Rolleiflex Hy6...One of the last medium format cameras in production

[ic-racer]

Also, I did fix the scratching problem in my film back. The little rollers (that touch the film surface) were not spinning. They need to spin freely.

 

[Pieter12]

Serge,
Just a guess, but your light leak looks very similar to one that just recently popped up in a second (don't ask), older, 6060 back that I have. One with the red release buttons, too. I spoke to Dave about it and he suggested it was coming from the dark slide mechanism, specifically the slots in the back that the bar moves along. I believe he thought the fix would be simple as he said the light seal uses shutter curtain material that would be easily obtained, no need to get parts from Germany. Give him a shout and see if he can check out that part of your film back. Best of luck and let me know it it works out, I need to send my back to him for that repair. Meanwhile, I have put a strip of gaffer's tape on the back and I hope it's working, I haven't processed anything since I discovered the problem, although I keep shooting with the camera. Despite all the setbacks I have had with it, I just love it. BTW, as far as I know the spacing problems were caused by the film inserts, not the back. And I heard that Rolf is doing the Hy6 repair work for Paepke, probably why you haven't had any response from them.

I am still willing to send my newer (grey buttons) back to Dave if it is still needed.

 

[sergepole]

Could you please send pictures of the little pieces of foam to me
and to Dave Feely at Key Camera [keycamera@yahoo.com]. Dave
has added some foam, but maybe not enough.

Thanks so much !!

Best --
Serge

 

[Pieter12]

Could you please send pictures of the little pieces of foam to me
and to Dave Feely at Key Camera [keycamera@yahoo.com]. Dave
has added some foam, but maybe not enough.

Thanks so much !!

Best --
Serge

Please share with the rest of the community!

 

[sergepole]

Pieter -- Looks like Dave @ Key Camera has tken some vacation until the 15th. You hear
anything from him ?

Sent the attached image to Dave .. looks like a light smear in lower right & maybe a similar (but less so) on the lower left.

FWIW --
Serge

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

I do miss my Hy6, surprised to see this thread pop up again. I have recently filled the space with the Mamiya 6, and I have to say the lenses absolutely hold up.

 

[Pieter12]

So, about 30 minutes into a photo session my 6060 film back went kaput. It would no longer advance the film, although the motor spun. It is going to Dave Feely next week. For what it is worth, the back had been to the factory for a repair of the dark slide, and then to Dave because the factory left a roller (for the slide) loose inside the back. It had been working fine until a few weeks ago when it developed a light leak along one of the dark slide bar slots. Luckily, I had brought a digital camera and was able to finish the shoot.

 

[sergepole]

OK. Maybe I can help. How long ago did you correspond with the factory? I'm curious if they are even still in business. I can tell you a couple of stories about the incompetence and how misleading the factory has been in my experience. I know Dave, he has worked on my Hy6 gear a number of times. Mainly he has no support from the factory--they rarely have any parts, they won't send him a service manual.

But back to your film back. I experienced light leaks and transport issues with a brand new one from Eric at Rolleiflex USA. It went back to Germany under warranty, the issues were not completely fixed. Do you have any examples of your light leak? if it is not the same as what I had, I would be willing to send mine to Dave for a comparison. Here is what the light leaks from my back looked like:

View attachment 395643
The leaks were fixed by the folks in Germany, but the back is still suspect--I get unexplained spacing issues with some of the inserts, which have been to the factory, too. Sometimes I wonder if I should just give up and go back to the 6008i.

Feel free to contact my by PM if you'd prefer.

P.S. is Eric still in business as Rolleifex USA?

Pieter12 -- Dave is back from vacation. He (and I) would welcome your e-mail or phone call. I am serge@ia-64.com & (410) 507 - 4036.
Dave is trying to contact Eric, but without much luck. Dave has some parts. Dave also has my Rollei Hy6 + 80mm lens so he can run
film through (which he has with my back & still gets light leaks). Suggest your sending both of your 6060 backs to Dave & identifying
which one is "good" so Dave can do a "A" versus "B" against my 6060 back, as well as repairing your back, which is having problems.

I would make a nice offer for one of your 6060 backs when Dave verifies it is working.

I can Paypal funds to cover your shipping costs

Best --
Serge

 

[Klaus_H]

The company DW Photo GmbH in Braunschweig is in liquidation.

