I acquired my first Rolleiflex camera shortly after the phenomenon of the worlds fascination with her work took off. While not automatic, like in the Rolleiflex Automat, the photographer could reset the counter with a small button after reaching the first frame. Would you recommend an E over the more common T and is it worth looking out for a 2.8 as distinct from 3.5 ? The biggest difference is the most obvious one: the TLR has two lenses. Rolleiflex is a series of medium format 120 roll film cameras manufactured by Franke & Heidecke, in Germany. Rolleiflex continued on through various iterations and restructurings until 2015 when production was halted. Baba - Zasadki. So, when I am photo walking, I try to snap a self-portrait with my Rollei whenever I can. Again, Rolleiflex cameras are designed to perfection, making them so easy to use. Its the row of diodes underneath the name plate at the top of the camera. I like that the Old Standard has a frame finder as my Rolleicord didnt have this. this article for a general break down of the various models, Your Guide to Medium Format Film Photography, 5 Awesome Medium Format Film Cameras for Beginners, A Comprehensive Review of the Fuji GA645 Film Camera, Olympus Pen F Half-Frame Film Camera Review, https://www.filmshooterscollective.com/analog-film-photography-blog/rolleiflex-buying-guide-1-11, An array of colored filters for black and white film (, Leather camera strap and every ready case (, Extension hood to better block out light and see the focus screen (. Lets talk about the viewfinder. For many Rolleiflex aficionados, the last models of the 2.8F mark the end of the classic Rolleiflex TLR. This makes the Rolleiflex Automat/Letter model cameras very sought-after for shooting fast-paced action, such as street photography. Rolleiflex is the name of a long-running and diverse line of high-end cameras originally made by the German company Franke & Heidecke, and later Rollei-Werke. Production: from 1949 to 1951, about 9.870 units. The high-quality 7.5cm focal length lenses, manufactured by Zeiss and Schneider, allowed for a smaller, lighter, more compact camera than their imitators. Its also really challenging to know how much to wind the film before cocking the shutter. Thank you again. I was fortunate to have a friend with a spare Rolleiflex 3.5 MX-EVS (find on eBay) who was willing to loan the camera to me for the summer with the option of purchasing it if I wanted to. I use the camera strap every time I shoot, but it is nice to be able to remove it so quickly and easily by squeezing the alligator and sliding the strap off the camera. Remember, if you need it, pop up the magnifier to fine tune your focus. This model introduced a hinged back and a frame counter. The shutter is a Compur with a maximum speed of 1/300 which also points to the same timeframe as does the leather . Rollei was founded in 1920 as the Werkstatt fr Feinmechanik und Optik, Franke & Heidecke in order to make a twin-lens reflex camera. 1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F Type 1 with Schneider Kreuznach Xenotar 75/3.5, 1955 Rolleiflex 2.8C with Carl Zeiss Planar 80/2.8, 1939 Rolleiflex Automat RF111A with Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 7.5cm f/3.5 (uncoated), Rolleiflex Automat RF111A | Zeiss Tessar 7.5cm f/3.5 | Kodak Ektar 100, 1939 Rolleiflex Automat RF111A | Zeiss Tessar 7.5cm f/3.5 | Kodak Ektar 100, 1955 Rolleiflex 2.8C | Zeiss Planar 80/2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100, 1955 Rolleiflex 2.8C | Zeiss Planar 80/2.8 | Expired Kodak Portra 400BW, 1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F | Schneider Xenotar 75/3.5 | Kodak Ektar 100, 1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F | Schneider Xenotar 75/3.5 | Fujichrome Velvia RVP, 1962 Rolleiflex 3.5E3 | Schneider Xenotar 75/3.5 | Expired Kodak Portra 400NC, Rolleiflex 3.5F | Schneider Xenotar 75/3.5 | Expired Kodak T400CN. By the 1960s, the camera industry had changed radically with 35mm cameras and other medium format cameras growing in popularity, and Rolleiflex sought to diversify with 35mm cameras. To be able to use these viewing options, youll need to press in the front panel of the viewfinder hood and snap it into place. I have all three sets, and I use all three. My Rolleiflex 2.8F has a built-in, coupled light meter. Couple that with the fact that most Rolleiflex don't actually have any model number on them, and it can get quite confusing. The 2.8 models basically follow an alphabetic progression (The 2.8A was replaced with the 2.8B, etc. This was also the first 3.5 model to use the Bay II filter mount. It takes 28.5 press-on filters and accessories. If youre looking for biting sharpness and contrast, you probably already know you want a postwar camera with a coated lens, but pictures from the Rolleiflex Old Standard do have a certain character all their own. Only differences with Rolleiflex 2.8D shown. At Photokina 2012 an updated version of the classic Rolleiflex TLR, the FX-N, has been presented. The filters are ingeniously designed to be attached to one another when not in use. (A companion line intended for amateur photographers, Rolleicord, existed for several decades.) The factory production equipment and remaining stocks of parts were auctioned off in