Standard Rolleiflex: The Camera Maker Got It Right with This Model - Camera Talk
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- Опубліковано 17 гру 2024
- The Standard Rolleiflex was the third model and the first to use 120 film. With some new features, this twin-lens reflex camera became a favorite of amateur and professional photographers for decades to come and continues to be sought after today.
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My equipment
Video: Sony ZV-1
Microphone: TZ Audio Stellar X3 (XLR)
Sound recorder: Marantz Professional PMD661 MKII
One thing that surprised and impressed me was how the size of the frame remained the same since the 1930s - even as more features were added to it. That's quite a feat. For more information about the Rolleiflex and Rolleicord twin-lens cameras, visit Rolleiclub: www.rolleiclub.com/ (I have no affiliation with that site and provide the link as a resource.)
There are a couple of things that I left out of this video, because it already was getting too long. For example, there were the Wide- and Tele-Rolleiflex cameras, plus a model with a Biometer lens and another with an f/2.8 Tessar lens. It's easy to get sidetracked with these discussions when talking about Rolleiflex TLRs.
I really hope that your channel grows. You have a great presentation style.
Thanks! I'll be retiring next year, so I'll have more time to create videos. Right now, we're in a big technology project, which doesn't allow much free time.
I love owning objects that have been engraved by the original owner. It's part of the history of the device. Knowing who first used it is pleasing to me. Someone loved that camera enough to make an effort for it to be returned to them if lost or stolen. That speaks directly to how much effort that person expended to be able to afford it.
Having covered sporting events as a young photojournalist, I can see the utility of the sportsfinder. Even then track and field sprinters moved fast, and following them with the reflex finder would have led to a lot of missed shots.
In the news business, I worked with a guy who shot high school sports with a Rolleiflex. He said that he shot with a flash. He the aperture to f/11 and shot everything through the sports finder. He was shooting from lower in the stands. The f/11 aperture gave him enough depth of field that he didn't have to worry about focusing, and the negative was large enough that the editors simply cropped what they needed for the page.
I agree about the engravings, except when a Baby Rolleiflex I had had a national identity number engraved. I had it painted over. The sportsfinder is handy, and when you are in a crowd you can easily hold a TLR above your head and look through the finder.
Recently shot a roll through a friends early standard, I'm pretty passionate about the later rolleis, but never shot one so early, so really I thought of it as a curiosity... but I was blown away by the images. Sure, it didn't have a terribly bright viewfinder, but as long as you hit focus all that is forgotten when you look at the incredible results.
While we all marvel at $1,200 modern day lenses, a 100+-year-old uncoated four-element Tessar can still deliver the goods. Every time that I'm getting ready to write off my older cameras, I go back and look at the photos.
Very nice presentation, and the cameras are in excellent condition! The engravings are part of the camera's history, so I wouldn't fill it in. B1 film is the same as 117-film, for six 6x6 exposures. B2 is 120. The B1 window was removed in later production. I don't like the long throw focusing. I find it less precise, since you have to turn the focus knob back and forth and the subject will never "snap" into focus. The Tessar was machanically limited to 3,8 because of the shutter at the time, but that was fixed for the later version of the Standard (and Rolleicord). The bubble level was a part of the camera from the factory. The groundglass has a clear spot for it. I love the Tessar and Triotar lenses and think they have more character than the Planar/Xenotar, especially at large apertures.
I think I have this exact model. I got it from Facebook marketplace tonight. Could you help me identify it?
Congratulations on buying an older Rolleiflex.
Visit the Rolleiclub website. Using the serial number on the body just below the "Rolleiflex" name, you can find which model you own.
www.rolleiclub.com/rolleiflex-serial-numbers/
Then look at the serial number of the lens, which will help you determine the approximate year that the camera was made. Visit this Camera Wiki page: camera-wiki.org/wiki/Carl_Zeiss_serial_numbers