See Nothdata Company information:

 

[Pieter12]

The company DW Photo GmbH in Braunschweig is in liquidation.

See Nothdata Company information:

I hope the parts go to someone who can make them available.

 

[sergepole]

Spoke w/ Dave today .. he has received your package ... he is focused on getting things together for a photo swap meet this weekend, but will put all three of our backs on the front burner later next week. Sorry to see DW Photo go under, but am not surprised as they stopped responding six or so months ago. Do you have a photo of where you put the tape on your 6060 in order to stop/mitigate the light leaks ? Would help Dave's searching for root cause of your (and maybe my) light leaks.

Best --
Serge
PS FWIW, I scan with a Nikon Coolscan 9000 & have found a fellow who can service the Coolscans here in Maryland. Also, for the very occasional super
best scan, I send the original off to Nancy Scans in New York (she & her husband, John, have a Heidelberg Tango, and know how to get the most out of it.

 

[sergepole]

Caution: There is a bogus Nancyscans in New York The REAL Nancy Scans is NancyScans, 124 Hudson Avenue Chatham NY 12037 U.S.A. Email: jolson@nancyscans.com. Phone: (800) 604-1199

 

[Pieter12]

Spoke w/ Dave today .. he has received your package ... he is focused on getting things together for a photo swap meet this weekend, but will put all three of our backs on the front burner later next week. Sorry to see DW Photo go under, but am not surprised as they stopped responding six or so months ago. Do you have a photo of where you put the tape on your 6060 in order to stop/mitigate the light leaks ? Would help Dave's searching for root cause of your (and maybe my) light leaks.

Best --
Serge
PS FWIW, I scan with a Nikon Coolscan 9000 & have found a fellow who can service the Coolscans here in Maryland. Also, for the very occasional super
best scan, I send the original off to Nancy Scans in New York (she & her husband, John, have a Heidelberg Tango, and know how to get the most out of it.

Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the back with the tape. I just put a 1/2" wide strip of gaffer's tape horizontally across the back just above the bar that moves the dark slide. I discovered where the leak was coming from by shining a small, bright flashlight into the back (attached to the body, no film insert, no lens, shutter set to B so the interior of the back was exposed) and saw a pinpoint of light coming through the lower right side by the dark slide bar. The bit of tape solved the problem until Dave can fix it.

 

[Anaxagore]

The company DW Photo GmbH in Braunschweig is in liquidation.

See Nothdata Company information:

Not surprising. Rolf Daus retired and was probably the last person using the factory for repairs… when he managed to get spare parts. Paepke now also repairs AF/AFD lenses and Hy6, which they did not do before Rolf’s retirement. It is quite sad that no new Hy6 will ever be produced, improved, etc.

 

[Anaxagore]

I hope the parts go to someone who can make them available.

same, but I also wonder about the patents and IP they were able to buy back after the 2 bankruptcies of the past 2 decades..

 

[buildbot]

The company DW Photo GmbH in Braunschweig is in liquidation.

See Nothdata Company information:

Not surprising given how fraudulently they operated. Still annoyed about by broken hy6 after all these years.

Not surprising. Rolf Daus retired and was probably the last person using the factory for repairs… when he managed to get spare parts. Paepke now also repairs AF/AFD lenses and Hy6, which they did not do before Rolf’s retirement. It is quite sad that no new Hy6 will ever be produced, improved, etc.

Rolf Daus retiring and Paepke doing repairs can only be good. If I was German I 100% would have pursued legal action against DW for their warranty and repair fraud.

I’m glad I checked back on this thread after a few years - maybe Paepke can finally repair my hy6

 

[Pieter12]

Not surprising given how fraudulently they operated. Still annoyed about by broken hy6 after all these years.


Rolf Daus retiring and Paepke doing repairs can only be good. If I was German I 100% would have pursued legal action against DW for their warranty and repair fraud.

I’m glad I checked back on this thread after a few years - maybe Paepke can finally repair my hy6

Not unless they acquired all the parts inventory from DW Photo.

 

[Anaxagore]

Not surprising given how fraudulently they operated. Still annoyed about by broken hy6 after all these years.