late April 2015. Enter the username or e-mail you used in your profile. NO! The only ones I rarely use are the meter diffuser (which turns the reflective meter into an incident meter) and the 35mm adapters. These are not true Rolleiflex cameras but are miniature reproductions of the Rolleiflex TLR design produced under licence by the German camera manufacturer Minox. For anyone who is mesmerized by the aura of antiquity but also enjoys a camera that is easy to use and produces beautiful images, there are few better cameras to seek than the Rolleiflex Old Standard. The newer removable folding focusing hood with changeable focus screens, and a crank wind like other Rolleiflex, but a lever for changing shutter speed and aperture like those found on a Rolleicord. Turn the crank once until it stops (about of a turn), and then move it back. There are 5 variants of the Automat, with each newer variant came slight improvements. Its my desert island cameraassuming I get stuck on an island where film grows on trees and theres a lab around the corner. Vintage Rolleiflex Franke & Heidecke Compur Rapid Camera w/ case $300.00 + $10.00 shipping Vintage Rolleiflex Franke & Heidecke COMPUR Rapid Camera CarlZeissf=7.5cm W/Case $148.99 + $18.95 shipping Hover to zoom Have one to sell? This is fortunate, because I havent yet figured out how to attach a strap, so I just try very hard not to drop it. Stop winding and close the film door when you see the start arrow just at that silver bar at the base of the camera. They are timeless, not only in appearance but also in use and in the images they create. It directs the image projected on it through the lens up to the focus screen. The cost of a Rolleiflex can vary drastically, but in a general sense the newer the camera and the better the features, the more it will cost. Graphic maps of the area around 52 53' 45" N, 17 55' 29" E. Each angle of view and every map style has its own advantage. Introduced an automatic film counter; this counter senses the thickness of the film backing to accurately begin counting frames, obviating the need for the ruby window that forced the photographer to read the frame number off the backing paper of the film. I like to say that my Rollei has introduced me to some of the most interesting people because it is a great conversation starter. Germany 1949, four years after the end of WWII and the country is still in ruins. The great Brazilian songwriter Antnio Carlos Jobim used a Rolleiflex and its mentioned in his timeless bossa nova tune Desafinado (Slightly out of tune): que os desafinados tambm tm um corao I use almost all of the accessories pictured above. Rolleiflex medium format cameras continued to be produced by DHW Fototechnik up to 2014a company founded by former Franke & Heidecke employees. Later variants allow for use of 220 film and have a 12/24 switch for the film transport/frame counter. But the lenses are clean for their age, the shutter fires at more or less the speed it ought to, and the frame spacing is even. This is not to say its perfect. There is a seller on eBay who makes molded rubber lens caps based on the original, so I also have one of those. Rolleiflex 44 Black: 196369 (rare) By serial numbers 9,120 were made. Rolleiflex were made for nearly a century, and other than the very early models and some special models, they really didn't change in looks for the most part. Finally, remove both lenses (still attached) from the camera all together. The 2.8B introduced the 5 element taking lens in the form of the Zeiss Biometar 80mm f/2.8, but it wasn't produced for very long, making it the rarest of the 2.8 cameras and therefore it is usually quite expensive. But be warned: everything is upside down. It was also the last 2.8 model with the classic Rolleiflex nameplate without the meter slot. Rollei GmbH (originally Franke and Heidecke) is a German camera manufacturer with an impressive line of cameras and a history that is closely connected with the history of photography. View sold price and similar items: Vintage German Rolleiflex Franke & Heudrcke Cam from EJ'S Auction & Appraisal on March 6, 0123 10:00 AM MST. I use the lens caps every time my camera isnt in use. The reason a 2.8F (or any other model Rollei TLR, for that matter) has no mirror slap is *not* because it is has a lens shutter. Rolleiflex 44: 193841 Sports Baby Rolleiflex (6cm f:2.8 Tessar Only) New fast focus with larger knob, front cover like a Rolleicord II, with early cameras having only one bayonet, and later cameras with two. To start, TLR stands for twin lens reflex. Cameras with reflex focusing were available, and there had even been twin lens cameras, but they were large and expensive. The second version released a year later in 1951 uses Compur Rapid MX shutter with speeds of 1 - 1/500 sec., B, M-X-sync. A smaller company was created with former employees under the name DW Photo that produces the Rolleiflex HY6 mod2 digital and film SLR and services existing cameras. This model won the Grand Prix award at the Paris, Rolleiflex Automat: 193949 (double bayonet), Rolleiflex Automat A (MX in North America): 195154, Rolleiflex Automat B (MX-EVS in North America): 195456, Rolleiflex 44: 193841 Sports Baby Rolleiflex (6cm f:2.8 Tessar Only), Rolleiflex T: 195875 (no Automat film transport and with f:3.5 Tessar lens only. Sharp areas are sharp enough, if not clinically so, at least in the center of the frame, and out of focus areas have gentle and sometimes swirly bokeh. Id collected a lot of old cameras that I havent been using so I had a clear out. However, Nikon, Canon, Pentax, and Olympus had the largest 35mm market shares. Your shutter is cocked, and you are ready to take your first image! The mirror in a TLR camera is stationary and does not move out of the way when the shutter button is pushed. