Franke and Heidecke (Rollei MF cameras and projectors) close to an end

[TimVermont]

Very sad. Much as I liked the H'blad 2000 series, I LOVE my Rollei 6008AFs and Schneider lenses.

 

[cmo]

I wonder how this will affect Sinar, Leaf, and the Hy6, seeing as F&H was the company actually building the camera.

Here in Germany we hear that some people at Leica did not jump out of their skin. The end of the Hy6/Sinar/Leaf would leave just three digital middle format systems in the market, and that is Hasselblad H, Mamiya ZD/PhaseOne and Leica S2. if I were a camera manufacturer, I would probably be focused on sales, and today - sorry to mention that - it is not analog cameras where you make money to survive the crisis, simply because most analog photographers buy used equipment at bargain prices today.

BTW, Leica has stopped the Leica R system (that is confirmed) and will replace it with a DSLR system rebuilt from scratch (that is a sustained rumour).

 

[cmo]

But `Rollei´ had already at least two near-death experiences in the 70's. So, who knows...

I don't know when I stopped counting the Voigtländer near-death experiences and take-overs... and they share some of their history with Rollei. Leica has a good list of crises as well, I think it has almost become a part of their brand identity

 

[Q.G.]

I don't know when I stopped counting the Voigtländer near-death experiences and take-overs... and they share some of their history with Rollei. Leica has a good list of crises as well, I think it has almost become a part of their brand identity

But do understand that it is not (that says: not) Rollei that is insolvent.
It is Franke and Heidecke. A rather new company that thought it could make a success of what Rollei could not.

Rollei is still going strong. They just stopped making MF cameras some years ago (and that will be why).

 

[Klopstock]

If I get it right, Rollei is just the company that licenses the brand. I am also sure it will stay somehow for years. Voigtländer is also just a brand owned by the german Ringfoto company group.

 

[AgX]

But as Klopstock said `Rollei GmbH´ is not a manufacturing company. It is Franke & Heidecke who continue(d) the production of MF cameras and projectors for pictorial use.

 

[Q.G.]

That's right.
Rollei was (!) the manufacturer of Rolleiflex cameras, until they realized that it was not going well, and got out in time.
Franke & Heidecke then formed, because some other people thought it would go well for them.
It didn't.

 

[agGNOME]

Saw the Franke & Heidecke booth at PMA a few days ago. While the booth was not overrun with activity, the 3 reps. were showing off their cameras with pride. The Hy6 (with a film back) was obviously the centerpiece and it's a really nice system. They were also demonstrating a current 6000 series model, and the current wide and normal TLRs.

 

[Prest_400]

That's right.
Rollei was (!) the manufacturer of Rolleiflex cameras, until they realized that it was not going well, and got out in time.
Franke & Heidecke then formed, because some other people thought it would go well for them.
It didn't.

If F&H lowered the price or improved gratly the rolleiflex design, maybe this wouldn't have happened.
When did Rollei quit the 'flex manufacture, and when was this F&H formed?

 

[Ian Grant]

There's a lot of misinformation in this thread, Franke and Heidecke have always made Rollei cameras, the company was bought by Samsung in the mid 90's, a management buyout at the end of the decade then two or three years later it came under control of a Danish investment company.

This Danish company split the business into two the Rollei company who just trade re-badged products under the prestigious name and Franke and Heidecke who make the cameras and projectors that Rollei is famous for. Most cynics at the time felt that the Danish company were cashing in on the Rollei name.

Franke and Heidecke is the same company who have always made Rollei camera's etc albeit under different ownership. One reason that has been highlighted for the current insolvency is large undisclosed debts & liabilities that were not made known to the new owners last year.

Ian

 

[Q.G.]

There's a lot of misinformation in this thread, Franke and Heidecke have always made Rollei cameras, the company was bought by Samsung in the mid 90's, a management buyout at the end of the decade then two or three years later it came under control of a Danish investment company.

By that time, it no longer was called Franke and Heidecke.

This Danish company split the business into two the Rollei company who just trade re-badged products under the prestigious name and Franke and Heidecke who make the cameras and projectors that Rollei is famous for. Most cynics at the time felt that the Danish company were cashing in on the Rollei name.

They are.
They also stopped building MF cameras, because after the debacle of the 6008AF, things looked very dim for Rollei MF cameras.
And they were right.

What they (cleverly, cynics might say) managed to do was find some rather less clever people who were easily persuaded that they should buy that branch of the company, and have a go at it.
Not only that, but they also managed to extract a licence fee from that new company, so even though they sold the risk off to blue-eyed "Franke & Heidecke, the second coming", they retained a way to generate profits from Rollei cameras for as long as it would take F&H Mk II to run down.

Too cynical? Perhaps. But not too far off the truth.

Franke and Heidecke is the same company who have always made Rollei camera's etc albeit under different ownership.

It takes quite a stretch of the imagination to see F&H Mk II as the same company.
And it isn't. It's a new company (formed in 2005, Prest_400) who bought all the Rollei making stuff from Rollei (because Rollei new it was a dead end, etc. )

One reason that has been highlighted for the current insolvency is large undisclosed debts & liabilities that were not made known to the new owners last year.

