Seven versions of Rollei 35 in depth hands-on review
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2024
- This is the earlier version of this video. It is recommended that you watch the later version covering 8 versions plus all the special editions. This video introduces the compact beauty, Rollei 35 film camera with a few guest appearances for comparison including Olympus Pen, Olympus XA, Minox 35 PL, and Leica III G.
Before there was Sony RX100 or Canon G7X or Ricoh GRiii, there was Rollei 35 as the King (or Queen) of the compact cameras. We demonstrate 7 generations of Rollei 35 including both the German and Singapore models + several lenses.
The models covered are:
1- Rollei 35 (the original) made in Germany
2- Rollei 35 Made in Singapore
3- Rollei B 35 made in Germany
4- Rollei C 35 made in Germany
5- Rollei 35 S Made in Singapore
6- Rollei 35 T Made in Singapore
7- Rollei 35 SE Made in Singapore
We cover all the features, dials, buttons, tips and tricks including how to replace the original batteries which can no longer be found.
The video starts with a short history of the Rollei 35 Prototype designed by Heinz Waaske who was at Wirgin Camera. His employer Heinrich Wirgin rejected it, possibly because he had already decided to exit the camera market. Waaske offered it to Leica and Kodak but both declined. Then Waaske joined Rollei who showed great enthusiasm and started production in 1966. Rollei went further and improved the prototype design in several important ways such as upgraded light meter, shutter and lens.
The first Rollei 35 was truly an all-star, serious camera. It is an important piece of Camera history which is available for actual use and enjoyment today. We review every detail of the camera, describe them clearly and give some helpful comments.
We are keen on accuracy. So, if you have any questions, comments or corrections, it will be greatly appreciated.
Correction offered by one viewer is that Rollei 35S name is based on the Sonnar lens, nothing to do with the manufacturing in Singapore. However definitive confirmation of that has not been found from the company itself, the advertising material or the manuals. This assumption is found in some (but not all) reviews but is not references to any Company sources or Company literature. If you are aware of any sources, please advise so that it can be included here.
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Excellent video. Brings back memories! I actually still have my black 35SE and black 35S.
I carried the 35SE on my business travels since 1994 till 2000. I took it as a "quick shoot" companion to the Mamiya C330 6x6 TLR medium format camera. Actually, my 35SE was missing the aperture locking click thing. I only noticed that once I bought a pristine 35S. I actually don't like the aperture lock....
Between the 35S and 35SE I say the 35SE was the most convenient for fast shooting. (once setup with common sense I could shoot from the hip!) But I loved the 35S more as a piece of jewellery. I don't use film anymore (but you never know) but I do play with these cameras at my desk. One needs to run the low speeds regularly (B- 1/2 to 1/30) otherwise they get stuck.
Thanks for sharing your experience. If you start using your 35SE again, it will bring back all the good memories, worth more than jewellery, I promise.
Very informative and well made video :) thank you for making it ! You gained a sub
Please check out this extended version of the video just uploaded: czcams.com/video/bEYDP3U3lbE/video.html any comments or corrections, please let me know.
Great video. Thanks for the comprehensive overview.
Thanks for watching!
Please check out this extended version of the video just uploaded: czcams.com/video/bEYDP3U3lbE/video.html any comments or corrections, please let me know.
Great Video thanks for the good work.
Thanks for watching!
I just got my 1st Rollei 35 in the mail today and have been having fun with it. This was a great video as well. To my surprise I got the German one with the rare older bottom plate.
This one will keep and increase its value. Enjoy and pass on to the next generation
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Fantastic video that really helped me understand the difference. Thank you so much, subscribed.
Glad it helped! It would be good to know which model you liked best.
BTW there is another video with eight models plus 9 special editions.
@@TechHeritage
I’ll come back and tell you when I’ve bought it :)
@@TechHeritage
I’ve watched that too :)
Great video and awesome sample photos. I noticed some of your photos are form Dubai, I wonder if you are based here.
I just bought a Rollie 35 made in Singapore from "gulf photo" in Dubai. I learned a lot from your videos. hope to get some film through it soon.
Thank you for the positive feedback. You might like to see a later version of this video, titled Eight versions of Rollei 35... That one also has Rollei 35 LED and many special editions. Since you asked, I spend part of the year in Dubai, Part in Australia and the rest travelling around the world.
Rollei started using T and S brandings to differentiate between lenses. T for cameras with 3,5 Tessar lenses and S for 2,8 Sonnar lenses. Later they added the E for the electronic display in the viewfinder. So the S in the name has nothing to do with Singapore at all ;)
Thank you for your contribution. For completeness of the information I request that you provide the source of this definitive information. It will be greatly appreciated. Generally the naming system of this Rollei family became a little messy over time. Those with the S designation seem to be consistent. But we have Rollei 35's with Tessar lenses with and without the T designation. There are also many Rollei 35's with the Triotar lenses, again without the T designation. Right?