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Rolleiflex was founded in 1920 as an optical instrument manufacturing business by Reinhold Heidecke and Paule Franke, two German camera makers from Braunschweig. Manage Settings Thank you so much for sharing it. Rolleiflex cameras are so easy to use that a photographer of any skill from a beginner who has just learned the exposure triangle to a seasoned professional will enjoy creating with any one of the many Rolleiflex models. One filter on the taking lens magnifies the image, and one filter on the viewing lens corrects for parallax error. Very good article about a sadly forgotten type of camera. The EV numbers (3 to 18 EV) are on top of the shutter speed dial knob. One of its niftiest tricks always I thought is to be used as a periscope to take pictures held (upside down) high over your head or unseen from around a corner. All it would need is a brighter focusing screen and a CLA to confirm shutter speeds and focus accuracy, and to plug up that light leak. Rolleiflex - Patent Print - Patent Poster - Photo - Medium Format Rolli - Canvas Wall Art Add to Favorites $ 32.51. A Xenar equipped Automat will provide images nearly indistinguishable in quality with images from a Tessar equipped Automat, and likewise, a Planar equipped 2.8 wont really perform better than a Xenotar equipped 2.8. They are a little tricky to use because youll need a darkroom or changing bag to rewind your film back into the canister. I agree that the Ikoflex (particularly the IIa) is also an excellent camera. Make sure the switch is back in place and the lever is firmly latched. It was a Twin-Lens Reflex camera. 1 Comment - Rolleiflex 3.5F | Franke & Heidecke | 1960/1969 - No doubt, this Rolleiflex is one of my pearls. But does not have M-sync. Jen Golay is a regular contributor for Shoot It With Film. They began to develop what would become the industry standard for TLR cameras. Thank you so much. Almost entirely sold to the USA. Revelou-se a sua enorme ingratido The later f2.8 and f3.5 letter models (Planar or Xenotar lens) are highly sought after in the used market, and command the greatest price. This is a model that doesnt really fit into any other group. The bottom lens is the taking lens. But after a couple of years, I experienced something similar to what John Phillips describes in the book The Classic Rollei (an indispensable reference for this article and for all Rolleiflex enthusiasts) as he became more familiar with a later model of a classic camera, the aura of antiquity had mysteriously lifted and somehow transferred itself to older models in the same line. Many of us who love cameras for their history as much as their function have also been drawn to that aura. The focusing knob is on the left side of the camera. Specifications: The Rolleiflex camera is perfect camera for that exact experience. (I almost always do.) Only differences with Rolleiflex 2.8B shown. Like a rangefinder, a TLR cameras viewfinder does not see what the film sees; therefore, it is subject to parallax error when taking images at minimum focus distances. K7F2 was released in 1965, like most 120 film camera revisions released that year it was because of 220 film and provided a new 12/24 frame counter. Francke and Heideke were stereo camera manufacturers when they introduced their first twin lens reflex camera, which in design terms was essentially a stereo camera with one end and its taking lens sliced off (literally, in the case of the first prototype) and rotated ninety degrees. Its what the film sees. I fell firmly in the latter camp. Unique to the Rolleiflex Automat and letter model cameras, the mechanical wind mechanism was robust and clever, making film loading semi-automatic and quick. Honestly, you cant really go wrong with any model of Rolleiflex, assuming its in good working condition. She lives with her husband and three kids in the American capital, which as a Seattle native she considers the other Washington. Do you need f/2.8? I was annoyed when in Bakewell (U.K.) by the river and a stupid woman asked if it was a box brownie. Specifications : Production : from 1949 to 1951, about 9.870 units. Do this 11 more times to finish off your roll of 12 frames. You can also find a written overview below. If the scene needs to be shifted to the left to get the desired framing, the camera must be moved to the right. Many things. It used B1 film and produced six 6x6cm frames, which were more than four times larger than 35mm film. What made the Rolleiflex so innovative was its combination of the combination of a reflex focusing mechanism and the compact size of a roll film camera. While locked, if you adjust either the shutter speed or aperture, the other automatically adjusts maintaining the same