Rollei b35

[Kathy L via PhotoKB.com]

I bought my Rollei B35 a couple of weeks ago, at a Photographic Market while
on holiday in Australia for $100, with a flash unit. The nice man who sold it,
of course, told me that it has been a wonderful camera, and he bought it when
they first came out and was selling it only now, so he could move into
Digital.

Anyway, i have used two rolls of film so far, and neither of them have
survived the camera. The first film i used, i think i may have inserted
wrongly and instead of winding around after being exposed, started bunching
up inside the camera, about 15 exposures into the film.

The second film i used, i made sure to correctly insert, ripped from the film
canister after about 13 exposures when i tried to wind the film along to take
the next shot.\

Any advice about what may be causing this to happen in the Camera? So far i
cannot find any information about anything except for these cameras being
fantastic.

Please let me know!

[Chris Loffredo]

Post by Kathy L via PhotoKB.com
I bought my Rollei B35 a couple of weeks ago, at a Photographic Market while
on holiday in Australia for $100, with a flash unit. The nice man who sold it,
of course, told me that it has been a wonderful camera, and he bought it when
they first came out and was selling it only now, so he could move into
Digital.
Anyway, i have used two rolls of film so far, and neither of them have
survived the camera. The first film i used, i think i may have inserted
wrongly and instead of winding around after being exposed, started bunching
up inside the camera, about 15 exposures into the film.
The second film i used, i made sure to correctly insert, ripped from the film
canister after about 13 exposures when i tried to wind the film along to take
the next shot.\
Any advice about what may be causing this to happen in the Camera? So far i
cannot find any information about anything except for these cameras being
fantastic.
Please let me know!

IIRC the B35 is the cheap version with more plastic parts and a Triotar
lens. I wouldn't call this model or its lens "fantastic", though the
lens will probably do better than most zooms (get a model with a Tessar
or a Sonnar lens for "fantastic" results.

About your winding problem: Nothing like that has happened to my 35S or
35SE cameras.

Things to check:
1) with the back off; are the take-up spool and the toothed rachet thing
both moving?
2) are there any pieces of broken film or other foreign matter in the
film compartment which could jam things?
3) are you really loading the film properly; esp. is the tongue stuck
properly in the take-up spool.
4) can the rewind spool turn freely, without catching on the rewind
lever when it is folded out of place?

Otherwise I don't have any good ideas.

I'd advise trying the loading procedure many times with
ruined/sacrificable film, advancing the film all the way to the end
reliably each time. If that doesn't work, it's time for the camera doctor!

[Tony Polson]

Post by Kathy L via PhotoKB.com
I bought my Rollei B35 a couple of weeks ago, at a Photographic Market while
on holiday in Australia for $100, with a flash unit. The nice man who sold it,
of course, told me that it has been a wonderful camera, and he bought it when
they first came out and was selling it only now, so he could move into
Digital.
Anyway, i have used two rolls of film so far, and neither of them have
survived the camera. The first film i used, i think i may have inserted
wrongly and instead of winding around after being exposed, started bunching
up inside the camera, about 15 exposures into the film.
The second film i used, i made sure to correctly insert, ripped from the film
canister after about 13 exposures when i tried to wind the film along to take
the next shot.\
Any advice about what may be causing this to happen in the Camera? So far i
cannot find any information about anything except for these cameras being
fantastic.

The B35 is not fantastic, not by any means. It was merely a cheap
model to sell below the Rollei 35/35T/35S ..., all of which had far
better lenses than the B35 with its humble Triotar.

Look at:
http://www.rolleiclub.com/rollei/35/rollei_35_cameras.htm

and scroll down past the excellent Rollei 35/35T/35S ... until you get
to the heading "Rollei 35 with Triotar lens (economy model)". There
you will find the Rollei B35. It is capable of average results. You
should not expect to obtain the optical quality of the more expensive
Rollei 35 range with a Triotar (3-element) lens.

Have you wound the film in the correct direction around the take-up
spool? With no film in the camera, operate the winder and look at
which way the take-up spool turns as you wind.

The problem you describe could occur if you thought the take-up spool
turned in the other direction and inserted the film accordingly. It
is an easy mistake to make, because some cameras have the spool
turning one way, and some the other.

Good luck.

[c***@yahoo.com]

I've got one of these. It's passable, but only that. It's reasonably
well made but the lens is only adequate. I'll accept the others word
that the better rollei's are better machines. My Minox 35GT's a lot
better camera than the B35 in my experience.

[mu]

Post by Kathy L via PhotoKB.com
Anyway, i have used two rolls of film so far, and neither of them have
survived the camera. The first film i used, i think i may have inserted
wrongly and instead of winding around after being exposed, started bunching
up inside the camera, about 15 exposures into the film.
The second film i used, i made sure to correctly insert, ripped from the film
canister after about 13 exposures when i tried to wind the film along to take
the next shot.\

This might help:
http://www.mediajoy.com/en/cla_came/rollei_b35/02.html