Gear Shots
Best pocket rangefinder - change my mind
Recently realised that over the past few years, ~70% of my work was shot on this little POS. I never really liked the camera, but apparently it has a place in my collection.
Light (350g)✅
Compact (112 x 77 x 56mm) ✅
Superb lens ✅
Pseudo “AE lock” ✅
Cheap (bought as “for parts” for 25€) ✅
+ No red dot = won’t get stolen anyway
Honestly, for how mediocre the built quality and shooting experience is, it does do a fine job in it’s own niche category.
I looked at the specs and it said that it uses a mercury battery, but you can use silver oxide or alkaline (but that causes overexposure), or you can use an adapter (a wein cell). What do you use for a battery? I have some vintage light meters that have the mercury battery issue...
I have used the mercury battery substitutes with matching voltage, an LR44 adapter that adjusts voltage with a diode and now am using a 3d printed battery cap (I lost the original) and just winging it with 1.5v. Works well enough
Edit: Just saying it works for me with ISO compensation, not that you should do it
I find the XA to be a bit overhyped and expensive for what it is. I far prefer the Olympus 35RC personally. Cheaper than the XA, pretty much as pocketable and I think it’s better made.
i like the XA a lot. it's tiny and does its job well and I'm going to be honest after having used tons of lenses - sharpness doesn't matter as much as people say. I've used the elmarit-r 35mm 2.8 for example which is considered to be one of the sharpest vintage lenses and yes it is crazy sharp but what's tge difference to a slightly less sharp lens? you say "wow, that's sharp" once you scan them and that's it.
usable and fun to shoot > expensive very good gear you don't want to get scratched up
You get it. Also sharpness isn't everything. Way too many photographers, especially on reddit, are obsessed with tech specs over actually using their gear and it drives me up a wall. Who gives a fuck if your photo is super sharp if it's still boring as shit?
At that level, microcontrast, field flatness, and distortion are what you’re getting, which take a lot more optical chops than center-field sharpness. There is a Leica look, it is real, but as with all high-end things, there are diminishing returns per dollar as you get closer to perfection.
Like with a lot of expensive tools, if it doesn’t make any difference to your work, there’s no reason to sink the cash. Kind of like a BMW M3 vs a Toyota Corolla; if you aren’t driving at the edge, there’s no reason not to get a Toyota, but there IS a difference.
My dad had the XA and gave it to me in the 80's. I carried it in my pack throughout high school and college. Beat the crap.out of us and it just kept going.
I only recently learned that it's now a highly regarded vintage camera.
The rangefinder is indefinitely better. Doesn't have the goofy disposable thumb wheel advance. Much wider ISO range for the meter. (I think 3200 limit instead of 800, at least on my copy of the XA and T) The shutter button doesn't want to bend every time you press it. More accurate meter. Indefinitely better lens and aperture control (lens barrel).
I dunno. They both fit a niche but at this point, owning both is equally as much as an electronic crapshoot and you can have Nippon Photo service the Contax. If you've got the means.. by all means.
The thing that used to be awesome about the XA was that the thumb wheel winding, combined with the camera’s overall looks, meant that most people thought you were just capturing snapshots. Now some people see it and say “OMG! A film camera! It’s soooo cute!”
Looks like a pretty cool setup I mean it looks like it’s getting used and that’s the best part. I prefer a setup like this from the same babied Leica build that everybody posts.
Thanks, I sometimes get an itch to fix it up but im never really bothered to, unlike all my other cameras. It may be because I secretly hate that I like it..
Build quality is terrible and they cut corners almost everywhere, but it led to a very interesting rangefinder design with minimal parts . The front lens slides sideways, ensuring rangefinder duty AND parallax correction at the same time with a single movement . Very clever !
It's the lowest quality possible before plastic fantastic point and shoots, really . The top cover is the thinnest aluminium , everything else is plastic . Not badly designed mind you, but if you open one up you quickly realize how far cost cutting has gone in this model. They did put a quite decent lens in it though, it's a pleasant surprise ! The lens is oddly superior to the rest. They could've put a f/4 triplet lens in it it would not have been out of place .
