Re: [Rollei] Rollei XF35 and Voigtlander VF135

[Sven Keller <keller.schaefer]

The VF 101 is a Rollei redesigned Zeiss Ikon S 310 with fixed lens. Prochnow
shows one with interchangeable lens, designated VF 102, but says it was only
a prototype (?). 
I am not sure now about the shutter. I think I remember having read Copal
inside the camera when I had a look inside mine - I will recheck.
What I was trying to say was that if you find a working XF35 for small money
there is no reason why it shouldn't continue to do so. If the shutter indeed
falls apart, we at least know somebody who can repair it... 

Even without quality issues it is hard to understand how much money Rollei
charged for their cameras, not only for the XF35. Take the SL 26 for example
which had a list price in Germany of almost DM 700 ($ 320) in the early
seventies!!

Knowing all this I still look at the XF35 and all the other Rollei hits and
misses of the seventies with a friendly eye. Some may be pieces of junk
quality-wise and some were good but came too early or too late but they are the
products with which Rollei, as the only company, tried to compete with the
Japanese manufacturers in the mass market. Rollei did not make it in the end, but
I look at these cameras as part of camera history. 

Sven Keller



Sven Keller

...
> > Quite clearly it is not a Rollei 35 relative but aimed at a different
> > market. It also has nothing to do with the older Zeiss Ikon cameras or
> > with the Voigtländer VF 101.
> 
> Is that the one with interchangable lenses? As I said they were never sold
> in the USA and I have only seen two in my life, both brought over here
> from
> Israel.  
> 
> I did not say it had anything to do with older Zeiss-Ikon cameras, but it
> was developed from a Z-I prototype that Rollei bought in 1972-3.  My
> authority on this is Rollei personnel.
> 
> > 
> > As for repairs, there is not much that can go wrong with its Copal
> shutter.
> > One thing to remember is the battery cover that has a bajonet instead of
> a
> > thread. If you turn the cover more than 1/8 of a turn you damage it.
> > 
> 
> Yes, there is much which can go wrong with the shutter, which I do not
> believe has anything to do with Copal.  I repaired many of them when I was
> an authorized Rollei repairman, and the shutters in many cases simply fell
> apart!  
> 
> > The range finder can be adjusted by a small screw under the leatherette,
> > directly under the finder window.
> 
> You're right about that.
> 
> Bluntly put, the camera is a piece of junk, which was initially sold at a
> very high price in the USA until the cameras started coming back.  Toward
> the end shops stuck with inventory were lucky to get them out the door
> for $ 50 each.  I didn't keep any, and don't regret the loss.
> 
> Bob
> 

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