Am I alone Here?

[whlogan]

I am beginning to suspect that I am alone here. Is that really true? Does no one else in this grand photographic universe not use and favor the Rolleiflex 600* series of cameras? Can this be? Surely I am not the only crazy person out here, wandering alone in this place. I spend US dollars for the equipment. It arrives and I make it work. I admit, the Old Rollei SLRs are often very fussy. Verry fussy. They make you want to throw them up against the wall from time to time. Batteries are hard or impossible to find. When found they don't last long. But the lenses. Those make up for all else. I don't have the Schneiders, but the reports are that they are superb. The Zeiss lenses are exactly like Hasselblad lenses. Planars, Distagons, and so on. Same. Perform the same. So who's out there? Don't you folks have anything to say about these cinder block beasts? Surely there are tales to be told. Legends to be passed down. Relate! Talk! Let's communicate. Who does have the batteries? How do I get a new one? I have 4 bodies. and 4 lenses and 5 backs. that ought to qualify me as a shooter. I have resurrected 2 bodies thought to be dead; now working and taken on trips. So who's there?
Logan

 

[whlogan]

No one it would seem. I finally got my SL66's fixed up and have been using them and checking here right often to see if any one seems to be using the 600* family of Rollei's. From time to time one seems to pop up in the Gallery but not often. Why is that I ask? Why. These cameras deserve better I think. They are too heavy, I think, but heavy didn't bother Edward Weston who often shot with a horribly heavy Graflex Reflex, now did it? No!!!Or Paul Strand who shot with heavy stuff, too. Hasselblads are lighter, I'll give you that and the lenses are pretty much the same, but to get to say you shot with a Rollei Now there's a real claim worthy of recognition that will turn a few heads in years to come, mind you!!! It will. If you've got one; use it. I've got a 6008I that needs use and will get it. Lets go to work here 600* users!!!
Logan

 

[whlogan]

Well, that was last November and does not seem to have elicited much of a reply. We don;t seem to be doing much. I certainly haven;t been doing anything, except perhaps bitching a lot at others about not doing much but not doing anything, myself. That's no good, is it? What I need to do is get to work my self and stop bitching. So off to work.
Logan

 

[spoilerhead]

Well, seems you'll be alone for some more time. I'm going to sell my Rolleiflexes. I still think they're great cameras, but i got my hands on a pretty neat Bronica SQ set, and i can't support two different MF Kits

 

[whlogan]

Well, fare you well, Sir, I have SQ's as well, love 'em and use them a lot, tho Rollei SL66's mostly now. The 6000
s batteries are a real pain now and I like the 66's a lot these days. What beauties of construction and favor.
Bon voyage, Sir
Logan

 

[artobest]

I can pick up the slack from Spoilerhead jumping ship. Don't have a Rollei 6000, but I do have an SL66SE, and this was the closest group. Love my camera, but I've just discovered the meter underexposes by around three to four stops. I'm wondering if the battery might be putting out too low a voltage. I have a couple of Gossen Profisix meters that do the job admirably, but the TTL metering is a nice feature to have. Apart from that small issue, my SL has become my main walkaround camera since the day I bought it.

 

[whlogan]

I must say one can certainly do worst than a sl66 of any ilk for a walk around camera. I have a SL66 and a SL66E my self and I love both 'em. The 600* models are fine shooters I must say but they are heavy and ride like a cinder block and the lenses are superb, but I do like the 66's better. Never did trust all that electronics myself but the 600*'s are masterpieces of German engineering at its very best. I will continue to use both for sure but will tend towards the 66 models I am afraid.
Logan

 

[EricWHiss]

I'm shooting with a Hy6, 6008AF, and 2.8F TLR. Mostly I'm using a digital back, but I do like to shoot t-max 400 and also portra 400 film too. I enjoy each of the cameras for different reasons. Yesterday for the first time ever I got to see a SL66 first hand. These are very well built and I can see why one would like them. My first Rollei was the 6008AF and I have put more than 60,000 shots on it. Amazing camera.
Whlogan, battery probs on 6000 should be over since Nimh batteries are available new and you can refit the ones you own. I have shot with all the lenses and I prefer the schneiders except the zeiss 40mm FLE PQ, 110/2 PQ. The 30mm fisheye and 120mm macro have no schneider alternatives.

