Image: MiNT Camera

MiNT Camera, a company specializing in instant cameras and accessories, has announced that it is accepting pre-orders for its new film camera, the Rollei 35AF. The company announced its plans to develop a film camera two years ago, with regular progress updates on its blog. It recently announced that it would begin accepting pre-orders on September 10.

Update: The company has announced that pre-orders will close on September 12, 2024, at 3:00 am GMT.

The Rollei 35AF is based on the classic Rollei 35 series of compact film cameras, first introduced at Photokina in 1966. At its introduction, it was the smallest 35mm film camera available, and over two million were made.

The Rollei 35AF is built around a fixed 35mm F2.8 lens with a 5-element design, an aperture range of F2.8-16, and a close focusing distance of 70cm (28"). Original Rollei 35 models typically had 40mm F2.8 or F3.5 Zeiss lenses. As its name implies, the Rollei 35AF also includes autofocus (using LiDAR), as opposed to manual (zone) focus on the originals.

Writing about the lens in a blog post, MiNT Camera described the philosophy behind the design, saying, "What we tried to achieve with this lens is to recreate a slightly nostalgic 1980-90s feel. It's a combination of balancing the contrast, sharpness, and color rendition to evoke that classic aesthetic, while still delivering modern performance."

It also addressed its reasons for not using the original Rollei 35 lens design, stating, "The back focus is too long, it wasn't designed for autofocus, and the closest focusing distance is too long."

The camera includes an optical viewfinder with 0.5x magnification and 90% coverage, an OLED display for the film counter, film speed selection and a battery indicator. It has both manual and auto-exposure modes, with auto modes supporting ±2 stops of exposure compensation. Shutter speed ranges from 1/500 sec to 60 sec, and the camera has a 10-second timer.

Other features include a film speed selector, which the company says doubles as a control for exposure compensation, a DX code reader with an ISO range of 25-3200, manual film advance and rewind, and a flash rated for a range of 3.5m (11.5ft.) at F2.8. It includes a tripod mount. The camera uses a CR2 lithium battery.

Price and availability

The Rollei 35AF is available in either chrome or black and includes a two-year warranty. The chrome model costs $799, and the black model costs $828. According to the company, deliveries are expected to start later this year, and orders will be fulfilled chronologically according to the waitlist.

If the experience of owning and shooting a Rollei 35 is high on your list, you might also consider buying an original on the used market, though depending on what model you're looking at and the condition, it might cost as much (or more) than the modern version.

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