Using your Rolleiflex

[dpurdy]

Assuming that for most people using their Rolleiflex is occasional or at least not everyday. I wonder if there is an interest in an ongoing thread where after a shooting day you come in and write about it a bit.. show and tell sort of. I know it would be interesting to me and probably even spur me on to more use of my own Rolleiflex. I did go out with mine yesterday. In Oregon we are in a period of unbelievably beautiful "Indian Summer". I have been locked in the basement working and missing it so I took Friday afternoon off and drove out to a pretty wild forest area, wild enough that I walked right up on deer that must have been asleep because I was tramping pretty loudly, scared her out of her wits and she took off running. I took my 2.8 Rollei and a tripod and was very attracted to the chaotic jumble of tree branches and ferns and vines. Shot only one roll ACROS but I am anxious to process it.
Dennis

 

[Slixtiesix]

Great idea! I hope my T-model is going to see some use next weekend...

 

[bighilt]

Great idea. Yesterday while driving along I saw a whole bunch of old steam locomotives parked out in the middle of nowhere, quietly rusting away. I didn't count them but there must be between 20 and 30. It appears they were owned by long-since abandoned gold mines. i shot off a roll of FP4 with a little Ricoh rangefinder and today returned with the Rollei and got some nice pics of dead, old puffers with storm clouds looming overhead. The negs are currently drying and I'll get them scanned next week.

 

[dpurdy]

That sounds like fantastic subject matter. We should definitely post images with tales of Rollei use.
Dennis

 

[Dave98498]

When I go out, it is always with my Rollei. I may carry more, but if there's only one camera going it is the Rollei.

 

[Zaboo]

Looks like this thread kind of died. I guess I'll start as it seems like a great idea. In late August, I was in the Seattle area and took my Rolleiflex 2.8f down to the area outside of Pike Place Market. If you haven't been there, it's a great place to buy fresh fish, crab, etc. My intention was to do some stealth street photography. I was walking around the perimeter trying to frame up my shot when it started. I was approached by person after person asking about the camera. Everything from "Is that digital?", "Can I look through it?", "What kind of film does it take?", "Is film still available?", you know the drill... Anyway, there was a street performer doing his thing with a group of people standing around him. I walked to the center and sat on the ground to capture this image. It was shot on Fuji Acros 100 (pushed to 400), developed with Xtol and scanned on my Nikon 9000.

Thanks for looking, Michael

 

[bryanlc]

Wonderful image Michael. I love the stealth ability of my Rollei but it attracts it's own attention. I'll post a couple images soon........

 

[dpurdy]

Nice shot. That Acros pushed to 400 really well. Great image quality. I love the Pike street market and I like to walk up a bit north to the wharfs.

Personally I have a great battle going on with what camera to take to Mexico for 3 weeks at the end of Jan. Last time I went to Mexico I took my 2.8F ... http://www.pbase.com/dpurdy/oaxaca But I am really wanting a wide angle and a rectangle this time. I am leaning towards the Pentax 67 with 3 lenses. But as the Rollei is all pleasure and no pain, the Pentax is mostly pain and very little pleasure. Especially considering there will be miles of walking and the Rollei weighs nearly nothing and the Pentax weighs a ton.
Dennis

 

[Zaboo]

Thanks Bryan and Dennis. Dennis, awesome gallery from Oaxaca. My suggestion for your upcoming trip would be to take both rigs. This year I hiked the Eastern Sierras with the Pentax 67 and a Hasselblad 500 series system with tripod, lenses, etc. The pain is worth the gain ;-).

 

[dpurdy]

Off to Mexico late tonight. I have decided to take the Rollei FX and the Rollei 35S. 45 rolls of 120 400 speed film mostly Fuji 400 and 4 rolls of 35mm color film just for the snap shot album. I'm packing a tripod but won't use it much.
See you all later.
dennis

 

[dpurdy]

Hola from Cuidad De Mexico,
so crowded here it is hard to work with a camera but I have shot 3 rolls 120 with the FX and 1 roll of color with the 35S. What a mass of people with a Relegious Festival and political marches.
}cheers
Dennis

 

[Dave98498]

Hi Everyone

Since I last visited here I picked up another Rollei - a 1949 Automat. It seems to be a fine shooter, but when my Rolleicord comes back from Mr. Fleenor, I will send it off for a CLA. The viewfinder was _very_ dark, as you would expect from a Rollei of this vintage. I replaced both the mirror and the groundglass, and I now have a brighter picture in the viewfinder. Stupidly, I dropped the camera when the aged neckstrap gave away. Doh! It landed on the viewfinder hood. Fortunately I was able to set it back to working, but it is no longer as smooth as when I got it. Everything else is fine, though, and the neckstrap has been replaced. I should have never trusted it in the first place.

One thing I have a problem with is carrying a gadget bag. I really like to go light. I have my lens hood and filters on the neck strap in Rollei cases, but my two light meters - a LunaPro SBC and a Pentax Spotmeter - are larger than I care to carry all the time. To resolve that problem, I bought a tiny Alpex 'clip-on' meter. What the heck... that should fit in my pocket and not even be noticable.

Best to all...
Dave

http://squareonefotog.blogspot.com/

 

[Vaughn]

Good to hear you are having fun and being productive, Dennis!

Hasta la taco!

Vaughn

 

[Ektagraphic]

It is amazing how much we can do with the 80mm lens(es) in the camera. Most of the modern (if you know what I mean ( photographers have never shot with a prime lens so it seems.....

