Rolleiflex 3.5F

Franke & Heidecke · Fixed lens · 56 × 56mm nominal on 120 film, 12 exposures; 24 exposures on 220 film on the Model 4 (K4F1) from 1965 · 1958

via machine translation — corrections welcome

Known as “white face (late Model 4)”

Also known as: Rolleiflex 3.5F · Rolleiflex 3.5 F · Rolleiflex 3,5F · Rolleiflex 3,5 F · Rolleiflex 3.5F Planar · Rolleiflex 3.5F Xenotar · Rolleiflex 3.5F Planar 75mm F3.5 · Rolleiflex 3.5F Type 3 · Rolleiflex 3.5F Type 4 · Rolleiflex 3.5F white face · Rollei Rolleiflex 3.5F · Rolleiflex 3.5F K4F · ローライフレックス 3.5F · ローライフレックス3.5F プラナー · ローライフレックス 3.5F クセノタール · ローライフレックス 3.5F ホワイトフェイス

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
3.5F Model 1, K4E	Rolleiflex TLR	1958–1960	about 2.21 million²	Not published in any source reached
3.5F Model 2, K4E	Rolleiflex TLR	1960–1960	—	Not published in any source reached
3.5F Model 3, K4F	Rolleiflex TLR	1960–1964	2250000–2815050²	Not published in any source reached
3.5F Model 4, K4F1 (120/220)	Rolleiflex TLR	1965–1976	2800000–2844999²	Not published in any source reached; the secondhand serial block spans 45,000 numbers

Serial figures are secondhand (Douban compilation and a dealer listing, both seen only as search results) — see serial notes. Japanese Wikipedia, the serial source for the 3.5E, was not consulted for 3.5F blocks.
Dates are the month/year K-code table on en.wikipedia (K4E Models 1 and 2, K4F, K4F1). camera-wiki.org gives Model 1 1958–60, Model 2 1960, Model 3 1960–76 and does not separate a Model 4.
en.wikipedia's table prints Tessar for Models 2 and 3 and 'Opton' for Model 3; Zeiss-Opton is the post-war Oberkochen marking on the Planar, and no other source puts a Tessar in a 3.5F. Recorded under disputed and not adopted.
220 capability from 1965 is Japanese Wikipedia, not re-fetched for this page. Bay II filter bayonet is standard collector knowledge; the ausgeknipst.de bayonet page that documents it returned HTTP 429.
No weight, dimensions or list price was found in a fetched source.

How to tell them apart (expand)

Planar 1:3.5 f=75mm (Carl Zeiss) or Xenotar 1:3.5/75 (Schneider-Kreuznach) taking lens, Heidosmat 1:2.8 viewing lens, Bay II bayonets
Meter needle and follower pointer on the top plate, coupled to the speed and aperture wheels — the E of the same years reads its needle and sets the dials separately
Synchro-Compur MXV, 1/500 top speed, self-timer lever on the shutter
12/24 exposure switch marks a Model 4 (1965 on); a white-faced nameplate and lens rims mark a late one
Serial 280xxxx–284xxxx is a Model 4; 225xxxx–281xxxx a Model 3 (secondhand blocks)

3.5F Model 1, K4E:

Synchro-Compur MXV, 1–1/500 s and B, self-timer (en.wikipedia)
Planar 1:3.5 f=75mm (Carl Zeiss) or Xenotar 1:3.5/75 (Schneider-Kreuznach), five elements; Heidosmat f/2.8 viewing lens

3.5F Model 3, K4F:

Six-element Planar or Xenotar on cameras after the change recorded by antiquecameras.net (Planar after 2753002, Xenotar after 2299547)

3.5F Model 4, K4F1 (120/220):

12/24 exposure switch for 220 film (Japanese Wikipedia: 220 capability from 1965)
Late examples have the white-faced nameplate and lens rims of the 1970s Rolleiflexes, which sellers title 'white face'