@@TechHeritageYou can find the info in Claus Prochnow‘s „Rollei Report 3“, page 29-663 (german version). When they started the Rollei 35 S, the original one became the Rollei 35 T to differentiate them. Now I would like to know where you found the information, that they used Copal shutters. According to Prochnow p. 29-647 they just changed production location to Singapore for financial reasons, producing Tessars etc. and shutters licensed from Compur not anymore in Germany. The cheaper Rollei 35 without slow speeds had licensed Prontor shutters. Nice video btw., didn’t know about these Japanese adaptors.
Thank you for the source information. It is greatly appreciated that you went to the trouble and provided exact information location. As for the Copal shutters, that information was sourced from the Wikipedia article "Rollei 35" under the heading "Made in Singapore".
Please check out this extended version of the video just uploaded: czcams.com/video/bEYDP3U3lbE/video.html any comments or corrections, please let me know.
The Rollei B35 was made in Germany and Singapore
There was a camera Rollei 35B which was the same camera as far as I can tell but that was made in Singapore only. The difference may be the change of shutter but I cannot confirm that. I do know you mentioned the 35B later on in the video but not on the titles at the beginning.
You did not mention the Roller 35LED which replaced the 35B nor did you mention the 35TE both of which were only made in Singapore.
You suggested that the designation ‘S’ on the 35S may have been a reference to Singapore, it was a reference to the Sonnar lens.
One thing you could have mentioned is that the T and S lens had the HFT multi coating which was developed in conjunction with Zeiss. This was actually quite a big improvement. Internal reflections soften the image significantly.
Overall, a really very good video which I enjoyed watching very much. Also the battery solutions part was very worthwhile. All I can say is keep it up.
David, your attention to detail is amazing. We only have 7 of the Rollei 35 series and all of them were demonstrated. Our Rollei 35B is made in Germany. Several articles that I researched indicated that Rollei LED was the Singapore factory's own modification of Rollei 35B with a different light meter and LED in the viewfinder. But this model had some electrical faults and was produced only for 2 years. Isn't that the case? There is also the Rollei 35 Classic, which is better ignored. With your permission I will add some of your information in the video comments.
Please do very happy to assist in any way I can. One point I got wrong, having looked at Claus Prochnow's book, only the Sonnar equipped cameras got the HFT coating.@@TechHeritage
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A reimagined "Rollei 35 AF" is coming
Yes, apparently a Rollei 35 with modern features is being designed by Mint in Hong Kong under naming license. This is the same Mint that specialises in modifications to the Polaroid SX70. We will see and we will cover here if and when it emerges.
THANK YOU SO MUCH❤❤
You're welcome 😊
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I have both the Rollei SE and the Minox 35ML and Minox 35GT. I used to get better slide photos from the Minox. Feel like getting films for them and trying them out again.
Yes, yes good idea. And please share the results. You may find Rollei shutter a little stiff after so long. But hopefully workable at faster shutter speeds. Our Minox is completely stuck.
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Thanks for great video! However, the S stands for Sonnar, which was designed by Zeiss for the Rollei 35 S.
Yes, this is what many articles and reviews say. But I'm after evidence from Rollei. Any announcements? Presentations or real evidence from the company?
Hi again, on Wikipedia in German I read the following: "Mit der 35 S (für Sonnar) erhielt die bisherige 35 die Bezeichnung 35 T (für Tessar)..." That means S stands for Sonnar and T for Tessar. Regarding the B35 or 35B the B means Lightmeter (in German "Belichtungsmesser").@@TechHeritage
Please check out this extended version of the video just uploaded: czcams.com/video/bEYDP3U3lbE/video.html any comments or corrections, please let me know.
You didn't open the package so you didn't notice it but the SE version has a more comfortable place for the battery on the top of the camera; more comfortable but less nice; the needed battery is a 6V one which is commercially available: no problem with the battery anymore
Thanks for that contribution. The answer is yes and no. Yes the battery chamber is on the outside like Rollei 35 LED which I demonstrated but less elegant. No, it did not exactly solve the battery problem as it was designed for PX27 Mercury battery 5.6 volts which is banned. You can use the alternative solution as per 35 LED that I demonstrated. But the voltage will be 6 volts and will require manual compensation or hacking the ISO setting (2 stops lower). Do you agree?
yes i do@@TechHeritage
I had the Rollei 35S .. I took many fantastic slide photos with it. It was stolen from under my head in iOS the Greek island I replaced it in London with a Rollie 35LED the light meter was not very accurate. And taking slides was a problem. The big advantage of the 35LED and the reason I bought it was it was much lighter and easy to carry in my shirt pocket. The 35S was quite heavy in my shirt pocket and almost made me walk around in circles. Thanks for a great video. I bought a Rollie 35 off eBay from Hawaii. Interestingly enough, it was made in Singapore but it had a Carl Zeiss Tessar I’ve never seen these before 3232978
My understanding is that the Singapore versions with Tessar were the early production entirely from components shipped from Germany. 35LED was the Singapore innovation and design approved by Rollei.
