camera. The Singapore model has been used more. For more distant sujbects, in good light, the Tessar is quite good. I'm sure it's good at closer distances too but without an RF I don't generally use it in that range. For those conditions I would prefer a Minolta Hi-Matic 7SII or an Olympus 35RD or 35SP. </p>

<p>I have the Singapore made Rollei 35 with the Xenar. I use a 675 hearing aid battery and the meter is spot on. Because the battery is deep within the camera, a 675 cell will often last close to a year. Great picture taker.</p>

<p>Some people make great claims for the Sonnar, and I am certainly a fan of the Sonnar design in general. However, I, too, have a lovely Singapore black Rollei 35 with the Tessar and I have always been stunned by the sharpness and crispness of the images it captured (especially on Kodachrome).</p><div></div>

<p>I really have to do whatever it takes to get myself one of those. Tessar would be fine. Way back in '75, I got the Rollei compact flash, and I still have it. It works too. Just like new. My idea at the time was to start with the flash since I could use it on another camera, and the Rollei 35 camera itself later. Unfortunately, the second part of the plan never did materialize. I love all little cameras... the smaller and more inconvenient to use the better :-)</p>

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<p>the smaller and more inconvenient to use the better</p>

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<p>Then you're <em>really</em> going to love the Rollei.</p>

<p>Actually, it's not all that bad to use, although it's necessary to remind yourself about the zone focusing each time you use it. It's easy to get it twisted off where you had it before.</p>

<p>Thanks to all for the responses..I am in great company I see! If you get the chance to post a pic..would enjoy sharing in your results and observations about your Rollei and others with which you shoot. While I've come to appreciate each camera/lens combo I've been fortunate enough to try, will be interested in observing the characteristics of this lens and body design. I finally have film developed from each rangefinder; sometimes of the same subject/scenes. That allows me to appreciate differences and quality a bit more; for the longest time they all just seemed relatively the 'same' to my untrained eye. I am blown away with the Yashica G, Canonette QIII, Retina series, and even my Oly X1-series. Looking forward to appreciating what the 4 element, 3 group Tessar (and that film flattener device) brings to the table! Thanks again for your comments. Cheers</p>

<p>I own one Rollei... a black Rollei 35/Singapore special although I've had some hands play with the TLR's. I bought the 35 years ago while passing through a pawn shop on the square of Lebanon, Tennessee. I walked out the door with it for $25 not even knowing what it was worth. It takes very sharp photos but I've wondered if that is only based on the expectation that a cigarette-sized camera should make crappy images.</p>

<p>I've heard of the need to modify the light meter because of the voltage difference of modern button cells, but my meter reads correctly even with a big 357 1.5v watch battery tossed into the holder. I've wondered if it has something to do with aging of the light cell? Maybe the thing would be off if I did have a 1.35v mercury battery to put in it.</p>

<p>Glad there are still folks around who shoot these little wonders.</p>

<p>You will like your results, Steve. Mine has the hard-to-find Schneider 40mm/3.5 S-Xenar and produces very sharp images.</p><div></div>

<p>I use a Rollei 35 with Tessar. The lens is in my opinion a typical Tessar; sharp and not too contrasty for b&w film. The small folding rubber hood is great if you can find one. Attached is a photo I took recently with it. Neopan 400@1600 in Xtol.<br>

<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4743706052_99b3cd3dea_b.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="674" /></p>

<p>Louis - I wondered if you are able to comment: I read about the Tessar lens design and S-Xenar. Most articles/comments I've read to date seem to speak to production bottlenecks and not to design / quality differences. Is that your understanding too? I considered a S-Xenar as mentioned, but the condition was not all that hot. In my mind today, I am equating the two designs as same 4 element/3 group design, but maybe I am mistaken. </p>

<p>A giant hidden in a midget's body. Very economical esp if one loads in the dark. B/W yields 39 images on a 36. 27 on a 24 exposure roll. Easy to drop! The strap is attached to the wrong part. How dumb is that. Maybe less dumb than the original bottom hotshoe. Great for flash for portraits on the beach. my model doesn't need a battery. The meter long inoperative. Mine is also slightly <strong>smaller</strong> with areas that give better grip. Yup! Dents and compression from numerous falls.<br>

Tessar on mine. Hi Contrast,very sharp, flare but not bad as my Summicron.Great for very close candids. Quite. Need to use small apertures for depth-of-field type focus. A fault that i have heard about is loose elements in lens. So far not visible in mine.</p>

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<p> I've read to date seem to speak to production bottlenecks and not to design / quality differences. Is that your understanding too?</p>

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<p>Steve, I don't rightly know. The S-Xenar is a tessar-type design. It's harder to find because over many years of Rollei 35 production, the S-Xenar was used for only one year-1971. </p>

Pics

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Well, yeah, but for me, the winner is Sonnar. I am amazed about the quality I can get from such a small camera. Sharpness across the range you can get with mobile phones as well (actually even the bokeh nowadays), but for a normal to 'wide' 40mm, I get more than expected.

 

Edited November 23, 2018 by ppaul

My Struggle with the Rollei 35 - a boy and his camera:

 

A Boy and his Rollei 35

I have a black Rollei 35S and a silver Rollei 35.

 

I like them both

My Rollei "stable" includes: Rollei 35 with f 3.5 Xenar, Rollei 35S, and Rollei B35. My favorite because of its light weight and selenium meter is the B35, but I like them all. I have a Rollei 35 LED that has a shutter problem that I hope to repair.

I too was looking for a possible replacement for a Retina IIa (like the OP) and considered the Rollei but was concerned about the need to open the shutter to collapse the lens. Maybe that issue was solved later. I eventually went to an Oly Pen S and then to a Pen D.

need to open the shutter to collapse the lens

 

I've never found it a problem and I suspect Rollei wouldn't have made it that way if it were. My Rollei, with shutter cocked, has held up for more than 40 years up to now and is still plugging along.

 

Even with the lens erected, the total size is very small, if it does bother you -- just keep it up.

Edited December 5, 2018 by JDMvW