Rollei TLR recommendations...

joel dallenbach · Jun 22, 2007

planars sell for more than xenotars it seems. A guy at the shop, b&h used store in New York City, told me that a lot of people prefer Xenotar for black and white. I bought a funky user 2.8 c from the shop but it didn't work out. Some light leaks, So I returned this camera, but not before I had fallen in love with it. Later that year I bought a 2.8 d, it wasn't the same, in fact, I hated that camera. It's got dropped a couple of times etc. bad vibe on that beast. Recently I'm back to a 2.8 C with xenotar, It's like brand new. Some how it doesn't have the funky vibe that the one from b&h had, but maybe it has more to do with how it doesn't smell like a subway. It's like brand new after a CLA and well, I dig it because it's mint and I kinda love 2.8 c's. Probably the last rolleiflex made before mamiya and 35mm began to knock Rolleiflex out of the market. Made the year b4 the m3 leica. Does anyone agree with the counterman at b&h, that there is a significant advantage to having xenotar for black and white? and that planar is more for collectors and or those who will settle for nothing but the best, the lenses that Hasselblad uses etc,... Planar models tend to be later w/ meters, this is probably the big sell. I want them all!

Rolleiflexible · Jun 22, 2007

One of the guys in the B+H used department, Chris, used to work for Ken Hansen before going to B+H. I am sure it wasn't Chris who told you that. There is no meaningful difference between the Xenotar and the Planar. They are for all intents and purposes the same lens. F+H bought from both Zeiss and Schneider as needed to meet demand. Both lenses were put to the same quality control. F+H did not prefer one over the other -- you are as likely to find a Xenotar in a model with a meter as a Planar. The T models all used Zeiss Tessars, the Rolleicords all used Schneider Xenars, otherwise there is no correlation between model and lens manufacturer.

The 2.8C is a sweet camera. It is the last Rolleiflex to have the older shutter design, with a 10-bladed iris for a rounder aperture. The case has subtle Art Deco touches that later models lacked. Lovely piece of equipment.

Sanders

Anscojohn · Jun 23, 2007

A Rollei with a 3.5 Planar

joel dallenbach · Jun 25, 2007

thanks sanders, for the bit about the 10 bladed iris etc,... I have an old automat circa '49 with tessar,is it the same iris configuration? 2.8c The main thing I'd like to do now, since I have a couple rollei's is learn how to photograph with them. Little things trip me up with the rolleiflex. First of all, sometimes I forget to advance the film. Usually this is when I make an exposure where I want to remain inconspicious. I fire of the shutter and then try not to even think about the camera swinging aroung my neck. The last thing I want when trying to be slick is someone catching me at it, so no film advance after the duty to alarm anyone that a picture may or may not result from my movements. Seems too often that these pictures I make, trying to be sneaky betray themselves. They always look forced, contrived, pretentious,... and they it happens, something lines up, I'll find the camera jump into action, into the moment and since the shutter isn't ready, no photograph. Lost to history. So maybe the key is to not think about being sneaky with a rollei. But rather, concentrait efforts toward naturalism, become one with the machine as it were. Obviously The first rollei I fell in love with, had to do with the way the camera looked, smelled and handled. Basically I liked it because who ever used it before I did, put a lot of miles on it. If that camera could talk! So now with my almost brand new version of the same issue camera. Is there a significance of serial numbers numerology and the psychic aspects of divination,....

Ulrich Drolshagen · Jun 26, 2007

joel dallenbach said:
So now with my almost brand new version of the same issue camera. Is there a significance of serial numbers numerology and the psychic aspects of divination,....

May be, you are looking for something like this:

http://www.rolleiclub.com/cameras/tlr/info/index.shtml

Ulrich

joel dallenbach · Jul 5, 2007

Ulrich,
That was very helpful. Now I want to know where this tiny ding came from on my 2.8 c. And after only 20 rolls etc,... very minor. I find rolleiflex extremely difficult to use. I find Rolleiflex impossible not to use. I tried to substitute another camera for my perpetual necklace etc. I found myself trying to open the top of an slr. Felt awkward. Does anyone carry a couple of these at once, so that when changing film there's some insurance to capture images?

dpurdy · Jul 5, 2007

It is like anything else. If you stick with the Rollei TLR for a long time it becomes second nature and is not extremely difficult to use. It is extremely easy to use. I use two cameras in studio work and that makes changing film less frequent. But I wouldn't want to carry two along on a walk. No system will give you insurance to capture images. Even with
"it's so simple you shoot like a pro" Or "you push the button we'll do the rest" Capturing the image has more to do with who you are than it does what camera you use.

