MiNT Camera opened pre-orders for the Rollei 35AF on September 10, 2024, and the first units reached buyers that October at $799 in chrome and $828 in black. The launch reviews arrived in a wave between October 2024 and April 2025, and most of them said the same two things: the 35mm f/2.8 lens is genuinely good, and the camera around it feels unfinished. What the launch coverage could not tell you is what happens after ten rolls, after the honeymoon, after the first thing breaks. That record now exists, spread across long-term follow-ups and owner reports — and it is worth reading before you spend $799 in 2026.
The launch reviews told you the lens is sharp. The long-term reports tell you whether the camera around that lens holds together — and after twenty months, the answer is mixed.
What Long-Term Owners Actually Report
The most detailed long-term account is Dave Powell's report on 35mmc, published January 13, 2025, after roughly ten rolls in three weeks. His film leader repeatedly slipped off the take-up spool, and one jam at frame 10 left the camera exposing 14 frames onto the same strip of film. He describes the rewind as the most difficult he has experienced across hundreds of cameras, and traced horizontal scratches on several rolls to felt-like debris inside the film path. His verdict: “a very pretty, very incomplete camera” — one he would swap for a Yashica T4 or an Olympus mju when reliability matters.
Macfilos published a several-month field report in April 2025 that reads similarly. The glue holding the plastic film cartridge holder failed after the second roll, and the button on the rewind crank broke after the fourth. MiNT replaced the camera promptly — the author praises the customer service — but concluded that “there are too many aspects that have not been well resolved, from the mechanical workmanship to the somewhat unreliable autofocus.”
Not every long-term voice is negative. Photographer Eric Woods reported after ten rolls that the camera rewarded persistence: the more he shot it, the more he liked it, with most frames sharp edge to edge. The split among owners is consistent — those who treat the 35AF as a charming object with quirks tend to keep it, while those who need a dependable travel camera tend to move on.
The Known Issues List
Synthesizing the long-term reports from 35mmc, Macfilos, and PetaPixel's October 2024 review, these are the recurring complaints:
- Film leader slipping off the take-up spool, causing mid-roll jams and overlapping frames (35mmc)
- An unusually stiff rewind that feels like the film is about to tear (35mmc)
- Film scratches traced to debris inside the film path (35mmc, resolved after cleaning)
- Broken rewind-crank button and a failed glue joint on the cartridge holder (Macfilos)
- Autofocus that hits roughly 95 percent of frames but misses without warning, is fooled by glass and water, and offers no infinity or landscape lock (35mmc)
- An uncoupled viewfinder with no parallax correction — framing corresponds to roughly 80 to 90 percent of the final image (Photo Thinking, PetaPixel)
- An exposure display that shows only “auto” or over/under arrows, while the camera will silently pick shutter speeds as slow as one second handheld (35mmc)
- Flash shots that need a manual +2 exposure compensation buried in the manual (35mmc)
- A heavy shutter button that invites camera shake and occasional misfires (PetaPixel)
None of these issues makes the 35AF unusable, and the lens earns consistent praise across every source. But at $799, the tolerance for “quirks” is thinner than it would be at $300.
Firmware: What Actually Improved
Here is the part most buyers ask about, and the answer as of July 2026 is sobering: there is no user-installable firmware update path. Analog.cafe's project report confirmed that firmware updates are technically possible because MiNT coded the lens motor, exposure, and interface software in-house — but the camera must be sent back to MiNT for the work. There is no USB port and no home update mechanism.
The official Rollei 35AF updates blog lists no firmware changelog at all as of early July 2026. The one concrete product improvement in the camera's first two years was hardware, not software: a Filter Kit accessory announced November 10, 2025, answering what MiNT called one of the most common pieces of user feedback — the fixed lens shipped with no filter thread. Owners who hit mechanical faults have generally been served through warranty replacement rather than revisions, which both the Macfilos and 35mmc authors experienced firsthand.
