Mint has announced a new Rollei 35AF filter kit that successfully addresses one of the last remaining complaints from the original run of the brand-new camera from last year.
Rollei says this kit was developed in response to community feedback and the desire to use filters with the Rollei 35AF camera. The lack of the ability to use filters was a complaint Chris Niccolls highlighted in his review of the camera last year.
“Like any leaf-shutter-style camera, having a 1/500 second exposure limit is a little restrictive if you want to shoot brighter apertures on sunny days. This is forgivable given the purpose of this camera, but the issue is further exacerbated by the complete lack of any filter threads on the lens,” he wrote. “I really wish the 35AF had the option to throw on ND filters or some colored filters for black-and-white film.”
In June, the company announced that the camera, which was a major risk for Mint to take on, was a success and that Mint was making adjustments to the camera to address user complaints. The new kit includes a UV filter, a black mist 1/4, and a yellow filter, along with a magnetic adapter.
Mint says its ethos of continued refinement of the camera is actually mirrored in the original run of Rollei 35.
“The original Rollei 35 was perfected over time, evolving through a celebrated series of models from the 35 T to the 35 S. That spirit of continuous refinement is in our DNA,” Mint explains. “After listening to feedback from the community of Rollei 35AF users, we have identified one of the main features users desire was the ability to attach lens filters in order to allow for greater creative flexibility.”
Mint says it took a bit of time for it to come up with a way to make a filter system work, since the company didn’t want to leave those who already own the camera out to dry.
“The main challenge for developing such a kit is for it to be backwards compatible to already-shipped units, and the solution is a Filter Adaptor that magnetically attaches to the lens ring portion of the lens. More recent production batches of cameras are equipped with a magnetically-sensitive lens ring and lens cap (this was an update we made in production to improve an often-reported user encounter of loose lens caps). Users only need to screw-on the selected filter onto the Filter Adaptor, before magnetically attaching onto the front of the lens.”
The solution was, therefore, to create not only a kit that works magnetically but also to offer an option for existing users to swap out their lens ring with one that works with magnets. To that end, Mint will provide current Rollei 35AF camera owners with a Lens Ring Upgrade “at no additional cost” along with a video tutorial on how to install the upgrade at home.
The Filter Kit is priced at $99 (including shipping) and is available from the Rollei 35 AF website starting today.
Image credits: Mint
