A quick Rolleicord question...............

John Wiegerink · Oct 1, 2025

I've owned a Rolleicord art deco version and a couple of Rolleicord III cameras. I still use my remaining Rolleicord III and it does a lovely job with out-of-focus backgrounds. My question is about the last version Rolleicord, the Vb with removable finder. On a whim I just purchased a model Vb version 2 and was wondering about the Xenar lens on this model. I had read somewhere that the later cameras, like the Vb, had an "upgraded" Xenar lens compared to the model III and earlier models. Just what the heck could the upgrade have been since they are both Tessar lenses?

BrianShaw · Oct 1, 2025

Coating

Nitroplait · Oct 1, 2025

The Tessar was said to be recomputed around the introduction of the Rolleiflex T. Maybe the Xenar went through the same process.

John Wiegerink · Oct 1, 2025

BrianShaw said:
Coating

Yes, that's the only thing I can think of too. The coating on my old Rolleicord three seems pretty darn good as is, so with the Vb I should be able to almost shoot right into the sun.

Dan Daniel · Oct 1, 2025

I imagine that with glass changes, improved coatings, changing production processes, and possibly the beginning of the use of computers for determining optical formula, there were companies that revisited old lens formulas. As Nitroplait said, the Tessar in the T is supposed to be a reformulated improved lens. I can't say for certain, as for me this is just one of those 'oh yeah everyone knows....' internet things.

Then again, at this time lens design was moving far beyond 4 element designs, with assorted 6 and more elements becoming the norm with coatings and more precise machining and such. So reformulating an outdated design seems a bit silly. Not sure what motivated Zeiss with the Tessar (if that is true) but have not heard of the Xenar undergoing this until now.

John Wiegerink · Tuesday at 2:12 PM

The Rolleicord Vb arrived yesterday and looks almost new. The case looks the same. I can tell this thing must have been very lightly used and then stuck away in the closet. As I expected the slow speeds were hanging from lack of use.. I did a light disassemble and used a hypo needle to flush the slow speed train. Now things are fine. Just loaded the camera with a practice roll of Foma 100 and will test it out. The fit and finish on these later Rolleicords are first rate. The only thing I'm not thrilled about is the semi-locking EV system, but I can live with that if it turns out to be a good picture taker. My old single coated Rolleicord III does a fine job and has very nice out-of-fucus background rendering. I'm curious to see if this camera has near the same rendering. I'll know later tonight.

grunf · Tuesday at 2:51 PM

I too have a Vb, that xenar is a fantastic lens, especially with color films. Try it after the bw test.

John Wiegerink · Tuesday at 3:30 PM

grunf said:
I too have a Vb, that xenar is a fantastic lens, especially with color films. Try it after the bw test.

I plan on it. Our Fall colors in Northern Michigan are starting to really put on a show. I got several rolls of 100 Ektar just waiting.

John Wiegerink · Tuesday at 10:37 PM

Just put the negative on the light table and things look very good. Wide open the shots at infinity are a little soft on the edges, but no complaints in the center area. At f8 it's very sharp across the entire negative. At f11 it looks to be just a tad sharper, but I'll know more after I scan them tomorrow. Frame spacing looks good except for the space between frame 9 and frame 10 being slightly narrow. I'd say it's a keeper. This is a simpler camera compared to my Rolleiflex's and lighter too. I'll post a picture of the camera and shots at f3.5, f8 and f11 tomorrow evening.

A quick Rolleicord question...............

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency