Compact, lively colors

Two years ago i was standing on my porch and saw my neighbor leaving a paper box full of electronic stuff on the pavement, by the trash can. I went and took the whole box (I hope nobody saw me!) There where all kinds of stuff inside, mostly junk and the Rolley Prego Micron! I Put a battery and a film and i tested it and it worked! My former camera was a canon prima super 120 but it fell in the sea while i was taking a timer picture(!) I had bought the Prima just 4 months ago. When I saw the rollei I thught it was a toyish camera... I was proven wrong. It was a very compact and accurate equipment! I enjoyed the panorama feature and the live colors. The pro film spinning function was something very odd to me, until my photo developer told me that it protects the fotos already taken in case of an accidental opening of the lid or dropping in the sea!! Anyway, i used Rolley Prego Micron for two years without stopping until may 2010! Now i have a Sony 14.1 MP camera. That's all... My Rolley is sleaping for good in my closet now. I think I'll be the last one writing about it since the last revew was in 2001. Sounds so sad... The end came for analog cameras...

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Nothing is similar to the great ROLLEY PREGO!

Alloy casing. Fine built. Good AF desing. VERY light weight and small size. Gives user enjoyment, at any time.

Hand grip is not as good as the Ricoh RS1

I've been using SLRs for over 20 years. This is my second "second" camera, the first one being a Rollei 35 Tesser. The Micro can not be compared to the Rollei 35 or the Contex if I consider the optics of these two cameras. However, there is much more to be mentioned about the Micro. The First thing is the "camera charm". How many quality cameras are there that you can carry around without noticing its existance, yet people still come and throw admiring eyes to your camera? The Micro had just put essential features into this stylistic design (originally the Ricoh RS1) and is a pleasurs to use. Some minor builts are not as good as the Ricoh RS1 though, but if you care about the colour reproduction of lens, then this issue may not be your concern. Don't mistake my comments for that the Micro has a great performance lens. She's not "very" sharp (when comparing to Rollei 35mm SLR lenses), especially at corners when set at 30mm. And the corner dropout is noticable too. But who cares for these with a camera at this price? This is a camera that you can REALLY, I mean REALLY, enjoy the Rollei colour on film. Try with portraits and note the reproduction of colour of human skin. You can really enjoy the genuine softness of female skin. The lens of Micro may not be as contrast as Japaness lenses, but mind you, more contrast doesn't mean more detail. Go and see for yourself what the Micro can do. I think only the Contax in market has the same charisma, but the Micro suits not only gentlemen but also ladies. I've recommended the Micro to ladies and they fell in love with it!!! There are of course a lot to be mentioned but as the production of Micro had been discontinued, my comments will not be helpful. The camera is very durable, and I strongly recommend it if you can get a 2nd hand one. To conclude, it's a quality camera full of charm and pleasure.

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Other than my SLRs, Ricoh RS1, Rollei 35, Olympus Mei-1, Yashica T5 (Carl Zeiss lens)

Lens absolutely excellent. For sure the best ergonomics you can find! Size and wheight Flash.

Not very rugged.

I bought this camera after an intensive research on the web and in some near stores in my hometown. I wanted a pocket size P&S with a very good lens. The shortlist was the Rollei and the Olympus Stylus Epic. Even tough the Olympus had very good reviews and it’s almost half the price of the Rollei I decided for the most expensive one (maybe for the Schneider-Kreuznach name in the lens!) My first test was with a Fuji 100ASA film (one of the cheapest films available in stores). It was raining and I had to shoot mainly in interiors with the flash and with the tripod, the results were very bad, awful sharpness and colour, at least the metering was ok. Them I had a vacation trip to Moscow and I decided to take my new Rollei for the slide films and one of my Nikons for the B&W, I took some Fuji Sensia 200, Kodak E200 and a Provia 100 (for an unexpected sunny day!) I tried all the functions of the camera, during day, night, interiors, close ups, etc, the results were hard to believe were from the same camera! They were incredible! The sharpness, the colour and contrast were the best even in low light conditions. The fill-in flash is incredible, who can’t notice it in the photos it was use. Some photos were underexposed but I think this is normal for a photocell metering; you have to be careful in those usual difficult light situations. The data capability and the panorama modes are totally dispensable in my point of view. To be perfect is only missing a spot metering option like my F100 or a exposure compensation dial. Lessons to learn: be careful with the film you use and the store where you develop it.

