Rollei SLR's: Unloved in the States?

[GarageBoy]

Hasselblads were simple and reliable
That said, my dad's favorite cameras to use were slxes. Apparently a good chunk of my childhood photos were shot on one. I still have two or three 80 planars. Wish chargers, batteries and bodies were more common, can't find one in a price range I'm willing to spend

 

[Sirius Glass]

Eh I can do that with my Lubitel 2.

That is not an SLR. Go sit in the corner for a while.

 

[Eric Rose]

Hasselblads were simple and reliable
That said, my dad's favorite cameras to use were slxes. Apparently a good chunk of my childhood photos were shot on one. I still have two or three 80 planars. Wish chargers, batteries and bodies were more common, can't find one in a price range I'm willing to spend

I have an SLX and had my two battery packs repacked with NIMH batteries. Works great. Cheap to do as well.

 

[Cholentpot]

That is not an SLR. Go sit in the corner for a while.

I seem to get a lot of gositincorners on this site. No biggie. I like corners.

What lens can I get for my Bronica S2 that have a built in leaf? Is there such a thing? The mirror slap put a dent in my lawn today.

 

[wiltw]

Bronica S2 is focal plane shutter camera; no leaf shutter lenses produced for this that I am aware of.

 

[Cholentpot]

Bronica S2 is focal plane shutter camera; no leaf shutter lenses produced for this that I am aware of.

Oh well, howabout the Mamiya M645?

 

[Theo Sulphate]

... many AD's looked for the Blad notches on the contact sheets / light table and if you were using a non-Blad camera they would whine your images weren't sharp enough. This without really looking at them critically. ...

Art directors looking at equipment rather than the image. How ironic.

 

[Eric Rose]

Art directors looking at equipment rather than the image. How ironic.

Not so much looking at equipment but considering the Blad to be the baseline for usable / sharp images. Just like in the days of shooting chromes for stock agencies. Many mandated Kodachrome even though Fuji and Agfa made professional chrome film. Total BS, but what can you do, they are the ones cutting the cheques.

 

[itsdoable]

Bronica S2 is focal plane shutter camera; no leaf shutter lenses produced for this that I am aware of.

105mm f/3.5 Nikkor with leaf shutter was produced for this series, but they are on the pricey side.

 

[MattKing]

Oh well, howabout the Mamiya M645?

There were a few.
They are/were somewhat complex to get used to, because you have to set a fairly low shutter speed on the focal plane shutter. You also need to manually cock the lens shutter each time, unless you have the particular combination of later model camera, motor winder and connectors that would do it for you.
They do however work fine in "normal" mode, so if you don't mind some minor downsides (like a bit more weight, different filter sizes and, in at least one case, slightly smaller maximum apertures) they can be used in place of the non leaf shutter versions.
For a while I had and liked the old 70mm f/2.8 version. I essentially replaced it with the 80mm f/4 macro lens, because I have other cameras with leaf shutters.

 

[wiltw]

I believe the Hassy was more popular with professionals because of the between the lens shutter provided faster sync speeds. I have, or have hadboth, and the HAssy doesn't hold a candle to the Rollei as far as versatility. WishI could afford to buy my SL 66 back.

The price issue was a greater impediment for Rollei. Considering that the Rollei SL66 was an expensive ($1350) and untried camera, it fared poorly against the Hasselblad ($750) in the USA and Japan.
If the sync speed issue was advantaeous for Hassy, that is somewhat ironic because I know the 6008 ultimately had faster sync speed. So while the focal plane shuttered SL66 was limited to 1/30 x-sync, the SLX had x-sync up to the max shutter speed of 1/500, and some of the 6000 series bodies had 1/1000 and x-sync at that speed with PQS lenses.

 

[Cholentpot]

There were a few.
They are/were somewhat complex to get used to, because you have to set a fairly low shutter speed on the focal plane shutter. You also need to manually cock the lens shutter each time, unless you have the particular combination of later model camera, motor winder and connectors that would do it for you.
They do however work fine in "normal" mode, so if you don't mind some minor downsides (like a bit more weight, different filter sizes and, in at least one case, slightly smaller maximum apertures) they can be used in place of the non leaf shutter versions.
For a while I had and liked the old 70mm f/2.8 version. I essentially replaced it with the 80mm f/4 macro lens, because I have other cameras with leaf shutters.

Thanks!

Both my 120 SLRs are clunkers. Handheld can get messy.

 

[wiltw]

Oh well, howabout the Mamiya M645?

Yeah, they produced about 4 different leaf shutter lenses (IIRC) to be used with the focal plane M645. If you have a metering prism, I believe exposure automation feature is lost during leaf shutter lens use.

 

[Tony-S]

I love using my SLX version 2 but it has its issues for sure. It's noisy with its built-in autowinder, the NiCd battery charger won't charge NiMH batteries (I rebuilt my pack with them). My film loading is a bit sticky and I have to make sure it's feeding before I load film, otherwise, as soon as I trip the shutter the first time the entire roll goes through the camera!
But it has a lot of nice features to it, so I can't let the ol' dog go.

