page_title: Rollei
section_title: New products
hierarchical_section_title: Rollei / Historical development / 1950 to 1963 - Horst Franke era / New products
caption_attribution_description: English: Rollei 16s and Super 16 color negative film
context_page_description: Rollei was a German manufacturer of optical instruments founded in 1920 by Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, and maker of the Rolleiflex and Rolleicord series of cameras. Later products included specialty and nostalgic type films for the photo hobbyist market.
  Originally named Werkstatt für Feinmechanik und Optik, Franke & Heidecke, the company renamed into Rollei-Werke Franke & Heidecke GmbH in 1972, Rollei-Werke Franke & Heidecke GmbH & Co. KG, in 1979, and Rollei Fototechnic GmbH & Co. KG in 1981.
  After being purchased in 1995 by Samsung Techwin, part of the South Korean Samsung Group, it was sold back to its internal management in 1999. In 2002, it was bought by a Danish investment group, and renamed Rollei GmbH in 2004.
  In 2005/2006, the company headquarters moved to Berlin and the company was split into two different companies: Rollei GmbH in Berlin, owner of the Rollei brand and selling various OEM equipment, and Rollei Produktion GmbH in Braunschweig, an equipment factory which became Franke & Heidecke GmbH, Feinmechanik und Optik.
  Following another restructuring in 2007, Rollei was split into three companies.
context_section_description: In 1960, Rollei introduced its first slide projector, the P11. It included two slide trays: the left-hand tray was for 35 mm (5 cm×5 cm) slides, the right-hand tray was for medium format (7 cm×7 cm) slides. The Rollei Universal Projector sold for 398.60 DM, plus 97.50 DM for a standard lens. The P11 remained in production until 1978; many more projectors were subsequently added to the range, providing a major boost to Rollei's turnover.
  In 1963, Rollei introduced the Rollei 16, its first all-new camera design since the war. It was a 16 mm camera in the format 12 mm x 17 mm with a Tessar f/2.8, 25 mm lens and cost 425 DM. In retrospect, it seems unlikely that such an unusual format might return Rollei to profitability. However, the German camera industry believed that this was the way forward, and both Leica and Wirgin (through their Edixa brand) produced similar designs.
  The Rollei 16 used special Super 16 film cartridges with a capacity of 18 frames. As no film manufacturer was interested in making this film format, Rollei had to manufacture the film itself. A roll of B/W film cost 5 DM, while slide film (available until 1981) cost 12.50 DM, including development. Loading the film simply required inserting the leader into the appropriate slot in the camera. Since there was no take-up spool, the film coiled up loosely on itself. Without a doubt, limited film choice and availability adversely affected camera sales, consequently only 25,000 units were produced. As Rollei also spent a lot on advertising, this camera did little to alleviate its dire financial situation. Reliance on a film format that Kodak, the market leader, did not support was foolhardy. Needless to say, the quality of the engineering in the Rollei 16 matched its high price; it had a push-pull viewfinder with automatic parallax correction up to 40 cm, whereby extending the viewfinder also wound on the film and cocked the shutter. In addition, Mutar wide-angle (0.5×) and telephoto (1.7×) conversion lenses were available as accessories. An improved successor, the Rollei 16S, was released in 1965.
caption: Rollei 16s and Super 16 color negative film
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