Rollei AFM35 – A Regular Companion Once More

In the early noughties, I had decided that I wanted a digital camera. I visited a couple of camera shops in Manchester, with a view to buying one, but was underwhelmed by what was on offer, especially within my price range. The chap working in the store was helpful in that he quietly (out of earshot of his manager) told me not to bother buying one yet, and that it might be an idea to wait until the technology had improved and the prices had come down. This turned out to be the case, and it was around 2010 before I finally bought a digital camera.

Obviously I was quite disappointed that I hadn’t bought a new camera, having psyched myself up with the prospect of doing so. This was in the days when any such purchase had to be very carefully budgeted for along with everything else, such as being not long married, having a mortgage, keeping my old car roadworthy etc. Deep down I knew the salesman was right, but my saved money was burning a hole in my pocket.

I was aware of a recent offering from Fuji, namely the Klasse and it’s twin which was sold under the Rollei name. This was pre internet for me, and I voraciously garnered such knowledge by reading Amateur Photographer on a regular basis. I do mean reading, and not buying, as I’d work my way through each weeks issue courtesy of my local branch of Smiths newsagents.

The store had a copy of the Rollei AFM35, and I asked to have a look at it. As soon as I handled it, I knew that I wanted to own one. The specification was excellent with a 38mm f/2.6 lens, autofocus, programme mode, as well as manual aperture if required, Furthermore, it featured manual focusing by means of 10 pre set focal lengths ranging from 0.4 metres to infinity. In addition, the camera has exposure compensation, and a built in flash. It was nicely put together and had a quality feel to it. At the time, the only compact I owned was a rather battered Olympus RC 35 with which I’d travelled far and wide in Britain and Europe. (I still have the Oly, it’s still battered, and it still works)

As I said, I was smitten, and so the Rollei AFM35 became mine. I used it regularly, and was delighted at the quality of the images it provided. The autofocus is accurate, but oh so very slow. Even in manual focus mode, it’s still slow, but not quite as slow as fully auto. I soon became used to the strengths and weaknesses of the Rollei, and familiarity resulted in confidence, which in turn allowed me to use the features of the camera and not simply rely on the full auto mode. The quality of the prints meant that I was happy to live with the slow focus, and the camera became a regular companion to my Nikon FE.

After a few years I made the transition to digital, firstly with a Nikon D50 (again I still have it, and it still works) and then, when finances allowed, a Fuji X100S. In a tale which is probably familiar to many, the film cameras ended up languishing in a drawer while the simplicity of digital meant that they sufficed for all my needs. I didn’t quite abandon film entirely, and I’d occasionally use the FE, but overall they were mostly ignored.

Digital is superb, and there is little to fault it, however I know that many people have had the same experience that I have had. Digital cameras left me feeling oddly unfulfilled when I used them. I could certainly go manual rather than rely on the automation, and I bought adapters to enable the use of my 35mm lenses, yet still the spark wasn’t there. It was all just too easy, and the results were almost clinically perfect. I feel somewhat ashamed of this attitude, and I could rightly be considered ungrateful. Then there was the feeling that the image didn’t really exist, and that it simply a clever collection of 0’s and 1’s. I feel the same about streamed music, and would never replace a book with a Kindle. I want to have a tangible ‘thing’ rather than 0’s and 1’s existing in a computer.

An analogy might be in driving a car. I have a fairly modern car, (it’s actually 20 years old) which does everything required of it with a minimum of fuss. I also have a 1950’s Riley. The Riley performs very well, but it requires a greater input from the driver and more thought. It’s slower and costs more to run, it has drum brakes which require greater distances to stop, a non synchromesh 1st gear which requires double declutching, wind up windows, a need to change thermostats for summer and winter, and so on. It has precisely two fuses for all the electrics and repairs and maintenance involve wrenches and feeler gauges. Each journey in the Riley is memorable, and something of an adventure. There is the ever present consideration that it may break down, and regular attention with a grease gun is a necessity. None of these are the case with my everyday car.

When considered dispassionately, using film or driving ancient cars makes absolutely no sense. The reality is that employing outdated technology is satisfying in a way that modernity simply cannot provide. In the case of film, it’s the final look that I love most. To my eyes, pixels are inferior to grain in an aesthetic sense. But even more than this, every outing with a film camera is a sort of mini adventure, and failure is always an option. I’m aware that much of what I’ve said is contradictory. After all I’m writing this on a laptop computer and the film images shown are digital scans which have been edited in an app on my mobile phone. Maybe what I should praise is the availability of both analogue and digital, and the fact that I can enjoy a hybrid of the two.

It was around five years ago that I finally changed back to being predominantly a film user, and this has resulted in my enjoying my photography much more, although there is the unfortunate side effect known as GAS. The little Rollei AFM35 is now a regular companion once more, and will remain so until such time as it’s electronics call it a day. One other thought comes to mind. Had I bought one of the fledgling digital cameras, it would by now be worthless and most probably defunct. I’m glad that I took the advice from the salesman all those years ago.

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