 

[whlogan]

Thanks. Yes I agree, the Nimh batteis I have converted are now superior. They work fine in all of my 600* cameras and I am using them more now. I have the 6008i in the car actually as an on-call camera with 220 film loaded for whatever may come up. Haven't seen any of the shots yet but I know they will be perfect as all Rollei shots are. Thanks for your update. I don't really know why more users don't use the Rollei 600* cameras as they are so far superior to everything else. its a funny thing, I guess. I only have Zeiss glass.... too bad as I know the Scneider glass is excellent, too.

Logan

 

[EricWHiss]

Hi Logan,
There are lots of 6000 series users, so maybe more will join in. It's a great camera platform, with fantastic ergonomics, built in dark slide and motor winder with 1/3 stop adjustment on shutter speeds and aperture settings. I've used mine mostly with the phase p20 digital back, or the ixpress CF 528 digital back... My favorite finder is the lupe finder.
Eric

 

[whlogan]

Well, the 6008 in the car is doing well, but the batteries do need a full charge once in a while. It has as roll of 220 that seems to go on forever! I am so glad I bought up a stock of Trix 220 when I did. It is bound to run out one of these days and then that'll be the end... too bad. 220 was a fine idea and I loved it for those trips out West.... but those days are getting fewer and ferer for me as I get older now. Oh well, they were suerly fine when they were possible. Perhaps some European manufacturer will fill that gap for us. It would be nice.
Logan

 

[jimtur35]

Just joined the group with a 6003 SRC 1000 + 80/2.8 Planar I bought in May this year, and then sent to Paepke Fototechnik to be fixed as the lens aperture settings did not match the led display. Faulty re-celled NiCD battery discarded and a new NiMH one installed, also.

Looking forward to sending off the first film I've loaded [XP2], and still figuring if the hand-grip really is "handy" when using the camera at waist level. And then there's that 10 metre remote release cable that came with it....

 

[Loegrian223]

I have just found my way here and detect an atmosphere of sadness that the Rollei 6000 series are not getting the attention they deserve. Here in the UK, we have a community of users including many pro's still using colour negs in 6000 cameras to produce incredible wedding and portraiture images. Although an amateur, I am a 6000 enthusiast and I use my 6008i and my Mark 2 SLX as much as possible, for my course work with NYIP and in general photography. I overcame the battery problems about 10 years ago by rewiring several 6000 NiCad battery packs with new cells and using a Maha charger to recondition (fully discharge) the other 2 packs. This brought them back to life and put paid to the 'memory effect' by which NiCads take less and less charge.
Now for a home truth on the Zeiss 6000 lenses. Word on the grapevine is that they have the edge on Hassies....the reason? There are over 70 kinds of glass available to Zeiss in Germany and a Hassie Planar and a Rollei Planar may look the same but the best glass chemistry somehow stays in Germany resulting in a slightly better performance for the Rollei. A legend in the making?

I also have an X-Act 2 which is one of the most incredible pieces of kit out there and very very easy to use. Just as well, because I dont have the instructions! Can anyone help. I will post a few of my 6000 shots just to get things moving with the rest of you. Theres a 6000 group on Flickr BTW with some nice material but 75% of the images are pretty commonplace and dont do justice to these wonderful instruments.

 

[taomeister]

Wow, yeah, this group is pretty barren. I'm hoping it's because APUG is primarily N. American (and there's very little Rollei on this continent it seems).

Just bought a 6003 SRC1000 from the UK (I'm all the way in Seattle, WA, USA). They are so hard to find and it seems like Hasselblad gets all the attention on youtube / word of mouth here in the USA. I hunted / shopped around for a 6x6 SLR system for a while before discovering the Rollei. In some ways the quirks / pain points really show - the Planar 80/2.8 takes so many turns to focus, and the 6003 screen is a bit hard to focus in dim light.

Hoping my first roll of Acros100 turns out nice - plan to get it done and developed this weekend.