Rolleicord V focusing screen

[Yaeli]

If you don't mind an additional, completely unsolicited, suggestion... my experience with the Rollei was vastly improved when I started using a monopod, Rolleifix, and short cable release. Everything improved. Only downside was having to explain to British customs agents, several times, that the monopod was not some sort of sinister "aerial" or weapon.

Ditto on the monopod and short cable release--or that ridiculously expensive original equipment little metal thingy that you can screw in (but works its way out and is lost somewhere in the forest--not that I'm at all bitter). The weakness of the Rolleicord is the release, which moves the camera sideways.

All suggestions, sollicited or not, are welcome Thank you both for the advice ! For complicated, personal reasons, using a tripod or a monopod is kind of a pain for me, so I basically never use them. I've heard about the "metal thingy" for the shutter release, but I think I'm gonna wait and see if my pictures come out blurry or not first. For now, my "technique" to avoid movements as much as possible when firing the shutter is : strap around my neck, one hand on each side of the camera, and a slow, gentle movement of the shutter release. But if this is not enough, I'll definitely use a cable release.

 

[Rolleiflexible]

All suggestions, sollicited or not, are welcome Thank you both for the advice ! For complicated, personal reasons, using a tripod or a monopod is kind of a pain for me, so I basically never use them. I've heard about the "metal thingy" for the shutter release, but I think I'm gonna wait and see if my pictures come out blurry or not first. For now, my "technique" to avoid movements as much as possible when firing the shutter is : strap around my neck, one hand on each side of the camera, and a slow, gentle movement of the shutter release. But if this is not enough, I'll definitely use a cable release.

FWIW, I usually handhold, even for slow exposures. But I usually use a shutter cable to avoid jostling the camera. And I do this with Rolleiflexes as well as Rolleicords. I don’t find the Rolleicord any more or less susceptible to the problem.

 

[Dan Daniel]

All suggestions, sollicited or not, are welcome

Practice using the camera. While watching TV or such, play with the viewfinder. Get used to the reversal. At some point you stop really noticing it, but it takes use and practice. Get used to the ways that the reversal can make it harder to keep things level and such. Get comfortable and relaxed. And esepcially for a TLR, use the fact that it is a less aggressive camera for the subject. You aren't aiming a gun barrel at them. You aren't even looking at them! You are staring at the ground. Well, at the camera. There's a shared thing going on as both you and the subject look at the camera, rather than you looking at them. The more you practice with the screen, the reversal, etc. the better.

As was discussed earlier, it can be easy to lose focus when you reframe after using a focus aid. Even more so with a TLR since it is held a bit off the body, is floating in space more. Again, practice and learn to pay attention to this, the way you can use the whole body to reframe rather than just angle a camera held at the eye. Again, the more practice, the more comfortable you will be with the reversed screen and the less chance of drifting out of focus.

 

[BrianShaw]

Practice using the camera. While watching TV or such, play with ...

This is a great recommendation for any kind of camera, or light meter. The best way to gain, or re-gain, familiarity and avoid inadvertant operational errors.

 

[Yaeli]

FWIW, I usually handhold, even for slow exposures. But I usually use a shutter cable to avoid jostling the camera.

I will definitely consider it in the future. I'm waiting for the 1st results to have an idea of what I did wrong I shot one at 1/15th,I'm curious to see if it worked or not...

Practice using the camera. While watching TV or such, play with the viewfinder. Get used to the reversal. At some point you stop really noticing it, but it takes use and practice. Get used to the ways that the reversal can make it harder to keep things level and such. Get comfortable and relaxed. And esepcially for a TLR, use the fact that it is a less aggressive camera for the subject. You aren't aiming a gun barrel at them. You aren't even looking at them! You are staring at the ground. Well, at the camera. There's a shared thing going on as both you and the subject look at the camera, rather than you looking at them. The more you practice with the screen, the reversal, etc. the better.

