Rolleiflex White Face with 1961 lens?

fotopan · May 5, 2024

I have a 2.8F Rolleiflex with body characteristics of a late model (white face, with "ears" on advance side indicating 12/24 mechanism, without actual 12/24 switch) however with a Xenotar taking lens that according to the serial number (7083xxx) is from 1961. Is it possible my camera left factory like that, or has it had it been modified somehow in the past to be like that now?

Nitroplait · May 5, 2024

A photo would probably help, but it is not unthinkable that cameras are married with parts from compatible cameras of different eras during repairs.

JPD · May 5, 2024

Where is the camera serial number engraved, on the "white face plate" or on top of the nameplate? Is the focus scale in both feet and meters?

ic-racer · May 5, 2024

Without any service records or provenance, it may be difficult to know what a previous owner did to the camera. Pictures may help.

fotopan · May 5, 2024

Here are some photos of this beauty. The camera has definitely been used, often without a case, it certainly hasn't been left on a shelf all its life!

JPD · May 5, 2024

Everything looks correct for a late 2,8F, but the Xenotar looks indeed to be from an older batch, but it's optically the same as the later batches. The viewing and taking lenses were matched at the factory. Maybe the Heidosmat had a focal length of 82,3 and this Xenotar matched? When the "white face" versions were made they weren't really mass produced anymore. It could of course be a replacement lens.

fotopan · May 5, 2024

It didn't occur to me that the lenses might have had to be matched in pairs at the factory - it seemed natural to me that all lenses (both viewing and taking) had identical focal lengths for a specific camera model. Was it really the case that some Heidosmat viewing lenses could have a slightly different focal length and therefore it was necessary to look for a matching taking lens (or vice versa, choose a Heidosmat for a specific Planar or Xenotar)?

JPD · May 6, 2024

Yes, the lenses had some focal length variation, so it was measured and written down, and the taking and viewing lenses matched and collimated.

It's the same with other cameras, like the lenses for folders. Some have one, two or three thin spacers behind the shutter to compensate for the small difference in focal length.

"80 mm" could in reality be something like 79,5 to 81,3 mm or thereabouts.

Rolleiflex White Face with 1961 lens?

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