Rolleiflex 3.5E
Franke & Heidecke · Fixed lens · 56 × 56mm nominal on 120 film, 12 exposures · 1956
Also known as: Rolleiflex 3.5E · Rolleiflex 3.5 E · Rolleiflex 3,5E · Rolleiflex 3.5C · Rolleiflex 3.5E Planar · Rolleiflex 3.5E Xenotar · Rolleiflex 3.5E2 · Rolleiflex 3.5E3 · Rolleiflex 3.5 E2 · Rolleiflex 3.5 E3 · Rollei Rolleiflex 3.5E · Rolleiflex 3.5E K4C · ローライフレックス 3.5E · ローライフレックス3.5E プラナー · ローライフレックス 3.5E2 · ローライフレックス 3.5E3
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5E (3.5C), K4C | Rolleiflex TLR | 1956–1959 | 1850000–1869999¹ | Not published in any source reached |
| 3.5E2 Model 1, K4C2 | Rolleiflex TLR | 1959–1960 | 1870000–1872999¹ | Not published in any source reached |
| 3.5E2 Model 2, K4C3 | Rolleiflex TLR | 1961–1962 | 2480000–2482999¹ | Not published in any source reached |
| 3.5E3, K4G | Rolleiflex TLR | 1961–1965 | 2380000–2385050¹ | Not published in any source reached; the serial block spans about 5,050 numbers |
- Serial blocks from Japanese Wikipedia (ローライフレックス), the only serial source reached; not cross-checked against Prochnow's Rollei Report.
- Dates are the month/year table on en.wikipedia, which follows Claus Prochnow's K-code typology (K4C, K4C2, K4C3, K4G). camera-wiki.org has no plain 3.5E entry and gives E2 Model 1 1959–60, E2 Model 2 1961–62, E3 1961–65.
- The five- to six-element lens change is from antiquecameras.net, which attributes the UV/colour-correction explanation to Ian Parker and the resolution explanation to Claus Prochnow, and calls the late 3.5E and 3.5F the only Rolleiflex TLRs with a six-element normal lens.
- Bay II filter bayonet: standard collector knowledge for the 3.5 Planar/Xenotar cameras; the ausgeknipst.de bayonet overview that documents it could not be fetched (HTTP 429).
- No weight, dimensions or list price was found in a fetched source.
How to tell them apart
- Planar 1:3.5 f=75mm (Carl Zeiss) or Xenotar 1:3.5/75 (Schneider-Kreuznach) taking lens with a Heidosmat 1:2.8 viewing lens — a 3.5 camera with Tessar or Xenar is an Automat, MX-EVS or T, not an E
- Bay II lens bayonets, between the Bay I of the Tessar cameras and the Bay III of the 2.8 line
- Synchro-Compur MXV with 1/500 top speed and the M/X lever on the shutter housing
- When a meter is fitted, the selenium cell sits in the nameplate above the viewing lens and its needle is read on top of the camera; the 3.5F couples the meter to the dials, the E does not
- Serial 185xxxx–186xxxx is a K4C; 187xxxx an E2 Model 1; 248xxxx an E2 Model 2; 238xxxx an E3
3.5E (3.5C), K4C:
- Synchro-Compur MXV shutter, 1–1/500 s and B, M and X synchronisation (en.wikipedia)
- Taking lens engraved Planar 1:3.5 f=75mm Carl Zeiss, or from April 1957 Xenotar 1:3.5/75 Schneider-Kreuznach; viewing lens Heidosmat 1:2.8 (en.wikipedia)
- Selenium cell on the nameplate when the optional meter was fitted; many cameras have none
3.5E2 Model 1, K4C2:
- Synchro-Compur shutter listed as MX, 1–1/500 s and B, with self-timer (en.wikipedia)
- 3.5E (3.5C), K4C: October 1956 to February 1959 by the Prochnow-style table on en.wikipedia, which calls the camera 3.5C and says it was sold as the E1 in North America; the Xenotar version ran from April 1957 to February 1959. The optional meter is uncoupled: its reading is transferred by hand to the shutter and aperture dials.
- 3.5E2 Model 1, K4C2: December 1959 to April 1960 (en.wikipedia). Planar or Xenotar, Heidosmat f/2.8 viewing lens.
- 3.5E2 Model 2, K4C3: June 1961 to May 1962. en.wikipedia prints the start as June 1960 in one of its tables and June 1961 in the other; the serial block (2480000 onward) sits after the 3.5F Model 3 block began in late 1960, which fits the later date.
- 3.5E3, K4G: July 1961 to January 1965 by the en.wikipedia table (its model list says 1962–65). Built in parallel with the 3.5E2 Model 2 and the 3.5F; it is the last of the E line and overlaps the arrival of the six-element Planar and Xenotar (see table notes).
Serial-range notes
- 1850000–1869999, 1870000–1872999, 2480000–2482999, 2380000–2385050
- The four body blocks given by Japanese Wikipedia for the K4C, K4C2, K4C3 and K4G in that order. Note that the E3 block (2380000) is numerically lower than the E2 Model 2 block (2480000) although the E3 started a month later; Rollei allotted blocks by model, not by date.