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

Just as an update... My Hy6 & lens required service for a bad AF motor and dial, and DW Photo is repairing it. They're very much alive and hopefully well. What's more my camera will be warrantied for a year after the work is done.

 

[kreeger]

I've been lucky enough to own use both Hasselblad 500C/Ms and Rollei SL66E with same Zeiss lenses 50-80-150. I worked in a commercial studio for about 10 years using Hasselblad 500ELM and Mamiya RB67s day in a day out. About 2004, I got a sweet deal for a full SL66E outfit just like I used with the Hasselblad. Tried for 5 years to make great photos with it. I finally gave up, I sold all the SL66E Rollei stuff off, and went back to Hasselblad. The Rollei is much wider and longer, quite a bit heavier than the 500C/M which is hand holdable.
The build quality of the Rollei was excellent and basically the same optics without shutters. I just found I had to use the tripod with it more than I wanted to.

 

[GRHazelton]

Before I had my bad experience with the sales person (detailed above) I was using a Bronica S2a with various Nikkor lenses. In many respects I actually liked it better than the Blad I ended up with. The only downside for me was the backs didn't stand up to heavy use. I'm talking over 30-40 rolls a day. The gears inside the backs were not made for that kind of punishment. The other downside was many AD's looked for the Blad notches on the contact sheets / light table and if you were using a non-Blad camera they would whine your images weren't sharp enough. This without really looking at them critically. Once I got on to that little bit of stupidity I carefully filed some notches into my Bronica backs. I also filed notches on the opposite side in order to identify a particular back if I had problems with it not spacing properly. Ah the good old days ......

As a Bronica S2a user I love this story!

WAAAY back in the day (mid 70s, IIRC) a friend and I had a friendly argument over the Praktica LTL (mine) versus his Nikon SLR something or other, not the F2! We engineered a challenge: The same subject, same viewpoint, same film, same processing and enlargements done by a mutual friend. The result: No one could see any difference in 8 x 10s shot on Plus-X between my f1.8 Oreston and his Nikkor f1.8. Additionally the Oreston would focus down to about 13 inches. Nice! And my kit was much cheaper than his! I still have the Praktica LTL. I ran the shutter recently after it had sat unused for, what 20 years! All speeds sounded okay! Pretty good for a cheap East German SLR which I'd heavily used, bounced of a sidewalk, etc. While the meter calls for a mercury cell, since it is a bridge circuit a silver oxide cell will do fine. The Oreston needs a CLA, sticky diaphragm. I should have it cleaned and get this old cold warrior back in the game!

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I used to have a Rollei SLR. Those things are amazing. Prefer it over the Hassy any day. Lenses are as good, but the camera is better. The achilles heel though is the stupid battery. I rebuilt the ones I had with NiMH cells and that improved them greatly. They are at the top of the list if you want a lens shuttered camera. I never much liked the SL66 though. That focussing on the side always made me uncomfortable. Probably never got along with the TLRs for the same reason.

I haven't had a medium format camera for quite a few years and recently wanted to get one again. I ended up with a Bronica EC-TL after stepping back and taking a close look at all the options. I mainly bought it for the bellows so odd lenses could be mounted, and the ridiculously cheap price helped too. Lol. People say the lenses are just as good as Zeiss/Schneider, but they aren't. Still pretty good though, and I don't print big. If I ever get a lathe, my Bronica will have Zeiss lenses on the front....

If'n I had a wad of cash to blow, I would be all over the Hy6. Or a 6008. Might still get one if I start shooting medium format a lot. The Rolleis are the best if you ask me aside from that f$&%#%^ battery....

 

[JWMster]

PRJ: The US Rollei dealer (yes, there reputedly is one in L.A.) shows some used Rollei gear and either an Hy6 or 6000 series last I checked (which was last week). Prices for the bodies ain't bad. It's some of the lenses where the prices seem to climb. And from the outside looking in, it's hard to know the compatibility between lenses and bodies. I bought a Bronica SQ series (I have an SQ for parts and 2 SQ-A's) and a series of lenses. It's a brick. Shots are good. Lenses are fine. They're not Zeiss.... and as a Zeiss fanboy, that's a bit of a comedown both in that they are better than I'd expected, and also... "it's still not a Zeiss", and I can't say that Rollei and Hassy's Zeiss collection isn't a tractor beam.... 'cause they are for exactly that reason. My resistance so far is just fine. But from this perspective, the Rollei can't be heavier, and though bundled (in the Hy and 6000 series) with electronics that might be decent and additive (like a meter for when you want it - mostly I don't, but it's nice to have) in casual shooting.