Rolf Daus retiring and Paepke doing repairs can only be good. If I was German I 100% would have pursued legal action against DW for their warranty and repair fraud.

I’m glad I checked back on this thread after a few years - maybe Paepke can finally repair my hy6

At Paepke, Mr. Kopilevich now manages the repairs of traditional Rolleis at the usual Düsseldorf address, and Mr. Paepke does the repairs of newer hardware (Hy6 and such) at Feinwerktechnik Paepke in Ratingen.(not giving emails or phone numbers on the forum, I don't want to see them spammed)


Paepke - Fototechnik
Rather Broich 57
40472 Düsseldorf

Feinwerktechnik D. Paepke
Schützenstraße 97a
40878 Ratingen

Nevertheless, I am not as optimistic as you are regarding this change. I have the impression that Hy6, as much as it is a wonderful system for usability, was not designed or manufactured as carefully as previous products - especially the AFD lenses. I have an AFD 150. Superb lens in terms of picture, I really love the rendition for portraits... but the auto-focus has been giving me troubles. At close focus distances, it gets stuck, and even turning the barrel becomes hard. I sent it to DW, Rolf "repaired" it.. I received it, just tested it for one test picture, and did not use it for maybe 18 months, stored in my cabinet. Then when I take it again, same focus problems. This time I sent it to Paepke Feinwerktechnik (PFW). First thing I hear is that "I did not treat the lens well", very weird for a lens that may have a few scuff marks from rubbing against other lenses when carrying it in a backpack but has otherwise not seen much use and been carefully stored when not in use. Then they also "repaired it"... but the problems with AF and hard manual focus persist after I received it (with a hefty bill and a note that "if it has other problems, they do not want to work on it again"). Now, my 50 AFD (that I also had not used for some time, as the 40/3.5 is smaller for traveling - maybe long storage is what kills the focus system in these lenses) is having the same kinds of problems, and I do not want to send it to PFW to get the same results or the same unfriendly comments... I had a very good opinion of Paepke in the past, and Mr. Kopilevich did a good job on my 3003 (not fully perfect but good enough), but now that I've been bitten once by PFW, I'll be twice shy for using them again...

As for PFW / Paepke getting all the parts inventory from DW Photo, that may have happened, but given that DW Photo struggled to get parts to make repairs, this inventory certainly was not very large,..

 

[Pieter12]

At Paepke, Mr. Kopilevich now manages the repairs of traditional Rolleis at the usual Düsseldorf address, and Mr. Paepke does the repairs of newer hardware (Hy6 and such) at Feinwerktechnik Paepke in Ratingen.(not giving emails or phone numbers on the forum, I don't want to see them spammed)


Paepke - Fototechnik
Rather Broich 57
40472 Düsseldorf

Feinwerktechnik D. Paepke
Schützenstraße 97a
40878 Ratingen

Nevertheless, I am not as optimistic as you are regarding this change. I have the impression that Hy6, as much as it is a wonderful system for usability, was not designed or manufactured as carefully as previous products - especially the AFD lenses. I have an AFD 150. Superb lens in terms of picture, I really love the rendition for portraits... but the auto-focus has been giving me troubles. At close focus distances, it gets stuck, and even turning the barrel becomes hard. I sent it to DW, Rolf "repaired" it.. I received it, just tested it for one test picture, and did not use it for maybe 18 months, stored in my cabinet. Then when I take it again, same focus problems. This time I sent it to Paepke Feinwerktechnik (PFW). First thing I hear is that "I did not treat the lens well", very weird for a lens that may have a few scuff marks from rubbing against other lenses when carrying it in a backpack but has otherwise not seen much use and been carefully stored when not in use. Then they also "repaired it"... but the problems with AF and hard manual focus persist after I received it (with a hefty bill and a note that "if it has other problems, they do not want to work on it again"). Now, my 50 AFD (that I also had not used for some time, as the 40/3.5 is smaller for traveling - maybe long storage is what kills the focus system in these lenses) is having the same kinds of problems, and I do not want to send it to PFW to get the same results or the same unfriendly comments... I had a very good opinion of Paepke in the past, and Mr. Kopilevich did a good job on my 3003 (not fully perfect but good enough), but now that I've been bitten once by PFW, I'll be twice shy for using them again...

