A practical and affordable Rollei 35 alternative is the Kodak (Nagel)
Retina. Not quite as compact but foldable, with high quality optics
(faster options than the Rolleis) and with a good rangefinder.
The Xenons and Heligons are fine lenses, but many consider the 47 mm
f/2 Ektar the pick of the litter... fairly rare.
Eric Goldstein
--
Hi Rollei Folks,---
since our Rollei 35 discussion I have been experimenting with a classic,
perhaps somewhat more versatile alternative to our compact Rolei 35 - a Robot
Star. It’s my second attempt using this camera. The first was in the US in
2010.
Here is my Flickr folder with the new and old results with this small camera:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmUFm2PT
Advantage of the Robot Star:
• small, very solid and heavy built. Made in Düsseldorf since the 1930s
• fairly good exchangeable lenses (Schneider & Zeiss) but hard to find well
preserved ones. Still have not found an affordable exampel of the (rare)
T-coated Zeiss 40mm Biotar or 75 mm Sonnar
• built-in spring-wound advance mechanism for 24-50 pictures
• square format (24 x 24 mm) which comes natural to Rolleiflex 6x6 users
• that means 55 images on 1 roll of 36 exp 35mm film! (about 33-35 images on
34 exp. film)
Disadvantages:
• somewhat cumbersome film-laoding (ok once you know it)
• no built-in light meter
• no built-in rangefinder (but faily good color coded zone-focussing aids on
the lenses)
• photo labs charge custom prices for prints from 24x24 because thsy have to
adjust every image (same with the index prints). Best to just have the film
developeed and scna yourself
Best,
Jan