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Not used yet.

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None

Very elegant, very compact. It slips comfortabily in any pocket. Simple to operate but with very useful features including centre focus lock and the fact that it winds each shot back into the film cartridge preventing any lost images if the camera is accidently opened or damaged - this is really cool.

The worst is that d*m*ed date function which can accidentally be switched on by accident thus ruining many otherwise excellent shots - I would prefer no data back. A little noisy to a descreet camera. Not a robust waterproof camera.

This is an absolute bargain beauty. I bought one for our holiday trip to Italy to compliment my Nikon primes (20mm f2.8, 55mm f2.8 & 105mm f2.5) and it did not let me down. Rollei have a little superstar here with excellent sharpness and amazing contrast that really makes you take notice of the pictures it takes. I used mainly Kodak Elite 100 ASA slide and it produced wonderful results. It performed admireably with Fuji NPH 400 as well. I am a natural light photographer and the lens demonstrated it''s capability for low light photography down to f3.5 both indoors and outdoors providing some of my best twilight shots (my Nikon kit being retired for the evening). Although there is some minor vignetting, indoors it is not noticable and the smooth shutter release reduced camera shake to a minimum. The flash did actually provide excellent fill-in when the sun was too harsh and saved what could have been a number of disappointments. The major plus for this camera was with portrait shots as skin tones and facial features come out beautifully with every shot. This is why my wife has adopted this camera and takes it everywhere she goes. The Flash indoors is OK but don''t expect too much. Red eye is only eliminated from 2-3m any further away and it becomes prominent. In the 3 weeks I have used it in Italy it has been a superstar. Easy no-nonsense, common sense camera which has been well thought out. Well done Ricoh & Rollei. As a point and shoot there is every reason why this should be a classic.

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None.

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Lots of different point and shoots from 10 dollar throw-aways to Olympus Mju II. Also Manual Nikon with some of the best primes available and Minolta 505si with primes and zooms.

Compact and light. Very sharp lens. Pre focus (spot) works well. Metering appears reight on.

Uses expensive CR-2 battery. Appears to drain the battery quickly. Single focal length which works well, but too short (obviously) for effective portraits. Wish the focal length were a tad longer (maybe like the Yashica T?)

I cannot tell the difference in sharpness/quality of photos taken with this camera and my Nikon 28mm 2.8 lens. You only get one focal length, but the quality is top notch. Definetely sharper than my Nikon or Pentax P&S. Flash is effective. Simple enough to hand to your buddy to take your picture. Maybe it's just me, but I think this thing is a battery pig, and I don't know why. Passive focus feature is a nice plus. Still wish the focal length were a tad longer so close-ups of people would look a little more "natural" However, landscapes are perfect. Note that this camera loads the film by pulling all of the film out of the cartridge on to the spool and then pulls the film back INTO the cartridge after each shot. Therefore, there is no "rewinding" of the film at the end of the roll, because it's already back in the cartridge.

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N/A

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Nikon zoom P&S (unsure of model). Pentax zoom P&S.

Wonderful ergonomics. A real pleasure to use. Packed with features and the passive AF works great. Outstanding results considering this is not a high-end P&S. Slides exposed perfectly. Very compact.

Plastic body. Softness at 24mm (note 24mm is only available at F8 or less) wide open. The spot fucus works better than the 3 point.

