Any Rolleiflex TLR users here?

[Rob]

I know, its not a rangefinder....
But you guys have so many cameras someone has one of these
I am sure...I have been seeing more photos taken with these
old TLRs that just knock me out...Looking thru a Yashicamat
the other day I realized I sure do like to focus on the glass than
use a rangefinder... Which models are good users?
I see Planar, Xenar, Xenotar at least...
Any help appreciated.
Rob

[Borghesia]

I think all the Rolleiflexes are good usercamera's. I have a cheap Rolleiflex T, and it's one of my favourites. I also have a Hasselblad system and that stays in its case most of the time in favour to the 'flex.
The 'flex is light (Tessear 'flex is), just as light as a Yashica Electro and indeed focussing is a delight to do.
At f8, my Tesar is terrific. My best pictures are made with this camera. Also because of the weight and the convenience of a fixed lens, it's a very good option to take the 'flex on a trip.
I did so on a trip to S.E. Asia and next time I will do that again.
To cut a long story short, Rolleiflex ; great camera with excellent handling (1/8 sec. easily handhold), light, superb optics, beautifull !

[bmattock]

I have a Yashica 635 - Basically a Yashicamat like the one you saw, except with a lower-grade 3-element 80mm f3.5 lens and a nifty adapter to allow standard 35mm film - the Yashica 635 then becomes a portrait camera (mild telephoto, slightly soft)!

I've had mine since High School and love it! Some have trouble getting used to focusing upside down and side-to-side reversed, but I didn't have too much trouble.

I'm sure the Rolleis can only be better yet!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[rover]

I concur that photography through ground glass is great. I caught the bug again over the last few weeks, both with my Hasselblad and Yashica Mat.

My TLR is a 124G. Really affordable, fun as can be, and any image on 120 film is great to see.

[oftheherd]

My second MF (past box, folders and Bantams) was a Super Press 23 which gives even bigger negatives. It just happened to be a rangefinder, but I was getting it for the large negative rather than a C330 I had on lay-a-way. I think you could get a good Universal or Press 23 (the later ones, not the highly rounded early ones, for what you would pay for a good Rolleiflex. That with a 100mm lens and 6x7 back.

Even if you got a Rolleiflex for a little less, you would have a camera with a good, well earned reputation, but it would not have interchangeable lenses or backs. The Mamiya Universal and Super Press 23 have that, as well as ground glass finders all but one of which take cut film holders.

Of course, you can get a Yashica, or Rolleicord, Konica, Tower, or many other old but still good TLR's, for less. They just don't interchange lenses, nor with the exception of the Rolleiflex, backs. They will be less expensive, with the Rolleicord and Yashica cameras being some more expensive.

I guess it depends on what you want. I have a Rolleiflex I just can't convince myself to take out when I have the Mamiya 23. I keep promising myself, but ... Someday I will, I promise.

Was it the large negative you were anticipating or just seeing a large viewfinder? They can be addictive. Oh, you will find any MF camera other than most folders, to be much heavier than the 35mm rangefinders usually talked about here.

Don't feel bad if that was your first time to look into a TLR. They are a revelation to those who have never done so. You look at a large view screen with both eyes no less! And you know your negative is also going to be that big. Wow! Oh, did you notice that the image was reversed horizontally? Oh well.

Hope I haven't pooh-poohed you enthusiasm too much. TLR's are nice. I had a Yashica MAT 124G before I got the Mamiya and I loved it. I would just caution you to examine what it is you want, then if there are better alternatives.

BTW, my Rolleiflex has a rangefinder prism so I guess I can use that here too?

[bmattock]

Don't forget the Mamiya C2, C3, and subsequent TLR models - interchangable fronts (taking and viewing lens)! Many were used as wedding rigs over the decades - some still are. Never had one, but they're generally well-regarded.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[oftheherd]

Originally posted by bmattock
Don't forget the Mamiya C2, C3, and subsequent TLR models - interchangable fronts (taking and viewing lens)! Many were used as wedding rigs over the decades - some still are. Never had one, but they're generally well-regarded.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

Thanks Bill. In my long-windedness, I forgot to mention them and the fact they did have interchangeable lenses, as well as, at least on the later models, backs for cut film. As I recall, they were rather heavy compared to a Yashica GN.

[Pherdinand]

I have a rolleicord, the cheapo brother of the 'flex. (and a Yashica D, too.) I like to use it, it handles very well. The neckstrap is very efficient to "handhold" it - neckhold it, so to say. 1/30 s is no problem to take sharp, nice pictures with a TLR; as said above, you an go to 1/8 with some practice, if the subject does not move. The resulting enlargements are just great, even with 400iso film you get great tonality. (But that's valid, i guess, with any MF camera.)
People will give you a weird look when you pull it out from your bag. Some of them get very friendly That can be an advantage and a disadvantage...
Good conversation starter. I've found it to be much easier to photograph people with it, than with a modern SLR, for example, exactly due to its age and different look.

