your best story with a TLR

[rolleistef]

Hello,
you know, a Rolleiflex isn't just a camera, it's an object that creates links. If Nokia had to replace its motto (lol) they'd choose "The TLR people". Then I'd like to share with you my best stories with my Rolleiflexes, because it's often cool how the people in the streets just come and have a chat with you!
Frst one :
I had taken my camera to Paris for the first time, I then had a black 1958 Rollei T (best image quality ever). At the Gare de l'Est i was shooting trains (yes, exactly, shooting trains) and suddently a guy came and said "Oh a Rolleiflex! When I was about your age (I'm 19) I wanted to have an Hasselblad!" When leaving the station another one said "Well done, m'boy, that's a good camera"

Another story in Geneva : walking in the old town, the Rollei (the grey T, 1960) hanging around the neck, a guy stopped me "Hey! I've got the same one but without a meter!" "No way! Which model?" "A rollei T, but as I told you, without a meter!" He said he came from Poland, and he was selling the photos he was taking with his Rollei T without a Meter, and printing them on cotton.

Otherwise I get the usuam questions, "do you take pictures with it?" (no, it's only a fashion and extra-heavy necklace) "does it shoot colour? When was it made? Can I see the picture you just took? Wow the LCD is so big! My grand father had the same!" etc...

Merry christmas to all of you!
all the best
Stef

[Pherdinand]

I have a friend from southern India. Kerala state. He is a cool guy in his late twenties.
He is christian, but the tradition of his parents looking for a wife for him is however built in their christianity. They look, and make a selection list of say 30 girls, then he goes around and spends some time with the girl, chatting, getting to know each other.
Long story short, this person, let's call him Danny, living far from home, asked me to make a few photos of him that he could send home for his parents. It's better if the girls and their families can immediately see who is the prince.
I packed some gear and film and went to his place in a sunny late afernoon. When i pulled out my 1938 Rolleiflex automat 2, he bursted in a big grin:" Man, you brought your oldest crappy camera to do this for me?? This is serious, you know?" he said half-worried half-amused.
"Just lemme do it my way", i said. Loaded a roll of NPH400, put the 'flex on the tripod and took a few casual shots of him. Then he dressed up in a suit, we made a few more. We went out to a nearby park and finished the roll. Just 12 images, in total. Danny kept on commenting about the seriousness of the "matter".

Five months later he got married to a gorgeous girl.


http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8440&d=1120054196

[SolaresLarrave]

A panhandler in Chicago got a couple of bucks out of me when he complimented the looks and professionality of my Mamiya C200 near the Art Institute. He claimed (big dippity-dooh-da) to have used one in the day... He was such a charmer I couldn't say no to his polite request for a buck! :)

On another ocassion, a guy walked by me while I was in Sycamore, IL, focusing my Mamiya and said "At last, someone with a real camera in this town!"

We also got very good service at a restaurant in which the waitress made a comment about my "very cute old-fashioned camera." Was it a result of the Mamiya or just her professionalism? :confused: Oh, well... She earned a nice tip! :)

[sienarot]

Danny kept on commenting about the seriousness of the "matter".

What a great story! Did his tone change after he saw the photos or got married?

[Pherdinand]

:) he quickly forgot the details and was glad with the results.
They have a small chocolate baby already.

[Todd.Hanz]

just a few weeks ago I was shooting my 2.8 E2 for some family portraits...after shooting my niece, she came up and said "let me see, let me see". I flipped the hood open so she could peer down it and she said "No, I wanna see the picture" It's a digital world ya know ;).

Todd

[lynn]

Last spring, during one of my wonderful visits to Norfolk, Jocko and I found ourselves at Brancaster, home of endless beaches and a reknowned Golf Club.
As I focussed - with the Minolta Autocord - on the fence...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2346/2133201381_0fff9ba324.jpg

an elderly gentleman approached us.
"Now that's what I call a Proper Camera!" he enthused.
(Our Leicas seemed not to count. :) )
And, months later, in Alkmaar, when I took this picture:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2161/2133201287_1f6859b27a.jpg

a passer-by said exactly the same thing.
*
In Dutch, though.

[Senecabud]

Upon seeing the twin lenses, someone wanted to know if the camera is for taking double exposures. :p

[Bryce]

Last year for Halloween I took my Mamiya TLR with grip and old (heiland) flash gun with me to the bar, dressed as Clark Kent.
Nobody seemed to believe the thing could actually take pictures, and I got some really good ones.
Sad thing, the Heiland had to be jury rigged with modern batteries and failed partway through the evening. So I replaced it with an electronic onw I'd brought just in case. The results were just as good though.

[pau3]

My wife says, half joking, half serious, that she's going to forbide me to go out with my Rolleiflex, because every time I go out shooting there are several
women complimenting about such a beatiful camera.

Maybe she does not realize that if I take the Rolleiflex is to take pictures.
What a sad thing!

[rolleistef]

lol! It's true that so many people mistake our oversized viewfinder with an LCD screen..; :D

[Jerevan]

Last year, I was invited to a wedding in Tuscany, Italy. I decided to use the Rolleicord Vb I had. During the trip I used it a lot and it worked wonderfully. When it was time to fly home, on 11 september (!), I was halted in the customs at the airport. We were running late so I wasn't really up to being inspected. The customs woman rummaged through the camera bag, looked at the film rolls a bit and then she found and took out the Rolleicord. I looked on, waiting for a verdict - was it okay or was I going to spend the rest of my days in some dungeon somewhere?

In an instant, every other inspector came up and gathered around and looked at the little magic thing. It felt like time stopped a little bit and I overheard someone saying "bellissima camera" or something to that effect. It made a good part of that day. :)