Rollei Planar 1.8/50 for Rollei 35 RF

[thmk]

Does anyone know if this lens ever met the real world? The Rollei (US) page says "in preparation for the first half of 2003" and that is long gone, but I could not find it.

Thomas-Michael

[rover]

I believe it is a legend which was never released into the wild.

[Huck Finn]

Thoma-Michael, Rover is correct that this Zeiss-designed lens was never released as promised by Rollei. However, the good news is that Zeiss is releasing a 50/2 Planar of its own as part of the lens line for the new Zeiss Ikon. Cosina announced that it would be available in Japan on January 15 & Hasselblad expects to have it for distribution in the rest of the world a few weeks later.

[Brian Sweeney]

After reading this thread I picked up a Rolleiflex SL35 with 50mm F1.8 HFT Planar for $85 at a camera show. I will look for ward to using it. Of course the 30 something lens formula could have changed, but it sure looks pretty.

[Sonnar]

I think the crux with the Rollei/ Zeiss LTM lenses was they never announced to renew the design of the 30-40 years old classics. So they probably didn't.
Even it was excellent glass for it's time (I really like my Rollei 35S with the 2.8/40 Sonnar) todays buyers don't believe they can compete with new Leica or even Cosina/Voigtlander glass, specially at that price...
Zeiss is right this time new-designing all the ZM-lenses from scratch...

cheers, Frank

[Huck Finn]

I think you're absolutely right, Frank. These older designs have their own imaging qualities, which are to be appreciated in their own right but are not necessarily what the public is looking for in "the latest & the greatest."

Rollei produced various models of the Rollei 35 over a 15 year period from 1967-82. Over an even longer period, they repeatedly released commemorative versions of the model with the 40 Sonnar lens. Released primarily for the Japanese market, the Rollei 35 RF was virtually another in this line of commemorative releases, this time featuring the 40 Sonnar as an interchangeable lens. There was essentially no effective marketing/pricing strategy elsewhere around the globe. And there is no larger rangefinder product line within Rollei for it to find a niche.

It is interesting to see how other companies have also produced older lens designs for specific niche purposes. Nikon released a Tessar 45/2.8 with the introduction of the FM3A a few years ago. Because of the simplicity of its 4 element design, it is a compact lens to begin with. Nikon shortened it from 50 mm to 45 to make it even more compact & produced it as a pancake to accentuate the appeal of the FM3A, the most recent in the FM series of Nikon's compact cameras - originally developed as an alternative for the popular market to the bulkier F2 professional model of the time. Nikon's customers greeted the 45/2.8P with the same comments as RF users had for the 40/2.8 Sonnar: "Why would I pay that much money for a lens that slow?" The 45/2.8P is 3 times the cost of Nikon's standard 50/1.8 & the same price as the ultra-fast 50/1.4!

The Leica line-up includes the 50/2.8 Elmar-M - also essentially a Tessar design. Revived in 1994 as a commemorative with the M6J after being out of production for over 20 years, it has found its place as the move to higher & higher speeds mean that Leica is no longer a "pocketable" camera. However, with the 50 Elmar, it is. Leica achieved compactness in a different way than Nikon; retro on a Leica is not a pancake but is a collapsible lens. Although less expensive than any other Leica, at $750 it is not cheap.

Cosina themselves went retro with their commemorative Limited Edition release of the collapsible 50/3.5 Heliar on the Bessa T 101, available as a combined set only. Compact & retro, it too sells for a premium price at twice the cost of a regular Bessa T & faster 50/2.5 standard lens.

Cheers . . .