exposure value. Loading the camera is quite straightforward. All use lens shutters, and all have mirror-related vibrationthe latter more pronounced, obviously. I strongly suspect that has more to do with the difference of the 3.5 vs 2.8 than Planar vs Xenotar. I was using one of my favourite 35mm SLRs today, a Bessamatic model circa 195960 manufactured by Voigtlnder. Once I have my exposure, I set my shutter speed and aperture on the camera. My point here will be, may we have images with this kind of character with this quality with a digital camera? The 2.8E model K7E of 1956 is similar to the previous model, but the main difference it the addition of an exposure meter. Some might consider the reversed image in the viewfinder, the fact that one roll of film only creates 12 images, the maximum shutter speed of 1/500th of a second, the fixed 80mm lens, or the lack of a meter downsides to using a Rolleiflex, but for me these are either creative challenges or not an issue. Note that the correcting filter is always the wider filter. Leaf shutters mean that there is no mirror slap like there is in an SLR camera, so the Rollei can be shot at very low shutter speeds hand-held.. cameras are fantastic machines and amazing feats of engineering. Everything about the camera is small, including the lenses, which predate the bayonet filter mount system of later Rolleis. The camera operates on a single CR2 battery and uses miniSD memory cards. I wish you had let me know that you were getting rid of your cord IV, Id have given you a better price. The original Rolleiflex, the Standard was a knob wind TLR with a f/4.5 or f/3.5 Tessar taking lens, manual shutter cocking, and red window frame counter system. The viewing glass on the top of the camera was also an encouragement to take photographs from other points of view, rather than always at eye level. The 117 format is the same width as 120 film, but it came on spools with a much narrower flange, and its been out of production for seventy years. This is really only used to frame the shot. They began to develop what would become the industry standard for TLR cameras. Franke&Heidecke, who introduced their successful Rolleiflex in 1928, start a series of improvements on the well appreciated camera. The design of the TLR was loosely based on a stereoscopic Voigtlander camera. Only differences with Rolleiflex 2.8A shown. Im a hobby photographer and shoot film with a Leica M6 but would like to try medium format. There arent a lot of other things from the 30s, certainly not many cameras, that work as well as this one does. Cameras that used roll film were smaller and more affordable, but most of them were either box cameras that didnt actually focus, or folding cameras with clunky viewfinders and scale focusing. Toby, old lad. The Rolleiflex, the Leica and the Speed Graphic thus became the three main cameras used by photojournalists, with each camera offering different possibilities, not only in terms of working methods, but also in terms of results. Nothing had changed about the frame numbering on 120 film, but the Old Standard employed a mechanism for setting a counter after viewing the first frame in the red window and winding the following frames automatically. If for some reason you need to hold the camera higher than youre able to use the waist level viewfinder, you can use this one instead. I love shooting things up close and personal, and the bellows would be great for that. And then the conversation will continue down different roads depending on what other information the person has to share. I had a Rolleiflex 2.8D for awhile but foolishly sold it to fund another camera I do miss it. Rolleiflex Classic Twins Lens Reflex Cameras, cases, hoods, finders and other accessories. The Rolleiflex TLR film cameras were known for their exceptional build quality, compact size, modest weight, superior optics, durability, simplicity, reliable mechanics and bright viewfinders. When you opened the Rollei, you might have noticed that you could see the entire interior of the camera and that there was no shutter. But now that you say it, I am going to make sure to try it again the next time I am out shooting. This mechanism started the exposure counter automatically, auto-spaced the 12 or (on the later model F cameras) 24 exposures, and tensioned the shutter; all with less than one full turn of the film advance crank. A spare take-up spool needs to be inserted in the compartment at the top of the camera, and the new roll of film will go in the bottom compartment. It may take a few rolls of film before the photographer is used to this, but it eventually becomes second nature. It was sold in Europe as the 3.5C, but in the US it was sold as 3.5E. The taking lens is a 4.9mm f/2.8; the camera has digital autofocus. Almost entirely sold to the USA. Those wheels set the aperture and shutter speed. I love this! Great article and beautiful photos, thank you for sharing them. So, if youd like a camera that turns heads yet is stealthy, a joy to use, and want to join the ranks of Richard Avedon, Robert Doisneau, Diane Arbus, Vivian Maier, Imogen Cunningham, Robert Capa, or Alfred Eisenstadt, find yourself a Rolleiflex in your price range and go start your love affair with this marvel of German engineering and creativity!