joel dallenbach · Jul 5, 2007

"it's so simple you shoot like a pro" Or "you push the button we'll do the rest" maybe I wanted to try the dual rollei concept out, but I can only handle one at a time. It seems easier to use two hands when working with a rollei. But as with any street photos, it kinda pays sometimes do all the rest, pre focus cock the shutter, set the exposure before you push the button. I wonder if there are any good films which show rolleis in action, photographers using them etc,...

joel dallenbach · Jul 6, 2007

The more I work with the rollei, the better it is. Funny how when I started photography the slr was king, you'd almost never see a TLR in a magazine or in a used department of a catalogue. Even in shutterbug. this was the late 70's and early 80's, but when my camera was made, the Rolleiflex was the most popular camera in the world.

dpurdy · Jul 7, 2007

Yep. Now I own a boat load of gear from being a photographer all my life. 8X10s and 4X5 with battery of great lenses used to be my only serious photography tools. A Pentax 67 with several lenses I got thinking I would do a bunch of weddings and MF landscape. 3 Nikons and bunches of lenses now just for 4 weddings a year. It was for several years that my Rolleiflex was just for film tests and vacations. It would go months unused. Then gradually I found that I liked the work I did with it and liked using it and now after upgrading several times I wonder why I own any other camera at all. The Rollei has become my camera of choice for everything. I just got a brand new FX and am waiting for the Maxwell screen to be installed but I still love my 2.8F Xenotar and will never sell it. I have to think seriously though of why am I sitting on such great LF lenses.

joel dallenbach · Jul 9, 2007

Rolleis are figuring back into the photographic landscape. Last night outside a local resturant four people approached, three claimed rolleiflex ownership and one claimed he knew the owner of a rolleiflex. My 3.5 automat was mistaken for a Rolleicord! I had the Luck of running into Jay Maisel a couple of years ago at an airport, and went to a lecture he gave to a group of asmp photographers. His main thing is to always have a camera around your neck ready to go. Rolleiflex is a good solution to the ever ready camera. Recently the Xpan fell within my arsenal with the telephoto lens, I've been told that these are the latest rage, Mine eats batteries, so call me a square but I'll stick with yesterdays papers for a while, at least until I can find a reasonably priced 45mm lens for the xpan. I got a great price on the xpan, it is a dinged up user but,... the glass is astonishing,... Batteries are a drag. Why don't I Change the Batteries? Xpan too trendy? Maybe if I'd stop playing that guitar etc,...

RobertP · Jul 9, 2007

I've owned a 3.5 E Planar since Nixon was president and you would probably get one of my ULF cameras before you would get it. And with the exception of the new ones, that I have never used, I have shot with most of the lenses that were ever issued with these cameras. The 3.5 E Planar will be the last to leave the arsenal........It breaths.....and by that ,I mean, if I have to explain then most wouldn't understand

Rolleiflexible · Jul 10, 2007

My first Rolleiflex was a 3.5E, that Ken Hansen sold to me. I looked at all the other Rolleiflexes on the shelf behind him, and the Hasselblads, but Ken put the 3.5E on the counter and said, "No, young man, this is the camera for you." And I bought it. I've since bought and sold other rolleiflexes, and the Tele gets most of my time now, but I still reach for the 3.5E when I want to go out in the world with a camera, and I will never let it go. Many years later, I am grateful for Ken's push -- his kind has passed into history.

joel dallenbach · Jul 10, 2007

just recieved an automat 1 from ebay, lens was cloudy but cleaned up super easy, inside looks good. the wind crank seems to loosen up, accepts film, uncoated glass, I still want to clean the inside of the viewing glass. It's amazing to me that the shutter seems accurate from an eyeball examination. This thing is nearly 80. Seems that you can rescue these octanagenrians from their respective rest homes, where it seems in this case was just left to rot, and they spring back to life. Like a resurection plant.

joel dallenbach · Jul 13, 2007

rollei automat 1, the lens has some issues. Probalbly a bit cloudy, contrat is weak, and tends to expose less in the center of the negative, all prints require #5 filter. But it is still great, I tried to upload an example to the gallery to no avail, will try again. Contrast on my xenotar and automat x tessar blows away the 1938 rollei, I have to try this camera with some new tri-x part of my contrast issues may be a refridgerated roll of hp5 I initially sent through the camera. Is it the coating or the lack of it the reason the negatives are so flat? When I cleaned off the scum, the camera can from florida, probably a swamp, the lenses cleaned up well, perhaps some foggy interior, but it still looks clear, like a diamond, however my other coated lenses are blueish.

Gennari · Oct 29, 2007

joel dallenbach said:
wonder if there are any good films which show rolleis in action, photographers using them etc,...

reminds me that there was a picture of robert capa in "In love and war" tossing about 4 rolleis and a contax with him. That being said, I´m now waiting for my hopefully minty and recently CLA´ed 2,8C to arrive -_-.

Rollei TLR recommendations...

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