Rollei

Braunschweig twin-lens perfection

Rollei is the brand that defined twin-lens reflex photography and then, in a daring pivot, produced one of the most iconic compact cameras of all time. From the Rolleiflex TLRs that every serious photographer coveted to the jewel-like Rollei 35, this Braunschweig company combined German engineering precision with genuine design brilliance. Holding a Rollei product is like holding a piece of photographic sculpture.

History

The story of Rollei begins with two men: Paul Franke, a businessman, and Reinhold Heidecke, an engineer who had worked at Voigtlander and brought with him an obsessive attention to optical and mechanical precision. Together they founded Franke and Heidecke in Braunschweig in 1920, and by 1929 they had introduced the original Rolleiflex, a twin-lens reflex camera that would transform professional photography. The Rolleiflex design, with its viewing lens on top and taking lens below, both mounted on a common focusing mechanism, offered a brilliant solution to the problem of accurate composition in medium format photography.

The Rolleiflex became the camera of choice for portrait, fashion, and documentary photographers throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Richard Avedon shot his early fashion work on a Rolleiflex. Diane Arbus used one for her haunting portraits. Vivian Maier, whose posthumously discovered archive became one of the great photographic revelations of the twenty-first century, shot tens of thousands of images on Rolleiflex cameras. The square 6x6cm format that the Rolleiflex produced became synonymous with a certain approach to photography: contemplative, precise, and deeply engaged with the subject.

In 1966, Rollei surprised the camera world by introducing the Rollei 35, the smallest full-frame 35mm camera in the world at the time of its release. Designed by Heinz Waaske, the Rollei 35 packed a Carl Zeiss Tessar or Schneider Xenar lens into a body barely larger than a pack of cigarettes. It became an instant classic and remained in production for over a decade, beloved by travelers, street photographers, and anyone who wanted a serious camera they could carry everywhere. The Rollei 35 demonstrated that Franke and Heidecke's engineering genius extended far beyond the TLR format.

The company's later years were turbulent, with multiple ownership changes, a move to Singapore for some production, and eventually bankruptcy. But the cameras that Rollei produced during its golden decades remain among the most desirable and usable vintage photographic instruments in existence. A well-maintained Rolleiflex or Rollei 35 is not a museum piece. It is a tool that still performs at the highest level.

Notable Cameras

Rollei 35

The Rollei 35 is a tiny miracle of engineering. When it debuted in 1966, photographers could not believe that a full-frame 35mm camera with a Zeiss Tessar lens could be this small. The lens retracts into the body, the viewfinder folds away, and the entire package slips into a shirt pocket. But do not let the size fool you. The Rollei 35's Tessar or Sonnar lens produces images of exceptional sharpness and contrast, with beautiful color rendition and a pleasing rendering of out-of-focus areas. Street photographers treasure the Rollei 35 because it is invisible. Nobody notices a camera this small, and that invisibility leads to honest, unguarded photographs.

Rollei 35 and its Legacy

The Rollei 35 spawned an entire family of variants, including the 35S with its superior Sonnar lens, the 35T with the Tessar, and the 35SE and 35TE with built-in CdS meters. Each variant has its partisans, but they all share the essential Rollei 35 character: impossibly small, surprisingly capable, and deeply satisfying to use. The camera requires a specific shooting discipline because everything is manual and the viewfinder shows no exposure information, but that discipline is part of the appeal. Using a Rollei 35 teaches you to read light, estimate distance, and commit to your exposure before raising the camera to your eye. It makes you a more intuitive photographer.

All Models in Archive (2)

Compact

• 35 - 1966-1981

Tlr

• 2.8F - 1960-1981