As for PFW / Paepke getting all the parts inventory from DW Photo, that may have happened, but given that DW Photo struggled to get parts to make repairs, this inventory certainly was not very large,..

FWIW, my 50 AFD, bought used, did not work at first. A freshly-charged camera battery cleared that up, leading me to believe it had not been used in a while and was a bit gummed up. It has since worked well, although I don't use it as much as I like the 40mm Schneider better, even if it isn't AF. AF is less important for me with a wide angle lens. I wonder how the 180 2.8 AFD fares? I don't have one, but do have the manual version and don't really use it much as it is quite large and heavy.

 

[Anaxagore]

FWIW, my 50 AFD, bought used, did not work at first. A freshly-charged camera battery cleared that up, leading me to believe it had not been used in a while and was a bit gummed up. It has since worked well, although I don't use it as much as I like the 40mm Schneider better, even if it isn't AF. AF is less important for me with a wide angle lens. I wonder how the 180 2.8 AFD fares? I don't have one, but do have the manual version and don't really use it much as it is quite large and heavy.

Before I got more lenses, 50-80-180 AF were my favorites and only ones (with 6008AF). All three could fit into a regular-sized photo backpack (LowePro flipside 300), with the camera, a few films, 2 film magazines, and batteries. I really loved the 50 (that was hard to find a few years after AFD got released, I'd say ~2012) at that time. Having a few more lenses (the 40, the 110) and getting the Hy6 pushed me to leave the 50 (large front lens took too much space) and 180 (does not easily fit into the thickness of the backpack, takes too much space too) at home, keep the 110 for portraits (amazing 3D effect, the background completely detaches from the foreground), the 40 for land./city-scapes (slightly wider angle, much smaller), the 80 AFD when AF was needed. I guess a bit of the same story as you. Taking the 60-140, in good light, somehow feels easier than taking the 3 prime AF/AFD lenses, although one cannot carry it for too long without a good membership at the local gym...
I will retry the 150 and 50 with freshly-charged batteries, thanks for the tip. Batteries are another problem of the Hy6, 2 of mines have died (Sinar-branded) and I would not know where in Europe to get acceptable replacements that fit both the Hy6 and the Sinar backs. Now that Sinar belongs to Leica, the customer service is managed by one guy in Germany who does not even want to know about the old Sinar backs... "it's not us, good bye".

 

[Pieter12]

Try this: https://rolleiflex.us/blogs/news-te...i-and-mod2-bodies?_pos=8&_sid=65f073dbf&_ss=r

 

[GG12]

Before I got more lenses, 50-80-180 AF were my favorites and only ones (with 6008AF). All three could fit into a regular-sized photo backpack (LowePro flipside 300), with the camera, a few films, 2 film magazines, and batteries. I really loved the 50 (that was hard to find a few years after AFD got released, I'd say ~2012) at that time. Having a few more lenses (the 40, the 110) and getting the Hy6 pushed me to leave the 50 (large front lens took too much space) and 180 (does not easily fit into the thickness of the backpack, takes too much space too) at home, keep the 110 for portraits (amazing 3D effect, the background completely detaches from the foreground), the 40 for land./city-scapes (slightly wider angle, much smaller), the 80 AFD when AF was needed. I guess a bit of the same story as you. Taking the 60-140, in good light, somehow feels easier than taking the 3 prime AF/AFD lenses, although one cannot carry it for too long without a good membership at the local gym...
I will retry the 150 and 50 with freshly-charged batteries, thanks for the tip. Batteries are another problem of the Hy6, 2 of mines have died (Sinar-branded) and I would not know where in Europe to get acceptable replacements that fit both the Hy6 and the Sinar backs. Now that Sinar belongs to Leica, the customer service is managed by one guy in Germany who does not even want to know about the old Sinar backs... "it's not us, good bye".

Had a similar experience with different lenses:
- 40 was quite compact
- 50 too large
- 60 was special, go to lens
- 150 as travel tele, the 180 too big

Not a fan (back then) of the AF lenses - too problematic over time. The manual ones, with the lovely focus confirmation on the Hy6 (improved over the 6008) made them easy to use. General sense is the AF lenses are just waiting to cause trouble. Did travel a lot with the Hy6, and while not as rugged as the 6000 series, didn't really have any issues with it.