3.5F Model 1, K4E: December 1958 to February 1960 (en.wikipedia). The first Rolleiflex 3.5 with the meter coupled to the shutter and aperture dials.
3.5F Model 2, K4E: February to November 1960 (en.wikipedia), still under the K4E code. en.wikipedia's table prints "Zeiss Tessar or Schneider Xenotar" for this model, which no other source supports: antiquecameras.net has the 3.5F with Planar or Xenotar throughout (see disputed).
3.5F Model 3, K4F: November 1960 to December 1964 (en.wikipedia; camera-wiki.org runs its "Model 3" from 1960 to 1976 without a separate Model 4). The six-element lenses arrive during this type, around 1962 ±1 year. Ian Parker classifies a camera in the 2,280,000 range as a Model 3 (secondhand, via a dealer listing seen only as a search result).
3.5F Model 4, K4F1 (120/220): January 1965 to December 1976 (en.wikipedia), the longest-lived and most numerous type. en.wikipedia lists only a Xenotar for the K4F1; six-element Planar cameras in this block are routinely offered by dealers, so the table is probably incomplete rather than a statement that the Planar was dropped.

Serial-range notes

about 2.21 million (Model 1); 2250000–2815050 (Model 3); 2800000–2844999 (Model 4): Secondhand. The Model 3 and Model 4 blocks come from a Douban compilation of the Prochnow table surfaced by search and not fetched, and the compilation prints the Model 3 figures as '2250000 2815050' with no separator; the Model 1 figure is a dealer listing. The Model 3 and Model 4 blocks overlap (2800000–2815050), which may be a transcription error. Treat every figure here as a pointer, not a register.
Planar after 2753002, Xenotar after 2299547: The five- to six-element change per antiquecameras.net, at the same numbers it gives for the 3.5E. 2753002 sits inside the Model 3 camera block, so these look like camera serials, but the page does not say so. A six-element Planar or Xenotar is what the premium on a late 3.5F is paid for.

Specifications

Format: 56 × 56mm nominal on 120 film, 12 exposures; 24 exposures on 220 film on the Model 4 (K4F1) from 1965 · 12 on 120; 24 on 220 from 1965 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 MXV leaf shutter behind the taking lens · 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; 12/24 exposure selector on the Model 4
Back: Hinged; 120 only until 1965, 120/220 on the Model 4
Meter: Coupled selenium meter: the cell in the nameplate drives a needle that is matched by turning the shutter-speed and aperture wheels (en.wikipedia: 'coupled', against the E's uncoupled meter)
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

Id markers (taking lens)

Planar or Xenotar throughout — antiquecameras.net ('with either a 75mm 5 element Planar or Xenotar lens'), dealer listings for every type
Tessar or Xenotar (Model 2), Tessar or Opton (Model 3) — en.wikipedia's K-code table

Better supported: Planar or Xenotar

No source other than that one table puts a Tessar in a 3.5F; 'Opton' is the Zeiss-Opton marking of the Planar. Looks like a transcription slip.

Last

December 1964, then Model 4 (K4F1) January 1965–December 1976 — en.wikipedia
Model 3 1960–76, no Model 4 — camera-wiki.org

Better supported: 1964, with a separate 1965–76 type

The 220 capability from 1965 (Japanese Wikipedia) is a real mechanical change, which is what the K4F1 code marks.

Serial notes (Model 3 / Model 4 blocks)

2250000–2815050 and 2800000–2844999 — Douban compilation, secondhand
No block — en.wikipedia, camera-wiki.org, antiquecameras.net give none

The two secondhand blocks overlap by 15,000 numbers; one of them is probably mistranscribed.

What reviewers say

Ibraar Hussain (35mmc) (blog) — A travel account on Agfa Ultra 50 in Turkey and Pakistan: easy to load, focus and shoot, the waist-level finder bulky and tiring on high treks, but "the experience and joy of using it trumps any limitations it has in terms of size" — "I would recommend getting one in good condition", and he regrets selling his.
san-tatsu.jp (サンタツ) (blog) — A hands-on with the Xenotar version on Portra 400: the Planar version renders a little darker overall while the Xenotar handles greens better, by the writer's impression rather than measurement; used prices had risen to around ¥200,000–250,000 at the time of writing. single source, unconfirmed via machine translation — corrections welcome
Martin Bailey (Martin Bailey Photography, podcast 687) (blog) — A buyer's write-up of a 3.5F bought from a Japanese dealer, covering the meter, the Bay II filter problem and a Japanese maker of filters that fit the bayonet; an accessories guide more than a verdict on the optics. single source, unconfirmed
ausgeknipst.de (Rolleiflex buying guide) (blog) — A dealer's guide to 2.8 vs 3.5, Planar vs Xenotar and E vs F: the two lenses are "practically equivalent", the F's coupled meter is the practical difference from the E, and condition matters more than model because most selenium cells are tired. single source, unconfirmed

