Rolleiflex: How to use 220 film (24 exp)

[inversereflection]

Hello all

I've got a Rolleiflex with the 12/24 switch, but I've lost the instructions of how to use it (it's not as simple as just setting it to 24 and then away she goes)... Does anyone have any idea?

Cheers

G

 

[genecrumpler]

I don't have a 120/220 TLR Rollie, but I suspect that all you need to do is set the switch to 220 and make a change on the film pressure plate and you are ready to go. Be aware that 220 film has a tendency to light pipe and you may very well have a couple of spoiled images. I no longer use 220 film because of this although I have 4 MF's that use 220 as well as 120.

 

[inversereflection]

thanks Gene.... I think i've figured it out to some extent - set it to '24' for the first 12, then change it to '12' thereafter. I'm not sure about the pressure plate though. Oh well, that's what experimentation is for!

 

[eddym]

Umm... I have a 2.8F 12/24, and the way I always used 220 film was to shoot the first 12 frames with the switch on 12, then after firing the 12th shot and before advancing the film, flip the switch to 24, which resets the frame counter. Then advance the film to 1 and shoot the other 12.
The big problem with this camera (other than the general hassle of using the switch) is that if you accidently flip the switch -even partway- the frame counter resets in the middle of the roll (be it 120 or 220) and then you have lost count of where you are in the roll. You have to either guess how many frames you have left and risk being wrong and losing some at the end, or go ahead and reload early, wasting film. After this happened to me at an important shoot, I taped the damned switch on 12 with gaffer's tape!
Oh, and the other obvious problem: you have to keep an eagle eye on your frame counter, because if you advance the film after the 12th frame, you will continue to wind on until the end of the roll! Might as well shoot 120!

 

[eddym]

Oh... and on mine, you don't do anything with the pressure plate.

 

[dpurdy]

It is interesting that you can set the counter to 24 after the first 12. Actually that is not the way you are supposed to do it. You set the counter to 24 to start. At the end of 12 the camera stops advancing and you have to push the shutter button once, then advance the film again and it goes back to 1. That way you don't lose track. Also it leaves a larger space on the roll between the 12th and 13th frame when it is all done and processed.

You only need to remember to set it to 24 to start a new roll. A problem that occurs is if the switch is set sort of half way when you put a new roll in, the sensor won't sense the film and it will wind through a whole roll without stopping.

 

[eddym]

It is interesting that you can set the counter to 24 after the first 12. Actually that is not the way you are supposed to do it. You set the counter to 24 to start. At the end of 12 the camera stops advancing and you have to push the shutter button once, then advance the film again and it goes back to 1. That way you don't lose track. Also it leaves a larger space on the roll between the 12th and 13th frame when it is all done and processed.

Interesting... maybe I've been doing it wrong all these years!
I have a roll of 120 in the camera right now, but as soon as I finish it, I'll try it your way. So you are saying that you set the lever to 24 and never switch it? Let me be sure I follow your sequence: you shoot 12 frames, and then the film will not advance after shutter release of frame #12, right? Then you push the shutter release again (but the shutter is not cocked...?), wind on, and the counter goes back to 1. So you have left a full frame between frame 12 and 13, no? Do all 25 frames fit on the roll of 120, then?
Or am I misunderstanding your sequence?

 

[dpurdy]

Yes that is right. Only the space between the 12th and 13th frame isn't quite a full frames worth. And I forgot to say that when you finish with the first 12 and the film will not advance, you must then switch the switch from 24 to 12 and then hit the shutter button once. It won't expose anything but it will release the film advance so you can continue.

 

[SteakBoy]

I am using a 12/24 that seems to be a K7F2 (scale in meters and feet, no half moon below scissor strap lug, 12/24 counter switch installed). It does however have a serial number below 2,451,850 -- which would make it a K7F, according to the Ian Parker Guide and according to the Rollei Club web site. Perhaps it is a kind of Frankencamera, built from parts of both models.

When shooting 220 film, it is **NOT** necessary, on the camera I am using, to press the shutter button an extra time. After the twelfth shot and before winding on, you just turn the 12/24 selector switch to '12' (having started the roll with the switch set to '24', obviously). Before the switch is even turned all the way round, you immediately hear a very obvious, solid click and the counter resets from displaying '12' to displaying '0'. You then wind on, the counter shows '1', as you would expect, and you are ready to shoot the second 12 frames.

 

[Jerevan]

Some Rolleis were factory-fitted with a little red knob (I once had a MX-EVS with this function), that just did a reset of the counter, and then you could do 12 more shots. Drove me nuts, because I never used anything else than 120 and the switch was easy to move...