That's right.

Among the skeletons that came out of the closet however also were the burden of having to pay Rollei (you know: that company that's still doing well), and the disappearing believe that they (F&H Mk II) could do what Rollei thought was not doable.

Still a pitty.

 

[dpurdy]

Well regardless of who is operating the machines and assembling the camera, the FX is still a very well made and beautiful Rolleiflex. The end of production just makes me glad I got one. And I am glad I got it before the latest skyrocket pricing taking it from 3000 to 5000. Just speaking for the TLRs though if the sales price has to be so high then it is not a viable product. You can get an older F model rebuilt and take a vacation to Mexico and still save money.

 

[Chazzy]

I just hope that the parts will be bought by camera repair people, instead of being discarded.

 

[AgX]

To be fair (and correct) that F&H are in insolvency (or rather have applied for that legal status) does not neccessarily mean they are out of business.

 

[Q.G.]

But reading that they already have tried to find a way out, i think the only thing that could be hoped for is that some company is lying in wait, waiting for the receiver to sell whatever there is to sell and scoop it up for far less than a rescue attempt would cost.
I doubt that there is a way for F&H Mk II to prolong itself.

 

[HerrBremerhaven]

If Leaf (actually owned by Eastman Kodak) or Sinar (owned by Jenoptik) want to continue the Hy6 system, they have two choices. One is making a deal for the tooling and skilled workers. The other is to wait until a liquidation of F&H, and buy what is left at bargain prices. The downside of the second choice is that they could run out of inventory and repair parts prior to liquidation going through. I don't imagine Leaf doing this, because EK is not in great shape financially. However, Jenoptik might find it of interest to continue the Hy6 under Sinar, and likely find a customer in Leaf. Also, due to the expense of these systems, and the need for back-up, they do accept film backs; when an MFDB takes a dump, then you put the film back on to complete the shoot.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography

 

[jwil6969]

I went to the Rollei website and sent them an e-mail asking where I could get repairs performed on my 6000 cameras and lens in the future. I received a response from a Herr Dietmar Kanzer, Marketing Manager, that stated:

"We had a meeting with the sequestor (trustee??) last Friday and the message was: the company is going on. He (didn't specify who) will look for new partners and shareholders."

So it would appear that all is not doom and gloom.

 

[archphoto]

They are fighting, that's for shure, I hate to see them go.....

 

[Chazzy]

I went to the Rollei website and sent them an e-mail asking where I could get repairs performed on my 6000 cameras and lens in the future. I received a response from a Herr Dietmar Kanzer, Marketing Manager, that stated:

"We had a meeting with the sequestor (trustee??) last Friday and the message was: the company is going on. He (didn't specify who) will look for new partners and shareholders."

So it would appear that all is not doom and gloom.

I wish them the best of luck. Apparently other companies making expensive cameras are managing to survive, so it appears that it can be done. But I would be the last person to suggest what they need to do differently, since I have no business sense at all.

 

[Distagon]

I went to the Rollei website and sent them an e-mail asking where I could get repairs performed on my 6000 cameras and lens in the future. I received a response from a Herr Dietmar Kanzer, Marketing Manager, that stated:

"We had a meeting with the sequestor (trustee??) last Friday and the message was: the company is going on. He (didn't specify who) will look for new partners and shareholders."

So it would appear that all is not doom and gloom.

I have got the same information from a different source. Currently the production is going on.
Let's hope the best that they find a new investor and can stay in the market.

 

[JanaM]

No, Kindermann still produces (or at least still sells) the 66T (link).

Yes, and besides Franke&Heidecke and Kindermann Götschmann in Munich is producing 4,5x6, 6x6 and 6x7 projectors as well. http://www.goetschmann.de/

Regards, Jana

 

[AgX]

A german online shop devoted to analogue photography has released a new Rollei collectors kit:
Dead Link Removed

In german online media it is stated that the shop wants to set a signal for the ongoing production at Franke & Heidecke.
The kit is said to be delivered in person worldwide and a photo story of the delivery will make part of a publication to come.

 

[archphoto]

This is why they did not make it: € 4100,- for a TLR with no changable optic's....... sorry out of my league !

Peter

 

[Q.G.]

The "kit" is even € 29.500,-.
That's only a bit shy of € 10.000,- per camera.

So € 4.100 is cheap.


You can get a decent car for € 29.500,-.

I'd rather have the kit.

 

[kavandje]

Dude. Gold plated Rolleiflexes in a wooden display case? That has to be the pimpiest ghastliness I have ever heard.

It's OK for collectors I guess, but I don't think I could bear to have those things in my house. I'd rather spend the money for a minty-good 2.8F, and blow the change on film, a suitably-equipped motorcycle and a ride from Cape Aghulas in South Africa to Nordkapp in Norway, via Braunschweig. And I'd have money left over.

Ah, but what film? I'm leaning towards Tri-X...