History

The 3.5F is the 3.5E with its meter wired into the controls. Franke & Heidecke introduced it in December 1958, two years into the E’s run, with the same five-element 75mm f/3.5 Planar or Xenotar, the same Heidosmat f/2.8 viewing lens and the same Synchro-Compur MXV with self-timer, and the one change that justified a new letter: the selenium cell’s needle on the top plate is now matched by a follower driven from the speed and aperture wheels, so exposure is set by lining up two pointers rather than reading a number and transferring it. The E stayed in production beside it until 1965; the F outlived every other 3.5 and was built until December 1976, which makes it the last of the f/3.5 Rolleiflexes and, with the 2.8F, the classic form of the camera.

Prochnow’s typology divides the eighteen years into four types. Models 1 and 2 share the K4E code (December 1958–February 1960, then February–November 1960); Model 3 is K4F (November 1960–December 1964); Model 4, K4F1, runs from January 1965 to the end and adds a 12/24 exposure switch for 220 film, which Japanese Wikipedia dates to 1965. camera-wiki.org collapses the last two into a single “Model 3, 1960–76”. The late cameras picked up the white-faced nameplate and lens rims of the 1970s Rolleiflexes, which is what sellers mean by “white face”. en.wikipedia’s table prints a Tessar for Models 2 and 3 and lists only a Xenotar for the K4F1; neither agrees with antiquecameras.net or with the cameras dealers sell, and both read as gaps in that table rather than facts about the camera.

The reason a late 3.5F costs more than an early one is inside the lens. antiquecameras.net records that both the Planar and the Xenotar 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 that collectors seek out the late 3.5E and 3.5F as the only Rolleiflex TLRs with a six-element normal lens. Why Rollei did it is argued: Ian Parker suggested the sixth element was a UV or colour-correcting glass for warmer rendering, Claus Prochnow that it improved resolution, and a third camp that it cut cost. Whether the thresholds are lens or camera numbers the page does not say; 2753002 falls inside the Model 3 camera block, for what that is worth. The serial blocks themselves come only secondhand, from a Douban transcription of the Prochnow table that gives 2250000–2815050 for Model 3 and 2800000–2844999 for Model 4 and overlaps itself in the process, so they are a guide to type, not a register.

In use the camera is what its reviewers describe: easy to load, focus and shoot, heavier and bulkier than the trip deserves, and worth it anyway. Ibraar Hussain carried one through Turkey and Pakistan on Agfa Ultra 50, found the waist-level finder tiring at altitude and metered with a hand-held Minolta rather than the selenium cell, and still writes that “the experience and joy of using it trumps any limitations it has in terms of size” and that he regrets selling it. A Japanese hands-on with the Xenotar version finds it a shade brighter than the Planar and kinder to greens, by impression rather than measurement, and reports used prices around ¥200,000–250,000; the ausgeknipst.de guide’s advice is that the two lenses are “practically equivalent” and that condition, especially of the meter, decides more than the type number does.

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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 3.5F? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

ROLLEImarin UW housing for Rolleiflex 3.5F — A$1,950.00 · The Camera Exchange
Rolleiflex 3.5F Planar — CHF 1,190.00 · Fotohaus Wolf AG (Fotohaus Basel)
Rolleiflex 3.5F Planar — CHF 1,190.00 · Fotohaus Wolf AG (Fotohaus Basel)
Rollei Rolleiflex 3.5F Type 1 6x6 TLR Camera w/ Xenotar 75mm f3.5 Lens [GOOD] — $1,995.00 · Victory Camera · likely K4E-1
Rolleiflex 3.5f w/ Prism B#2828845 — $2,000.00 · Retro Photo Reading

Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.