Singapore vs Germany - Rollei35 

i actually got into tinkering with these a few years back, one thing i noticed, certain singapore ones are actually better, the 600xxx and later-ish ones come with a metal advance gear as opposed to the plastic ones used prior. that one plastic gear is prolly the one weakness as it tends to strip and break over time causing the advance to get stuck. one of my faves for sure. great video!

This weekend I found a german 1968 Rollei 35 in a 3-camera package on a flea market in Mexico. It has the original leather case, lens cap, manual but also... the bill! It has the freaking original bill from 1968 (12-payment ending in 1969). I still can't believe it. Got it for 600MXP (30 US dollars). This has to be the flea market finding of my life.

Great review! I currently own a Singapore 35 Sonnar and a German 35 Tessar. They both feel and handle incredibly well, the only thing I noticed is that the German 35 seems to have a better glass for the viewfinder window, things look a bit clearer and sharper through the viewfinder compared to the Singapore 35 Sonnar.

Thanks for the incredibly detailed overview. Found mine in my pops old stuff and currently waiting for the first roll to develop.

Hi Goughie, Than you for your reply. I feel stupid ! but you opened up my eyes !!! I stopped really shooting 2 years ago and have not shot at say 3 ft F4 at 35mm since an internity. Just picked up my Nikon 7000 and….bingo ! got the answer ! sorry I even questioned you !

Great video! My local camera shop has one is very good condition for $450.00 U.S. I just don’t feel like I can justify the cost of film and processing when I can shoot with my Fuji X100V or Ricoh GRiii and am not really incurring any additional cost. I can then download to my iPad Pro and edit the images and be done.

There is no reason to prefer a German made Rollei over one made in Singapore. A majority of the Tessar/Xenar lensed versions were made in Germany along with a few of the first 35S models. Nearly all of the Sonnar models, 35S, were made in Singapore, along with arguably the best of all, the 35SE and 35TE, also the 35LED. I borrowed a German 35 for years, but finally bought my first new in 1982 or so, mainly because Rollei had stopped production, and I was afraid I would be unable to buy a new one. I ended up having to buy a 35S "Anniversary" model, perhaps the ugliest Rollei 35 ever made, but it was incredibly sharp. Also, it's limited edition status made is highly desired in the Japanese collectibles market, so I resold it for 2.5 times what I paid for it. I later bought a used 35SE, which I still have and use, then a "new in the box" 35SE from a lot found in a photo store when it went out of business. Recently, bought a near new 35S in a package with other items I wanted. I will need to disassemble the top end and repair the meter, just to have everything working fine with a modern battery. I bought a Contax T2 years ago, which is redundant with the Rolleis. I think I'll sell off the T2, given the absurd prices being paid for them these days.

Interesting video. I would definitely like to get a Rollei 35. In the meantime, I recently picked up for $20 USD a Voigtlander Vito BL, which in many ways is comparable to the Rollei 35. It is only slightly larger if at all. It is a zone focusing camera like the Rollei and has an excellent selenium meter that works perfectly and is dead on. The viewfinder is 100% so you can compose with both eyes open. Cool! It also has the great 50mm Voigtlander Color Skopar lens. This is a four element Tessar design. Typically for Tessars, at f5.6 and smaller lens opening, it is incredibly sharp. At the time of the production of this camera, Zeiss was the majority owner of Voigtlander which from my understanding is the oldest optical firm in the world and had a great reputation. So, the quality was certainly there. In fact, many people believe that the Zeiss Tessar and the Voigtlander Color Skopar are the same lens just made in different factories. As evidence of this, when Zeiss took over the Icarex SLR project from Voigtlander in 1960s, Zeiss rebranded all the Voigtlander lenses as Zeiss lenses. The Color Skopar was rebranded as a Zeiss Tessar. If a Rollei 35 is out of your price range, look for a Voigtlander Vito. You can pick them up for a song. Usually, a seller thinks they are broken and will price accordingly. That is why I bought mine so cheaply. Sellers who are not knowledgeable on the camera, are not able to get the camera to cock by the film advance because they are not aware that you have to have film in the camera for it to work. I bought mine from one of the largest camera stores in the state so you would expect them to be knowledgeable. They had three Vitos and listed every single one as broken. Every single one worked perfectly when I opened the cameras and advanced the film sprocket gear as if film was in the camera. BTW, your significant other got an excellent deal.

