Review - Rollei 35 | Fit for a King or Queen (Ad Free)

[@bluegrassengineer]

I have had a 35S since 1976 and have taken thousands of pictures with it. Love this camera. Thanks for the history.

[@michaelharmon7162]

I have shot them since the early 80s after picking up my first one in Hawaii. Recently I have bought a 35 T and a 35 SE. these are great cameras and I highly recommend them. Mine go everywhere I go and are a great addition to my small digital Leica’s.

[@ghw7192]

I've been using the little Rolleis since the mid-70's and currently have 3 of them--1 black "S" with the Sonnar lens and 2 of the regular chrome 35's with Tessars, all made in Germany. These cameras remind me of high quality precision watches. Even when mercury batteries were available, the peephole averaging meter was only marginally accurate, so I either use a hand meter or "sunny 16" instead, but zinc air hearing aid batteries seem to work pretty well. I found lens quality to be very good and one of my best selling photographs was taken just before a hurricane hit a beach in Florida using a 35S on Kodachrome 25 film. Yes, I'm that old. LOL!! I found a company on eBay that sells metal lens hoods to fit the Rollies and also found that a Nikon UR-E1 adapter will allow me to use the Sonnar filters (30.5mm) on the Tessar (24mm) lenses. My experience has been that the Sonnar does quite well with color film and the Tessars make b&w film shine, so I have one small bag that holds a 35 as well as a 35S along with a Gossen Pilot light meter and a compact flash. The other 35 is a "sunny 16" pocket camera loaded with the very forgiving Tri-X film. Thanks for a great review of one of my favorite cameras!

[@ShutterJam]

+ghw7192 Thanks for all the useful info. Good to know about the light meters, I don't feel I'm missing out anymore.Love the watch analogy, it really sums it up. I'm so glad Rollei finally made it and not Wirgin otherwise the quality wouldn't have been as good. Thanks and happy shooting.

[@md-lc8gq]

Better check you 35S again because all Rollei 35 models with a Sonnar were built in Singapore

[@vangstr]

Thank you for the presentation, review and sample pics. You definitely need to put out some more reviews. I quite like your review style.

[@ShutterJam]

Thanks for watching! I have about 3 episodes I'm waiting to film just need to find some time! More coming soon!

[@Soundbrigade]

Dunno if you still are online, but my LOMO 135M also has the flash shoe mounted on the underside. Anyhow the Rollei 35 is on my wish list.

[@ericperillo5285]

This one is next on my list to pick up. Can’t wait to blow through some tri-x with it.

[@Blofeld76]

Good review. I got myself a black 35 TE last November. For a Rollei 35 I got it cheap and paid it for 60 euros, it's about same in dollars. One reason for low price was that camera shop couldn't test lightmeter because lack of 5,6v mercury battery and the flashshoe had minor bent on it. I solved the battery problem by using four 1,4v hearing aid batteries. Lightmeter worked just fine and there wasn't nothing wrong with rest of the camera either. Sometimes one can get very lucky. Now I'm shooting second roll of film and using this little work of mechanical and optical art is just pure joy. I think so called guess focusing isn't so hard when you get used to it. For me this perfect street photography camera. High quality in so small package that there's no excuse for go out without camera.

[@ShutterJam]

Thanks for watching and your kind words. I have terrible luck, most the stuff I buy tends to be in poor condition from eBay, but even without a working light meter it's still amazing. I think shooting with a camera like this forces you to learn new/old skills. Out of 3 films I shot; about 8 pictures were out of focus; a couple of times I just simply forgot to do it. I love it so much that I now want a 35S but perhaps I'm just been greedy. Happy shooting

[@randallstewart175]

Two Rollei 35 models the SE and TE, have voltage regulators. This allows them to use modern 6 volt batteries which fit into the battery compartment. In my 35SE, I use a new 6 volt lithium battery which is the same size as the originally specified (5.6 volt) mercury battery. Works fine and meter is dead on.

[@rbruce63]

Will you send your camera for CLA and repair and can you recommend a place? Mine has a gummed up low speed shutter and a non working exposure meter!

[@thomask1424]

Hey, what have you got against cute animals? Nice historical background, and good overview of this remarkable camera. I have a very nice B35 myself..

[@kaleleboy8022]

i need more practice on guessing distance as i mostly have incorrect focus especially for indoor shoots at close distances where i have to have the aperture wide open. this camera seems to work best for distances 3m and beyond with aperture f4 and up.

[@ShutterJam]

+kaleleboy yes it's can be difficult as there's not much room for error if you get too close. If you check out a depth of field calculator it can give you a good sense of what you're playing with. I shot recently a similar camera in low light in the morning, most of my shots were out of focus which was frustrating. The other option is to cheat or practice with an auto focus SLR and read the distance on the lens. Happy shooting

[@alinnman]

You can try using a separate rangefinder. I have a little "Watameter" which fits into the hot shoe of the Rollei. Useful when using larger apertures and focus gets more critical.

