Who else here travels with their Rolleiflex?

[BAC1967]

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Bryan, those photographs are beautiful - the pier and the wind mill are my favourites !!

Thank you macfred!

 

[anfenglin]

Same here, I have an Automat with Opton Tessar and the new style hood, i took it to my sister's wedding and the day before that I had taken away from the family for myself, alas, airport security was not interested, they even knew about film and the possible dangers of the x-ray machine! *gasp*

 

[Toffle]

Curse you all! I've been trying to pare down my travel kit for an upcoming flight with greatly reduced baggage restrictions. (They're even weighing the carry-on baggage) My Chamonix N2 and film pretty much take up the entirety of my carry-on allotment. One more kilo is going to cost me nearly $50 CDN I'm sticking my N80 in my checked luggage, as it's easily replaceable. I've never checked my Rollei before, and don't want to start now. It's not that I don't trust baggage handlers, but... I don't trust baggage handlers.
I was totally happy leaving my Rollei on the shelf before I read this thread, but now I'm agonizing over the decision.
Curse you all!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[etn]

Tom,
easy: leave the N80 at home and take your Rollei You'll love it.

I'll go on a weekend trip this weekend and was also hesitating which camera I'll take with me. After participating to this thread, the answer is obvious

Safe travels
Etienne

EDIT. Any chance you can find a "cheaper" model before the trip? e.g. a Rolleicord, Yashica 124 or similar? those are great and replacable at a lower cost than a Planar or Xenotar Rollei.

 

[rubbernglue]

I dont think I have been traveling with a TLR specifically, I mostly use a (mamiya) 645 SLR + a pinhole camera (holga/ondu/large format) + 35mil slr (nikon).

 

[mrosenlof]

Not Rollei, but I have traveled with Mamiya TLRs many times. Most recently for a long trip October of last year. I get an occasional comment, but really not very often. A few years ago airport x-ray guys saw the widing gears and identified it as some kind of transmission parts.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Curse you all! I've been trying to pare down my travel kit for an upcoming flight with greatly reduced baggage restrictions. (They're even weighing the carry-on baggage) My Chamonix N2 and film pretty much take up the entirety of my carry-on allotment. One more kilo is going to cost me nearly $50 CDN I'm sticking my N80 in my checked luggage, as it's easily replaceable. I've never checked my Rollei before, and don't want to start now. It's not that I don't trust baggage handlers, but... I don't trust baggage handlers.
I was totally happy leaving my Rollei on the shelf before I read this thread, but now I'm agonizing over the decision.
Curse you all!

Cheers,
Tom

NEVER check your camera! I ALWAYS carry-on my camera. That and my film are my primary carry-ons, with some kind of digital communication device (iPad, laptop) residing with them. Everything else goes in checked bags - if I lose my clothes, I can always buy more, or just wash my underwear in the sink if I get desperate. I can't buy a replacement Rolleiflex (at least not reliably nor affordably) on the road, and I really have no desire to fight with the airlines about the value of my camera.

 

[Lee Birder]

My grandfather's Automat MX has long been my hiking/backpacking/travel camera. I recently purchased a MX-EVS so I didn't have to worry about dropping a family heirloom. The rollei hood/ 2 filter case always comes along, with yellow and orange filters, and of course the hood. I use a pentax spot meter or, if I'm climbing the side of a mountain, sunny-16. However, after buying a Primo Jr, I have to say that I think it is the ultimate backpacking camera. Tiny, well built, sharp f2.8 taking lens, super bright viewfinder. And I've found that I can enlarge the 127 negatives with just as much success on 16x20 ilford fiber.

 

[Toffle]

NEVER check your camera! I ALWAYS carry-on my camera. That and my film are my primary carry-ons, with some kind of digital communication device (iPad, laptop) residing with them. Everything else goes in checked bags - if I lose my clothes, I can always buy more, or just wash my underwear in the sink if I get desperate. I can't buy a replacement Rolleiflex (at least not reliably nor affordably) on the road, and I really have no desire to fight with the airlines about the value of my camera.

