Gear Acquisition Syndrome
There’s a particular sort of madness that sets in when I’ve convinced myself I need new gear. I’ve owned enough 35mm cameras to know better. Minolta XD-11, a couple of Pentaxes, a Nikon N2020 that feels like driving a boat. I’ve shot with them, loved some of them, sold most of them. The Minolta XD-11 with that MD Rokkor-X 45mm f/2 got the most use. The Pentax P3 with the SMC 50mm f/2 made my favourite photos. Now I’m down to just the Nikon N2020 and Minolta XD-11, and honestly, that should be enough.
But then Jim Grey wrote about the pitfalls of point-and-shoot film cameras, and instead of being satisfied with what I have, my brain immediately went sideways. Not towards a point-and-shoot — I’ve never owned one — but towards something that sits uncomfortably between categories: the Rollei 35AF.
I know what this is. It’s not really a Rollei. It’s made by MiNT Camera, a Hong Kong outfit that bought the rights to slap that German name on a modern design1. It’s not a point-and-shoot either, despite having autofocus and auto-exposure. It’s a compact rangefinder-style camera with a 35mm f/2.8 lens, metal body, manual overrides when you want them, automation when you don’t.
That combination is what keeps pulling at me. The Nikon N2020 can do automation and manual control, but using it feels like operating one of those massive American cars from the 1970s — technically capable, just absurdly heavy and bulky for what I actually need. The 35AF promises something else: pocketable, well-built, good lens, autofocus for when my eyes are tired, aperture control for when they’re not.
It sits exactly where I want a camera to sit. Compact enough for travel and street work. Serious enough that I’m not fighting plastic switches and vague zone focusing. A proper lens that’ll actually render something worth looking at. One body that does everything without requiring me to haul a bag.
Then I look at the price. Brand new, modern electronics, decent optics — it’s not cheap. Compared to classic manual compacts or late-90s zoom point-and-shoots, it is definitely expensive. Compared to what I’d get for selling off my remaining 35mm kit, it’s _almost_ justifiable.
Which is why I think this might just be G.A.S. — Gear Acquisition Syndrome, that uniquely photographic affliction where you’re certain the next camera will be the one that finally makes sense. I’ve been here before. I’ve bought cameras, used them, loved them, moved on. The rational part of my brain says I don’t need another body. The irrational part says this one’s different.
Maybe it is. Or maybe I’m just sick of the Nikon’s weight and looking for permission to buy something new. Either way, I can’t stop thinking about the Rollei 35AF. That middle ground between automation and control, between compact and capable, keeps nagging at me. I might sell everything and pull the trigger. Or I might wake up tomorrow and realise I’m being ridiculous.
For now, I’m stuck in that uncomfortable place where want and need blur together, and a camera I’ve never held feels like exactly what’s missing.
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1. The Rollei 35 AF isn’t made by Rollei at all. It’s produced by Hong Kong–based MiNT Camera. MiNT acquired the rights to use the German Rollei name. ↩
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