A great carry it everywhere P & S. Much better than the Olympus Stylus Epic and Yashica T4. Easy to disable flash, set spot fucus, infinity focus, switch to panorama etc. Ergonomically perfect. Note the flash settings are not saved when you turn the camera off and on. Also the Time/Date imprint is on the side of the camera and can be accidently switched off/on. This is apparently the same camera as the Ricoh R1, but with a plastic case and the Rollei Vario Apogon lens (probably a Ricoh R1 design) with Rollei's HFT coating. Has a tripod thread for night and low light photography. The night modes have given me good results. I would say that it is good value for the money.

Customer Service

Not required (so far). FYI - Rollei gives a 3 year warranty.

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Ricoh GR1, Yashica T4, Olympus Stylus Epic

Small but sturdy, thin and handy, very lightweight and not bulky, excellent Apogon lens, with date imprints control positioned on the side of the camera so it becomes less distractive, uses only 1 piece battery so in the long run it is economical to maintain.

limited range (choose between 30mm and 24mm only)

Surprised at the crisp result from a small camera as this one. Can honestly say it produced shots AT PAR if not a bit better than my Minolta Maxxum 7 (yes, that is true. For my Maxxum7 i have a Tamron lens 28-105/4.5-5.6 w/c some say is not a very good lens so probably, the Maxxum7 is showing less than average results). The flash though small, is adequate for subjects near the camera and you must remember the range per the manual. Very light, so it makes me WANT to carry it along. I have used 7 rolls (6 Kodak ProImage 100 and one Imation ASA400) and produced excelelnt color tones and contrast, despite having be recommeneded to use ASA200 or ASA400 for this camera per the instruction manual due to the slow lens speed. Still, it produced excellent (SLR type) quality shots from an ASA100 negative. I LOVE THIS CAMERA!

Customer Service

none, and besides, the local representative does not service the camera. they just sell. i am in a third world country, remember.

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Minolta Freedom 28-70, Pentax 280WR, Nikon AFZoom35-70, Pentax 115M

30 mmm lens as compared to the standard 35 mm, very small, sleak and lightweight(actually fits in any pocket), perfect ergonomics/easy handling, great flash capabilities, extremeley sharp and good contrast lens (the best I've come across on a P&S camera), 'real' 24 mm panorama option

Hm, the 'leather' case? (and it would have been nice with light in the LCD panel ...)

Well ... after going through the above mentioned range of cameras; (Fuji APS made me realize the shortcomings of the APS format- Yashica is a a very good camera but slow focusing and truly no great flash capabilities made me give it away- Leica Z2X major disappointment in handling of diffcult light situations and contrast so I sold it), I decided to try the Rollei. I've heard good things about the lens (which I was told was in the same league as the Ricoh GR1) and ergonomics (which are close to perfect, you just can't miss), and was very, very curious to see how my first pictures turned out. I shot 3 rolls of 200 and 400 film - and Oh My God! The quality was hard to believe. Two of my friends have downright accused me of beeing a liar ... They don't believe a camera that size and price can produce pictures of that quality. I understand them. The pictures are razor sharp, the contrast hits you right in the eye, and the colours are relaxed, and extremely well balanced. I took some portraits of my 2 year old nephew (also with him running around) and every single one of them came out perfect. Flash photography is great in differentiating colour, and distributes light evenly. And how did they eliminate those red eyes? Their not reduced, they're absolutely gone, also at extreme closeups. Hm. I'm not usually the guy to rave about products, but this time I just have to. Better results than with my Nikon SLR. Yes, true. I would highly recommend this product, also compared with the only one of my former cameras that even comes close - the Yashica T5. IMHO this is a better product.

Customer Service

No experience

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Fuji 3500 APS, Yashica T5 (european T4), Leica Z2X

lens

not very rugged

Have lugged this little camera around all kinds of deserts in Afrika, Middle East and it has never failed me although the housing isn't that rigid and has even cracked a little. Absolutely suberb lens, of Leica-esc contrast and sharpness. The difference is obvious compared to the slides from my other (reflex) camera's taking the same pictures! The only small camera with good ergonomics for big hands and a real old-fashioned good viewfinder. Much sharper than GR1 which apperantly doesn't have consistent production quality .

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Yashika T5
Rollei S35
Ricoh GR1