Rolleiflex 3.5f /// 1958

During the three decades of the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, the rollfilm twin lens reflex (TLR) was the weapon of choice for a great many working photographers and enthusiastic amateurs. Consequently many manufacturers both big and small made models, including Minolta, Mamiya, Olympus, Ricoh, Voigtländer, Yashica and Zeiss Ikon. But it was the German company Franke & Heidecke that made the TLR configuration its own with a model line that lasted 84 years from 1928 to 2014. Volume production lasted 50 years, covering a huge variety of Rolleiflex and Rolleicord models which, initially at least, brought previously unknown levels of compactness and convenience to rollfilm photography. The twin lens design – two matched lenses, one for viewfinding, the other for exposing the film – might look cumbersome now, but it made for a much more reliable and quieter camera than an SLR, two reasons why the Rolleiflexes were so popular with pros. And you could continue viewing the subject even as the exposure was being made, another big plus especially for press photographers who also liked the cropping potential inherent in a 6x6cm negative compared to 35mm.

The 3.5F appeared in 1958 and essentially represents the culmination of Rolleiflex TLR evolution by virtue of having a built-in and coupled exposure meter, a good-sized focusing knob, a fold-away crank handle for advancing the film and, from 1965 on, the capacity to accept doublelength 220 film (for 24 exposures). The 3.5F remained in production until the end of 1976 by which time, of course, the 35mm SLR was becoming much more widely used for press and documentary photography, being both smaller and more versatile. Today the Rolleiflex 3.5F is gloriously oldschool, but still a delight to use and a whole lot quicker than you might expect. It demands a methodical approach, but rewards with a degree of involvement that makes every shot an absorbing and entertaining experience.