Rolleiflex Standard Spacing Problem

Gennari · Oct 10, 2008

Hi,

a good friend of mine bought a 1933 Rolleiflex Standard (Type 2 for that matter) on a fair - it is in well used condition, but shutter speeds, focus and aperture control are all in working order. However there are considerable spacing problems revealed by the first two films put through it:

While the last 2-3 frames are fine (though with smaller spacing than my Rolleiflex C), in the beginning the frames severely overlap, while in the middle there are some large gaps that could be empty frames, but as they were apparent on both rolls I´m bound to believe they are also due to faulty film transport.

Any ideas on where the problem lies would be very much appreciated. As my friend is a poor fellow student, a pricey CLA on a 60 camera is quite possibly beyond budget.

dpurdy · Oct 10, 2008

For the price of a CLA he could probably find another Standard that works better. Perhaps he could get a repair manual and look into fixing it himself.

Gennari · Oct 10, 2008

Well, thats for sure, but a) where to get a repair manual for a rolleiflex standard (couldn`t even find a manual for it) and b) how to know what to fix?

jon koss · Oct 10, 2008

Is (s)he getting the film squared away properly at the time of loading? Make sure the slack is out of the film before closing up the back. Does your friend understand the function of the frame counter button also? The mechanisms in the Old Standard are fairly robust, so unless it is really tired or gummy, it should function properly.

Best of luck,
Jon

Paul Goutiere · Oct 10, 2008

Knowing the Rolleiflex New Standard, a little I'd really suggest a CLA of the transport mechanism. Old grease will gum up and confuse the spacing mechanism.
As well, look to see if the crank side of the case has had any dents, this will cause problems with the transport as well.

The camera is a good one, well worth repair.

JPD · Oct 11, 2008

Did you load the camera and engage the counter properly?

You load the film and wind until (1) shows up in the red window on the bottom. Then you press the little knob above the winding lever to engage the frame counter. You don't use the red window after that.

(You probably know how to do it, but I mention this just in case)

Gennari · Oct 11, 2008

thanks for all the suggestions, I was also suspicious my friend didn't load it properly, but neither did I know how to load it - so thanks JPD for detailing the fact that there is a special button to engage the frame counter (actually I now found a online manual with the first google hit..).

My friend just told me it does appear to work. "Praised be the internet".

Slixtiesix · Oct 11, 2008

Nice to hear that its going to work now. nevertheless,
a good advice when loading medium format film is to
always make shure that the film sits really tight on the spools.
in most cases its a loose film that irritates the frame counter.
Benjamin

Slixtiesix · Oct 11, 2008

Nice to hear that it´s going to work now. nevertheless,
a good advice when loading medium format film is to
always make sure that the film sits really tight on the spools.
in many cases it´s a loose film that irritates the frame counter.
Benjamin

Rolleiflex Standard Spacing Problem

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