I have no intention of checking my Rollei, Scott. I would be devastated (is that too strong a term?) if something happened to my Rollei. Not so much my N80. I've got two of 'em, so the worst that could happen in that regard is that I'll be limited to shooting 35mm on my XA, which, traveling in my pocket, won't be factored into either my checked or my carry-on luggage. If I bring my Rollei and related kit and film, I'll be way over my weight allotment. As it is, I'm limiting myself to six 4x5 holders and hoping that I won't find myself fumbling with a changing bag if (when) I blow through my daily quota of large format.

I'd love to take my Rollei, and I have a few days yet to juggle the bits of gear that I have spread out over the spare bedroom floor. I may yet sacrifice a couple of large format lenses in favour of my Rollei kit.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Down Under]

I do - well, rather, I did, for many years. I bought into the Rollei TLR in the 1960s and for three decades along with my Nikkormats they were my Go Everywhere And Do Everything cameras. In the late '80s I was offered a pair of as new Rolleiflex Ts with full kits and these - one for 6x6 for B&W, the other with a 16 exposure kit for slides - traveled with me in a medium backpack, with a prism, one lens hood, a filter kit, close ups and the odd bits that are unique to Rolleis only, like the 'Rollei mating device' (Irish, surely, this) to connect the camera to a tripod or a grip, and a small exposure meter (an old but very accurate Gossen). Results were always superb, never let anyone try to getaway with saying the Zeiss Tessar 80mm 3.5 is an inferior lens. Clients adored my color slides.

With the passing of time my photography changed, I'm a design architect and gradually architectural photography came to dominate all the pro work I did. The Rollei Ts were somewhat less suitable for this work, and when I retired in 2012 and took to the road to shoot for publication, I had to accept that these wonderful cameras had largely had their day and it was time to invest in different gear for different results. For B&W I now use two Fuji GA 645s, the 'standard' 60mm and the wide angle 45mm,and for color, alas I have had to sell my soul to the enemy camp and invest in that awful medium we can't talk about here. Horses for courses.

The Rolleis have languished somewhat in the last four years, but I'm happy to say they will be coming with me to an upcoming family reunion (my partner's kin) in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia come December this year. I have just this week taken them off the shelf and after a long period gathering dust I'm chuffed to say they work as well as ever. Kudos to Franke and Heidecke for having produced the ultimate last forever camera.

For travel the pair went into a medium backpack (I have always used Paddy Palins which for a long time were made in Australia where I live, and seemingly indestructible, the latest packs are made in China and I've yet to invest in one but I will find out next year how good they are when I have to replace one of my two) along with a prism, lens hood, filters and close-up lenses and aforesaid odd bits, also 40 rolls of film in two 1970s Australian Army field ration cans which always seem to draw the curiosity of airport X-ray staff wherever I go, so I always offer them upfront for hand inspection (never refused).

The Rollei kit along with a small laptop and other travel bits (passport and other documents, notebook and pen, etc) do push my cabin baggage allowance to the limit of seven kilograms or a little more, tho' in the past four years I have never once had to have the backpack weighed at check-in.

The Rolleiflex TLR is a truly fine camera and the ones I have owned in my long lifetime have never ever let me down. Nowadays in this 'd' age they do tend to draw quite a lot of attention and I find myself fielding many of the predictable "what camera is it?" questions, all well meant. Older photographers know them, of course. Younger shooters are always fascinated by them. Chick magnets...

Other cameras have their place in one's journeys but the TLR invites a slower,steadier, economical and certainly more contemplative way of looking and shooting. Some would say "static" but to my mind the results have always been worth the slightly greater effort. A 120 chrome whether 6x6 or 645 is truly a thing of beauty. Young publishing art directors gasp and gape at them while the older ADs sigh as if thinking, this is how it used to be...