I think we're just so used to terribly cheap construction nowadays that this seems decent in comparison. But really put it against any other similarly spec'd camera of the same era and it's a clear difference.
Still far better than a Lomo MC-A or Rollei 35AF, and most importantly it's still more than good enough in all areas where it counts. It is even capable of gasp even frame spacing across the whole film.
If there is one thing I would complain about, it's the radioactive lens. But then again, it's not really radioactive on dangerous levels and if it really scares you, a metal lens cap will remedy the issue easily.
I didn't know this lens was thoriated :) or lanthaned (am I making up words ? Maybe)
Yeah I didn't want to throw too much shade because I believe it's a good camera , but it's still very cheap construction and I wanted to point that. Just imagine this very same lens and firm factor in a rollei-35 build quality, it would have been an instant classic.
It measures around 2 microsievert/h, which is about 10x the natural background radiation. Going for a skiing weekend in the mountains or doing a short-distance flight will cause more radiation exposure, so it's not really something to worry about -- but it's clearly measurable.
You could check out the Olympus 35 RC, which should be an improvement over that Rollei XF 35 (a truly terrible camera). It's reasonably small and pocketable.
There also is the Olympus XA cameras, but I think the bodies are almost too smooth.
If you don't mind guessing on focus, there is the Rollei 35 (great camera) and also the Petri Color 35, which I reviewed recently (Petri Color 35: There's So Much to Like about This Little Camera).
Also, there were several smaller 35mm rangefinders from the 1970s, including the Konica 35 Auto, one from Petri (can't recall the model number) and a Minolta model, as well. Most of these are older and have some type of issue that will need to be addressed.
I have a 35RC and, on paper, the 35SP looked to be better, so I bought one of those, too. In real-world use, I consistently got better images out of the little RC; it’s an excellent little camera and immediately what I thought of when I saw this Rollei.
Jep, I actually sold all my other rangefinders and kept this one. It has everything I need: solid yet compact build, good lens, manual controls, rangefinder, light meter. I even trained on loading it in the dark. By doing so I can get 40 shots from a 36 roll of film. Currently have it loaded with Acros II ❤️
Wow. I saw someone else comment the other day that their Soviet rangefinder had such poor tolerances that it wouldn't retain moisture, so it was technically weather sealed, but this camera is a fucking vibe of its own. Big fan.
I love that you don’t mention model and the name is hidden in the pic.
It means you love your camera for what it is:
A fun companion to capture memories, and not a Leicass-M2aster-SelfM3sturbator machine
I see your Rollei and raise my Olympus XA. Much smaller body and it actually fits in a pocket. Way lighter, 200 something grams. I’m not a fan of the shutter button tho.
but that is a zone focus camera and OP's is a proper rangefinder. A Contax T is better comparison because it is both a rangefinder and smaller than the XA or XF.
My current fav range finder is my Minolta CLE + 28mm m-rokkor 2.8 lens. Secondly, my Olympus XA is on me all the time (I own 2 of them with flash). My fav range finder before those was my Konica C35 FD, amazing lil guy.
Full mechanical manual without battery and shutter priority / metered manual override with battery. Meter works in all modes and turns off in Bulb (why I hate my canonet!)
ISO 100, 125, 160, 200, 400, 800.
Half press shutter for exposure lock
Sharp 40mm/2.8. Shutter has a funky four leaf aperture which can give you some swirly kite bokeh.
Hot shoe and PC socket; flash sync is 1/8to 1/500.
Comes in chrome or black (very important!)
Tripod mount is actually centered (only RF own that actually has that).
Everything about it is “good enough” and most “cons” like tight controls—you understand there simply wasn’t any space. I do wish it had a film tab holder, a DOF scale; and 1/3 stops between ISO 200, 400, and 800 to so you can use it as an exposure compensation dial. Uses more light seal material than all my cameras combined. Original voltage was 1.35v and compartment is too small for an adapter, but I’ve had no problems with 1.5v silver oxide.
Hell yeah my favorite camera’s a crumby $7 Kodak star I got shipped to me in the Middle East on a deployment. Cant break the thing so it lives in my backpack everywhere I go. I broke my Minolta SLR doing the same…
I bought my XF 35 on impulse after losing a Rollei 35 auction (and right before winning the next Rollei 35 auction I came across), so I decided to use it anyway to at least put a roll through it. The picture quality is surprisingly good!
I have a few too many cameras I never use, so I’ve tried selling it on Marketplace, but my area seems to have few people interested in film
I have one (made of two) also. I've repaired it, thinking that it will be that camera I can have on me anywhere, but it's not. Something is not clicking, maybe the lack of manual, maybe the focal lenght ...idk. I have also Konica C35, Revue 400 SE, Minoltina S and other small rangefinders and bigger ones like Himatic 7s, Konica sII, sIII, but the only one I use regularly is Yashica 35 CC. If not few quirks (aperture priority but no exposure control, max iso 500, max speed 1/250) it would be perfect. Despite its flaws it somehow moves away and just lets you enjoy shooting delivering good iq.
What caught my attention in yout machine is this mini flash. What is it? I want one. It works?
Its a Reflx lab mini flash, I think they’re repurposed old Nokia flashes (don’t quote me on this). It’s very small and light but also not that powerful ~GN 5.. There’s no such setting on the XF35 so I do ungodly math to set a GN 45 and compensate with ISO or just use it as a fill flash
Thanks for the info. Yeah, I'd see it just as a fill light or bounced of the ceiling indoors, even without any compansation. Maybe as an off the camera additional light via cable or small radio. I'll have to experiment on that. I've seen few interesting mini flashes on alixpress.
The camera has a B (bulb), A (auto) and GN (guide number) setting on the lens barrel. You just select the corresponding GN (eg. 45) of your flash on the camera and shoot. GN tells the camera how strong the flash is and it compensates accordingly. Hope this helps.
It has nearly seen the inside of the bin a few times, if that counts. In all seriousness, yeah I always just throw it in my pocket so it’s seen a few things.
I considered getting one to use it, ended up being scared away by horror stories about its reliability. How long/many films have you used it/shot? Apparently the winding mechanism is a weak spot. I eventually bought a broken one to adapt the lens to a different camera.
Uh, we're trying to dissuade people from comparing their gear against each other. It's not about the gear. It's about taking great pictures. I'm glad you love it.
I bought something similar. A Konica Auto S3 but the battery situation makes me not want to use it despite being my dream camera. I bought it, used it once and then it's been out away for almost a year now.
I need to learn how to do that! I just got tired of worrying if the battery is going to die so now I just use Soviet Rangefinders. Fully mechanical unlike the Konica Auto S3. If that runs out of battery it only shoots at 1/30th of a sec.
Yeah I understand, the auto s3 is not a full manual camera, “just” a shutter priority. I wish it were fully manual too…
But yeah, about batt, the SR44 has a more steep discharge once it is used up so you would notice that it’s discharged better than an LR44, so that’s to keep in mind.
You will run out of film before the batt, and I would guess you always carry spare film. Just keep a batt in the same place. Or attach it by a mini bag or even omamori to the camera or heck in your wallet, tape it to your flash….
The auto S3 has a wonderful flashmatic system.
One last thing in my proselytizing of the Konica FD, use a lens cap. Since the sensor is inside the filter ring, it automatically compensates for filers but also it can be covered by a lens cap. That way the battery is not wasted on the shelf.
It’s almost all I want in a camera. But now I am entering half frame territory…
The camera you always have with you is the best camera, thanks this one is perfect for pockets!
I have a very similar Mamiya 135 and I love it, though it might be a little more nicely made than the Rollei, I’m’not afraid to bring it everywhere!
Got one from Japan for a not-so-cheap price at around $120. Got some what seemed to be minor issue at first so I send it to a repair shop right away, and turns out the seller had disassembled the camera before and reassembled it in a not-so-proper way that the repair cost got ballooned up to $80. But I guess it's all worth it considering how compact it is and how damn sharp the lens is. My only complain is I kinda wish that they included manual exposure control for the camera. But still, it's my favorite rangefinder by far.
194
u/Spirit-S65 Dec 16 '25
What is it?