Earlier this year the Pentax 17 35mm half-frame film camera was released, now we are treated to the Rollei 35AF. With the resurgence of film photography and the community continuing to grow, there is enough demand for companies to justify producing new cameras for us. This is a good thing, this means that film doesn’t seem to be going away and will continue to stick around much like it's cousin, vinyl! 

For those who are new to the film photography world, Rollei was a German camera producer that was founded in the 1920s. They continued to produce film cameras all the way up until the 1990s where they turned digital, like the rest of many camera companies. If you have been shooting with film for a little while now, I expect that you’ve heard of a Rolleiflex or a Rolleicord, the cameras that put Rollei on the map. They later went to produce the Rollei 35, which at the time, was the smallest camera that shot 35mm film. Now 50-60 years later, we have a new Rollei 35AF in production thanks to Mint Camera. I am not much of a camera history nerd but I know Rollei to have produced a decent camera in the day. 

Going back a couple of months ago now, I was approached by a kind, generous woman. She asked me for a favour - to have her camera. I thought, what a wonderful gesture and request. So I accepted, thinking the person who will inherit this little camera will love it. As she passed me the camera, I held the camera in my hands, looked down at it and I realised that, actually, I’m the person who will love this little camera. 

The Rollei 35T. The smallest camera I have owned. It was beautifully crafted in Singapore in the 1970s and has completely manual controls. No electronics in it, except for a battery that powers the light meter needle, however it is rare for that to still be working at this age. About a week after I started to play around with this camera, is when I heard about the Rollei 35AF and I began to wonder how the two would compare. 

35AF (2024) vs 35T (1974). What is the difference? Well the new camera by Mint Camera has aimed to replicate the old design, but with electronics that allow the photographer to autofocus, have a flash, power a light meter and have a digital counter. The aperture and shutter speed are still chosen by the shooter, however the small screen shows if you are over or under exposed. The older models, specifically the 35T is completely manual, especially since it has no light meter (the electronics in my version have stopped working). The manual focus on the 35T is a little harder. I have to set the focus and the viewer doesn't show me where my focus  point is, so I have to guesstimate - this is called 'zone focusing'. There is a hot shoe for the flash which means you have to carry an extra component to shoot lowlight. 35AF is winning points for convenience on this one. 

After spending some time with these cameras, I have found that both cameras are easy to shoot with, the autofocus on the 35AF does add speed to shooting and the ability to add flash into the photo without having to add one into the hot shoe is awesome. With the 35T, the weight of the camera is pretty obvious, it is made of metal and this also means the shutter and winding mechanism has a very satisfying sound and action. I have been able to be comfortable with shooting with this camera due to confidence in reading light meters but the thing I have found hard to get used to is the zone focusing, however when the photos are in focus, they have been extremely sharp, especially for a smaller camera like this. 

Both cameras are great! Let’s see how the photos compare!

For the past few years, I have been an avid 120 format shooter and it has been nice to have 35mm cameras to play around with. I have shot more 35mm film in the last few weeks than I have in the last few years! It has been a nice change, the pace is still slow with the manual mechanisms however I have found these cameras are easier to bring into social spaces as it is smaller and less intimidating compared to medium format. 

What do you think?

 Blog post by abigail legg