Rollei 35, silver model. Maker: Werke Franke & Heidecke
...a dozen cameras still left in their camera bag. "Susanna" graciously commented on one of my postings yesterday. She's a Leica lover too. I started to answer her comment, but thought it might be more fun to share with other camera lovers...
When I got serious about photography in the early 1980s I carried a small Rollei 35SE in my pocket with me everywhere I went, even to work. It was a funny little camera with a lens that you could pull out and rotate-lock into position. You also had to "judge" the focusing distance. When I got it right - and with practice this was no problem - the Carl Zeiss Tessar lens was very sharp. I loved this little camera that was no bigger that a pack of cigarettes (which were in my other pocket at the time). The photographs from this camera led to my first book. Afterwards I travelled for some years with two Leica CLs with only two lenses, a 40mm and 90 mm; one body for color film and one for black and white. Since then I have owned many cameras, many lenses and switched back and forth between Nikon and Canon for the larger bodies. Unfortunately I no longer own either the Rollei or the Leica CLs, I could never afford to keep them when I had to buy new cameras. Today I'm lucky enough to own a range of cameras but it's still the "little camera" that I love most and have with me every day; easy to slip into a pocket or purse, very reliable and a compact camera that doesn't "dumb down" the photographer, allowing you to make the decisions when to use flash etc.