YOU WOULD NEED OVER £3.000 to as much as £10.000 to BUY ALL THEM and I got the 35S model and I paid £27.00 for it from a charity shop in London few years ago and I came with the original lens cap and strap and case and a FRONT FILTER and it works well so far
Thank you for the comments. The average price for the cameras demonstrated was around £220 at 2 online Auctions and one Ebay direct purchase.
I think you watched the older version of this video. The new version added Rollei 35 LED and all the special editions + more film test. Here is the link for your interest: czcams.com/video/bEYDP3U3lbE/video.html
ローライ35にはシュナイダー社のクセナーレンズF3.5付きがあります
カール ツァイスがローライ用のレンズを十分に生産できなかった時期が短期間ありました。その期間、ローライはシュナイダーからいくつかのレンズを購入しました。それらのレンズは、現在市場で入手できるローライ 35 カメラでは一般的ではなく、見つけるのが困難です。しかし、それでもツァイスやローライのレンズを搭載したカメラよりは安価です。
Hello, I plan on getting that Kanto battery adapter. There are two versions SR43 & SR44. Does the version matter?
Get SR44
@@TechHeritageoh ok. The eBay listing you showed was an SR43. Thank you.
I have a couple of Rollei's including a Rollei LED
Coincidentally, an update to this video is in production, adding the Rollei LED to the family. It will be uploaded in a week.
Please check out this extended version of the video which includes Rollei 35 LED. It was just uploaded: czcams.com/video/bEYDP3U3lbE/video.html any comments or corrections, please let me know.
so the dial on the right front selecting type of film has no bearing on the camera operation, then?
Correct. The dial on the right with selections such as Colour, Neg etc have no impact on the picture. Only 3 elements have an impact, Shutter speed, Aperture selection and ISO.
Please review and test Rollei 35 S-Xenar Lens . I want to know quality of lens and your opinion. Thank you
For a short period of time around 1972, at the beginning of the production in Singapore Rollei used Schneider S-Xenar lenses. At that time they could not get enough Tessar lenses from Cal Zeiss in Germany and they also needed to reduce costs. So, they asked Schneider-Kreuznach to provide some S-Xenar lenses. These are based on the Tessar formula (like many other lenses that use the Tessar formula) with 5 elements. They are called Xenar because the name Tessar belonged to Zeiss. “S” designates the use of 5 elements rather than 4 elements in some Xenars used in other cameras.
Rollei returned to the regular Tessar lens once they started to produce their own Tessars under Carl Zeiss license.
There is not much noticeable difference between Xenar and Tessar, but snobbish collectors prefer the original German made Tessar. The actual users, seem to prefer the Singapore Sonnar compared to both Tessar and Xenar. Some people report that S-Xenars display a little too much flair in direct sunlight.
@@TechHeritage What is the advantage of Xenar that is better than other models? And how good is the quality of Xenar? Is it worth collecting because very few were produced?
There is no advantage to Xenar, either as a collector or user. It is more than competent but no more than the original Tessar or the superior Sonnar. The camera world is full of models which were produced for a short time. Not all of them gain the status of a rare collectors item. Some of them are just not preferred, so they don't continue for very long.
This is not to say Xenar is a bad product. Only to say it is not superior nor a collectors item at this point in history.
@@TechHeritage Thank you for your comment. Made me get to know Xenar more. Because I just got it. But I can't find any reviews on the internet. All I know is that on eBay or Amazon the price is higher than T or S and the price is the same as Germany, but I can't find reviews. If you have any suggestions for Xenar, please let me know. I'm trying to improve my skills and get to know the camera better. For the best photos possible with Xenar
Sorry, I cannot advise any further. I have provided the best information I have on the subject of your enquiry.
