Rollei 35

Type: 35mm · Still

The Rollei35 is a compact camera, easy to carry, and very low profile and quiet. Considering it's a camera from the 1960s, you need a bit of practice for zone focusing. The size of the lens is tiny, made by Zeiss, but it still produces great results.

Mine is the Tessar version, a 40mm f/3.5 Carl Zeiss.

No sound, no bulk. You click and it is done.

Zone focusing is hard to work with, but that difficulty comes attached to the thing that makes the camera worth carrying: it is almost invisible. I usually snap while walking on the street, without anyone noticing. Most of the time I don't even use the viewfinder. I hold it against my body, position myself, and shoot.

That only works if you can judge distance, so the camera doubles as practice. You guess the zone, take the frame, and see later how close you were. It gives you a better understanding of focus and distance than any focusing aid does.

Images

Rollei 35 — 35mm · Still — photograph by Emrah Gonulkirmaz (1 of 9)
Rollei 35 — alley portrait nikon — 35mm · Still — photograph by Emrah Gonulkirmaz (2 of 9)
Rollei 35 — coffee window — 35mm · Still — photograph by Emrah Gonulkirmaz (3 of 9)
Rollei 35 — streetcar mccaul toronto — 35mm · Still — photograph by Emrah Gonulkirmaz (4 of 9)
Rollei 35 — 35mm · Still — photograph by Emrah Gonulkirmaz (5 of 9)
Rollei 35 — camera tessar 40mm — 35mm · Still — photograph by Emrah Gonulkirmaz (6 of 9)
Rollei 35 — 35mm · Still — photograph by Emrah Gonulkirmaz (7 of 9)
Rollei 35 — 35mm · Still — photograph by Emrah Gonulkirmaz (8 of 9)
Rollei 35 — wires rooftop winter — 35mm · Still — photograph by Emrah Gonulkirmaz (9 of 9)

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