What the Used Market Says
The second-hand market is the most honest long-term review there is, and it has spoken. As of early July 2026, MPB lists ten used Rollei 35AF bodies between $544 in excellent condition and $584 like new — roughly 30 percent below the $799 launch price after about twenty months. Kamerastore sold a certified example at $720 and shows it out of stock. Ten nearly new bodies at one dealer suggests a meaningful number of early adopters shot a few rolls and moved on.
For buyers, this cuts both ways. It is a warning about how the ownership experience has landed — and it is also the cheapest, safest way into a 35AF yet, since MPB's used bodies carry a six-month warranty at a 30 percent discount. Compare that with the vintage premium compacts the 35AF was built to replace: a used Contax T2 in excellent condition costs $1,899 at MPB as of July 2026, with thirty-year-old electronics and no warranty at all.
Alternatives at a Glance
| Rollei 35AF | Pentax 17 | Contax T2 (used) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price (July 2026) | $799 new chrome, $828 black; $544–584 used at MPB | $499.95 new at Ricoh US | $654 (as-is) to $1,899 (excellent) at MPB |
| Focus system | LiDAR autofocus | Manual zone focus, 6 zones | Infrared autofocus |
| Frame format | Full-frame 35mm | Half-frame, 48–72 shots per roll | Full-frame 35mm |
| Lens | 35mm f/2.8 | 25mm f/3.5 (37mm equivalent) | Zeiss Sonnar 38mm f/2.8 |
| Warranty | Yes, new; 6 months used at MPB | Yes | None; 1990s electronics |
| The catch | Film transport and QC quirks | No autofocus, half-frame negatives | Price, age, unrepairable failures |
The Pentax 17 remains the reliability pick at $499.95: zone focus means nothing to miss, and Ricoh's film project has a public roadmap. The Analogue aF-1, which began shipping in early 2026 at around €450, is the newest direct competitor with LiDAR autofocus of its own. For the full field, see our roundup of all new film cameras 2026.
So, Still Worth $799?
If you want the object — the pocketable brass-and-retro homage to the 1966 original, 284 grams against the original's 380, with a lens that every reviewer rates highly — the 35AF delivers something no other new camera does, and the documented quirks are the price of admission. If you want a dependable primary camera, the twenty-month record argues for a Pentax 17, an aF-1, or waiting to see whether a second-generation 35AF fixes the film transport. And if you simply want to try one, the calculus changed in 2026: a $544 used body with a warranty is a far easier bet than $799 was at launch.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Rollei 35AF still available new in 2026?
Yes. As of early July 2026 it remains on sale through the official Rollei 35AF store and retailers at $799 in chrome and $828 in black, and the official store was bundling a complimentary Filter Kit with purchases in a limited promotion.
Has the Rollei 35AF received firmware updates?
No user-installable updates exist. According to analog.cafe, firmware can only be updated by sending the camera back to MiNT, and the official updates blog lists no firmware changelog as of July 2026. The main product improvement so far was the Filter Kit accessory announced November 10, 2025.
What does a used Rollei 35AF cost?
As of early July 2026, MPB lists ten used bodies between $544 in excellent condition and $584 like new with a six-month warranty — roughly 30 percent below the $799 launch price after about twenty months on the market.
Whatever Compact You Carry, Keep the Record
The single most useful thing the long-term 35AF reports share is method: the owners who figured out their cameras were the ones logging every roll — which frames jammed, which frames missed focus, what the light was doing when the meter picked a one-second exposure. That discipline works for any camera, and it is the fastest way to learn whether a quirky compact and you can get along.
Pellica's film roll tracker logs every roll and frame with settings, GPS, and weather, so when your scans come back you can match the misses to the moments and see whether the problem was the camera or the conditions. Because the 35AF never tells you which shutter speed it chose, the built-in light meter is a practical companion — a two-second reading tells you when the camera is about to drift into handheld-blur territory. And when a roll survives a sticky rewind, the lab finder helps you get it developed by someone who will treat it kindly.
A $799 camera with quirks teaches you more per roll than a perfect one — but only if you keep notes.