 

[kanzlr]

I traveled New England this summer for 4 weeks with just a Rolleflex 2.8E2, Minolta Spotmeter F and lots of Provia 100F
It worked quite well, but in hindsight I should have just brought my Pentax 645 AF, like on our last trip. Metering with the Spotmeter was a slow process at times and the internal meter (which I had just replaced with a brand new one), while working fine most of the time, is easier confused than me spot metering

Overall the Pentax slides look better. Better color and contrast, and Pentax Matrix metering is just faultless. Not a single slide came out wrong, whereas I have a few Rollei Slides where I misjudged on the exposure (color shift in the slides or blown highlights).

It worked, it was fun, but next time I either shoot negative film with the Rollei or bring the Pentax for slide film.

 

[sportster44]

Funny, I fly for work every month and never had to weigh my carry on bags.

 

[Laurent]

I stumbled on this thread while tryiong to find inspiration, so that I can decide whether I'll take the Rolleiflex or the Leica for my trip to Marseille... I do travel a lot with the Felx, and especially when I don't know what to expect.

In the end, I always have fun and good negatives to print, so I guess this time it will again the 'Flex.

 

[JensH]

Hi,

Oh yes, I love to travel with my Rolleiflexes!
Mostly I take two of my Rolleiflex Originals (great Tessar 4.5/7.5cm!), one for TriX, the other PanF plus.
Some filters, lens hood (very important), Proxars, a light meter, cable release and a good 1930s tripod - and thats it.
I also have a 1937 Automat (first edition) and used a 3.5F, but the slower Original is what I like better...

Best
Jens

 

[mooseontheloose]

Reading back on this thread I find it a little ironic thatI was talking about how much I love my Autocord for travelling, not realizing that many of the images I took on my travels that summer were ruined because one of the aperture blades fell out of alignment, something I had never seen before (the camera had been CLA’d before I bought it). Anything taken at an aperture bigger than f/8 was ruined by light leaks - in a pattern so confusing it took me a while to figure out. It’s something that happened only 3-4 days into a 3 week trip. Anyway, since then I’ve gone with the Rolleiflex and I’ve been very happy with images - it’s been my main user on all subsequent travels, including my now current trip to Portugal and Spain. But, as the OP has mentioned, I have never seen them used by anyone else, save a young guy in his 20s shooting a Mamiya C330 at Borobudur in Indonesia.

 

[macfred]

Before I got my Rolleiflex, two FUJI GA645 (60 and 40mm) or the 40mm GA and a GW670 were my -medium format- gear for travelling.
Since I got my Rolleiflex 3.5F Planar those FUJIs more often stay at home.
Meanwhile I love to go with the 3.5F, a lens hood an original set of filters(yellow, green, orange), Rolleinar I and II, a Rolleifix and a -Linhof- monopod.
Sometimes I take the Berlebach mini tripod with me.
ActuallyI don't need an external meter because the in-build meter of the 3.5F works perfect but for some special needs I carry my Gossen Sixtomat flash.

 

[removedacct1]

Although I have a Rolleiflex, I almost always travel with my Minolta Autocord.

My Autocord is by far my favorite 6x6 camera. (I have a Hasselblad also) Its optics are far nicer (For my tastes) than my Rolleiflex 3.5E. In fact, because the Rollei hasn’t been used in 18 months, I decided yesterday to sell it to a friend. I doubt I’m going to miss it. Oh, it’s a beautiful piece of engineering, to be sure, but if I’m not using it, why keep it? (No, I a NOT a collector)

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

My 2.8E is my favorite travel camera. Light weight, fun to use, beautiful images...what else do I need? Well maybe a Rollei FW to go along with it, but that's another story.

 

[etn]

I stumbled on this thread while tryiong to find inspiration, so that I can decide whether I'll take the Rolleiflex or the Leica for my trip to Marseille... I do travel a lot with the Felx, and especially when I don't know what to expect.

In the end, I always have fun and good negatives to print, so I guess this time it will again the 'Flex.

Leica and Rolleiflex - so similar in many aspects and at the same time so different. Both inspiring in any case. What kind of photography are you doing? Landscapes? Street? Portraits?
In any case be careful in Marseille (you surely know that as well as I do), a good friend of mine got robbed in front of the central station a few months ago. Don't let anyone take your precious cameras away!

