argentic
Member
I'm teetering between a Rolleiflex TLR and a Hasselblad 'starter set';
Am I missing anything?
Yes you are !
Have you ever thought about the Rolleiflex SL 66 series? A Hasselblad-like single lens reflex system by Rollei, with intechangeable lenses and filmbacks. The lenses are optically exactly the same Zeiss lenses as Hasselblad. But with a number of advantages.
The SL66 series is the only medium format camera with tilt ! ( Apart from the fuji GX 680 which is to heavy to use outside the studio.) Tilt permits you to incline the lenspanel, creating sharp photographs from nearby to infinity with large apertures (Scheimpflug). Ofcourse a field camera has even more possibilities, but for landscapes the SL66 tilt is more than enough.
The SL66 lenses have a special bajonet in front of the lens to retromount them. Thus you get 1:1 macro without special lenses.
Focusing is done with a built-in bellows up to 250 mm.
The rolleiflex SL66 has an in-camara shutter. This permits you to mount every imaginable lens you like if you are a bit handy. Most SL66 lenses don't have a shutter wich makes for less repairs. But lenses with shutters also exist.
Other very practical things are built-in depth of field scales for lenses from 50 to 250 mm. In-camera depth of field control button, macro light correction scales, exchangeable viewers and screens etc. These camera's are very ruggedly built, and younger models have flash contacts, and light metering.
The SL66's were Barry Thornton's preferred cameras. He writes about them extensively in his books.
I shoot with a Rolleiflex SL66 for ten years, and wouldn't even think about exchanging it against a Hasselblad.