- Planar after 2753002, Xenotar after 2299547
- antiquecameras.net gives these as the numbers after which the 75mm Planar and Xenotar changed from five elements to six, around 1962 ±1 year. The page does not make clear whether they are lens or camera serials: 2753002 falls inside the 3.5F Model 3 camera block (2250000–2815050), which suggests camera numbers, but the point is unresolved.
Specifications
- Format
- 56 × 56mm nominal on 120 film, 12 exposures · 12 exposures
- Finder
- Waist-level folding hood over a ground glass, with flip-up magnifier and sports-finder frame; Heidosmat 75mm f/2.8 viewing lens
- Shutter
- Synchro-Compur leaf shutter behind the taking lens (MXV on the K4C, listed as MX on the E2) · 1–1/500 s, B · flash sync M and X synchronisation at all speeds (leaf shutter) · self-timer
- Film advance
- Folding crank with automatic first-frame sensing (Automat film transport) and shutter cocking
- Back
- Hinged
- Meter
- Optional uncoupled selenium meter; the reading is set on the dials by hand. Not every camera has one.
- Country
- West Germany
Viewing lens from en.wikipedia; hood details are the standard Rolleiflex pattern and were not confirmed from a fetched manual.
Where sources disagree
- First
- June 1961 — en.wikipedia K-code table (one of its two tables)
- June 1960 — en.wikipedia, the other table
Better supported: June 1961
The 2480000 serial block postdates the 3.5F Model 3 block of November 1960, and camera-wiki.org also gives 1961–62.
- First (first-model name)
- 3.5C — en.wikipedia and Prochnow, for the October 1956 Planar/Xenotar camera
- 3.5C — Japanese Wikipedia, for the 1954 MX-EVS Tessar camera, with the 1955 camera as 3.5D
Better supported: 3.5C = the 1956 Planar/Xenotar camera
The two conventions collide. This page follows Prochnow and en.wikipedia; a seller writing '3.5C' may mean either camera, so check the taking lens.
What reviewers say
- ausgeknipst.de (Rolleiflex buying guide) (blog) — A dealer's buying guide covering the E and F lines: Planar and Xenotar are "practically equivalent", the 3.5E's meter is uncoupled and optional, and buying a Rolleiflex now "is mostly a condition question, not a model question" — many selenium meters no longer work. single source, unconfirmed
History
The 3.5E is where the f/3.5 Rolleiflex stopped being a Tessar camera. From October 1956 Franke & Heidecke fitted the 75mm camera with a five-element Zeiss Planar, and from April 1957 offered Schneider’s five-element Xenotar as the alternative, both behind a Synchro-Compur MXV with a 1/500 top speed and a Heidosmat f/2.8 viewing lens. The factory called it the 3.5C, which is the name Claus Prochnow’s typology (K4C) and en.wikipedia use; in North America it was sold as the 3.5E, and the later E2 and E3 carried that letter everywhere. The name collides with Japanese Wikipedia’s habit of calling the 1954 MX-EVS Tessar camera a 3.5C, so a listing titled “3.5C” has to be read by its taking lens.
The line ran to January 1965 in four forms. The original K4C ended in February 1959; an E2 (K4C2, December 1959–April 1960) followed with a self-timer, then an E2 Model 2 (K4C3, 1961–62) and an E3 (K4G, July 1961–January 1965), by which time the camera was being built alongside the coupled-meter 3.5F that had been introduced in December 1958. Japanese Wikipedia gives each its own serial block — 1850000, 1870000, 2480000 and 2380000 — and the blocks were allotted by model rather than by date, which is why the E3’s numbers are lower than the E2 Model 2’s. No production total for any of them was found; antiquecameras.net publishes Prochnow’s figures for the 2.8 line but not for the 3.5E.
The meter is the camera’s defining option and its most frequent casualty. It was an extra: a selenium cell in the nameplate whose needle is read on the top plate and whose exposure value is then set on the dials by hand, where the 3.5F of 1958 coupled the same cell to the controls. Cameras without a meter are common, and on those with one the cell has often faded, which is why the ausgeknipst.de buying guide treats the E and F lines as a condition question rather than a model question and calls the Planar and Xenotar “practically equivalent”.
The detail collectors pay for arrived late in the run. antiquecameras.net records that both lenses were recomputed from five elements to six around 1962, give or take a year — after number 2753002 for the Planar and 2299547 for the Xenotar — and reports three explanations without settling on one: Ian Parker’s, that the extra element was a UV or colour-correcting glass for warmer rendering; Prochnow’s, that it raised resolution; and a third, that it cut cost. Whether those numbers are lens or camera serials the page does not say, and 2753002 happens to fall inside the 3.5F’s camera block. Either way, a six-element E3 is the configuration the premium attaches to, and the only way to be sure is to count the reflections.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted — shot with a Rolleiflex 3.5E? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.