Focusing a TLR

Yes, it does happen but only if one had left the film in the camera for days, and even then it would only affect the image that directly follows. Zeiss recommends to skip this image in the case that absolute sharpness is needed. If you load the film and shoot it immedeately within some hours, film bulge is no problem, neither with Rollei TLRs nor with Hasselblads or other mf-cameras.
The mentioned glass plate was used in some Rollei TLRs in the 50s, but Franke&Heidecke abandoned it after a short time, because it only made a very minute difference and easily attracted dust and the like. Improvements of sharpness were only visible at full aperture and even then they were very small.

Best Regards, Benjamin

Rolleiflexible said:

I'm sorry. If the camera is consistently out of
focus, I will bet my apartment that it is not film
bulge. I have shot, literally, over 10,000 rolls
through an assortment of Rolleiflexes, including
two Tele Rolleiflexes, of people close-up, and
nearly all at wide apertures, and it is the rare
roll that is not perfectly focused on the irises of
my subjects' eyes -- and that is so whether the
eyes are in the center of the frame or at the very
edge.

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May I say that those are some really amazing portraits. Superb work there!

ic-racer said:

Film bulge does happen with Rolleiflex TLRs. In fact they made a glass plate that fits in front of the film to eliminate the problem.

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As another poster already noted, the glass
plate does not prove your point.

Have you observed this "film bulge" occurring
in a Rolleiflex TLR? Have you worked at any
length with a Rolleiflex TLR? How does the
problem manifest, in your experience? Can you
post examples of negatives made with a Rolleiflex
that exhibit "film bulge"? If you cannot answer
these questions "yes" and provide examples, I
will conclude that my own experience with the
cameras is typical, and that you argue from
hypotheticals and hearsay.

Wow - interesting discussion about film bulge and glass plate, neither of which I was ever aware of.
I'm reactivating the thread (reviving a slumbering horse) with a simple question. My life has been busy and it's taken me this long to resume testing. I have confirmed the focus error with careful focusing (with a Scheider classic 4x lupe), and found that personally, my best focus is with the magnifier (the one that hinges to the hood) and my naked left eye.
I did a careful (yes, tripod mounted) test with film loaded and shot within 1/2 hour and determined that the camera, at near the closest focal point, wide open, focuses an inch or two behind on the film, relative to where I focus on the glass.
My question: This means that the ground glass is too far from the viewing lens, right - as opposed to too close? (assuming parallel between the lenses hasn't been compromised).
I should add that this has never been a problem before the CLA (mentioned at the beginning of the thread).

George, your first post suggested the error was greater than an inch or two, but yes, if the screen is too high it will cause this fault. If the front standard tilts forwards (downwards) as it racks forwards - same result. A slightly displaced lens cell in either lens could allow both lenses to be (roughly) in agreement at infinity but not at close focus, or vice versa.
I'm not clear whether you used the loupe instead of the WLF magnifier - or at the film plane with a ground-glass. If the latter then you should by now know exactly the extent of the problem and whether it's affected by any looseness of the focus mechanism.
Setting the screen/lens/film plane for infinity focus is adequate for SLR's but TLR's also need checking for close-focus agreement between screen & film plane.
Is the repairer who carried out the CLA aware of your concerns yet?
I would have wished to be.

Unclemack
Yes, I have contacted him and he has offered to check it out, since focus was one if the things he calibrated, I just hate to be without the camera, although he was prompt in returning it the first time.
Thanks for the post.