 

[dpurdy]

My Rollei served me well in Mexico but I have not had the time to make prints. Not even contacts. 38 rolls with the FX and 4 rolls with the 35s.

I think there was a time when photographers cropped as a regular tool. It goes against us now but the Rollei lens is sharp enough to crop photos so the normal lens can be like a tele lens. I recently was hired to print an old wedding job all shot B&W with a Speed Graphic with a 135mm lens back in the 50s or early 60s. The photographer made no attempt to compose images in the camera, everything was expected to be cropped. He just used a wide enough lens to be sure to get everything in. According to Rollei lore the Rolleiwide was created with wedding photographers in mind so that they could be up close and stand in front of all the amateur photographers.

 

[Ektagraphic]

That is a lot of rolls to work with!

 

[Vaughn]

Well, I did take my 2.8F with me to the ocean yesterday. I sat about 30 feet away from my van (unlocked), having a beer and watching the ocean. Someone snuck up and stole my camera bag! Boy was I bummed. I drove around looking for suspecious characters, only to find that us Humboldt folks are all a little suspecious-looking. I drove into the town (Trinidad) and saw the town cop talking to a Fish&Game warden, so I reported the theft. Turns out my van was not the only one burgerized. I gave him the info and drove home -- pissed at the thief, pissed at myself, bummed that I can't afford to replace such a fun camera, and bummed that there was two rolls in the bag that I exposed last weekend while taking my three boys bicycling on a trail up the coast.

Got a call from the cop -- someone had found my camera case along a road, partially open with the camera halfway out. Whoever stole it did not reconize the value of a Rollei, or was just looking for money/drugs. The Rollei did not like being tossed out, but seems to be okay -- the focus is a bit rougher, but not bad. One slight ding on the body. The front seems to still be aligned okay, but I will give it a test here soon. The cop is going back to the place the camera was found to see if my Luna Pro SBC meter is there. That is what is nice about a small town, the police don't have too much to do and are willing to help out like this. Trinidad is California's smallest incorporated city (pop. 311). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinidad,_California

I developed one roll last night (the other still has 3 shots left -- I'll test the camera with those shots) and they look fine. I'll try to contact print them soon and share.

Vaughn

 

[dpurdy]

I am glad that story has a semi happy ending Vaughn. Might be a good idea to send the bruised Rollei into Harry and see if he can fix that focus.
I have a friend here who told me of a burglar breaking into his house and taking his digital camera that was sitting right next to his Leica M6... which he left behind.

 

[Ektagraphic]

I have shot my rollei a few weeks ago and it seems as if the shutter but ever roll it was diffrent but I think my developing was off so I need to test but I am going to be heading to DC with the Rollei, hopefully! I am going to give her a test today or tomorrow to figure out if she is good to go. I have 25 rolls of Tri-X a few Plus-X and some 10 Portra, 5 Ektar and a couple of E100G. I am very excited! I will be a very busy developer when I get back

 

[JeffGreene]

Hopefully, this is in the spirit of the thread. About four years ago I developed severe rheumatoid arthritis, and could no longer manage my SL66 comfortably. As a consolation, one of my friends in the local Philadelphia Rangefinderforum Group offered me a relatively beat-up Rolleiflex Automat 3.5 Tessar MV-EVS Type 2 with a scratched lens. I had used Mamiya TLRs in the early 70s as a wedding photographer, and had always admired Rolleiflexes. I decided to go for a photo walk with the new camera through center city Philadelphia. I was walking down Locust street and passed a man leaning on a chair against a wall. He admired my camera and mentioned that his uncle back in West Africa had a similar camera. We had a good conversation, and then I asked if he minded whether I took a picture. He didn't, and the attached image was the result. I had my first rolleiflex TLR roll in that camera, and this image is the one that reawakened my appreciation for these wonderful cameras. I couldn't believe the quality of the image from a damaged lens. I am currently awaiting arrival (today from Krikor) of an immaculate 2.8F purchased last weekend and immediately sent for CLA.

 

[dpurdy]

Wow congratulations on the new 2.8F. I have a couple of very nice Rolleis but always a bit envious of someone getting a "new" one. I am sure you will love it (especially if it has the good Xenotar lens)(sideways smiley face).
That guy looks very comfortable with you taking his photo. You probably have the knack of being non threatening.
Dennis

 

[Ezzie]

Glad to hear of Jeff's story. I too am developing stiff and sore fingers. As a result I'm having to look more into cameras with good, easy to use controls. But I would be lying if that was my only motivation for getting a 'Flex. Currently I'm awaiting delivery of 2.8E3. Very much looking forward to it. I've gone almost exclusively square this last year, and have had great fun with a Kowa Super 66, a Zeiss ikonta, a Flexaret and now a Rollei I hope.

 

[thompsonkirk]

What a lucky find - your first Rollei is a collector's item!

Phillips sez:
"A production run of just over 2,000 makes this model even less common than the Wide-Angle Rolleiflex."

 

[pentaxpete]

There are several Group members in this thread about 'Using Your Rollei' BUT not many actually seem to be getting any RESULTS to POST Photos ! I have many photos posted --I do not want to 'HOG' the photos section -- where are the other results of USING your Rolleis ? I have two bodies loaded B&W and Colour neg and will post some again soon !

 

[dpurdy]

I don't know why, Pentaxpete, but every time I try to post an image in a group gallery it comes out blurry. Even though they come out fine when I post them in the APUG standard gallery Have tried it several times.