NEW Voigtlander with Rollei QBM!!!

There is a lot of Rolleiflex SL bodies out there, and I'd probably hunt down one of these than go for some Canon plastic piece of junk, although Canon junk is plentiful and cheap because there are so many out there and because worn plastic bodies look like hell and therefore don't hold their value as much.

The SL 35 M is big and bulky. The real downside of the later Rolleis is that they're unreliable. Finding a working body can be very much hit or miss, while most Canon plastic wonders seem to be still working.

From the SL 35 M onward, the viewing screens were big improvements over other cameras both in brightness and with the diagonal split screen, which is even easier to use than the horizontal split image.

Canon makes two lines of lenses: Consumer and pro. Consumer level is good enough, can occasionally feel cheap and is appropriately priced. It's "L" pro-level lenses are much more sturdy and again are priced to match.

One of the nicest vintage Carl Zeiss lenses for the Rollei is the f/2.8 85mm Sonnar. It's very sharp with lots of character and adequate speed. It generally sells in the $250 price range.

There also is/was the budget Rolleinar lenses (reportedly made by Mamiya), which perform very well.

I guess there isn't much point to posting now, as the OP asked his question 2 years ago....

But about Rolleis:
The SL35-M is *not* Identical to the Voigtländer VSL 1. They are very similar and both derived from the Icarex, but the VSL 1 has much more metal in it and, notably, has a much better shutter speed dial (including the smoothness of the click stops).

The SL35-E (= Voigtländer VSL 3-E) was notorious for its electronic problems, but those were fixed in the later series cameras and in those sent back for repair.
While probably not the World's most reliable camera, one now working properly will probably keep working for a good while...
It is a very nice user.
I have 3, just in case!

The SL35 can be fairly reliable (if you find a working one), I just don't like it. The very expensive-because-sought-for-by-collectors SL35O could be a definite improvement and looks interesting, if you have money. I keep hoping to find one of those mythical Spotmatics with a Rollei mount.

Selling Zeiss lenses to *upgrade* to Canon EF is pure nonsense, unless you really want autofocus.
With one or two exceptions, the newer lenses will *not* bring you better quality. In most cases it will be a definite downgrade.

Another advantage of the Rolleiflex system is that the 35mm f/2.8 and the 85mm f/2.8 (both reputedly different schemes from the Contax equivalents) are excellent and tiny, making them my SLR lenses of choice for travelling/mountains.

The SL35-M has proven dependable so far. I have been using zinc-air cells for the meter and I was able to make a -4 dopter viewfinder lens so that I can use the eyecup to keep extraneous light from affecting the meter.

I agree on the 35 f2.8 as a nice compact lens, its not much bigger than a 50mm. I'm still looking for the 85mm.

In the last two years, though, I did loose function of an SL2000F, but I got a new-to-me one off e-bay. So I have two 3003s and two 2000Fs but one needs repair. I was fortunate enough to buy a NEW 3003 in 1996 as a backup. But I still miss having a working SL35E.

There is a very good and cheap repairman in The Netherlands (fixed my 3003 when several things burned out), he asked less than half of what the official Rollei repair place in Germany did. If back & forth across the Atlantic isn't too expensive to be viable, I'll gladly look up his address.

The good news is that the 85mm f/2.8 is nearly identical in size with the 35mm f/2.8. If I didn't have very different lens shades permanently mounted on them, telling them apart could be a real problem.

SL35-Es (& VSL 3-Es) are fairly easy to find over here, though shipping costs could end up being more than the camera itself.

BTW: You do know that only NiCd accumulators should be used on the 2000F & 3003?

Yes, I have rebuilt each one of my power packs at least once. The same Sanyo N-700AAC NiCads are used for radio controlled model transmitters and receivers, and they have served me well.

I'd appreciate any addresses you have. I had an SL2000f repaired by Marflex in New Jersey in 1987, but I think they only to TLRs now.

De Kamera
Hans Klinkhamer
Batavenstraat 47
7041 VA 's-Heerenberg
telefoon: 0314-668755
info@dekamera.com

Not only did he repair the obvious at a very good price, the camera came back with a cleaned viewfinder, an adjusted film magazine and he had tested the individual accumulators (not packs) I had sent and found some defective ones (now I have my own tester) - basically a complete & thorough CLA.
While I hope I'll never need his services again, if I do, I'll certainly contact him first...

I got a batch of 20 Sanyo 700s after the repair: they really seem to make the camera happy...
;-)


Other possibly useful addresses here:
http://www.sl66.com/pg/repair.shtml

F&H informed me they no longer repair the SL2000F/3003 themselves and referred me to Paepke (the expensive bid).

Hamster said:

Apparently back in the 80's there was a crazy in converting Spotmatics to Rollei mount.

Click to expand...

Do you have any information how this is to be done? Or where I could find a manual to do it?

ki_ said:

Do you have any information how this is to be done? Or where I could find a manual to do it?

Click to expand...

Sadly not, but since the auto diafragm mechanism is practicaly identical (the M42 adapter for Rollei QBM works perfectly), it should just be a matter of properly machining the Spotmatic body to somehow accept a Rollei mount flange.