Rollei 35RF

Review of playing with M-mount lenses on a Rollei 35RF film camera

Gallery
Impression
Specification
Lens
Options
Reference links

Gallery:BIOGON-ZM 35mm /PLANAR-ZM 50mm /NOKTON40mm
FUJIFILM PROVIA100F /KODAK SINBI200 /KODACHROME-64 /FUJIFILM SENSIA3-100

Impression
When I was looking for a Leica M-mount film camera to replace the HEXSR RF, I was considering the BESSA R2 when I came across it at a special price along with a 40mm lens at Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku. It was not expensive, so I bought it, loaded it with film, and shot.
With a digital camera, you can only use it if you have a compatible battery or if the battery is charged (recently, mobile batteries can be used to charge the battery, which makes it easier to charge the camera). However, film cameras can be operated with commercially available batteries, so it was easy to start using them.
The viewfinder frame is 40/50/80, which is different from the 28/35/50/75/90/135 commonly used with the Leica M. However, the field of view is originally 87%, and because of parallax effects, the frame is only a guide, so there were no major problems even with lenses that did not fit the frame.
The viewfinder, shutter, winding, and other mechanical parts were the same as those of the Bessa, with the only difference being the design, including the exterior, and the viewfinder frame. Compared to the Zeiss Ikon, which was released later, this was not a very expensive project. It was thought that Kocina would get the trademark for the Lorai as it was, but that did not happen.
One of my memories of this camera is that when I was getting used to it after consuming several rolls of film, the gear on the shaft connected to the winding lever of the camera broke when I was winding up the film to put it back in the case after I finished shooting. Because the gear was broken, the film would no longer wind up, so I went to a camera shop and asked them to return the film to the case in the dark box, develop the film as it was, and repair it since it was still under warranty. It did not take much time to repair it, so I assume it was repaired at the parts supplier.
I did not wind up the film roughly, but I learned that this kind of breakage can occur. The camera automatically winds up the film with the correct torque, which makes the HEXAR RF easy to use.
I sold it without using it after it was repaired because it would be troublesome to have it broken again.

As a complete aside, this camera was introduced to the market at a time when there was no clear path to revival after the bankruptcy, and it seems to have been part of the attempts to do business by various means, but the company that took over the brand after the bankruptcy only sold products with the Rollei branding, and the Rollei brand continues to drift. The Rollei brand continues to drift.
The history of Rollei is described in detail in the English wiki at the reference link (the Japanese wiki is less explanatory).
Leica is helped by celebrity capital, Hasselblad is helped by Chinese capital, and both seem to be doing well.

Specification

Item	Value	Note
Finder	Real-image reverse Galilean perspective finder
Viewfinder Magnification	x 0.7
Finder Frame	40/50/80
Effective baseline length(mm)	25.9
Shutter mechanism	Vertical travel laminar metal forcal plane shutter
Shutter speed	1/2000〜1sec	Bulb mode available
測光	Center weighted TTL average metering upon light depression of shutter release
Battery	LR44/SR44
Size(mm)	W x H x D 135.5 × 81 × 25.5〜33.5	Excluding protruding parts
Weight(g)	440	Only body
Release date	Year 2002	End of year2006