Tele-Rolleiflex Oddities

RoboRepublic · Apr 4, 2023

Hi folks,
Just picked up a tele-rolleiflex and was curious about two things:
1. What is the switch in the top corner of the name plate? Seems to affect the meter but can't seem to find anything in the manual.
2. The ground glass is displaying these odd darkened marks- is this normal?

Thanks! I'm so excited to use this thing!

Kino · Apr 4, 2023

I seem to remember it as being a high/low switch for the meter. You should have a high/low scale on the meter...

Did you get a plastic diffuser for the selenium cell? They are usually inside the leather case at the top (if you got one).

Here's an old thread that should cover it, even if it's not the same model:

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threa...ed-some-help-understanding-light-meter.95050/

ic-racer · Apr 4, 2023

When the red dot is visible, use the numbers framed by red on the meter.

Dan Daniel · Apr 4, 2023

The two dark marks on the screen are the side tabs used to hold the mirror in place.

You can see these directly by-
1) Push in the two side button at the base of the focus hood and slide the hood back and off
2) The frame holding the focus screen will be exposed. Push the sides down a bit and slide the screen back a bit and then the frame will lift up, hinged on the back edge. You will now see the mirror and the side tabs.

Not sure what kind of screen you have, but I would not touch it until you know. If it is a Maxwell, it is very delicate. Blow it off is all for now.

Rob Skeoch · Apr 5, 2023

Welcome to the club.... it's a great camera

RoboRepublic · Apr 6, 2023

Dan Daniel said:
The two dark marks on the screen are the side tabs used to hold the mirror in place.

You can see these directly by-
1) Push in the two side button at the base of the focus hood and slide the hood back and off
2) The frame holding the focus screen will be exposed. Push the sides down a bit and slide the screen back a bit and then the frame will lift up, hinged on the back edge. You will now see the mirror and the side tabs.

Not sure what kind of screen you have, but I would not touch it until you know. If it is a Maxwell, it is very delicate. Blow it off is all for now.

Hey Dan, I don't know what kind of screen is installed. I have a spare maxwell i was going to put into it- do you know if theres a way to positively identify a maxwell screen?

Thomas71 · Apr 7, 2023

I wonder why Tele-Rolleiflex has had so little success. It has been designed as "portrait camera" and portraits represent the most popular photographic genre

Dan Daniel · Apr 7, 2023

RoboRepublic said:
Hey Dan, I don't know what kind of screen is installed. I have a spare maxwell i was going to put into it- do you know if theres a way to positively identify a maxwell screen?

I don't really have an answer. I just looked at the photo of the screen you showed and realized that I can't place what kind of screen that it is. But it is very even across the whole field. You might start a new thread showing it and see if someone can give an answer? I'd be curious myself.

The telephoto lens means that light is hitting the mirror more directly than with an 80mm lens. Meaning less loss as you get near the edges, inverse square and all that. Combined with a quality screen that keeps the edges bright, the retaining tabs will show more clearly as there is a larger difference between the dark tab and the surrounding reflective image.

ic-racer · Apr 8, 2023

I think they are hard to hand hold with common b&w films (400 and lower ISO) and get results better than a 35mm camera with an 85mm unless one is more experienced with medium format. Plus, they made 85mm lenses for 35mm cameras up to f1.2!!

RoboRepublic · Apr 8, 2023

I feel that thinking of the tele as a portrait-first machine is to misunderstand it.

GregY · Apr 8, 2023

RoboRepublic said:
I feel that thinking of the tele as a portrait-first machine is to misunderstand it.

How would you characterize in then? Seems perfect for portraits...

beemermark · Apr 8, 2023

Thomas71 said:
I wonder why Tele-Rolleiflex has had so little success. It has been designed as "portrait camera" and portraits represent the most popular photographic genre

Close focus is 9 feet. Good for an upper body shot but not the typicall head and shoulders. You need to buy the close up attachment. I have the camera and love it but it's out for repairs right now. And no I have no more problem handling then a any other medium format camera with a tele.

