21.01.1988
Paul Franke the businessman and Reinhold Heidecke the precision mechanic founded in the year 1921 a company, the success of which was based on the twin-lens reflex camera introduced in the year 1929 - the Rolleiflex. The number manufactured is well over two millions - in different versions. As the prototypes were constructed in the latter half of 1928 the camera´s 60th anniversary is close. The "original" Rolleiflex was not, however, a finished product, the breakthrough model was the Automat that got the award in 1937 at Paris World Fair.
For one used to present-day electronics the Automat is not very automatic, but in its own time it was revolutionary. The winding-on of film was automatic - first frame was positioned without peering the ubiquitous red window, the frame counter was automatic, too. When film was wound on this also cocked the shutter and so unintentional double exposures and blanks were prevented, too.
When focusing and composition was easy in the reflex viewfinder, ergonomics of the controls was good and the quality high, Rolleiflex was to rule its realm for a quarter of a century. It was beaten only by Hasselblad and Nikon at the beginning of the sixties.
Of course the Rolleiflex did change - there are at least 52 different models - depending on how you define - but mechanically the 1937 year´s Automat and the 2.8 GX of 1988 are very much the same camera.
The taking lens is a classic 75 mm F3.5 Tessar, here a West-German Zeiss- Opton, but the type was also made with Schneider-Kreuznach Xenar and East-German Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar - with no differences in quality. The lens in already coated. Compur shutter has classical speeds 1-1/500 s and B like the original. Shutter speeds and apertures are adjusted with the dials in front - located to fall readily to thumbs. The finder has a moving mask which corrects the parallax error.
This version is still quality merchandise - the pre-war Carl Zeiss Jena F3.5/75 mm Tessar is uncoated but by using a lens shade the performance is very good even by present day standards. The four element design is not prone to internal reflections. The shutter is the familiar Compur, without flash sync - this very machine has had it added later.
The 2.8F is with "all the goodies". The back can be detached for the use of sheet film. You can use 35 mm film with Rolleikin adapter. The viewfinder is interchangeable. The camera we are dealing with has an accessory glass plate in the film plane that improves film flatness - so every last ounce of sharpness from the F:2.8/80 mm Planar lens can be extracted. It could also be had with Schneider-Kreuznach Xenotar lens.
By the way the best lens ever was the six-element F:3.5/75 mm:n Planar for the 3.5F model. The worst was the F:2.8 Tessar of the year 1949 - they were all called back to the factory.
OK - let´s load film. Back is opened by unlatching the lock at the bottom of the camera. Then you´ll change the empty film spool to become the new take-up spool, as is usual with roll film cameras, and replace it with a new one. The end of the backing paper is threaded in between two slim rollers, the inner of which senses the beginning of the film and starts the frame counter. The film is then drawn over the film aperture to the slot in the take-up spool. You then rotate the crank clockwise so that you can see that film catches properly. Then you shut the back - no need to align any arrows etc. that you´d need to do with many other roll film, which can be quite laborious to load. Then you crank a bit more, at the beginning of the film proper you feel a slight resistance. After three revolutions the crank will stop and then you turn it back half a turn in oder to cock the shutter. Now you have the camera loaded, shutter cocked and frame counter at number one.
I have described the loading procedure with much detail so it may seen complex. In practice it is very easy: if you don´t take the exchange of the spools into account, it compares favourably with an easy 35 mm camera - like a Pentax with Magic Needle loading. Messing with the spools slows you down but on the other hand there´s no rewinding.
2.8F is equipped with an exposure meter. Film speed and filter factors are set a big dial on the left side. For a selenium cell the meter is sensitive and no battery is needed. The readout is in the middle of the focusing knob, facing upwards. The correct exposure is set by aligning two pointers. The acceptance angle of the meter is wide so a bit of judgement is needed.
The viewfinder is opened by lifting the lid at the back. The viewfinder is big and clear so it is very practicable. The screen can be changed, "our" model had split-image rangefinder but focusing with the folding magnifier in accurate also on the ground glass alone.
The shutter release is soft and the shutter itself very quiet. Because of non-moving mirror the shutter operation is vibrationless and, of course, the image of the waist-level viewfinder does not black out. You wind on to the next frame with approximately half a turn of the crank, which then stops. The shutter is cocked by moving the crank back to the start position in which it will lock. The film transport is light and fast. After a few exposures you´ll understand why the Rolleiflex in so high esteem among the news photographers.
The 75 mm lens is equivalent to about 40 mm in 35 mm format and when you use negative film you can easily enlarge a part of a negative - say, the size of 35 mm negative - to get telephoto effect. So you could cover the range of a present-day modest zoom - from a slight wide-angle to about 100 mm, in a tight spot even a bit more.
Well, the same things did also prevent the continued popularity: one lens is always only one lens. If you need a real telephoto or a true wide-angle even a very good normal lens is not enough. They tried to better the situation by introducing the Mutar telephoto and wide-angle attachments, but those were heavy and expensive. The second try was to make different telephoto and wide-angle Rolleiflexes but without much success.
The easy to compose viewfinder has a shortcoming: the viewfinder image is laterally reversed - a mirror image - so following a moving subject is very difficult. You can make a sports finder out of the regular waist-level finder but it is at best inaccurate. For later models you could get a prism finder. There was also one more shortcoming that was the result of high build quality: the Rolleiflex was always very expensive.
For instance the above described Standard Neu costs in good, usable condition about 1.800-2.500 Finnish marks. The model is not very rare, 130.000 were made. To find one is highly unlikely, though - the authors have during the last 10 years seen only one.
The extremely rare Automat II - only 17.000 made - is for some reason quite inexpensive, in good working order only 1.000-1.500 FIM. There´s cheap 6x6 user-collectible for you!
The most valuable for the user would be the model F - and so it is the highest priced: a good specimen with f:2.8 lens and exposure meter can cost you 3.500-5.000 FIM.
The prices do change a lot, as does the condition of the cameras. You can get a shabby one for less than 1.000 FIM - but it will not necessarily be a bargain: the basic overhaul can cost you 2.000 FIM. Well, at least the camera will get a good home - and almost all Rolleiflexes can be brought back to life. The pictures for this story were taken with a 32 years old 3.5 E which has seen more than twenty years of hard labour in the service of the newspaper Keski-Pohjanmaa.
In Finland the Rolleiflexes are more expensive than in Sweden or West-Germany. The reason for this is obvious: scarcity. In the heyday of the Rolleiflex our country had strict control of imports, the standard of living was low, the number of cameras imported was small. When you meet with a suitable Rolleiflex, you have to grab it - regardless of condition or specification, if you want one. You cannot predict when you meet a next one. The new import of vintage Rolleiflexes has remedied the situation quite a lot, though.
Rolleiflex has not had an importer for years. The sales would be low. It would be nice to see the new twin-lens reflex in Finland. Maybe the moving back of Rollei Fototechnic into German ownership might activate somebody.