REMInder

NB23 · Oct 11, 2021

Don’t miss out on life.

Don’t die with a regret of not having used a Rolleiflex to its proper potential.

The Rolleiflex pre-F series have one single weak point: the dreadful screen. Buy a Mamiya RB/RZ 67 screen, dremel it down to the same size as the original screen you are now going to throw to the garbage, and let the camera bring you JOY every single time you touch it.

Die happy, knowing that you used a ROLLEIFLEX. Let your entourage die happy, now that they have been aimed at with your ROLLEIFLEX.

BrianShaw · Oct 11, 2021

I'm getting closer to needing a Rolleiflex. Keep it up!

grat · Oct 11, 2021

BrianShaw said:
I'm getting closer to needing a Rolleiflex. Keep it up!

Really? Every time I see one of these, I get farther away from having any desire to own one.

BrianShaw · Oct 11, 2021

Yes, really. If/when he gets to “N” I’ll probably start deciding which model I can’t live without.

brose · Oct 11, 2021

I may want to try this. Which of the several types of RB screens should I look for?

NB23 · Oct 11, 2021

BrianShaw said:
Yes, really. If/when he gets to “N” I’ll probably start deciding which model I can’t live without.

nder will be coming...

NB23 · Oct 11, 2021

That’s how it starts

BrianShaw · Oct 11, 2021

What a lucky young man!

NB23 · Oct 11, 2021

brose said:
I may want to try this. Which of the several types of RB screens should I look for?

believe me, the difference is so drastic! The original screens are so bad, At one time I just wanted to throw my 2.8E on the sidewalk. I felt like a blind man trying to see, looking through that screen. The Mamiya are so great.

Any RB/RZ screens are ok (except one, I’ll have to check).
The Mamiya screens come with a frame and a glass with markings/lines/dotted lines over them. You unscrew the frame, take away the glass with markings and you keep only the plastic screen which is plain with a focusing circle in the middle.

reddesert · Oct 11, 2021

There are ebay sellers from Asia who sell affordable modern focusing screens for the Rolleiflex, if you don't want to dremel. I have not used one, but I got one for another camera and it was fine.

If you start messing around with this, inspect the mirror. I know the mirror on my TLR is shot and needs to be replaced; that makes the focusing screen pretty dim. There is another ebay seller (this one's in the US) who has very inexpensive replacement front surface mirrors cut to fit for a variety of TLR models.

mtjade2007 · Oct 11, 2021

BrianShaw said:
I'm getting closer to needing a Rolleiflex. Keep it up!

I was so close to own one. Actually I owned one but only for 3 days. I bought one with a planar 3.5 and a built-in light meter from Ewert Photo in Santa Clara. 3 days later when I operated the camera to exercise the shutter without film the shutter broke. I brought it back to the store hoping they would fix it under warranty. But no they offered to refund me or pay another $150 for fixing it. I took the refund and walked away. Back then I could get one for about $300 but that bad experience had kept me away.

brose · Oct 12, 2021

NB23- I recently acquired a Rolleiflex 3.5 E2. It has a removable finder. Do you know if using an RB screen requires a focusing calibration? Appreciate your info.

macfred · Oct 12, 2021

NB23 said:
Don’t miss out on life.

Don’t die with a regret of not having used a Rolleiflex to its proper potential ...

Good reminder - I use my 3.5F regularly to capture young ladies by the sea ...

Dan Daniel · Oct 12, 2021

Mamiya screens have gone up in price in the last couple of years. You used to be able to get them for $30-50 pretty easily. Now $120 plus is common, and to get one for under $70 takes lots of patience. Highly recommend Rick Oleson's screens. He does the cutting to size, saving the possibility of you scratching up your $120 dollar slab of molded plastic. $80.

https://rickoleson-brightscreen.com/

Always good to adjust focus after changing a screen. Rick includes instructions. There are two methods. One is to open the front of the lens board and change the focus on the viewing lens. The second is to shim either the screen or the hood as needed.

(it is the D model of the Mamiya screens that isn't much use. A single + sign etched in the center of a ground glass with no fresnel to even out the light. A- matte, and B- split work well. There is a C-microprism where the microprism circle is very small and I find hard to use on a TLR.)

NB23 · Oct 12, 2021

brose said:
NB23- I recently acquired a Rolleiflex 3.5 E2. It has a removable finder. Do you know if using an RB screen requires a focusing calibration? Appreciate your info.

The removable top rolleiflexes won’t need calibration. The non-removable top models supposedly would need a slight calibration, from what I learned on google, but so far the rolleiflex 2.8E and my rolleicords are still focusing accurately. Or within my own personal acceptability, which is pretty narrow.

I cannot stress it enough: all the non removable top rolleiflexes and rolleicords have absolutely horrific screens. It’s a shame because the view, the screen, is how a user defines his shooting experience.
The upgrade that a good screen brings to non-removable top rolleiflexes and rolleicords is Gigantic. Everything changes. I don’t understand how come this weak point was accepted by the company. It’s like if the fines Armani 3-piece suit came with a tie made from toilet paper. Nice way to ruin the whole thing.

Oh, and another huge upgrade to any Rolleicord, besides a mamiya screen, or a very respectable Rolleiflex screen that comes from a 2.8F/3.5F/T, is to install a shutter release button such as the one I have attached to this post. This shutter button transforms the rolleicord into a nicer rolleiflex shooting experience.

rcap · Oct 12, 2021

I purchased my 3.5E in 2008 from Krimar Photo Shop. I had a Maxwell screen installed by Krikor Maralian at that time.

I still have the original screen in an envelope.

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