RoboRepublic · Apr 8, 2023

GregY said:
How would you characterize in then? Seems perfect for portraits...

From my experience portraits is just one subset of possible subjects. Having used it, the design leaves one to wonder if rollei ever had portraits in the fore front of use cases. As mentioned by beemermark MFD with out rolleinars is 9ft, making subject separation a bit challenging. I probably need to use it more, and i'm probably picking poor back drops. But i don't find my frames interesting with when the subject is that far out
I enjoy using it for its reach. You can use it for portraits to great affect especially if you find a 0.35x rolleinar.

GregY · Apr 8, 2023

RoboRepublic said:
From my experience portraits is just one subset of possible subjects. Having used it, the design leaves one to wonder if rollei ever had portraits in the fore front of use cases. As mentioned by beemermark MFD with out rolleinars is 9ft, making subject separation a bit challenging. I probably need to use it more, and i'm probably picking poor back drops. But i don't find my frames interesting with when the subject is that far out
I enjoy using it for its reach. You can use it for portraits to great affect especially if you find a 0.35x rolleinar.

Sanders McNew did a bunch of interesting portraits a long while ago with a Tele-Rolleiflex.
I like working closer as well. I use the rolleinar 1 on my Rolleiflex quite a bit for portraits.

c41 · Apr 10, 2023

It's definitely great for portraits with the very conveniently hinged x0.35 Rolleinar attachment (and the lovely Sonnar lens.) I used mine for landscape as well but maybe a dedicated 135mm TLR isn't so convenient to be using in the field.

Both copies that I have owned have succumbed to taking lens separation really unexpectedly and rapidly which was a great disappointment as there is nothing quite like it.

RoboRepublic · Apr 11, 2023

c41 said:
It's definitely great for portraits with the very conveniently hinged x0.35 Rolleinar attachment (and the lovely Sonnar lens.) I used mine for landscape as well but maybe a dedicated 135mm TLR isn't so convenient to be using in the field.

Both copies that I have owned have succumbed to taking lens separation really unexpectedly and rapidly which was a great disappointment as there is nothing quite like it.

I feel your pain- I had to go through three different copies to arrive at one with out separation!

Rolleiflexible · Apr 11, 2023

GregY said:
Sanders McNew did a bunch of interesting portraits a long while ago with a Tele-Rolleiflex.
I like working closer as well. I use the rolleinar 1 on my Rolleiflex quite a bit for portraits.

One neat trick for shooting portraits is to use a 0.70x Tele Rolleinar on an ordinary Bay III Rolleiflex. It gives just enough magnification for a headshot, but not so much as to restrict looser portraits. That Tele Rolleinar pretty much lived on my 2.8E when I was shooting people.

On the Tele, I would stack a regular Rolleinar I on top of the Tele Rolleinar 0.35x to get the kinds of close portraits I wanted. The optics are so good that stacking Rolleinars does not degrade the image. I'm attaching a portrait I shot using a Tele Rolleiflex with stacked Rolleinars, to give an idea of what is possible with the camera.

RoboRepublic · Apr 12, 2023

Rolleiflexible said:
One neat trick for shooting portraits is to use a 0.70x Tele Rolleinar on an ordinary Bay III Rolleiflex. It gives just enough magnification for a headshot, but not so much as to restrict looser portraits. That Tele Rolleinar pretty much lived on my 2.8E when I was shooting people.

On the Tele, I would stack a regular Rolleinar I on top of the Tele Rolleinar 0.35x to get the kinds of close portraits I wanted. The optics are so good that stacking Rolleinars does not degrade the image. I'm attaching a portrait I shot using a Tele Rolleiflex with stacked Rolleinars, to give an idea of what is possible with the camera.

Such delicate tones, bravo!

Rolleiflexible · Apr 12, 2023

RoboRepublic said:
Such delicate tones, bravo!

Thank you -- you are kind. Amazing what you can make with a Rolleiflex, Tri-X and some Rodinal.

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