On Tue, 06 May 2003 20:36:33 +0100, T. P. <tp@noemailthanks.com> wrote:

>Scott Schuckert <scotts131@comcast.net> wrote:

>>The Rollei 35 is a perfect example of the kind of camera they'd never

>>comprehend.

>It's the kind of camera I can't comprehend either. The bit I cannot

>comprehend is why people ever chose it over any of the superb fixed

>lens rangefinder cameras that were available in the 70s/80s.

There were some nice ones, like the Canon QL17, etc. - but

the Rollei had "panache" the others didn't...;-) It was also

much smaller...

>OK, the 35S had the excellent Sonnar lens, but the Tessar version was

>a joke, being a cheaper option but by no means a good one. Unsharp at

>the edges, with light fall-off that was noticeable even to people who

>weren't interested in taking pictures, that Tessar was a lemon.

See my post, above, on the Tessar/Xenar f3.5 vs. the

Sonar f2.8, and why I preferred the former... Even

wide open, slides looked VERY good with the Xenar...

>If you really wanted to go downmarket, the B35 was an even cheaper and

>nastier Rollei with an even lesser Tessar and not much else to

>recommend it except the brand name.

The B35 was terrible, with a really-bad 3-element

Triotar. The Germans would put a stinky lens on

an excellent camera; the Japanese would never do

this...;-)

>Of course anything from the

>70s/80s with Rollei on it is now guaranteed cult status, despite many

>of them having been (badly) made in Singapore to standards that only

>Cosina could aspire to.

The manufacturing quality of both the German and

Singapore versions was indistinguishable, and SUPERB.

Things FIT, as in, when you put the back on, there

was NO gap in the leatherette, etc...

>I suppose that one day, a few years into the future, the 2000s cult

>classics will include some equally badly designed and manufactured

>cameras that no discerning photographer would ever wish to touch now.

Like the Nikon FG, perhaps...;-)

I hated this camera when it first came out, but I

have come to appreciate its good look, feel, and

feature-set on a tiny SLR...