Well, that's what I was thinking too... and was wondering.... are my eyes deceiving me?Not sure about that serial number facility… but that’s a RolleiFLEX.
Anyway be glad you have a Rollieflex,
Replace the focus screen for one by Rick Oleson and you have a a great camera.
I would only do that if I had problems using the original groundglass. I would be less interested in buying a Rollei that didn't have the original screen.
When I used a Rolleicord in my early 20s, I had no problem with the original ground glass. I even tried cleaning the mirror which led to it becoming even more tarnished and mottled. Just used what I had and had a great time.
Now I can barely look through an original ground glass Rollei screen. I don't know how much is age and how much is expectations. Reminds me of upgrading a computer, being amazed at the speed for about a week, then it becomes the new normal and going back to the old machine is a painful slog.
Even in my 20s, jumping from a super brilliant Mamiya c220 screen to a rolleicord was a pain. Such a shame, if the rolleicords came with proper screens we’d be carrying one everywhere. Those cords are truly compact and efficient. (With a proper screen)
It's amazing that people like Robert Doisineau or Gordon Parks or Walker Evans or Imogen Cunningham could ever get a shot in focus with those unusable ground glass screens in their Rolleis (Flex or Cord, same glass just different line pattern). Yet somehow they know what I was getting at before I was even born- you make it work with what you have. And as my computer analogy said, once you get used to something better, the old seems unusable yet it is actually perfectly fine. You go to photograph with the camera you have, not the camera you wish you had.
Exactly so, it's an easy swap for a replacement screen and as if by magic the viewing screen is a stop brighter! For anybody worried ideally you don't throw away your original screen, and it's literally five minutes to put it back in when you sell the camera. As well as my Rolleiflex Automat I have a brighter Oleson screen in my Rolleicord and Minolta Autocord as well.
Yours or the screen's?I don't know how much is age
I have a brighter Oleson screen in my Rolleicord
It's amazing that people like Robert Doisineau or Gordon Parks or Walker Evans or Imogen Cunningham could ever get a shot in focus with those unusable ground glass screens in their Rolleis (Flex or Cord, same glass just different line pattern).
When I used a Rolleicord in my early 20s, I had no problem with the original ground glass. I even tried cleaning the mirror which led to it becoming even more tarnished and mottled. Just used what I had and had a great time.
Now I can barely look through an original ground glass Rollei screen. I don't know how much is age and how much is expectations. Reminds me of upgrading a computer, being amazed at the speed for about a week, then it becomes the new normal and going back to the old machine is a painful slog.
Have been looking at those. Are they the same thickness as the org. glass, or would I have to adjust focus on the viewing lens on the Rolleicord?
?
In real life, once you get a single screen on its own and in the field, you will figure out how to work with it. A functioning human sensory system is amazingly adaptable.
I sent my Rolleiflex 2.8F to Fleenor shortly after acquiring it here on Photrio. But not before I exposed two rolls of Delta 100 with it. The camera has the original screen, whatever 2.8Fs came with from the factory. I compared it side by side with the Oleson screen on my Bronica GS-1 and it was a tiny bit darker in the corners, only noticeable with two side-by-side. I do not remember any difficulties focusing with both, and they all feel in the "same league" - 2.8F, Oleson and Mamiya C330s factory screen. The Hasselblad's Acute mate D is a different league brightness-wise, but also a step down in terms of depth - it requires more concentration to nail focus.
Do 2.8F cameras have a better factory screen, or it's just me and I haven't spent enough time with the 2.8F's screen?
Reading you all make me feel a bit worried, perhaps I should order a Maxwell screen and ship it to Fleenor so he'll adjust the focus while he has my camera...
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