Classic Fixed Lens Rangefinders:
Rollei 35XF

by Karen Nakamura

 

Overview and Personal Comments

The Rollei 35XF is a strange camera. Although it shares the names and some of the basic looks as the cult-classic Rollei 35 compact camera, in reality they are very different. In fact, the Rollei 35 is is actually a rebadged Voigtlander VF135.

  Rollei 35XF Rollei 35
Lens Sonnar
Fixed mount
Zeiss Planar or Triotar
Collapsible
Focusing Coupled-rangefinder Scale focus
     

The Rollei 35XF and Voigtlander VF135 are practically identical, only the coloring (black paint vs. chrome) are different, and some internal parts were changed from metal to plastic. Interestingly, while the Voigtlander VF135 has a 40mm f/2.3 "Color-Skoparex," the Rollei 35XF has a 40mm f/2.3 "Sonnar." It'd be interesting to see if they were the exact same lens.

 

 

Interesting quirks

The quirks of the Rollei 35 series are well known. The

 

 


Technical Details

Camera Name
35XF
VF135
Manufacturer
Rollei
Voigtlander
Place of Manufacture

Singapore

Date of Manufacture
1974-80 Singapore 1976-1980
Focusing System

Coupled rangefinder focusing

Lens

Sonnar 40mm f/2.3
x elements
1.0m ~ infinity
M46 screw

Color-Skoparex 40mm f/2.3
x elements
1.0m ~ infinity
M46 screw
Shutter

Leaf shutter
1/30 - 1/650 sec + B

Metering System
CdS program automatic exposure metering
Flash

Hot accessory shoe on bottom of camera

Film type / speeds

35mm film
24x36mm frame size
25-400 ASA

Battery type
PX625 mercury-oxide cell  
Dimensions and weight

xx L x xx H x D mm
g

Retail price
 

 

 

 

 


About Rollei

Rollei started out life as the Franke & Heidecke company in 1920. They first started using the Rollei name in 1926 with something called a "Rolleidoscop" stereo camera. People know Rolleis for their famous line of Rolleiflex and Rolleicord twin-lens cameras, which they first started making in 1929. The Rollei 35 miniature camera came out in 1966. In 1970, they moved production to Singapore but by 1981 they had to declare bankruptcy. Many changes of ownership later, in 1995 they were bought out by the Korean company Samsung, which is continuing production of Rolleicords and Rollei 35s.


On the Net

 

 


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