Dusting off an old Rolleiflex

I've got a Rolleflex Automat that I would like to start using. I just want to make sure I get everything right before I start burning film with it.

Serial # 1,231,543
According to the database at Rolleiclub.com, it is an Automat 6x6 - Model K4A.

Appears to be in good condition. The interior is clean. I dry fired the shutter several times and it seems to work right but it has been in storage for many years.

From what I gather, as you load the film, you must put the paper leader underneath the metal roller at the bottom of the film compartment before you thread over the film gate and onto the takeup spool. That is what engages the frame counter.

Does this mechanism need to be checked or adjusted? Does the thickness of modern film as compared to the film that was available at the time the camera was made affect its operation?

Is there anything else I need to look out for before I go burning up film?

T.I.A.

I have the same automat as you, can't think of anything else you need to know, I have used my automat with HP5, Trix and fomapan without problem, you slip the leader though the 2 rollers,attach to the take up spool, wind a turn or two, close the back and wind on, that is all there is to it, have fun with it,
Richard

Cool!
Thanks!

I've got four rolls of Tri-X and a roll of Fuji Reala.
Should be more than enough for a test drive.

The weather is crappy, today. Rainy and cloudy.
Weather Underground (www.wunderground.com) predicts that it's not due to clear up until Wednesday but the weather will stay nice through the weekend.

I've got a few days to study up and dust it off.

One funny thing I noticed...
There's a data plate on the back of the camera that says you're only supposed to use this camera in sunlight between the hours of 9:00 a.m and 3:00 p.m., from May through August.

Gee! It seems like I'm about a two months late! I hope I don't have to wait until next spring to use it!

Randy, the data plate is an exposure guide, study it and you will find it to be surprisingly accurate, you get these on all old rollei's both flex and cord. Incidently, don't worry if the film counter starts advancing as you wind the film to start before you close the camera back, it is easy to trip the rollers when you insert the film leader, but it will reset when you close the camera back, and also make sure the film is tight by putting you thumb on the full roll as you wind on to the start mark, this helps keep things tight for the frame spacing in all rolleis,
just enjoy using a beautiful camera, the ''Leica'' of the mf world,
Richard

I am on record in a couple of forums with a problem I have with Fuji Acros tripping the auto feeler. The tape they use is like scotch tape, very thin and very flat. My Rollei 2.8F frequently fails to feel it and I roll the roll right through. A couple of people from out there in internet world have contacted me to say they have the same problem. Acros is fortunately or unfortunately my favorite film so I fixed my problem by putting exactly one layer of masking tape around the feeler roller that film goes under. That fixed it perfectly. It has never failed since. It is probable that my camera and others with the problem could be adjusted to a tighter tolerance and I will consider that when I next need a CLA. But for a couple of years now it has been fine.
Personally I think that auto feeler is more trouble than it is worth. I am happy with a red dot and an arrow.
I have been doing a bit of research on your old K4A lately as I have a friend wanting to buy one off ebay. That was a really successful model for Rollei and they made a lot of them for a few years. I think they are probably the best Rollei deal value wise on ebay these days.
Dennis

I think you will love the camera. It sounds like you are ready to shoot. I found mine at a garage sale and didn't know to load the film under the roller. After pure frustration of cranking through entire rolls multiple times, I put the camera on the shelf for months, thinking it was broken. Only after looking online and reading about the roller did I realize it was my fault. If you haven't used a TLR before, it will take a little getting use to. Remember the parallax, especially if shooting close. Enjoy!

As my trade is a movie theater technician, I have developed the habit reading manuals and doing my homework before I do anything.

Up to this point, the only 120/Medium format cameras I have used are a Yashica Mat and a Zeiss Ikonta. On both of those, you align the arrows on the film leader to the start mark on the edge of the film gate.

Previous to this, the only experience I have with MF is second hand. I only watched other people do it. My own experience has been with 35mm, up to this point. Honestly, I'm really liking it.

Probably my most favorite thing is the fact that the ƒ-stops do not have detents. I like taking my meter readings, incident, highlight, shadow or mids then being able to use my judgment to decide on the final aperture setting. I'll often take a meter reading then look at the scene again and decide, "Hmmm... Just a little bit more." I like the way the camera makes me THINK about the picture I'm going to take. When I go back to using the 35mm, I do even better work because I have learned to think about photography.

No matter how much of a fan you are of digital photography, this is one thing that you can not learn on a digi-cam. Even if you plan on shooting with digital cameras for the rest of your life, I think you should spend one summer shooting with nothing but a Rollei. By the time you go back to your digi-cam, your photography skills will have increased tenfold, if not more.

Don't worry... I'm not going digital any time soon. I have too many good film cameras, half of which I have barely even looked at yet. Among which is a Rolleicord and a Graflex RB Super D. I'll probably be dead before I ever master them all!

BTW: The 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., May through August thing was supposed to be a joke.

Just an update...

I have a spoiled roll of film (Tri-X) lying around on my darkroom bench from when I went to load a roll of film into my Yashica only to discover there was already a roll in the camera. I didn't want to bother developing a half-used, mostly spoiled roll of film so there it sat.

So, I rerolled that film onto another spool so it was heads out again and used it to dry-run my Rollei.

It works pretty well.

I had one hiccup on the second frame. The film advance was still locked and I had to double expose one frame. After that, the whole roll of film ran through without problems. Rewound the film and ran it through again and the camera worked without problems.

I'm going to chalk it up to the fact that the camera has been sitting unused for 20 years. The mechanism might be stiff due to a long period of disuse. This has been the case with several of the old cameras in my collection but, once they have been cleaned up and a roll of film or two is run through them, they work just fine. I expect the same thing with this camera.

I've never had a camera that auto-senes the start of the roll like this. It's really neat but it'll take some getting used to. All of the other cameras I have must be manually aligned upon threading.

German craftsmanship at its best! Eh?

Indeed.

My great uncle died in 1985, so that is technically that last time my two Rolleiflexes could have been used. I only discovered them last year in June, so from August of 1985 to June of 2010 they went unused, and now I have had about ten rolls through each camera over the past year and they still work beautifully.

Andy

My father passed away back in August of 1991, so I got his Rolleiflex back then. Execellent camera!

Jeff

I'm going to take the camera out soon. The weather is finally clearing up and I hope to have some time to go shoot this weekend. I'm kinda' psyched!

I have an analogy in mind:
If you have an old car or motorcycle, etc., that you have kept in the garage for a long time it is wise to take it out on the road every so often and drive it at highway speed just to keep it from deteriorating due to disuse. However, when you first get out on the road, it is wise to drive slowly for the first few miles until you are sure the engine isn't subject to too much strain until the oil gets flowing, etc.

So, with that in mind, I'll be sure to use the camera carefully for the first couple of rolls and be on the lookout for problems.
After that, I'll decide whether it is one of the cameras I want to use regularly. If so, I'll likely send it for a CLA.

My problem is that I have so many great cameras that I want to have cleaned and I don't have the money to do them all.

Even so, this camera is in my "Top 3" list, so far.