Rolleiflex or Hasselblad?

frank · Jul 26, 2015

The Rolleiflex tlr is sublime. Try it, you might like it.

It's not for everyone, just like RF's are not.

JPD · Jul 26, 2015

cliveh said:
Sorry folks, I did mean the TLR Rolleiflex and thought with a viewing and taking compartment it would be slightly more bulky than a Hasselblad. It seems this is not the case.

The Rolleflex will be upright on your chest so it doesn't feel bulky, and you can leave the viewing hood up ready to shoot. Quick and quiet. It would be a nice complement to the Hasselblad. As others already said, try one.

I own and have owned many Rollei TLR's. The late 3,5F with the six element Planar is the sharpest one I have. Sharper than the 2,8F. The Tessar/Xenar ones are just as sharp, but need the aperture stopped down one or two stops more to perform the "best". Excellent cameras.

At the moment I am preffering the pre-war Automat with the uncoated Tessar, because it's lighter and less contrasty.

Heck, I even love the early Rolleicords with uncoated Triotars. Very sharp stopped down, and have something special fully open.

I am a swede, but I have never really wanted a Hasselblad. Great cameras, but I am used to the normal lens. I had a Tele-Rolleiflex for a couple of years but sold it since I never really used it.

baachitraka · Jul 26, 2015

Uncoated triotars are special when wide open, only thing thosse cameras may need a bright focus screen.

trondsi · Jul 26, 2015

I recently bought a used Rolleiflex as my first MF camera. I have never used a Hasselblad, but I have seen enough of them to say that the Rolleiflex is definitely lighter and less bulky. You can experiment more with different lenses and backs on a Hasselblad, but I am very happy with my Rollei. BTW, it is not entirely true that you can't use different lenses on the Rolleiflex; you can actually buy a set of Rolleinar lenses that fit on top of the inbuilt lenses, for macro photography.

RalphLambrecht · Jul 26, 2015

I never thought of the Hasselblad shutter as noisy;always sounded like a Mercedes door to me!

cliveh · Jul 26, 2015

I would normally go for a Rolleicord, but I want something to use mainly chrome film and they don't have a light meter. My Hasselblad has a prism meter that is quite good, but it is quite a bulky beast. So my next question is, if I buy a Rolleiflex with a light meter. How good is the meter for exposing chrome? I would prefer to use incident readings, but probably not possible without using a hand held meter? Also if I wanted to use a polarising filter, does it meter through the lens?

mooseontheloose · Jul 26, 2015

I've used multiple TLRs for exposing chromes (with a handheld meter) and they work out just fine. If you want to take incident readings, won't you have to use a handheld meter regardless of what camera you are using? I don't know about the meters in the Rolleicords/flexes but I think you would probably want to use an external meter anyway. It is possible to use a polariser on a TLR, Minolta made one for the Autocord (bay 1) which is a twin lens polariser - but they're not very common (I have one though I don't use it often). I've also used regular polarisers, but of course it's like using one on a rangefinder - you need to figure out how to align it before you put it on the camera, and you need to dial in the filter factor to your external meter (just like you would for any filter).

Alan Gales · Jul 26, 2015

RalphLambrecht said:
I never thought of the Hasselblad shutter as noisy;always sounded like a Mercedes door to me!

Me neither. I guess they have never shot an early Bronica with focal plane shutter. The first time I shot an EC the explosion was so loud that I thought I broke the camera!

JW PHOTO · Jul 26, 2015

RalphLambrecht said:
I never thought of the Hasselblad shutter as noisy;always sounded like a Mercedes door to me!

I agree, but don't own a Mercedes. My first real wedding camera was a Bronica S2A and that was like a hatch being sealed on a submarine. My next wedding camera was a 500C. I could hardly hear or tell if it went off at a wedding. Of course that was because I was already deaf from the Bronica S2A. I now own several Rolleiflex models, Pentax 6x7 system and still have that old 500C along with a 500ELM and 553ELX. If somebody stole all my cameras and left one behind I would hope it to be the old 500C. I don't see the 500C as anymore of a pain to carry over the Rolleiflex. Since I like color transparency and B&W I would never give up interchangeable backs. Oh. and my Coated "T" star Planar on the Hasselblad is every bit as good as the 2.8 and 3.5 Planars on my Rolleiflex's. This is all just my opinion of course and yours is the one that counts. I say try them both and then you'll know. Film cameras are dirt cheap now compared to when I bought my Hasselblad stuff. John W

Sirius Glass · Jul 26, 2015

Alan Gales said:
Me neither. I guess they have never shot an early Bronica with focal plane shutter. The first time I shot an EC the explosion was so loud that I thought I broke the camera!

I like the sound of the mirror's KA-Thunk, but the shutter is quiet.

Slixtiesix · Jul 27, 2015

A Rolleiflex TLR is not bulkier than a Hasselblad. They are the same size as a 500CM with 80 CF lens or even a bit smaller, depending on the model. They are lighter too, especially the 3.5 and Rolleicord-models. The great advantages of Rolleis, like all TLRs, is that you do not have any mirror slap. You can hand-hold them at very slow speeds and if you really want to use a tripod, even the lightest and most flimsiest tripod will suffice! Also, you do not have any black-out during exposure, you can permanently see your subject, which is useful in portrait photography. Plus, they are extremely quiet. Drawbacks are lacking close-up capabilities and the danger of having things protruding in front of the taking lens that you had not seen through the viewing lens, but to be honest that only happened once to me so far. Another disadvantage is that lenses usually are single-coated (apart from the very latest models) and that the lens hoods for TLRs are so small they are barely of any use.

IloveTLRs · Jul 27, 2015

RalphLambrecht said:
I never thought of the Hasselblad shutter as noisy;always sounded like a Mercedes door to me!

I had a friend who described it as being similar to two hands softly clapping (that's how he imitated the sound.)

Alan Gales said:
Me neither. I guess they have never shot an early Bronica with focal plane shutter. The first time I shot an EC the explosion was so loud that I thought I broke the camera!

Ever shot with a Bronica S? At around 2:40 he starts winding and firing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i08Tvfuichs

The only downside I've experienced with Rolleiflexes (and most TLRs) is their dim screens. Darkened corners making accurate composing difficult. There are replacement options out there, though.

Rolleiflex or Hasselblad?

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