As was discussed earlier, it can be easy to lose focus when you reframe after using a focus aid. Even more so with a TLR since it is held a bit off the body, is floating in space more. Again, practice and learn to pay attention to this, the way you can use the whole body to reframe rather than just angle a camera held at the eye. Again, the more practice, the more comfortable you will be with the reversed screen and the less chance of drifting out of focus.

Thank you for the tips ! Yes, I definitely need to practice, a lot. The reversal is really hard to deal with at the moment. Using the neck strap helps a bit, giving me a more stable start, but I'm still struggling to get the frame I want. Any slight tilt throws me off massively. And I'm definitely not used to people entering the frame from the "wrong' side
But I do like the "less aggressive" way of shooting, and the different perspective it offers. Again, I'm really looking forward to the 1st results - which might not be great, since I am still getting used to the camera, and also because I used a lightmeter app (my handheld lightmeter is broken), and couldn't make out what was in the corners of my image, or even if it was really in focus or not... Fingers crossed ! There's at least 1 shot that I think could be really good if it worked... Oh, also, it was an old Rollei retro 400 roll that had not been stored properly, so this might affect the results as well... We'll see !

 

[BrianShaw]

Another piece of unsolicited advice: try holding the camera closer to your eye when focusing and framing. This makes the "apparent screen brightness" better than holding at the end of a strap at waist level. Mostly, it seems, because the viewfinder is better shaded. A higher viewind position also helps avoid always getting that "belly button view". In my opinion, the waist-level viewfinder is misnamed since using it at other positions seems much more effective. Unfortunately this approach somewhat negates part of your current method for camera stablization. That's where I found the monopod to be better approach overall. As you can see from this discussion thusfar... opinions will vary. We all have the way that works best for us and seems like you are still discovering yours.

EDIT: Have you ever seen this "rare" accessory? It certainly isn't a commonly seen item. Posting the auction only as an example, not as an endorsement or suggestion for anyone to purchase.

Pardon Our Interruption...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3558025302...ccGRi2DZbJA3MERLduYBQA18pvsWdxu0aAqnyEALw_wcB

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[Yaeli]

Another piece of unsolicited advice: try holding the camera closer to your eye when focusing and framing. This makes the "apparent screen brightness" better than holding at the end of a strap at waist level. Mostly, it seems, because the viewfinder is better shaded. A higher viewind position also helps avoid always getting that "belly button view". In my opinion, the waist-level viewfinder is misnamed since using it at other positions seems much more effective. Unfortunately this approach somewhat negates part of your current method for camera stablization. That's where I found the monopod to be better approach overall. As you can see from this discussion thusfar... opinions will vary. We all have the way that works best for us and seems like you are still discovering yours.

EDIT: Have you ever seen this "rare" accessory? It certainly isn't a commonly seen item. Posting the auction only as an example, not as an endorsement or suggestion for anyone to purchase.

Pardon Our Interruption...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3558025302...ccGRi2DZbJA3MERLduYBQA18pvsWdxu0aAqnyEALw_wcB

Pardon Our Interruption...

I do bring the camera closer to my eye for focusing, but I admit I usually lower it after that. Great tip about the "belly button view", thanks ! I'll keep that in mind going forward. Maybe I'll shorten the strap... I used the "sports" finder once, don't know how it will look like
I'm still discovering everything about this camera, and waist level finders, and medium format, and... well, everything basically
No, I had not seen that accessory before ! Quite... peculiar ! Interesting. There seems to be a lot of accessories for those TLRs. The Rolleinars, I admit, caught my eyes a little bit. But that's for later, maybe.

 

[GregY]

I do bring the camera closer to my eye for focusing, but I admit I usually lower it after that. Great tip about the "belly button view", thanks ! I'll keep that in mind going forward. Maybe I'll shorten the strap... I used the "sports" finder once, don't know how it will look like
I'm still discovering everything about this camera, and waist level finders, and medium format, and... well, everything basically
No, I had not seen that accessory before ! Quite... peculiar ! Interesting. There seems to be a lot of accessories for those TLRs. The Rolleinars, I admit, caught my eyes a little bit. But that's for later, maybe.