If i use the alkaline battery, how do I compensate the overexposing of 2stops. I’m new
Whatever exposure the meter in the camera recommends, first read and memorize, then manually give it two stops more light. For example if F16 is the recommended aperture, make it F8 (that is two stops). Or if your recommended shutter is 1/500, you choose 1/125. Another way is to hack the ISO setting. If your film is ISO400, set the ISO on the camera to 100. Each of these options will give you two stops more light. Please note that this is a rough work-around. I suggest you try it on a roll and verify. I have seen that in some cameras only 1 or 1.5 stops of more light is adequate.
I think S is for Sonar and T is for Tessar
Thank you for pointing out. I think you watched an earlier version of this video.
It has since been updated with plenty of more information and many more Rollei 35 variants. The point about the "S" has been clarified in the new video. Please watch here: czcams.com/video/bEYDP3U3lbE/video.html or search for the name: Rollei 35 Camera Family, Directors Cut 8 versions, now including Rollei 35 LED + 9 special editions.
Some are brass and some are aluminum, right? Are the brass ones considerably heftier? Do you have a preference? I have an “XF” model with a rangefinder. It’s made with a lot of brittle plastic that simply snaps off. Really terrible construction.
All of them are high quality and take great pictures. But from a collectors angle and to be extra fussy, the heavier brass ones and those with less plastic are more desirable. In fact you can simplify this by going for the very first German version of Rollei35. Those tick all the collector boxes. But be careful as some of the slower shutter speeds may be a problem requiring CLA.
This may be useful:
Tessar, Germany: Brass in chrome or black
Tessar, Singapore: Brass in chrome or black
Tessar 35T, Singapore: Brass in chrome or black, Aluminium
Sonnar 35S, Singapore: Brass in chrome or black
Tessar 35TE, Singapore: Brass in chrome or black, Aluminium
Sonnar 35SE, Singapore: Brass in chrome or black, Aluminium
The weight was reduced by 30 grams by the use of Aluminium
Please check out this extended version of the video just uploaded: czcams.com/video/bEYDP3U3lbE/video.html any comments or corrections, please let me know. This version has data sheets covering the specifications of 17 models including the finishes and base material.
Why no mention of the Rollei 35LED? Any reason
At the time of the video we did not have a Rollei 35 LED. But since then we have acquired one in mint condition. A new version of the same video is in production with the addition of Rollei 35 LED. So, the family will be complete.
Your wishes come true. Rollei 35 LED is now included in this update: czcams.com/video/bEYDP3U3lbE/video.html any comments or corrections, please let me know.
which model do u recommend ? 35 / 35SE /35s ?
In my opinion, the original Rollei 35, made in Germany with Carl Zeiss Tessar lens. Having said that, all the others are also pretty good. The second best choice would be Rollei 35T.
Please check out this extended version of the video just uploaded: czcams.com/video/bEYDP3U3lbE/video.html any comments, please let me know. At this time my best recommendations in the order of priority are: Original Rollei 35 German Made (for collector value), Rollei 35 SE Singapore Made (for the best lens and LED light meter), Rollei 35 LED Singapore Made for affordability and practicality combined with LED light meter.
I have a Rollei 35
Which one do you have? One of the models in the video? I noted that you watched an older version of this video. The updated version is under this name: Rollei 35 Camera Family, Directors Cut 8 versions, now including Rollei 35 LED + 9 special editions.
Original plastic bags .... I worry that they never expected to be sealed so long and did not have inert gas or steral packaging.
There is moisture absorbing pouch inside the original plastic packaging. Wouldn't that be sufficient?
Please, don’t do these kind of videos if you didn’t even care to research the basics. Comparing a tessar vs. a sonnar and calling the S standing for Singapore. LOL. 10 seconds of research would have clarified that.
Thanks brother Giancarlo. You watched the earliest version of this video. I didn't know it was still searchable. It is recommended that you watch the later version of this video labelled Eight versions of Rollei 35... The origin of the naming of 35S was indeed researched. The reference to Singapore was made as a speculative question about possible marketing benefits, not a settled fact. It appears unusual to name a camera solely based on the name of its lens, considering that there is another lens for Rollei 35 starting with S. Nevertheless, the later video does not refer to S standing for Singapore. The earlier video description includes a statement based on a comment received from another viewer very early in publication: "Correction offered by one viewer is that Rollei 35S name is based on the Sonnar lens, nothing to do with the manufacturing in Singapore. However definitive confirmation of that has not been found from the company itself, the advertising material or the manuals. This assumption is found in some (but not all) reviews but is not references to any Company sources or Company literature. If you are aware of any sources, please advise so that it can be included here."
The objection to the comparison of Tessar and Sonnar is not understood. Is it offensive to say both are good?
At the TechHeritage, we considered your recommendation at the beginning of your comment and regrettably decided to continue producing such videos. Please forgive us for anything that you find offensive.