Chuck,
There's no issue that I know of between the German and Singapore models, unless you include the price that some people are willing to pay for the 'Made in Germany' ones, and the comparative rarity of them. The S'pore models are available with HFT lenses, though.
Before production moved to S'pore there was the Rollei 35 with the Zeiss f/3.5 Tessar. Early S'pore models had Zeiss-badged lenses, but they changed to Rollei, then finally to Rollei HFT. When the f/2.8 Sonnar version came out the 35 T and 35 S designations were born. Of all of the models, I'd look for an HFT Sonnar - they are really quite cheap for the amazing quality. The difference in lens quality between the Tessar and Sonnar is slight, in my opinion. The extra speed can come in handy in extremis.
There's a choice of meter displays. The last versions made (bar commemorative ones that I'm ignorant of) were the TE and SE. These had larger batteries and an LED readout in the viewfinder. Some users like that, I didn't. I prefer the original top-plate match needle - it is actually more convenient for one-handed operation while you are doing something else, like trying not to fall off the hill*. The match-needle versions use the old PX625 mercury cell, but this isn't an unsurmountable obstacle - see below.
There was also the 35 B which had a selenuim cell and a Triotar lens. I had one for a short time, but changed to the 35 T - in fact that was the first new camera I ever bought. I still use it.
Black ones fetch slightly higher prices than chrome, in general.
Many are dented from heavy use by mountaineers etc. - they were
the climber's camera. The dents rarely matter in functional terms. Look for lens scratches though. The saving factor is that many of us who would rarely use a protection filter otherwise, always used an 81A or 1A in the hills. This meant that the original 35 T lens cap would not fit unless modified. Epoxy and duct tape is the official method.
Check the meter, if it matters to you. You can use a Wein cell to replace the old mercury one, or, (edit) in addition to the adapter that clogz wrote about while I was writing this, get the camera adjusted by
Harry Fleenor to take current (no bad pun intended) cells.
Ask if you want any more info. In case you can't tell, I love these cameras, I've used them continuously for over thirty years, and I have a few different models in different conditions.
Best,
Helen
*A lot of British climbers and mountaineers use the word 'hill' where other people would use 'high mountain' or 'vertical cliff'.
PS I know that you don't need convincing, but here are three photos taken with them: (there was a url link here which no longer exists) (there was a url link here which no longer exists) and (there was a url link here which no longer exists)