Y, If i am not using a tripod, i always rely on downward pull on the strap to steady the camera. Yes... Rolleinars are cool & the quality is top notch.

 

[Rolleiflexible]

One cool and mostly-unsung Rollei accessory is the panorama head. It rotates a Rollei on the axis of the camera’s aperture, allowing near-seamless panoramas. They are cheap to buy and you can have a lot of fun with them. I’m attaching a gravure of two frames I shot with a Rolleicord II on the panorama head.

 

[bags27]

One cool and mostly-unsung Rollei accessory is the panorama head. It rotates a Rollei on the axis of the camera’s aperture, allowing near-seamless panoramas. They are cheap to buy and you can have a lot of fun with them. I’m attaching a gravure of two frames I shot with a Rolleicord II on the panorama head.

very, very nice!
What's the advantage of the Panoramakopf over just using a panorama head on a tripod?

 

[BrianShaw]

There are 2 versions of the Rollei panorama head. The original was configured specifically for the TLR and rotates on the lens axis. The newer version rotates on the tripod mount axis, in between the lens and film axis. Using just the tripod head is basically the same. Rotating on the lens axis is preferable. The original Rollei panorama heads are indexed for the Rollei 75mm TLR lens so the images mate really nice, like shown in @Rolleiflexible post. The newer version indexes also but I’m not sure about the design assumptions.

 

[MattKing]

For the best results when photographing panoramas, the camera should rotate on one of the two main nodal points of the lens. I'll leave it to others to find the link on how best to locate a lens' nodal point - I've misplaced it (the link(s), that is).

 

[Rolleiflexible]

There are 2 versions of the Rollei panorama head. The original was configured specifically for the TLR and rotates on the lens axis.

I have the older version -- it looks like a close cousin of a Rolleifix, in the way the TLR slides onto it and is held in place. The newer ones lack the Rolleifix prongs and I'm not sure how they compare to the older ones. The older one does an uncannily good job of lining up frames, and includes a bubble level. Both are plentiful on the used market.

 

[bags27]

You convinced me! Just snagged a nice one on ebay. I think it's v. 1.

 

[Yaeli]

Y, If i am not using a tripod, i always rely on downward pull on the strap to steady the camera. Yes... Rolleinars are cool & the quality is top notch.

I do the same, and it helps me a great deal. Maybe, with more practice, I will be able to rely less on that.

One cool and mostly-unsung Rollei accessory is the panorama head. It rotates a Rollei on the axis of the camera’s aperture, allowing near-seamless panoramas. They are cheap to buy and you can have a lot of fun with them. I’m attaching a gravure of two frames I shot with a Rolleicord II on the panorama head.

Very interesting, thank you for mentioning it ! And it works very well in your photograph !

For the best results when photographing panoramas, the camera should rotate on one of the two main nodal points of the lens. I'll leave it to others to find the link on how best to locate a lens' nodal point - I've misplaced it (the link(s), that is).

Could it be this ? https://www.hugh360.co.uk/measureme...Nodal Point of the,lens or the apparent pupil.

 

[Rolleiflexible]

I do the same, and it helps me a great deal. Maybe, with more practice, I will be able to rely less on that.

There is a right way to hold a Rollei. It wants to rest on the palm of your hand. The weight and form give it inherent stability — let it sit on your palm, and use your index finger of that hand to trip the shutter. Use the other hand to focus and steady the camera. If you can relax and use a gentle touch, you can handhold long exposures fairly easily.

 

[MattKing]

Could it be this ? https://www.hugh360.co.uk/measureme...Nodal Point of the,lens or the apparent pupil.

Exactly - much appreciated!

