Rollei SLR's: Unloved in the States?

[Sirius Glass]

I am not being pedantic. The Hasselblads without motor drive are lighter than the other cameras.

The Bronica SQB is a bit lighter, 1460g vs 1565g according to the spec sheets.

But who uses a body without lens? Any practical comparison should be with a lens, best a standard lens.

Yep.

 

[film_man]

Yep.

Well obviously the values I mentioned are for a complete kit.

 

[DAVID GEORGE WATSON]

From what I understand Rollei had a license from Zeiss for their lens design. Hence the use of the Zeiss names. They are identical, optically, but the Rollei coating might have been their own. The license was never updated, so, while Hasselblad later had the newer Zeiss glad, the Rollei optics never changed. Only the electronic part, including shutter.

Yes, you are correct from info I was given by a friend in Eutin,. Much, if not all the electronics were made by Samsung who bought into the Company. Rollei also produced under License certain Zeiss lenses, but used their own coatings , which produced more acceptable results apparently. Clearly things have moved on somewhat, and the involvement of Schneider and their innovative lenses have been a great benefit to Rollei. Just wish I could afford a HY6 Mk2!

 

[Pieter12]

The other downside was many AD's looked for the Blad notches on the contact sheets / light table and if you were using a non-Blad camera they would whine your images weren't sharp enough.

I worked as an AD for forty years. I know this is an old thread, but if the AD wasn't on the shoot then he or she wasn't doing their job. Looking for the notches is just snobbery. As an AD, one would expect the photographer to be using state of the art gear in top condition and with back-ups, but not care what the brand was. Hiring a photographer can be a difficult decision to make, but once the job is assigned you need to trust the photographer to have the proper equipment, studio space and crew. The only time I questioned a photgrapher about his choice of gear was when a well-known, successful shooter proposed shooting 35mm for an image that was intended for a 20x30" poster. The shot came out great and enlarged to poster size with no issues.

 

[wiltw]

The Hasselblad 500C launched in 1957, but Rollei did not launch the SL66 until 9 years later...hard to catch up in view of such a long period of success for Hassy 500C! And the follow on SLX launched in the early 1970's did not enjoy a good reputation for reliability, in face of the Hasselblad's proven reliability and selection for the US space program. The 6006 did not emerge until 1984. The technical advances of the 6000 series forced Hasselblad to respond with the 503 series in 1988, with TTL flash capability about 4 years after it appeared in 135 SLRs, but Rollie could not fight a good fight for market share when at a serious pricing disadvantage...as I stated very early in this thread,

I found this in a 2005 article,​

"The 6008 AF weighs 1,500 grams and is 143 x 139 x 124mm without the lens. It is available through specialty retailers at an estimated retail price of $15,000."​

 

[Pieter12]

The Hasselblad 500C launched in 1957, but Rollei did not launch the SL66 until 9 years later...hard to catch up in view of such a long period of success for Hassy 500C! And the follow on SLX launched in the early 1970's did not enjoy a good reputation for reliability, in face of the Hasselblad's proven reliability and selection for the US space program. The 6006 did not emerge until 1984. The technical advances of the 6000 series forced Hasselblad to respond with the 503 series in 1988, with TTL flash capability about 4 years after it appeared in 135 SLRs, but Rollie could not fight a good fight for market share when at a serious pricing disadvantage...as I stated very early in this thread,

I found this in a 2005 article,​

"The 6008 AF weighs 1,500 grams and is 143 x 139 x 124mm without the lens. It is available through specialty retailers at an estimated retail price of $15,000."​

Victor Hasselblad and Reinhold Heidecke (the Rollei maker) supposedly had an informal "non-compete" agreement that Hasselblad would not make a TLR and Rollei wouldn't make an SLR. Heidecke died in 1960 and Hasselblad died in the late 70's. Rollei finally entered the medium format SLR market in the mid 60's. The 6000 series Rollei SLRs are excellent and sophisticated cameras, but very pricey when they were new.

