Rollei Tele Pocketline 300

Rollei Tele Pocketline 300 image by Jaap Schelvis (Image rights)

The Rollei Tele Pocketline 300 was one of three very similar basic 110 film cameras made from 1977 - 1979. These were all three made in Japan by an unknown firm and the differences between the models were only small.

• The Rollei Pocketline 100 was fitted with a Lumetar 1:8/26mm lens and had a single shutterspeed of 1/125s.
• The Rollei Pocketline 200 offered the choice between two apertures f/5.6 and f/9 (indicated by weather symbols) in a Lumetar 1:5.6/26mm lens with the same single shutterspeed of 1/125s.
• The Rollei Tele Pocketline 300 shown here had a Lumetar 1:11/24.5mm lens and had a single shutterspeed of 1/100s.

It is clear that the Pocketline series are much simpler camera's than the other Rollei Pocket Instamatic 110 cameras, the Rollei A110 and the Rollei E110, which were fitted with excellent Rollei Tessar 1:2.8/23mm lenses as well as an advanced automatic exposure system.

However basic and mostly made of plastic, the Rollei Tele Pocketline 300 did have a color corrected lens, tripod mount, hot shoe and a cable release screw socket. The "Tele" in its name refers to the possibility to slide an extra lens in front of the Lumetar lens which produces a very modest tele effect. Film transport was done manually with a thumbweel at the back of the camera.