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Author Message   Andrew Yue Rating: N/A Votes: 0 Posted on Saturday, August 07, 2004 - 07:08 am:    When travelling overseas, I prefer the less is more approach. For 35mm I now have the Rollei 35S, which replaces an Olympus 35 XA that served me well for 17 years. I've been using the diminutive Rollei for two years now. While not nearly as fool proof as the Olympus XA, the Sonnar equiped Rollei truly delivers superb enlargements and allows for the use of filters. The Rollei 35S is truly a throw back an earlier era of photograhy. It only allows for manually set exposures. Film loading is more akin to a 1950's Zeiss-Ikon Contaflex rather than the quick load Canonets of the 70's. One needs to carefully extend the lens barrel, then smoothly lock it into position with a twist before shooting. The left-handed film winder doesn't inspire confidence. You can feel the gears pulling the film. Therefore, like most its other functions, I make it a point to advance the film in a graceful manner. In addition to a small hand-held meter, I also like to bring along an Agfa Isolette III medium format folder which is fitted with a 75mm Solinar and a Synchro-Compur MXV shutter. It's almost like a Rollei 35 S for medium format. Although, that honor should go to the Voigtlander Perkeo II. Anyway, with the Isolette III along, I have on occasion used its uncoupled rangefinder when setting the focus for a wide open shot with the Rollei. With the exception of the built-in meter, the Rollei 35 S doesn't require a battery to shoot with. Batteries are a problem for the Rollei. So if you want to use the built-in meter, I recommend getting a 29.95 Criscam adapter that uses a #386 silver oxide. A silver oxide will last at least a year, so long as the camera is cased when not in use. I prefer my small Gossen Digisix hand-held light meter. The Olympus XA is child of the electronic age. It has an electronically controlled shutter, which in this case only allows for a semi-auto aperture preferred mode. The XA also has an electronic self-timer and utilizes an electronic push pad shutter release to minimalize camera shake. Consequently, batteries are most definitely required. It uses two PX76/SR44 silver oxides. Again, the batteries last at least a year. With regards to the knock around requirement, the Olympus XA wins this category hands down. Also, it seems to attract very little attention and with proper bracing of both ebows, is capable of hand-held indoor photography without a flash.