The Rollei 35 is a joy to use. If it had a 28mm lens on it, I don't think I'd use anything else

Love the photos here! Makes me wanna go out and shoot mine! Beautiful lil brick that shoots perfectly when you know how to zone focus and sunny 16

Great video! Wasn't expecting that kind of quality coming out of such a tiny camera body!

I have the Rollei B 35 with the Zeiss Triotar 40mm 3.5 lens. It has a built in uncoupled selenium light meter. Made in Singapore. I haven't tried it out yet. It works perfectly.

I have been using the Rolei 35 cameras since they were first introduced. I currently have 3 of them that are mr carry/travel cameras-- one 35D with rge Sonnar lens and 2 of the 35T's with the Tessar lens. I also have a 35B with a Triotar lens and a made in Singapore S, neither of which work. The Singapore Rollei is the only 35 with which J have I have ever had issues. The polycarbonate back will flex and the flash sometimes will not fire and the film advance locked up. Optically, all of the Roleis are excellent! Good review!

My granddad would have touches that Rollei made in Singapore..back in the 70s

Thanks for doing this. I’d been wondering about the “Singapore” listings on eBay. Seems like the right one for me. I mean Singapore, if anything, rivls Germany as far as quality control I’d imagine. If I don’t have a battery right away I could just ignore the light meter and still be able to take photos right? Been years since I used film, but I’m so tired of using a cellhone to take photos and digital seems so boring to me. Plus I just love the idea of waiting for that anticipatory surprise of photos from the pharmacy photo lab experience again! Hust one more question too…I like the idea of a half frame camera, as I’m poor, and in the old days as a kid I just had a point and click 110 camera..is there any half frame camera that you would recommend? Liked the channel…subscribed.

Just picked up the 35s can't wait to shoot film

I got the Rollie 35s and I paid £27.00 for it from a charity shop in London and it got original camera case and lens cap and strap strap and it works well

Do you guys see any difference with the viewfinders? I read that around 1970 they were switched from 0.8x magnification to 0.62x. Thank you for the reviews. Will definitely be referencing again when mine arrives!

Great video, these are nice shots.:)

I've had two of these and I hate them lol. Gear broken, got it replaced with steel and never liked zone focusing. Nice travel camera though

Great stuff! Check the weight Germany 360g and Singapore 305g and guess what the savings were…

I have one made in Germany (Tessar) and two made in Singapore ( s-Xenar) and all three have feet on the top not meters.

I just picked one up yesterday! A very timely video 😂

The German models are absolutely not made slightly better. There is no difference. However they tooled and trained the folks in Singapore for those production run was flawless. Moreover, I actually slightly prefer the S-Xenar rendering even over the Sonnar of early German varieties, which is even more notable because I rarely-to-never shoot these cameras wide open unless absolutely necessary.

Hey man, I bought a Roller 35S after watching this video. I'm pretty happy with the results of my first B&W film roll but now I'm getting strange light meter readings. The needle moves like crazy when I point the camera to dark or bright backgrounds, and stays down most of the time, it only stays in the middle when I point the sky. Do you know if this could be battery? Thank you!

I want one so bad! Do you think the IQ is better than the Olympus XA?

Ricoh gr film camera is also a nice one

which model do u recommend ? 35 /35s /35SE?

Can any one recommend a person to service the camera the light meter in particular looks lose in my camera. Many thanks Robin

Mines from Singapore but it is feet on the top and meters on the bottom 🤷🏻‍♂️

Hi, Thank you for doing this, I have the Singapore one that my father bought in the 80’s or so. I love it as long as I don’t have to shot with a flash on it. I cannot begin to guess what video camera you are using but one thing bothers me and leads me to ask “how did you make the background that much out of focus ?” I don’t think you’re using a green bckgd. You must be using some artificial means to achieve this but it is disturbing (to me anyway) You’re not using a super strong sport telephoto, the out of focus is even all thru-out the shots…..I’m puzzled !! out of focus zones don’t just go out like that or do you disagree with me ?? I’ve been using all sorts of cameras through a good 60 years of professsional work. But whatever it is I’m not critisizing you, just questioning ! Thanks for your work and time.

heh many of made in Singapure stay in good condition and many sellers know that so thay try to sold totally destroyed camera in big price only becouse of made in germany XD This is the same product with same glas, same material. Main difference is mark singapure or germany. And about metric on lens, someone in Singapure know wchich metring system is more obwious for Europe

テッサー製？ カール・ツァイス製テッサー・ローライ製テッサー・シュナイダー製クセナーでは？

Why do you need batteries 🤔 Can it not work without battery

My Rollei chews up the film, I hate this camera.