Bon voyage,
Etienne

 

[etn]

My 2.8E is my favorite travel camera. Light weight, fun to use, beautiful images...what else do I need? Well maybe a Rollei FW to go along with it, but that's another story.

The price of the FW is what lured me into the Hasselblad world in the first place. And although a single Rollie is lighter than a full Hasselblad kit, the latter with a couple lenses and backs is probably lighter for the backpack (as well as the wallet!) than an FX+FW+FT kit

 

[Sirius Glass]

My father took his C330 and the Porroflex with the 65mm, 80mm and 250mm lenses all over the world, literally, taking photographs everywhere.
When I go to Europe I take the Hasselblad with the 80mm and 50mm and the SWC. When I travel by car I carry all the lens in a pack and take out the lens that I want to use.

 

[guangong]

Every now and then I take my Rollei 2.8F out for an outing. While I ave accumulated a number of Rollei accessories, I prefer to keep things simple and usually only take yellow filter and lens hood when traveling. What I like about my camera is its compactness. On the other hand, if taking pictures at a music recital, I use prism finder and pistol grip...nobody can hear the shutter. Again, a compact package.
Unless traveling in my own car I don’t carry a lot of stuff.

 

[Terry Moore]

I laughed out loud when I read the title to this post. A couple of years ago I took a day off of work to go to an auction to buy my wife a Rolleiflex 3.5MX-EVS Type 5. Fortunately it was in like-new cosmetic condition and pretty decent mechanically. If given the choice between me and the Rollei I think she would still take me but it may take her a while to decide. She takes it everywhere with her and frequently gets stopped by people admiring the camera. So last year she made the bold decision to go to Scotland with only the Rollei. I carried a Nikon F2 and a couple of lenses and had no issues getting through security with it. She, on the other hand, had the camera hand inspected a couple of times. One TSA agent had the most dumbfounded look on his face as she tried to explain that it's a camera. Many people in Scotland stopped, turned and talked about it to her. It was fun to watch. Lots of smiles, questions, and even a few telling stories about theirs or a relatives TLR.

Initially when people started talking to her about the camera I was a bit suspicious as she is strikingly beautiful and most people would assume she's 20 years younger than she is. My concern was unfounded--everyone talked about the camera. Right now the camera is in Oceanside CA visiting Mr Fleenor in preparation for our trip to Halifax NS this summer. She's doing remarkably well waiting for it's return.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I laughed out loud when I read the title to this post. A couple of years ago I took a day off of work to go to an auction to buy my wife a Rolleiflex 3.5MX-EVS Type 5. Fortunately it was in like-new cosmetic condition and pretty decent mechanically. If given the choice between me and the Rollei I think she would still take me but it may take her a while to decide. She takes it everywhere with her and frequently gets stopped by people admiring the camera. So last year she made the bold decision to go to Scotland with only the Rollei. I carried a Nikon F2 and a couple of lenses and had no issues getting through security with it. She, on the other hand, had the camera hand inspected a couple of times. One TSA agent had the most dumbfounded look on his face as she tried to explain that it's a camera. Many people in Scotland stopped, turned and talked about it to her. It was fun to watch. Lots of smiles, questions, and even a few telling stories about theirs or a relatives TLR.

Initially when people started talking to her about the camera I was a bit suspicious as she is strikingly beautiful and most people would assume she's 20 years younger than she is. My concern was unfounded--everyone talked about the camera. Right now the camera is in Oceanside CA visiting Mr Fleenor in preparation for our trip to Halifax NS this summer. She's doing remarkably well waiting for it's return.

I think that they were looking at her because "she is strikingly beautiful and most people would assume she's 20 years younger than she is".

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Subsequently I've taken the Rolleiflex with me to Mexico City as well. I cannot recommend Mexico City enough as a destination - it is by and large safe (there are bad parts, just as in any other major city, but where visitors are likely to go? harmless), it is vibrant, energetic, cosmopolitan, and CHEAP. I took my Rolleiflex all over, including riding on the subway with it (although I kept it in my bag, as the subway is super crowded, and photography is actively discouraged by security personnel).