I think TLR's do deserve a try from anybody who considers himself an open-minded photographer... Of course, you should not buy the newest GX platinum 'flex just to try it out

[denishr]

The Mamiya TLRs (C2, C3 and newer) and the Universal, or Press, or Super Press - are all much heavier than a Roleliflex TLR. Rollies are very nice cameras... Although you can get similar (optical) quality with a better Yashica TLR (like the 124).
Depends on what you like. Try to borrow a TLR for a few days, and see how you like it.
You can't miss with a Rolleiflex, BTW.
But, as others said, there are cheaper options - even a Czech-made Flexaret will knock your socks off if you've never seen a 6x6 negative... And the enlargements....

Denis

[GeneW]

In the late 60's I bought a Rolleiflex 3.5F Planar plus some accessories from someone who had used it for one year at Brooks Institute of Photography but had decided not to continue.

The camera is a beauty -- truly mint condition -- and a pleasure to use. A couple of years ago I added a Maxwell screen to it for even brighter viewing.

I scan my Rollei negs on an Epson 2450 flatbed scanner with transparency adapter and get very good scans, considering the price of the scanner.

Just for laughs, here's me with my Rollei back in 1973 ... what can I say ... times were different ...


.

[FrankS]

Gene! Times have changed but a nude model in front of a camera then is still a nude model in front of a camera today. That is what you're photographing, right?

[GeneW]

Originally posted by FrankS
Gene! Times have changed but a nude model in front of a camera then is still a nude model in front of a camera today. That is what you're photographing, right?

Except for her rangefinder

Gene

[taffer]

Gene ! ... I didn't know you were Johnny Depp !

Just for the record, like Pherdi I also own a poor man's Flex, a Rolleicord Va which I truly love and also a Lubitel 166U (isn't it fun? ).

As others said it's really great to compose your picture in that big ground glass screen.

[FrankS]

I have a Rolleiflex E with 75mm f3.5 Planar and a Rolleicord III with 75mm f3.5 Xenar. I had to upgrade the ground glass screen in the cord just to see through it. Man, was it dim.

[plexi]

I got a nice Rolleiflex Automat MX a couple of weeks ago, haven`t touched my RF`s since....
It`s the perfect candid camera!
People doesn`t notice you like with a camera to your eye.

No I got to buy a good scanner for MF....

[don sorsa]

My Rolleiflex 3,5 Tessar was made in 1954, and I bought it in February from a local camera shop (Central) for about $450. I like the camera, the process of taking photos, and the photos themselves. You're close to KEH, right? Go on down and rent one for a week and have fun!

The attached shot is from the first month I had the camera: guesstimated exposure, late evening, tri-x, diafine, and Epson 3170 flatbed scanner. Lousy scan due to operator incompetence: the bokeh is much better than it looks here.

[Doug]

Gene, I recognize your tripod! I still have one like that, but after years of wear 'n' tear it's too loose and unsteady for photo use, so it has been supporting chronograph screens instead.

Back in the 60's when I worked in a camera shop I had opportunity to use a variety of cameras including a baby Rollei and a Mamiyaflex C1. Maybe with more exposure (heh) to such cameras I might have come to like waist-level viewing, but only adding a Porroprism led to more use of the Mamiya. Same with a Hasselblad, but y'know I think these camera bodies were not deisigned with eye-level use in mind!

What really drew my attention was the Pentax 6x7... got a used one in '76 and recently added a second one, I like it so much.

[Pherdinand]

Gene, you look cool The age of deep purple and jimi hendrix, i'm so sorry i missed it by a few years!

[Scarpia]

I have a RolleiMagic II with a shutter that only works at 1/500 and an out of kilter focusing lens. It also has a 4.5 x 6 mask. Only yesterday I left a roll of color negative film for development. I used the sports finder also with a mask and used scale focusing. If the pictures are good I will consider having it repaired. I also have a Minolta Autocord and a Mamiya C-3 but haven't used them in years. Both are near mint. The Rollei incidentally has a Xenar 75, 3.5.
Kurt M.

[GeneW]

Oscar, Johnny Depp?? If so, he doesn't have much to look forward to

Doug, that's an old Vivitar tripod I bought in K-Mart for $15 in the 60's. I finally replaced it when two of the welded feet fell off

Pherdinand, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield ... yikes, don't get us old-timers started

Gene

[denishr]

Originally posted by Gene

Pherdinand, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield ... yikes, don't get us old-timers started

Gene

Looks like you'd get along with Al Kaplan from Leica forum quite well, Gene

Denis

[denishr]

Forgot to add that I'm quite fond of them, too
Although I'd add the Doors to the list...
I always thought of myself as a hippie who was a few years late

Denis

[GeneW]

Denis, if you like the Doors, you fit right in! Not to mention probably a couple dozen more groups of the day.

One thing for sure. I noticed a lot more TLR's being used back then. And if someone had a Hasselblad, they were considered at the top of the game! Mamiya TLR's were called a 'poor-man's Hasselblad'. When I took a couple of photo courses way back when, they didn't even allow 35mm. A bit stupid, I thought, even then ...

Gene

[taffer]

back to the future...

Oscar (gotta vote for Depeche Mode, I'm afraid )

[GeneW]

Cool shot, Oscar. That's a nice looking 'Cord! Yup, every generation has to have its own music. My son is into industrial stuff -- he creates his own industrial compositions. I don't understand it at all, but his friends think it's great

Gene