[@bluzizalright]

My favorite 35mm camera - fantastic lens!

[@ShutterJam]

+bluzizalright Thanks for watching. It's one of my favorites.

[@highlander200107]

I have a 35 and a 35S, love them both, tend to use the S for colour, and B&W for the original. Lenses are very sharp, and contrasty.

[@ShutterJam]

Thanks for watching, yes they're really wonderful cameras in every way. The 35S is at the top of my wish list.

[@Purpill]

John Roberts what type of film do you use and where to buy

[@highlander200107]

I tend to have HP5+ for b&w, and either Portra 400 or Superia 400 for the colour; and I buy locally in my area, either Kerrisdale Cameras or Beau Photo Supply, the latter if I am looking for something specialized

[@joesasser752]

I've been a Rollei TLR user for decades, so the controls on the Rollei 35 makes perfect sense. Images are amazing on Zeiss Tessar, mine is an early model made in Germany. Super fast, easy, and intuitive to use, it's always loaded with film.

[@Dan-sq5cv]

Nice video of the Rolllei 35 and beautiful pictures. I have three of them a 35s a 35 and a B. The B has the selenium light cell that of course does not work. The B also has other problems so I keep it for parts. The S has a broken spring on the shutter mechanism that I will replace at some point and the 35 works great. I am always amazed at the tack sharp images they produce. much better than my Minox 35. Even better than some of my larger ragefinder 35's. A great little camera even it is a bit strange.

[@jimjanus3710]

Not sure on the bottom? Flash is used mostly for portraits, and therefore rotating the camera 90 degrees has the hot shoe on the side of the camera, no problem now.

[@shademanirvanipour6870]

I got the Rollei 35s which is a BLACK colour which came with original case I brought it from a CHARITY SHOP in north London area last year 2017 for £26.00 and I took it home and I checked on E.bay where they are going to £75.00 to £800 for a mint condition and my one got few dents on the top of the camera and since had it is going well and I love the sharp pictures that I produce and I use it some time where I not allowed to use a camera

[@shademanirvanipour6870]

I got the Rollie 35d and I paid £26.00 for it second hand and it got original case and strap and lens cap and it give good photos

[@ShutterJam]

Wow! Wow! I think you did well! Possibly my favorite camera of all time

[@pachinedwards72]

Thanks for the review of this camera beauty. I'm so glad I pay $10. Shoot some pictures without the light meter because I didn't know how to put 🔋and tomorrow will be developed. Just learned to put the battery few minutes ago. Now that I saw your video and photos you shoot with camera I think this is going to be my favorite camera after all 9 cameras that I have. Thank you much

[@ShutterJam]

+Pachin Edwards wow that's a great find. The battery is hidden well in the camera. Happy shooting, it's a fantastic camera

[@garyschneider3949]

little rollie is the best BxW machine .love mine so much

[@ShutterJam]

Yes it's one of my favourite cameras of all time!

[@randallstewart175]

You could make a decent set of videos reviewing the cameras of Queen Elizabeth. Identified as a photographer in the 1950s, the Queen was gifted of cameras but top-end manufacturers. If you look long enough, you can find pictures of the Queen with her Rolleis, Leicas, and Hasselblad. I suspect that diplomatic considerations would preclude her from expressing a preference.

[@ShutterJam]

The benefits of been royalty are that not only are you really rich but people give you stuff for free ! If only I had that problem. She was an avid photographer and videographer. From what I can find from pictures it appears that she had a Leica M3 and M6. Bizarrely I've also tracked down an image where she appears to have a Canon Prima BF Twin 35mm as well as one with a 110 camera. So it appears that it's not always the top end. Some photos of her with a TLR but can't make out the model or manufacturer. Heaps with her gold Rollei !

[@CrudeOYL007]

Great Review love it !!!

[@ShutterJam]

Awesome, thanks for watching and happy shooting.

[@thnthr]

you should upload more videos xx

[@ShutterJam]

Yes you're right. It's been a while since I last posted one.

[@goranpavletic2145]

Very nice video! Keep going!

[@ShutterJam]

Thanks for watching and happy shooting!

[@kimmccotter318]

Rollei 35s, a brilliant piece of engineering. I use mine as a sunny 16 point and shoot (with no batteries). It is the essence of photography & nothing else. It is my favorite film camera.

[@ShutterJam]

Thanks for watching. Yes, it's amazing how they managed to squeeze everything in and not sacrifice optical quality. I think it's a simply stunning camera and is one of my favourites as well.