The thing these days is everyone seems convinced an electronic analog camera is a money trap "one day", and to be avoided. The Bronica SQ's have an electronic shutter and I've come to look at it as a plus. There was a time Seiko was the state of the art in accurate time keeping.... back when we didn't all have iphones and wore watches to tell time, and so I have high confidence in the shutter as a result. I have many questions about the Rollei SLR's and mostly whether or not there's demand if you ever want to sell the thing. FWIW, Bronica's mustn't have a lot or the prices would be better. Rolleis are scarce as hens teeth, but reading the history of the company, I think that's more a reflection of repeatedly missing the market and therefore low production. Will add that I've found there's a world of Nikon Coolscan repair folks replacing circuit boards folks said couldn't be replaced... blah blah blah, and the truth may be that IF there is enough production and market following, there will be repairs available. THe downside of the Rollei isn't its electronics, but the combination of high electronic reliance and low production.

But check with the LA guys. I think their site insists Rollei still has parts.

 

[GarageBoy]

I just picked up an slx, and need to get a charger for it. I love the faster handling, compared to a hasselblad. Wish they were more common, and wish batteries were easier to come by

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I just picked up an slx, and need to get a charger for it. I love the faster handling, compared to a hasselblad. Wish they were more common, and wish batteries were easier to come by

Maha made a charger for it better than the lame Rollei charger. I think the model number was 777, although they might be Powerex now.

If you have a NiCad battery, replace the cells with NiMH. Makes a huge difference and doesn't cost much if you do it yourself.

 

[lantau]

I just picked up an slx, and need to get a charger for it. I love the faster handling, compared to a hasselblad. Wish they were more common, and wish batteries were easier to come by

Maha made a charger for it better than the lame Rollei charger. I think the model number was 777, although they might be Powerex now.

If you have a NiCad battery, replace the cells with NiMH. Makes a huge difference and doesn't cost much if you do it yourself.

It's true that (defective) battery packs are quite expensive on Ebay. My first SLX came with two, one dead the other an original Rollei spare, once bought by the previous owner. Probably still NiCd, but in working condition. I rebuild the other myself. A suitable cell pack is ~€25 from a small business on Ebay.

I bought a second SLX which came as a complete set in a Rollei leather case. There were two or three dead battery packs in there. I'll rebuild one more and convert the other into an adapter for external power, in case I ever visit Antarctica.

A charged pack will last months for me. I just charged both packs, just in case, as I'll go on two weeks photo holiday in East Asia next week. The original packs supposedly last 1000 frames. The modern NiMH cells have much higher nominal capacity (in mAh).

The real problem with lies with the charger. I only have the primitive SLX chargers which didn't charge. I opened the first and I'm glad it didn't work. The input voltage selector is quite interesting and resulted in an open circuit when I moved it. Its difficult to describe the design, but it has zoo much play.

Unless you have a more modern 600x with proper charger I recommend you use something else. Perhaps a semiprofessional NiMH quick charger for cell packs.

I jury rigged a slow charger for first use and I've been using it ever since. Its on my desk at work. I use an ancient 1960s lab PSU (13.8V/6.5A) and put together a constant current source on a bread board. It's charging with ~115mA. Charge for a work day and perhaps a few more hours the next day and its good for a few more months. Given the voltage drop at the transistor the 13.8V of the PSU are maybe a tiny bit too low to get to a full charge, but that doesntt really matter to me. Here's what it looks like.

 

[NJH]

Your right about how long the battery lasts, my 6008 came with a freshly rebuilt battery block, it lasts months at a time which is impressive given what it has to power, probably only recharged it twice this year. I have to say it did put me off before purchase but now I don't really think about it except for the fact that its driving me towards buying another 6008, a spare system seems to be the most cost effective way of having any of the items as back ups, spare batteries and chargers are ludicrously expensive.

 

[lantau]

I just noticed that the board software converted all my tilde characters into dashes. Those dashes are meant to mean 'approx'.

I forgot to write why I don't wish to use the charger, even with working input voltage selector. The design of this model is extremely primitive. It consists of the transformer, a rectifier, a resistor and a lamp (which acts as another resistor). The resistors get the charging voltage roughly to where it should be. But there is no capacitor to be seen. That means that the battery is exposed to a pulsating voltage and current, which the cells are not supposed to enjoy very much. At least to my knowledge.

I looked at the PCB and there are lots of copper paths and through holes that are unused. I take it that they could actually produce a proper charger by adding components. But mine is the low budget version.

 

[JWMster]

From the outside, Rollei looks a bit difficult to understand in terms of the desirability of various models and lenses. By this, I mean that with a smaller "installed base" of users, the efficiency of knowledge in terms of what is desirable and what is not is lower and this should affect price... pushing it lower. But it hasn't. To me this is a bit odd.
I've seen good things written about the SLX version 2, but almost nothing outside of the posts here on the Hy6 and 600x series. I don't even know what the sequential production order between these might have been. And Rollei uses Zeiss-like names for some of its lenses. Given that Zeiss actually made some lenses for the SLR cameras,
this just makes it more confusing.

I'd be interested in how the cameras compare to the Bronica SQ system. SLX might be similar, but the Hy6 and 600x series seem to have considerably more electronics/tech. I'd be curious size wise as well. Anyway... hopefull the Rollei story will continue. Thanks for all the posts.