Rollei 35

Super-small full-frame 35mm camera with an enthusiastic fan base.

A simple set of design requirements

The Rollei 35’s design engineers seem to have been given three requirements:

Super small 35mm camera.
First class optics and ergonomics.
Robust metal structure.

They delivered. ‘For a long time they [the Rollei 35s] were the world’s smallest mass produced full-frame 35mm cameras’ (Evans, 1986). This camera was popular when new and it has an enthusiastic following today.

**Place du Panthéon, Paris.** Rollei 35 S, 40mm f/2.8 Rollei-HFT Sonnar, Kodachrome 64. My first trip to Paris. I photographed the slide onto Tri-X, then made a silver gelatin print. Negative and print: 1979.

f/8 and be there

Design requires trade-offs and to reduce the size so much required sacrifices. The most important was the rangefinder — the Rollei 35 doesn’t have one, it’s a scale focusing camera. Also, the lens is non-interchangeable. Finally, the camera’s metal structure lacks the heavy machined-like feel of some other German 35mm cameras.

The non-interchangeable lens is not such a big drawback for me. As you can see from my work, I use normal focal length prime lenses most of the time. Except for close focus subjects, scale focusing often works well.

With its super-portability and scale focusing, the Rollei 35 is a natural for the ‘f/8 and be there’ approach.

**Rollei 35 S,** made in Singapore. The 40mm f/2.8 Rollei HFT Sonnar lens is shown folded.

**Delft, Netherlands.** At the end of a bike ride, a fellow rider made this picture using my Rollei 35 S, 40mm f/2.8 Rollei-HFT Sonnar, and Kodachrome 64. I photographed the slide onto Tri-X, then made a silver gelatin print. Negative and print: 1979.

Manual exposure

The Rollei 35 is an all-mechanical, manual exposure camera. The battery is only for the meter. Years ago, for example in Paris for the photo above, I used the camera’s meter and it worked well, even for the old, classic Kodachrome film which didn’t have wide exposure latitude.

Today I leave the battery out and use a hand-held meter or the sunny 16 method.

**Café Woomoo** Haeundae, Busan, South Korea Rollei 35 S, 40mm f/2.8 Rollei-HFT Sonnar, FP4+, 2026.

**Ready to load film.** The back removes and it’s a metal-to-metal fit with no foam light seals. An excellent design also seen on one of my other favorite cameras, the Nikon F.

A long production run

Rollei 35 production started in Germany in 1967. Some sources cite 1966 rather than 1967, but per Evans (1986), ‘factory data lists the first production date as 1967’.

In a desperate attempt to stay cost-competitive with the Japanese, Rollei moved manufacturing to Singapore in 1973. That was ultimately unsuccessful and production ended in 1982.

**KTX train** Busan Station, South Korea Rollei 35 S, 40mm f/2.8 Rollei-HFT Sonnar, FP4+, 2026.

Made in Germany, then Singapore

One of my Rollei 35 cameras was made in Germany, the others in Singapore. The lenses are all high-end designs, but ‘the cameras made in Germany incorporate Zeiss optics. After production of the line was moved to Singapore, the lenses were made by Rollei under license from Zeiss.’ (Evans, 1986). My cameras reflect this:

Rollei 35, made in Germany: 40mm f/3.5 Carl Zeiss Tessar.
Rollei 35 T, made in Singapore: 40mm f/3.5 Rollei Tessar.
Rollei 35 S, made in Singapore: 40mm f/2.8 Rollei-HFT Sonnar.

I’ve used these cameras a lot, and as far as I can tell there is no difference in build quality.

**MIT Stata Center** Cambridge, Mass. Rollei 35 S, 40mm f/2.8 Rollei-HFT Sonnar, FP4+, 2026.

Maintenance and repair

Some years ago, the lens mount of the Rollei 35 S was repaired after the camera fell out of my backpack and that’s the only maintenance that my Rollei 35s have needed.

**Kendall MIT station** Boston subway (‘T’) Rollei 35 S, 40mm f/2.8 Rollei-HFT Sonnar, FP4+, 2026.

**Boulevard Coffee Roasters** Vancouver, B.C. Rollei 35 T, 40mm f/3.5 Rollei Tessar, HP5+, 2024.

References / further reading

Camera manual: orphancameras.com

More references:

Evans, A. 1986. Collectors Guide to Rollei Cameras. Grantsburg, Wis.: Centennial Photo Service.

Hunt, B. 2024. Film Camera Zen: A Guide to Finding the Perfect Film Camera. Los Angeles: Chronicle Chroma.

On the Rollei 35 ‘There are several versions, and because of the cult status, there are companies that refurbish and renew these cameras…’ (pp. 162-163)

McKeown, J.M. and J.C. 1996. McKeown’s Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 1997-1998. Grantsburg, Wis.: Centennial Photo.

p. 207: ‘The Rollei 35 series of high-class compact 35mm cameras is highly appreciated by both users and collectors’.

Zaccheus, M. 2017. ‘Made by Rollei Singapore: A Peek into History’. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/made-by-rollei-singapore-a-peek-into-history accessed March 19, 2025.

The story of Rollei’s Singapore factory is here, with evocative photographs. ‘In 1971, the Economic Development Board persuaded the German company Rollei to set up a production factory in Singapore…’

This was part of the Singaporean government’s effort to ‘move away from low-wage industries to higher-technology and value-added ones in the 1970s’ and was a key element in Rollei’s ultimately unsuccessful strategy for competing with the Japanese.