Rollei's modern M-mount rangefinder — the 35 RF, mechanical cloth shutter, TTL meter, 2002.
The Rollei 35 RF is a 35mm rangefinder released in 2002 under the Rollei name, a modern M-mount body closely related to the Cosina-built Voigtlander Bessa line of the same period. Despite sharing the Rollei 35 name with the earlier compact fixed-lens Rolleis, it is an interchangeable-lens rangefinder rather than a descendant of that camera.
It is a 35mm coupled-rangefinder camera using the Leica M bayonet mount, with a combined rangefinder-viewfinder carrying projected bright-line frames for several focal lengths. It has a mechanical cloth focal-plane shutter that fires without a battery and a built-in TTL meter with an LED readout that requires a battery only for metering.
As a rebadged modern rangefinder it offers M-mount lens compatibility and metered manual exposure in a straightforward body, suiting street, travel and documentary photographers who want a dependable film rangefinder. Its mechanical shutter means it keeps working if the meter battery is flat, which adds to its practicality.
Check the rangefinder patch for contrast and accurate vertical and horizontal alignment, and inspect the finder for haze around the bright-line frames. Confirm the TTL meter and LED display respond and that battery contacts are clean; the cloth shutter should fire cleanly at all speeds and still works with a dead battery. Verify correct engagement of M-mount lenses.