Xenotar 75mm f/3.5 (Rolleiflex)
Schneider-Kreuznach · Rolleiflex TLR · 1957
single source, unconfirmedAlso known as: Rolleiflex 3.5F Xenotar · Rolleiflex 3.5E Xenotar · Rolleiflex 3.5E2 Xenotar · Rolleiflex 3.5E3 Xenotar · Rolleiflex Xenotar 75mm f/3.5 · Rolleiflex Xenotar 75mm F3.5 · Rollei Xenotar 3.5/75 · Schneider Xenotar 75mm 3.5 Rolleiflex · ローライフレックス 3.5F クセノター · ローライフレックス 3.5E クセノター 75mm F3.5 · ローライフレックス クセノタール 75mm F3.5
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xenotar 75/3.5, five elements (1957–c.1962) · Five elements | Rolleiflex TLR | 1957–1962 | lens serials to 2299547 (antiquecameras.net) | — |
| Xenotar 75/3.5, six elements (c.1962–1976) · Six elements | Rolleiflex TLR | 1962–1976 | lens serials from 2299548 (antiquecameras.net) | — |
- Elements: five, then six, with the change 'after lens serial # 2299547' and dated by antiquecameras.net to about 1962, plus or minus a year, for the 3.5E, the 3.5F following the same serials. The family `elements` field is left empty because the family spans both counts; each variant carries its own. The group count is not given by any source read for this page.
- The sixth element: antiquecameras.net reports three explanations without settling on one — Ian Parker (UV or colour-correction, for warmer images), Claus Prochnow (better resolution), and an unnamed view that it lowered production cost. The same page says the late 3.5E and 3.5F are 'the only Rolleiflex TLRs with a six-element normal lens'.
- Years: the 3.5E line began in 1956 (antiquecameras.net; ja.wikipedia 1956, serial block 1850000–1869999) with the Planar; 1957 as the first year of the Xenotar option is repeated widely and used here, but the page read gives no month. The 3.5F ran from 1958 (antiquecameras.net; ja.wikipedia says 1959) and the family end of 1976 is the end of 3.5F production as given in the body pages.
- Filter: Bay II, which Japanese Wikipedia assigns to the 75 mm f/3.5 taking lenses. Shutter: Synchro-Compur MXV on both bodies, 1s–1/500 and B, from the body pages. No blade count, minimum focus or weight was found for the lens.
- Reputation: antiquecameras.net's summary of Modern Photography's 1963 test gives the 3.5 Planar the better centre and edges; a Japanese write-up found by search calls the Planar deeper in colour and the Xenotar good with greens, and the difference minor. Neither is a controlled comparison.
How to tell them apart
- A fixed taking lens on a Rolleiflex 3.5E (E, E2, E3) or 3.5F, below the Heidosmat 2.8/75 viewing lens, with Schneider-Kreuznach Xenotar 1:3,5/75 on the front ring and the Bay II bayonet; the lens serial on that ring decides whether it is the five- or six-element lens
- The sister lens on the same bodies is the Carl Zeiss Planar 75mm f/3.5. The Xenar 75mm f/3.5 of the Rolleicord and the 3.5 Automat is a four-element Tessar type and a different lens, despite the similar name
- Not the Xenotar 80mm f/2.8 of the 2.8C–2.8F, which is Bay III and a stop faster
Xenotar 75/3.5, five elements (1957–c.1962):
- Lens serial 2299547 or lower on the front ring, which reads Schneider-Kreuznach Xenotar 1:3,5/75; on a 3.5E (E, E2, E3) or early 3.5F
Xenotar 75/3.5, six elements (c.1962–1976):
- Lens serial above 2299547; the engraving is otherwise unchanged, so only the number tells
- Xenotar 75/3.5, five elements (1957–c.1962): The Xenotar alternative to the Planar on the 3.5E, the first Rolleiflex 3.5 with a five-element lens, and on the 3.5F from 1958. A start in April 1957 for the Xenotar option on the 3.5E is widely repeated; antiquecameras.net, read for this page, dates only the 3.5E line (1956) and the 3.5F (1958), so the month rests on secondary quotation.
- Xenotar 75/3.5, six elements (c.1962–1976): The six-element lens, introduced around 1962 give or take a year on the late 3.5E and carried on the 3.5F to the end of production. What the sixth element did is disputed: Ian Parker called it a UV or colour-correcting element giving warmer images, Claus Prochnow said it improved resolution, and others have suggested it cut production cost (all three reported by antiquecameras.net without choosing). These late cameras are the ones that command a premium.
Specifications
- Formula
- Xenotar double-Gauss derivative: five elements at first, six elements from lens serial 2299548 onward, c.1962 (antiquecameras.net, citing Prochnow and Parker)
- Aperture range
- f/3.5
- Shutter
- Synchro-Compur MXV, 1s–1/500, B
- Filter
- Bay II
- Years manufactured
- 1957–1976
- Country
- West Germany
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
History
The Xenotar 75mm f/3.5 is the Schneider-Kreuznach taking lens offered on the Rolleiflex 3.5E and 3.5F, the five-element alternative to the Carl Zeiss Planar 75mm f/3.5 on the same two bodies. When Franke & Heidecke replaced the four-element Tessar of the 3.5 Automat with a double-Gauss type in 1956 the first cameras were Planars; the Xenotar option followed, by the usual account from April 1957, though antiquecameras.net, the source read for this page, dates only the 3.5E line (1956) and the 3.5F (1958). It sits behind a Synchro-Compur MXV, 1 s to 1/500 with B, and takes Bay II filters, the bayonet of every 75mm f/3.5 Rolleiflex and the thing that separates it at a glance from the Bay III 80mm f/2.8 lenses.
The lens changed once, and the change is what the market cares about. Around 1962, plus or minus a year, Schneider went from five elements to six, and antiquecameras.net, citing Claus Prochnow’s Rollei Report and Ian Parker, puts the break after lens serial 2299547 (the Planar’s break is after 2753002). The engraving did not change; the number does. What the sixth element was for is unresolved: Parker called it a UV or colour-correcting element that warmed the image, Prochnow said it raised resolution, and others have argued it simply made the lens cheaper to build. The six-element 3.5E and 3.5F are, on the same site’s account, the only Rolleiflex TLRs with a six-element normal lens, and they sell at a premium; dealer copy routinely calls any 3.5F lens five- or six-element without checking, so a buyer reads the serial.
Nothing read for this page compares the two designs under controlled conditions. Antiquecameras.net’s summary of Modern Photography’s 1963 test gave the 3.5 Planar the edge at centre and edge, and a Japanese write-up surfaced by search calls the Planar a little deeper in colour and the Xenotar good with greens, and the difference minor. Forum opinion on the 3.5 Xenotar runs both ways. The lens is the camera’s, so the usual checks apply to the whole 3.5E or 3.5F: separation and haze in the taking lens, a sluggish Compur, and on metered bodies the selenium cell. No published review of a Xenotar 3.5 camera was found within the search done here, so the review section is empty.
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 Xenotar 75mm f/3.5 (Rolleiflex)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
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