New film camera - The Rollei 35AF

[FishyFish]

Rollei 35 AF Official Site

Preserving the Best of the Original: Just as Compact, Just as Beautiful, Just as Iconic. The Rollei 35AF, a brand-new film camera that extends the historical legacy into today and tomorrow's world of analogue photography. Equipped with advanced autofocus technology, automatic and manual exposure...

rollei35af.com

Vintage Polaroid Cameras + New Instant Cameras | MiNT Official Site

mint-camera.com

MiNT Camera unveils the Rollei 35AF compact film camera

MiNT Camera's new 35mm compact film camera is to be called the Rollei 35AF, the company has revealed.

kosmofoto.com

The image of the camera on the new website is indeed very similar to the original Rollei 35S. MiNT Camera had earlier posted images of the camera’s Rollei-like body in an earlier blog update.


The new camera will feature Lidar-based autofocus and have an integral flash.


MiNT Camera, which is based in Hong Kong and has released a number of cameras shooting instant film, announced the 35mm camera project in March 2023.


In November, Ho said the camera would retail for between $650 and $800 (£530-£650 or €610 and €750) and would most likely be released in 2024 unless there were major setbacks.

 

[Marino]

I received the email today from Mint,
Was pleasantly surprised to see Rollei getting involved.
AF as in autofocus?
Can’t Wait to see the product!

 

[FishyFish]

I received the email today from Mint,
Was pleasantly surprised to see Rollei getting involved.
AF as in autofocus?
Can’t Wait to see the product!

Yeah, LIDAR-based auto focus, apparently. The iPhone uses it for AF too.

 

[lindsay]

MiNT in Hong Kong are clearly trying to steal a march on or capitalise on Ricoh's plans for a new film camera. However whereas Ricoh are using Pentax engineers to produce a Pentax cameras, MiNT are badging essentially a Chinese camera as Rollei, so will have a credibility mountain to climb I reckon - not saying there will be quality issues because it's Chinese, but they will have to convince buyers of the Rollei 35AF that it is a Rollei.

 

[ChrisR]

MiNT in Hong Kong are clearly trying to steal a march on or capitalise on Ricoh's plans for a new film camera. However whereas Ricoh are using Pentax engineers to produce a Pentax cameras, MiNT are badging essentially a Chinese camera as Rollei, so will have a credibility mountain to climb I reckon - not saying there will be quality issues because it's Chinese, but they will have to convince buyers of the Rollei 35AF that it is a Rollei.

I guess it'll be as much a rollei as a Voigtlander lens is...

Actually I've seen some of these relatively cheap chinese digital lenses come up pretty well in reviews... although I've never tried one. Mint themselves do seem to have a sufficiently good reputation to sell some moderately expensive kit.

 

[FishyFish]

It does feel like they are looking to make a decent product, not something akin to that rubbish that the current owners of the Yashica brand foisted upon people a few years ago.

 

[Harlequin565]

I just heard the news...

$650-$800 they're saying (which will probably mean $799 and be the same in £). Who's going to pre-order?

 

[lindsay]

I'm waiting for the Pentax.

 

[soupdragon]

Let's hope it's better than the Leica effort.

 

[Clive K]

The later production of the original Rollei 35 was outsourced to Singapore.

But, the Rollei company that made photography equipment is no more. They went bust so any new Rollei camera will probably have no connection to the original company. Similar to MG cars and ATCO lawnmowers.