 

[Yaeli]

There is a right way to hold a Rollei. It wants to rest on the palm of your hand. The weight and form give it inherent stability — let it sit on your palm, and use your index finger of that hand to trip the shutter. Use the other hand to focus and steady the camera. If you can relax and use a gentle touch, you can handhold long exposures fairly easily.

That is very interesting, thank you ! For that first roll, I usually had my left hand supporting the camera during focusing, and then I would move my right hand down too, put it in the same position as the left hand of the guy in your picture (my 2 hands mirrorring each other and supporting the camera on both sides), and I would fire the shutter with my right hand. Because I'm right handed, I found it easier to trigger the shutter by gently pushing it with my right hand, rather than pulling it with my left hand. I felt I could be more precise and gentle that way. But this was my first roll. I'm still discovering, experimenting. Also, all my subjects were stationary, allowing me to do what I described. I'm sure my technique wouldn't work if I had to shoot faster, but yours would. I'll keep that in mind, I'll keep experimenting and practicing with the camera. Thanks again !

 

[GregY]

One cool and mostly-unsung Rollei accessory is the panorama head. It rotates a Rollei on the axis of the camera’s aperture, allowing near-seamless panoramas. They are cheap to buy and you can have a lot of fun with them. I’m attaching a gravure of two frames I shot with a Rolleicord II on the panorama head.

It is a cool accessory...i just wish more came with the 3/8" tripod attachment.

 

[GregY]

FWIW, I usually handhold, even for slow exposures. But I usually use a shutter cable to avoid jostling the camera. And I do this with Rolleiflexes as well as Rolleicords. I don’t find the Rolleicord any more or less susceptible to the problem.

The Rolleiflex is hands down my favourite 'portrait' camera .... but i also like my large prints to be crisp so i use a tripod a lot. Overall given it's small size & lightweight it's such a fine compromise from LF view cameras.
(Rolleflex T/FP4+/print on Ilford Classic fb/16x20")

 

[Rolleiflexible]

the guy in your picture

He’s me! It’s a mirror selfie. The camera is a Rolleicord II with a Triotar lens from the late 1940s.

 

[GregY]

He’s me! It’s a mirror selfie. The camera is a Rolleicord II with a Triotar lens from the late 1940s.

You think he'd look happier, using a Rolllei ......

 

[MattKing]

You think he'd look happier, using a Rolllei ......

Well, he did take the opportunity to flip himself around!

 

[Yaeli]

He’s me! It’s a mirror selfie.

Oops... I admit it didn't even cross my mind that it could have been you... But I must admit that I have a lot on my plate at the moment, and I'm not really "there"...

 

[bernard_L]

For the best results when photographing panoramas, the camera should rotate on one of the two main nodal points of the lens. I'll leave it to others to find the link on how best to locate a lens' nodal point - I've misplaced it (the link(s), that is).

One of the most enduring Internet falsehoods. Not nodal point. Entrance pupil. The entrance pupil is where the diaphragm aperture appears to be (virtual image) when looking into the lens from the outside (B/T shutter setting).
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panoramic_photography

Segmented panoramas, also called stitched panoramas, are made by joining multiple photographs with slightly overlapping fields of view to create a panoramic image. Stitching software is used to combine multiple images. Ideally, in order to correctly stitch images together without parallax error, the camera must be rotated about the center of its lens entrance pupil.

Probably the origin of the "nodal point" myth is that, for a panoramic camera with rotating lens (Horizon, Noblex, Widelux), the lens must rotate about its rear nodal point. And the cause of its persistence is the naming of the Nodal Ninja gizmo.
From the same Wikipedia article:

Short rotation, rotating lens and swing lens cameras have a lens that rotates around the camera lens's rear nodal point and use a curved film plane.[25] As the photograph is taken, the lens pivots around its rear nodal point while a slit exposes a vertical strip of film that is aligned with the axis of the lens.