The legendary Rollei now 90 years old!

The tradition-rich brand Rollei celebrates its 90th anniversary this year and can look back over a history that is closely entwined with the history of photography.

Numerous technical innovations, such as the twin-lens Rolleiflex (a revolutionary roll film camera), have proved to be truly trend-setting throughout the world over the past 90 years, becoming the measure of all things for professional photographers. It soon become a cult brand and went on to develop its own distinctive style of photography during the 50’s and 60’s.

Cameras that are easy to use and function extremely well ─ these were the main criteria of company founders Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke while designing the legendary twin lens Rolleiflex back in 1929. It rapidly became a widely used tool of professional photographers and the dream of every photographer.

The "twin lens" feature initiated the constant development of innovative devices. Important milestones in design were the compact Rollei 35mm camera, the Rolleiflex SL66 with built-in lens bellows, the first electronically controlled medium-format Rolleiflex SLX, and the 35mm mirror reflex SL 2000F with interchangeable film backs.

At the same time, the company went through an unsettled period from the late 1960s with several changes of management and ownership structures.

In May 2007, RCP-Technik GmbH acquired the European-wide brand licensing rights and has been successfully marketing Rollei’s consumer products (digital cameras and accessories) since then.

The current Rollei product range includes the three camera lines "Compactline", "Sportsline" and "Flexline" in addition to camcorders, digital picture frames and slide film scanners.

Right on time for the start of its anniversary year, Rollei has launched its ultracompact Flexline 100 inTOUCH digital camera. A 10 megapixel CCD sensor, with an internal 3x optical Apogon zoom and 21 motif programs, which include smile and face detection. And thanks to the integrated image-processing feature, you can retouch your photos to remove unattractive red eyes or create different mood lighting without having to copy them to the computer.