First generation cameras lens The
Rolleiflex SL35 was a line of 35mm SLR cameras which were developed and built by Rollei from the 1970s until the 1990s. The first camera in the range was the SL35, released in 1970 as the first 35mm SLR produced by
Rollei. Compared to its competitors at that time, it was relatively small and light. The Rolleiflex SL35 was the second
Rollei SLR camera to be equipped with Carl
Zeiss lenses, after the
SL66 of 1966. Lenses were designed by Zeiss and manufactured by Rollei under license with Rollei's High Fidelity Transfer (HFT) multicoating as an alternative to the Zeiss T* process. As initially introduced, the SL35 also was available with
Schneider Kreuznach lenses as a less expensive alternative. An adapter for automatic-diaphragm
M42 lens mount interchangeable lenses for Praktica and Pentax was available as an accessory for photographers migrating from the earlier system. After the
Zeiss Ikon camera company declared bankruptcy in the early 1970s, Rollei acquired the Voigtländer brand in 1972 along with several camera designs, including the SL 706, an
M42 lens mount camera that was derived from the earlier
Icarex 35S and was intended to unify the diverse SLR lines offered by Zeiss Ikon. The SL 706 was produced for only one year and is not commonly found. Two years later, in 1974, Rollei produced the
Rolleiflex SL350. Compared to the original SL35, the Rolleiflex SL350 had open-aperture metering; the earlier Rolleiflex SL35 was built with a stop down light meter, which required the photographer to take an extra step and close the aperture to take an appropriate meter reading. A mechanical connector was added to the QBM lens mount to enable the fully-automatic aperture; some early lenses for the SL35 lacked this additional interface and must be stopped down to meter with newer bodies.
Second generation In 1976, Rollei introduced its second generation models, the
SL35M and
SL35ME. These used a visibly different body based on the earlier Icarex 35S / SL 706 design but with plastic top and baseplates and offered nothing technologically radical. The SL35M was a fully-mechanical (aside from the meter) camera equivalent to the SL350; the viewfinder offered aperture and metering information, but not shutter speed. which was offered with both M42 and QBM lens mounts. by comparison, the SL35 M and ME weighed . A nearly-identical body, sharing most components from the same production lines, was sold by
Voigtländer as the
VSL 3E; they shared the same QBM lens mount, so lenses and bodies from both ranges could be used interchangeably. The SL35 E used a vertical-travel bladed metal shutter which was designed for the SL2000.
Later development The SL35 line was discontinued in the early 1980s, The prototype SL2000F first was introduced at
photokina 1976, but the camera was not available for purchase until 1981. The SL2000F was succeeded by the improved 3003 by 1985. ==Lenses==