Thanks so much for this video. I got a rolleiflex from my grandfather. Now it is time for the next generation to find out about film. This helped a lot since the tlr is less intuitive in the beginning than the 35mm that i used.
There are light meter apps for your iPhone, they work.
8 месяцев назад
Rolleiflexes are wonderful cameras! I use my 3,5F Planar both for personal projects and on some commercial jobs. And by the way, the German name is pronounced roll-eye-flex, not rollee-flex… ;)
Thank you so much for your great explanation! I would like to ask how to change the ASA setting on this camera? Or there's no need to change it according to the film used? I just bought one and cannot find a way to turn the asa dial
One should note that the ONLY Rolleiflex that uses the "red dot" system for aligning the film start is the Rolleiflex T you are showing. Every other Rolleiflex (at least since WWII) including the SLR SL66 uses a different mechanism. You put the fresh film in the lower chamber as shown. Now comes the difference: the silver roller visible above the spool under the lens chamber is in fact two rollers with a small gap between them. You thread the white paper of the film between these rollers and continue as shown. As soon as you fixed the end of the paper to the empty spool you close the back and turn the handle. It will stop automatically! No need to align any marks. The gap between the two silver rollers feels the thickness of the film coming and stops the mechanism. If you don't feed the film correctly, the handle will not stop and you are spooling the whole film on the receiver spool without being able to cock the shutter.... This was a very complicated mechanism. The T model Rolleiflex made a few shortcuts to be cheaper. Interestingly, the very last Rolleiflex models from the late 1980 (2.8GX etc. after the bankruptcy of the original Rollei company) went to the "red dot" to cut costs. The last "real" Rolleiflex are the F models with 2.8 and 3.5 Planar/Xenotar lenses. These are the most desirable models to get if you want to shoot pictures. The light meter is selenium based and unlikely to work any more, even if the needle moves. It is almost certain that it isn't metering light correctly, these cells detoriate and are not made any more.
Thanks Martina - that’s really helpful. I’m quite lucky that the meter on my camera is still reasonably accurate. However, I prefer to use a separate meter. 😀
What was the site you mentioned where you could tell which Rolleiflex you have? Mine doesn't have a light meter, so is not the same as yours, and differs in some other ways too.
9:06 My only guess would be either a set of framed photos on the wall would look neat. Or pasting the printed photos side-by-side in an album. I wonder if any photographers skilled in dark room editing tried their hands at printing a panoramic photo. They would need some specialized equipment to keep the paper and negatives lined up in the dark. Though a panoramic contact print might be easier than using an enlarger. Actually, a panoramic contact print might be a fun challenge now that I think of it.
@@threeminutepro Actually, there was a tool to make panoramic pictures. The bottom of all Rolleiflex models has attachments points for Rollei tripod adaptors, making it very fast to put the camera on a tripod. The panoramic adaptor uses the same attachment point. It has a vertical axle that is exactly in the plane of the taking lens. If you turn the camera, the optical center of the taking lens is exactly aligned to this axle giving you the least optical distortions. Additionally, it had a bubble alignment tool to put the camera exactly level. This is needed for perfect panoramic pictures.
Haha! Not on the 3.5 T - film loading is different to other Rolleiflexes. Thanks for bringing it up, though. I should have highlighted this difference 😀
Nice video! I also have a Rolleiflex TLR but I think my camera is a bit older than yours, possibly dating back to 1939. I am curious about the web site you mentioned where you found information about the camera by entering the serial number. What is that web site? The serial number on my camera is at the top of the camera, just above the Rolleiflex name. I believe my camera is a Rolleiflex Automat Type 2.
