Rollei SL35

<p>The very pretty SL35 was Rollei's first attempt at a 35mm SLR, and I think their best. The later electronic cameras are nice to use but were plagued with electronic problems. The first few of the SL's were made in Germany, later in Singapore. I have a silver camera made in Germany, the black one is a Singapore manufactured camera, can't really see much difference.<br>

I have a few lenses for the QBM mount, a 50mm SL Xenon, 50mm Planar, 50mm 1.4 Planar, and the 50mm Color-Ultron which I believe is the same lens as the Planar.<br>

All these pictures were taken with the 50mm 1.4 Planar pictured on the chrome SL. The location is the Goulburn rail heritage museum, and the Goulburn railway station in south-east Australia. Caution, the following images may depict peeling paint!</p>

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<p>First pic.</p>

<p>Whoops, pictures have vanished! Try again.</p>

<p>Sorry guys, the gremlins have struck..I'll be back!</p>

<p>Last try.</p><div></div>

<p>Next.</p><div></div>

<p>Another</p><div></div>

<p>That should have been red wheel, I think this is peeling paint!</p><div></div>

<p>Next shot.</p><div></div>

<p>On to the rail station.</p>

<p>Tracks.</p>

<p>Goulburn Station</p><div></div>

<p>Try the tracks once again!</p><div></div>

<p>Sorry for the stuff ups, hope you enjoy the shots...I don't take colour much but the Planar takes such nice colour that I couldn't resist!</p>

<p>Tony, I know my classic slrs pretty well I suppose meaning Nikon Fs to Pentax K1000, early Leica SLs etc.., but I'm not that familiar with the Rolleiflex although I have of course heard of it over the years. That is just such a handsome camera. All of our digital whatever will never take the charm out of these cameras, especially when the essentially mechanical film SLR is executed in such a clean manner. Having Zeiss optics on it to boot just shows that photographers in 1970 really were not suffering for much of anything when it comes down to it. Your images lack for nothing in my opinion either. Very satisfying....</p>

Very nice Tony! I always loved the design of these cameras, but never had the money

at the time to dabble with them. Your images prove the quality of the lenses. Why does this appear under the brownie category?

<p>Thanks Guys, Michael..the Brownie category seems to be the only option I have, anyone else noticed this?</p>

<p>"Goulburn Station" is a beautiful photograph. Well done.<br>

I sold my Rollie SLR some time ago. Like most of my old cameras, I miss it on occasion.</p>

<p><a href="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/rolleiflexslr/june07/index.html">CLICK</a></p>

<p>Thanks for that Gene, missed those posts. The various later Rollei models, which include their Voigtlander cousins were great performers but lacked reliabilty unfortunately, because the optics are first class.<br>

I am just using a VSL3-E, with a Color-Ultron 55mm 1.4, which is made in Japan (the lens) and I think is another re-branded Mamiya Sekor. The VSL is lovely to use but I had to go through a few samples to find one that works properly. Oh, can't post it here...batteries you see!</p>

<p>Tony,</p>

<p>Wonderful work. This is a camera I wasn't familiar with but it falls right into the time frame of my SLR collection. I think I would rather have one of these than a Kowa, no offense to Kowa fans.</p>

<p>I did find a test of this camera with a Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.8. I will look for a test of the 50mm Planar f/1.4.</p>

<p>This is page 1.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>This is page 2 of the test. The test is from Modern Photography 1972.</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks Marc, much appreciated!</p>

<p>Great post, <strong>Tony</strong>, even James will be content with the quantity of peeling paint...Not a camera I'm familiar with, but it's great that you have a what appears to be a great collection of lenses for it. "Blues" would be my favourite, but all your images demonstrate the quality of the glass. (And the photographer...) Fine post, many thanks.</p>

<p>Thanks Rick, the SL35 is definitely one of my favorites, such an attractive design, and the lenses are excellent...the 50mm Xenon is a very close second to the Planar.</p>

<p><strong>Tony:</strong> Is that the model that was released first in M42-mount and then bayonet?</p>