The Rollei 35 Singapore

Rollei 35, made in Singapore.

In June 1971, Rollei transferred the production of the Rollei 35 camera from Germany to Singapore. Until August of 1974, the cameras were still equipped with a Carl Zeiss German made Tessar 3,4/40mm lens, a construction with 4 elements.

Next to the Tessar model, Rollei produced a Rollei 35 in Singapore with a Schneider S-Xenar lens from July 1972 - April 1973. This was due to a supply shortage of the Zeiss made Tessar lenses. Of these, a chrome and a black version were made, in a total of 30,000 pieces. Also, about 200 Rollei 35 with this S-Xenar lens were made in black with brown Alligator printed leather. These S-Xenar cameras were not offered in Germany, but in Eastern Europe, Italy and the US.

In September 1974, when the Rollei 35 S (with the 5-element Sonnar lens) was presented as a new model, the original Rollei 35 was renamed Rollei 35 T and the lens was substituted by a Rollei Made Tessar lens, as pictured on the black Rollei 35 below.

Rollei 35 cameras made in Singapore came with hand strap and a leatherette soft case. Only the German made Rollei 35 cameras came with real leather cases. They were packaged in a beige box, later in a silver box and came with a multi language manual.

In total, 185.000 Rollei 35 cameras (silver and black) were made in Singapore from June 1971 until August 1974.

The serial numbers of the Rollei 35 cameras made in Singapore were in the range of 3.312.000 - 3.499.999.

The pictured black Rollei 35 made in Singapore was made after April of 1974, because it features the Rollei made Tessar 3,5/40mm lens.

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