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MiNT shared a little more today about their new premium 35mm film point-and-shoot that’s coming this year.
Looks like the Rollei 35AF will look nearly identical to the original Rollei 35 — in more ways than some of us may’ve thought.
Back in January (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…), Gary Ho confirmed what was already evident from his earlier assembly images (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…): his new premium point-and-shoot camera will be based on the Rollei 35 body.
MiNT, known for refurbishing and modifying Polaroid SX-70 cameras, uses the Rollei name on some of its instant film SLRs, but it had not designed something that resembles an iconic Rollei product so closely. But now we know: the new Rollei 35 will be a faithful modernized classic with some of the same materials as the original, including a metal body construction:
- It’ll have the same form factor and a very similar appearance to the Rollei 35 S (analog.cafe/r/rollei-35s-c…)
- Its body will be made of metal, like the original
- It’ll feature an 𝒇2.8 lens with coated glass elements
- It’ll be a full-frame 35mm film camera
- It’ll have a lidar autofocus, presumably autoexposure as well
- It’ll have aperture controls
- It’ll cost 650-800USD
No release date yet, but you can enter the waitlist here: rollei35af.com/
Was looking into getting a Rollei 35SE or S; think it’s worth holding off on a 40 year old camera to get this new one instead?
It’s hard to say without trying both cameras. I loved my Rollei S, it’s one of the best-made cameras out there. MiNT won’t have the same tools or materials to make a camera, but it’ll come with some very nice automation features.
So if you’d prefer a point-and-shoot camera with the same form factor as the original Rollei cameras, you may like to wait (perhaps wait for someone to review it as well).
Otherwise, you can’t go wrong with the original S. It’s really good.