Wide- & Tele- Rolleis

[chip j]

Anyone know how good these were? Esp. the lenses?

 

[Trask]

I believe Sanders McNew uses a Tele-Rollei frequently. You can google him and his images (many NSFW) to get an idea of how the camera/lens images

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

I had a Rolleiwide for a very long time. Biggest mistake was to have sold it.
This is one of the best 6x6 wide angle. Not a 50, not a 60. That Distagon 55 is perfect, almost no distorsion.
And on a body like a Rollei it makes a very compact camera.

As for the Tele.
Lens is like the wide. Fantastic.
Except that it is much bigger and heavier.
Another issue is the minimum focus distance which is quite long.
To get close you need to get some Rolleinar (there are 3), they are rare and expensive.

 

[tony lockerbie]

Quite agree with Guillaume about the Tele-Rollei, a really wonderful lens on a lovely camera. But to use it as a portrait camera you do need those Rolleinars, and the book form one that I have cost an indecent amount.
As for the wide, never could afford one! Would imagine that it is damn good though.

 

[BMbikerider]

I have not seen a Tele-Rollie for years but they do crop up for sale occasionally but now they cost the same as a small car. As good as they are I cannot see the point in paying out such a large sum of money for something you are going to be afraid of using.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Tele-Rolleis are easy to find, and while they're more expensive than a standard Rollei, they're not THAT much more (if a regular Rollei is $800-$1000, a Tele can be found for $1200-$1800). Rollei-Wides, on the other hand, are far more rare, and far more expensive (try $3K for a beater). The Wide also takes a Bayonet IV filter and accessories. Those are extremely rare and expensive. Another vice of the Tele-Rolleis is that they are prone to lens separation - there are a LOT of them out there with obvious balsam degeneration. While it can be fixed, in theory, you're far better off saving your pennies and getting one that doesn't have any separation issues (unlike German Shepherds, where it may be unavoidable, you can't tell until you have the dog, and the rewards of ownership outweigh the issues).

The close focus on the original Tele-Rollei has been addressed with the modern Tele-Rollei - one of the recent ones will focus to something like 4 feet instead of 8, eliminating the need for Rolleinars for portraits. The current production ones, however, go for around $4500.

 

[Henning Serger]

Hello friends,

just for your information:
Both the Wide and Tele-Rolleiflex are built new in the original factory in Brunswick, Lower-Saxony, Germany (it is not so far from my home and I had the luck to visit this factory two times with a guided factory tour):

http://www.dhw-fototechnik.de/en/rolleiflex-tlr.html

The current Tele-Rolleiflex has a much shorter minimum focus distance than the first, old model. It can be easily used for portraits without a Rolleinar.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

They are both terrific performers and of amazing build quality. The tele- lens has a signature that I love and its perhaps my favorite MF camera. The -wide clicks with me like no other wide angle perspective camera/lens does. I have many other lenses and cameras that shoot this perspective but for some reason struggle at the wider end, being much more of a normal to short-tele shooter, but once I started shooting my Rolleiwide I've been thrilled with my results. Could be I try harder because I paid so much! Was also not prepared for how well it does close up. I'm really big on TLRs and Rollei in general so that helps too.

Rolleiwide:


Golden Gate Park fern grove Rolleiwide Agfapan25 HC-110 by rich8155 (Richard Sintchak), on Flickr


Shoshone Falls Rolleiwide TMY-2 HC-110 by rich8155 (Richard Sintchak), on Flickr


Golden Gate Park Mallard Lake Rolleiwide Plus-X HC-110 by rich8155 (Richard Sintchak), on Flickr

Tele-rolleiflex:


Devil's Tower Tele-Rolleiflex IlfordHP5+ HC-110 by rich8155 (Richard Sintchak), on Flickr


Tilden Farm Ben Tele-Rolleiflex KodakTMY400 D-76 by rich8155 (Richard Sintchak), on Flickr


Franklin Canyon Tele-Rolleiflex lfordHP5 at800 Rodinal by rich8155 (Richard Sintchak), on Flickr

 

[chip j]

Thank you all, and esp. thanks for the link, Henning. Sure glad they're still being made, now I have to find some way(!) to get all three. Chip

 

[dpurdy]

Interesting to see now with the new Rolleis you can choose the color of the leather and the color of the metal... gold or silver.
Dennis

 

[EricWHiss]

Richard,
Those are some great pictures! Thanks for sharing! I love GG park too - particularly the Botanical gardens. Is that where your fern image was from?

All,
I've got the lens MTF charts and other information for each of the TLR's up on my site now, as well as some brochures and user manuals for the new TLR's if anyone is interested. btw - I hope to have my very own FW by the end of this month!

FW: Dead Link Removed MTF charts the last picture
FT: Dead Link Removed
Brochures and user manuals can be found from the main page under manuals & docs

Dennis is correct - these can be ordered in custom leather colors, with custom serial numbers and/or engraved identity plates, and the trim can be plated in chrome (standard), light gold, heavy 24ct gold, or platinum.

DHW is building these to order so they take some time to be delivered.

p.s. I hope I can post like this since I'm an APUG advertiser and supplying information... but obviously I have them for sale too, so mods please move or delete if this is not allowed.