Rollei 35 S – A Singapore-made Camera!

Hey everyone,

We finally had the opportunity to use the Rollei 35 S film camera, which we had been eyeing for a while! What makes this unique (for us at least) is that the Rollei 35 S was produced in Singapore in the late 1960s! With such a connection and history behind this camera, we were ecstatic when our friend kindly lent us one to try it out!

The Rollei 35 S is a small and compact manual film camera. With a Zeiss f/2.8 40mm lens, it is perfect for street photography as the camera would not be as conspicuous when shooting people. Due to its size, it is also very portable and easy to carry around. Here are our shots taken in the concrete jungle of Singapore, using the Kodak Portra 400 film:

We were aiming to keep the rectangular structures in symmetry but sadly it didn’t turn out as planned

The iconic Emerald Hill shophouses, a place we covered on our website a while back!

Focusing with a large aperture can be quite tough as you would require precise focusing. Here, Sandra is slightly off-focused.

This was not shot as level as we’d hope, sadly! But then again it is rare to find such a large body of water in Singapore!

Just a picture of Sandra on one of our many adventures shooting film!

This photo was particularly impressive as in real life, the environment was actually very dark. We had to slow the shutter down quite a bit but the outcome was pleasant and bright!

The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, built in 1847.

Always love us a good shady view to provide some shadowy contrasts!

We had fun using the Rollei 35 S, and sometimes we were a bit more brazen and shot without using a light or distance meter! In this way, we are hoping to improve on our street photography skills.

Till next time,

Damianwithsandra.