Rollei B35

<p>I mentioned this one a while back. A near-mint Rollei B35 which I believe was probably made around 1972 or 1973. I think by the mid-70's they were calling it the 35B. The selenium meter appears to be spot on. Only problem was the shutter speed guide fell off the meter so I had to glue it back in place. This camera is quite a bit lighter than my Rollei 35 (which has Xenar f3.5), but it still feels pretty solid.</p>

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<p>Often daily shooting required medium to small apertures, especially with ISO 400 film. My first roll in my B35 was Plus-X (at box speed) so I could use some wider apertures. This first image was probably between f4 and 5.6 (lens has click stops between full stops) Tried to compromise between highlights and shadow detail on this one, BTW. Normally I'd have just exposed for the field and cropped the other areas out.</p>

<p>Image, this time.</p><div></div>

<p>Another during a brighter part of the day.</p><div></div>

<p>Image 3.</p><div></div>

<p>One more. This time with Tri-X.</p><div></div>

<p>Beautiful camera and great, sharp photographs! Oh I wish I could try that food from <strong>Food Vendors</strong>... <br /> P.S. I Love the Blues and Howlin' Wolf is one of my heroes but, in my humble opinion, the statue is far from perfect :)<br /> Thank You for post and the pictures! Classic cameras forever!</p>

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<p>the statue is far from perfect :)</p>

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<p> Howlin' Wolf was something like 6'-6", but it looks like he's playin' a ukulele !<br>

But I'd say Mike's exposures are perfect. Nice choice with the slower film. Proves that these little gems are worth using. </p>

<p>Had one when they first came out. Really wanted the 35C, same camera without the meter but they were not stocked by any dealer in Chicago that I could find. Picked it for the very light weight. They seem to go now for as much as a regular Singapore made Rollei 35. Strange.</p>

<p>I am the proud original owner of a B35, given to me by my parents in the early 70s. Back then, I had a somewhat deeper interest in photography than most others and it was not easy to find a camera with full manual control back then since most cameras were just more or less automatic point&shoots. I never had any problems with the meter (except for the very limited range). Many years later I used it for slide film and all rolls came out good.<br>

The Triotar is far from being the best 3-element design ever. It was used on very early Rolleiflexes and some people preferred it for portraits due to its softness wide-open. Beware using it at f/3.5, it's everything but sharp from corner to corner. Stepped down, it is quite good as virtually all triplet lenses I have used.<br>

Seems as if collectors are still craving for the cute Rollei35's. When Rollei went bancrupt in the 1980s, department stores sold Rollei35S for less then 150EUR/USD. The RolleB35 sold for around 130DM or 70EUR/USD in the early 70s. Today you could sell a pristine item for quite a bit more.</p>

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Nice exposures and I am pleased to see such a nice performer in a little package.. The bluesman was big and the LP was relatively small in big hands. While the ukulele metaphor seems to fit it's hard to say the proper dimensions. Surprised soft-shell crab can be had anywhere they talk about the Prairie. I just love Plus-X but have been lured by cheaper prices to use something else!

<p>Plus-X is available under the Arista Premium name for a lot less than what is labeled as Plus-X. same with Tri-X. I think 100' of Plus-X goes for around 52 USD, but as Arista Premium it's only about 32 USD. The only film of comparable quality (for my needs) is Legacy Pro 100 (rebadged Fuji Acros). I got 100' of it (shorted dated Feb. 2011) for $23.99 from Freestyle. I do most of my processing in Kodak HC110.</p>

John- the 35C is rare compared to the others having a production run of only two years. The real bargain priced Rollei is a

35 LED with an inoperative meter. Same lens and shutter as 35C and B35/35B.

<p>Those are exceptionally sharp photographs, Mike, and the film/developer combination seems great. I quite often see these cameras up for auction at reasonable prices but I hadn't realised they were capable of such quality work. I'll look more closely in future! Thanks for an eye-opener of a post.</p>

<p>Thanks everone for the compliments. I think of my B35 as a great way to "go green" with photography. Probably not perfectly green, since film requires energy to manufacture, but at least no batteries are required. </p>

<p>I still haveand use my 3rd or 4th Rollei 35. I remember taking one on a month long backpack across the Rockies--shooting some 20 rolls of slide film and ending up with a spectacular slide show. The camera let me project to around 10 feet or more. Nothing like those gems, ever. Recently, I've been using a 120 wholly manual camera--called the Voigtlander Perkeo. It reminds me of the Rollie for quality--and for forcing you to THINK. </p>