1955 Rolleiflex Care and maintenance

jensenhallstrom · Jul 3, 2013

Hello all, i have had my rolleiflex for about 6 months now, unfortunately when i took it to stage coach, it was so damn hot my rollei's focusing mechanism stiffed up, and some of the emulsion on certain rolls of film melted to the backing paper. Yeah, ive learned from that experience, especially after sand and dirt got into the insides of my camera and screwed with shutter speeds. Now, to avoid after mishaps from now on, what precautions of temperature, environments and daily use as well as daily maintenance should i keep in mind to make sure nothing like that happens again? Thank you.

summicron1 · Jul 3, 2013

wow, melted the film? That's waaaay too hot, dude. Cameras need to be kept from freezing -- or at least really sub-zero temps -- and from getting much over 100 degrees on a hot day.

Never, ever, never never never leave a camera somewhere it can get as hot as yours did: Car trunks, inside cars on hot days, out in the sun and so forth. Hope the focusing eased up after the camera cooled down, but that sort of heat can do serious damage to lenses, melt oils and greases and so forth. If someone wants to put ur camera bag in the luggage compartment of a bus, say "no, that goes inside with me."

If you must go somewhere that hot, put the camera in an insulated lunch bag along with one of those plastic blocks of blue ice-like substance you can keep in your freezer at home until you need it. Or just put the blue thing in ur camera bag.

Ditto in really cold winter -- put a hand warmer in with the camera to keep it from freezing, or keep it under yur coat.

jensenhallstrom · Jul 4, 2013

summicron1 said:
wow, melted the film? That's waaaay too hot, dude. Cameras need to be kept from freezing -- or at least really sub-zero temps -- and from getting much over 100 degrees on a hot day.

Never, ever, never never never leave a camera somewhere it can get as hot as yours did: Car trunks, inside cars on hot days, out in the sun and so forth. Hope the focusing eased up after the camera cooled down, but that sort of heat can do serious damage to lenses, melt oils and greases and so forth. If someone wants to put ur camera bag in the luggage compartment of a bus, say "no, that goes inside with me."

If you must go somewhere that hot, put the camera in an insulated lunch bag along with one of those plastic blocks of blue ice-like substance you can keep in your freezer at home until you need it. Or just put the blue thing in ur camera bag.

Ditto in really cold winter -- put a hand warmer in with the camera to keep it from freezing, or keep it under yur coat.

Well the thing is i brought along a insulated bag with ice in it to keep my 5 rolls of film in a put my camera in when i wasent using it but i still had complications! Unfortunately dust and sand got its way into the focusing mechanism and in turn the shutter, screwed with some of the speeds. The shutter ended up getting hung up on the winding mechanism one day and the shutter reversed its assembly and the blades crashed into eachother. A trip to harry fleenor at rollei repairs got it running like brand new, hehe. I learned my lesson the hard way.

gone · Jul 5, 2013

"The shutter ended up getting hung up on the winding mechanism...."

Permit me to doubt!

darkosaric · Jul 5, 2013

Not exactly sure what happened in your case - but for future maybe it is good idea not to use expensive cameras in extreme situations? To use some cheaper option - maybe some cheap Russian TLR, of folder camera?

If I must take photos in super hot environment full of sand and dirt - I would use my Olympus RC35, not M3.

E. von Hoegh · Jul 5, 2013

jensenhallstrom said:
Hello all, i have had my rolleiflex for about 6 months now, unfortunately when i took it to stage coach, it was so @#!*% hot my rollei's focusing mechanism stiffed up, and some of the emulsion on certain rolls of film melted to the backing paper. Yeah, ive learned from that experience, especially after sand and dirt got into the insides of my camera and screwed with shutter speeds. Now, to avoid after mishaps from now on, what precautions of temperature, environments and daily use as well as daily maintenance should i keep in mind to make sure nothing like that happens again? Thank you.

Wow.

Get an intruction manual for your camera, and study it.

jensenhallstrom · Jul 5, 2013

E. von Hoegh said:
Wow.

Get an intruction manual for your camera, and study it.

If rollei provided the info, i would. Ive read the manual extensively and there is nothing covered about what enviroments threaten the camera or anything about maintenance for that matter.

summicron1 · Jul 5, 2013

A trip to harry fleenor is an expensive lesson. Sorry it came to that, but at least you have a like-new camera now.

to be specific about what environments are bad for your camera: Anything that is uncomfortable for you will be uncomfortable for your camera. Dust and heat and sand are very very bad. Extremes of cold are very bad -- cameras used in extreme cold can be modified with cold-tolerant lubricants, but it's expensive.

As to maintenance -- keep it clean. Dust it carefully with a soft brush, especially the lenses. Avoid contamination is the best -- a rollei will do yoeman service with a regular service every decade or so if properly handled.

For example, a simple plastic bag is handy for wet and dusty environments...there are special weather-proof bags made, but anything that more or less seals the camera in will do the job.

E. von Hoegh · Jul 6, 2013

jensenhallstrom said:
If rollei provided the info, i would. Ive read the manual extensively and there is nothing covered about what enviroments threaten the camera or anything about maintenance for that matter.

There most certainly is.

This is a manual for the Rolleiflex 3.5. See page 57.

jensenhallstrom · Jul 6, 2013

E. von Hoegh said:
There most certainly is.

This is a manual for the Rolleiflex 3.5. See page 57.

Oh shoot, i was only looking at the 2.8D's manual, thank you for this.

1955 Rolleiflex Care and maintenance

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