Camera of the month

[tony_lockerbie]

Just made it for July, the Rollei SL35......click <a

href="http://www.tonylockerbie.com/classics/view/2008/07">here</a>

[starvy]

thanks for the link. i didn't know rollei had ventured into slr. must be rather expensive in secondhand market what with being a low userbase etc. the lenses seem very nice indeed.

[bcostin]

Cool, I always enjoy your writeups but this one especially. I just put a roll of film in my own SL35 to take it out for a little exercise. With that stop-down metering button it's almost like using a Spotmatic with Zeiss glass. :)

 

My father was a big fan of Rollei equipment, including their SLRs. He used an SL35 as well as the SL35E and SL35M models and managed to accumulate many of the nicer lenses, some in both Voigtlander and Rollei branding. I often use them as manually-metered lenses on my Canon EOS cameras with an QBM-EOS adapter ring. Rollei lenses can be surprisingly inexpensive on the used market when compared their Contax-branded cousins, even though in most cases they're optically identical.

[richard_moore5]

I remember that camera fondly... I bought one second-hand around 1976 and took some memorable photos with it. I exchanged it with a student at our lab a couple of years later for a Canon rangefinder, also now long gone.

[the celt 2]

Good Lord, I was a camers salesman when those came out. Nice solid camera, with really desant lenses.

[JDMvW]

Very nice. It is roughly contemporary with the East German effort to stem the Japanese tide: the Pentacon Super, introduced in 1968.

 

see http://www.praktica-collector.de/119_Pentacon_Super.htm

[luis triguez]

Just great (as usual)

 

I wonder when the Elves are going to give you the golden cup.

[craig_supplee]

I would love to look at this July camera as my Dad had an SL 35M, but for some reason I can't get your pics to come up. When I click on one, a larger square that is blank comes on screen.

[john fleshin]

Starvy, the ones around here seem to be reasonably priced, which is always a magnet for fans of great vintage technology.

[tony_lockerbie]

Thanks all for your gracious comments, and Craig, don't know what's happening there, all's good here.

 

Anyone else having problems?

 

Tony

[ralf_j.]

Hi Tony - excellent images. I really enjoyed this set. Love the red on the rocks from the 400UC. I used this film extensively on my honeymoon in Santorini and was very pleased with the colors, especially the reds in the vulcanic beaches. It's a pity it costs an arm and a leg these days.

 

The black and whites are great, really like the weathered, abandoned Falcon and am really impressed with the fine grain on the Neopan 1600. I always knew Neopan was one of the best of what's available for fine grain, but the look of your 1600 exceeded my expectations for a film of this speed. I have only ventured up to 400 in the 120 format.

 

Well done. Keep the camera of the month alive for all of us to enjoy.

[Andy Collins]

Great presentation as always, Tony. It's always fascinating to read and learn more about these classics, many of which I've never had any experience with, and to view the excellent images. Thanks again for sharing!

[chuck_foreman1]

Tony,

 

Great Stuff... I've always admired this model and there was a time when they were not so well known. Nowadays, they command a very high price... and even the (although well made) Singapore models are

commanding better prices. Your images are just super and I too, really liked the Falcon and some of the dried seabed shots were excellent! I've read and enjoyed an articel in German about the demise of the German photo industry and this model is explained in detail and as you so duly noted too little too late, but the kinship with the Spotmatic was intentional.

 

http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Rollei_QBM_dt.html