Rollei SL 35 E

Hi Alan, I have a couple of these that I use from time to time. I seem to have collected a few standard lenses, the 50mm Ultron, 50mm Planar, 50mm 1.4 Planar, and the 50mm Xenon, Also have a 135mm Tele-Tessar and 135mm Tele-Xenar, 35mm Color Skoparex, 28mm Color Skoparex.
Of all these I think I prefer the Schneider lenses, but the 1.4 Planar is nice. The two wide angles are Mamiya Sekor lenses and are really top notch as well. I really like the SL35, nice to use and seems almost delicate, but is really well put together. I also tried the later electronic Rolleis but they are just not reliable.
Tony

An SL35 was my first SLR and I used it for nearly 25 years. It survived a dip in the ocean, trips to the sidewalk, and a few fumbling, amateur repair attacks (that more or less worked -- except the last time). It was a brilliant design and (obviously) well-made, though the film advance assembly could have been a little more robust (that's what ultimately failed). I must have shot many thousands of rolls in it. The optics were first rate. I had the xenon 50 1.8, the Distagon 25 2.5, superb performers both, and the Tele-Tessar 135 4 (which was probably the least sharp, despite having "HFT" multi-coating). The 135 did not survive the salt water bath, I lost the 25 somewhere at Crescent Beach, Nova Scotia (fell out of my bag), and I still have the 50 (and for that matter, the body). I also got a pentax screwmount adaptor, and a Vivitar 75-205 close-focusing zoom (which I still use -- now on a Spotmatic), with very good results. The Spotmatic fairly closely replicates the SL35 shooting experience, which is why it's become my preferred platform (over a Canon EOS) and is a more robust, and heavier build.