 

[Steven Lee]

My recollection of the photo industry progress is that European camera makers generally struggled with adding electricity to their cameras. If you wanted a fully mechanical system they did well. Anything electric and the Japanese fared better. Mechanical Rolleis were much too late to the party dominated by the 500-series, and their later 6000+ cameras struggled just like any other electromechanical European camera, including the 200-series or H-series Hassies (my sense is that they never got as popular as the 500-series). Mamiya ate their lunch. Or look at Leica. They've been losing to Japanese SLRs and to their own mechanical Ms for decades.

I have no numbers to back this up, that's just how I always felt reading photography magazines and looking around at weddings.

 

[JamesEsq]

Although I have Hassy V and H cameras, my Rollei SL200F, SL66SE, and 6008 Integral are just more satisfying. They're quirky, but more charming.

 

[Arthurwg]

I had a 6008i but all that plastic and high-tech wizardry just made me nervous. It worked perfectly and took great pictures but I felt it would not last. That's when I sold it and moved on to the Hasselblad V-system. Not as many bells and whistles but solid and wonderful to use. Very happy.

 

[Sirius Glass]

In 2007 when I went to trade in my inherited Mamiya C300 with three lenses and every accessory for it in the known world, I was interested in the Rollei 6000 or one of its brothers or a Hasselblad. Samy's Camera advised me that there were few Rolleis available and fewer Rollei lenses available and service which they did was harder due to limited parts. The advised that I get a Hasselblad. I got the 503 CX and never looked back. Always plenty of choices for Hasselblad lenses and backs the Samy's Camera Hasselblad service is first rate.

 

[Anaxagore]

I remember buying my 6008AF in 2007 when I was in Austin, TX. There was not a single reseller in the area, and after contacting the distributor, I could only get it as a special order from HCE in Houston. That it how bad their distribution network was in the USA. Luckily Eric started his business and things have improved with his remote sales, but without local shops that let people realize that Rollei (DW) 1) has made SLRs for a while, not only TLRs 2) still manufactures them, it certainly must be hard for US sales to pick up.

 

[ic-racer]

Although I have Hassy V and H cameras, my Rollei SL200F, SL66SE, and 6008 Integral are just more satisfying. They're quirky, but more charming.

Always wanted a SL66SE. Still occasionally considering it for one purpose. The 30 fisheye for that camera is much more affordable than the 30 fisheye for the 6000. I could get a body and lens!

 

[ic-racer]

I remember buying my 6008AF in 2007 when I was in Austin, TX. There was not a single reseller in the area, and after contacting the distributor, I could only get it as a special order from HCE in Houston. That it how bad their distribution network was in the USA. Luckily Eric started his business and things have improved with his remote sales, but without local shops that let people realize that Rollei (DW) 1) has made SLRs for a while, not only TLRs 2) still manufactures them, it certainly must be hard for US sales to pick up.

Glass to see they are still going strong. I got my Nikon F6 and Rollei Hy6 at about the same time. I would have predicted Nikon would last longer as a manufacturer than Rollei but I was wrong.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Glass to see they are still going strong. I got my Nikon F6 and Rollei Hy6 at about the same time. I would have predicted Nikon would last longer as a manufacturer than Rollei but I was wrong.

For the first time.

 

[ic-racer]

For the first time.

Technically I did not actually predict..."...would have predicted..."

 

[lxdude]

In 2007 when I went to trade in my inherited Mamiya C300 with three lenses and every accessory for it in the known world, I was interested in the Rollei 6000 or one of its brothers or a Hasselblad. Samy's Camera advised me that there were few Rolleis available and fewer Rollei lenses available and service which they did was harder due to limited parts. The advised that I get a Hasselblad. I got the 503 CX and never looked back. Always plenty of choices for Hasselblad lenses and backs the Samy's Camera Hasselblad service is first rate.

Samy's is worth going into just for the multicolor display of re-covered Hasselblads!

 

[Sirius Glass]

Samy's is worth going into just for the multicolor display of re-covered Hasselblads!

Sometimes I think about recovering all my Hasselblads and lenses with the blue covering.

 

[lxdude]

Sometimes I think about recovering all my Hasselblads and lenses with the blue covering.

I do think the bright yellow is a bit much for a Hasselblad...

 

[Sirius Glass]

I do think the bright yellow is a bit much for a Hasselblad...

I agree. Blue or Red are much nicer. I prefer Blue.