The Rollei SL 66 was my all-time favourite Camera. But using it without a grip was a pain. The grip made the camera very useable. Comparing a SL 66 to a Hasselblad is almost an insult to Rollei. The Rollei is beautifully engineered, even simple things like having a place for your Dark slide, in each film back. Being able to tilt your lens 8° as well as being able to reverse your lens on camera for macro work. As well as every lens focus really close because of the bellows. The Hasselblad lenses didn’t focus close at all without extension tubes. Having one single shutter as well was an advantage over having a shutter in each lens, except with flash photography, where a leaf shutter has a faster sync so you can control your background darkness much better. The Rollei also made two lenses with leaf shutters for this camera. They thought of everything when they designed this camera. Even doing double exposures with so much simpler. Where is the house of blood you had to take the camera back off to do a double exposure. It’s almost like they looked at the house the word and thought what can we do to improve on this camera, and they did in every way. Unfortunately, it was very expensive and didn’t sell as well as it has a blood, but it was way better than Hasselblad in terms of what you could do just with one camera. Regards, Gerry.
Also the film backs were all 120 or 220 whereas Hasseblad had separate backs for either film. They also had the film feeler gauge so you didn’t have to line up any arrows on the film backing. 😊
Thanks Gerry for your insight! Yes, the Rolleiflex is packed with great, carefully thought-out details, whereas the Hasselblad is pretty basic in comparison! Of course, you also have to take into account that the Hasselblad 500 is a much older system that was established back in the 1950s ...
A really nice camera this time. 😁👍I instantly rushed to EBay to check the prizes and decided to stick with my Yashica 124G when it comes to 6x6. The sl66 is still an expensive camera. 😅
I get your point: When I said that the prices are not getting up that much for the SL66 right now, I should maybe have added that it never was cheap to begin with! And apart from that, I agree with you: Shooting 6x6 SLR's makes me appreciate 6x6 TLR's even more, they're much more lightweight, simpler to load, more quiet in operation! Maybe TLR is just the one "sweet spot" of all 6x6 camera concepts!
Hi Thomas and thank you for this review. I do own Rolleiflex SL66SE with only HFT 80mm Planar and I pretty much love shooting with it. Yes, it is heavy and bulky but it is a genuine pleasure to work with. I constantly learning to shoot with the camera and my only wish is to have more light :)
Hey, many thanks for your feedback! It is a beautiful camera and the results are fantastic. Great to hear that you have a lot of fun with it, and yes, we all are striving to find more / the best light :)
Quite a few years ago I had the opportunity to use a Hasselblad 500 CM for a work assignment (full page ad in a trade magazine) along with a Speedotron flash system. I used Ektar 100 film and I have to say I was expecting some kind of magic to happen with that setup. While the image quality was well good enough to get published, I was a bit disappointed. Fast forward to about 5 to 6 years ago when I was lucky enough to pick up a Rollieflex 6008 Professional, complete with a spare fit back, a couple of filters and an extension ring. I have just this week gotten scans back from some Fuji 400H and some Ilford XP2 Super I shot a couple of weeks ago and the images are so much higher quality than what I remember from the Hassy. Of course different film stocks and a few decades could explain a lot of my impressions, but not completely. The quality of the metering on the 6008 is just outstanding. I have yet to have a poor exposure from this camera. Based on these experiences and what you have just shared I this video, I think I may have to take a look at acquiring an SL66SE or similar model before the word gets out about how great these cameras are. Nice work.
Thanks David for your comment. Sorry I missed it for 2 weeks! Actually, I shot two Hasselblad (500C and 500C/M) in the early days of my photographer career for some professional clients. I was really lucky back then! The sharpness and quality was impeccable. These cameras used Zeiss lenses just like the Rolleiflex. But yes the Hasselblad is a beast that needs to be mastered in handling. And I recall the cameras can have some mechanical issues. Maybe there was a reason that your Hasselblad didn't perform as expected? In general, they're supposed to be of super high quality! On the other hand, all these 6x6 SLR cameras are pretty complex. Also the SL66 cameras can have issues, for example when the one arm that holds the lens mount is bent slightly. It can happen when the camera received a knock or something. I was really lucky that the camera I was using for this video was in such a great shape. It's a fantastic camera, but again: very complex, heavy and needs to be handled with care. But then it will deliver images that are just stunning in technical quality!
Very inspiring, thx for sharing. Super nice camera. The other shift/tilt bellows medium format camera that comes to mind is Fujifilm's GX680. I used to have Mamiya's RB67, which I loved, with its rotating backs. Now I'm using my Fujica GM670 for medium format.
Yes the GX680 is a fantastic camera, albeit also a monster :) As is the GM670 - I hope I'll be able to shoot one of those gorgeous medium format rangefinders one day as well!
6x6 reflex single is one of the few legendary camera types I do not own a version of, except for a Pentacon Six TL, which isn't really quite the same since it's more of a 35mm SLR form factor. Always so tempting (especially when well presented like you've done here) but I don't need more cameras! 😅
In 1973, I used them both, Hasselblad and SL66 owing to their different pros & cons. It should be mentioned that there was (and is still) - as far as the optical design is concerned - the same set of lenses: e.g. Carl Zeiss Distagon 4/40, 4/50, Planar 2.8/80, Sonnar 4/150 and 5.6/250; so you enjoy the same lens quality with both camera types. I preferred colour slide film and got outstanding crisp results. But, as @gerryhardman9060 writes here in the comments, without a grip the SL66 was hard to handle. So I finally turned to the Asahi Pentax 6x7 and enjoyed equally fine & worthy but much cheaper lenses. @philosimot
You're right ... there were the same Zeiss lens designs for Hasselblad and the Rolleiflex SL66. They're all gorgeous! I personally also love the "35mm SLR style" cameras such as the Pentax 6x7 or even the Pentacon Six ... now the last one totally does not match a Rollei or Hasselblad, but its basic body shape and handling are really nice in a way!
Do you know the Norita 6x6, also in "35mm SLR style"? It has a 2.0/80mm standard lens and a 4.0/160 light tele. In the U.S. it was offered by Graflex.@@tomscameras
Oh, thanks for pointing out! So I googled this and here's a link to a Brett Weston book with some shots taken with the Rolleiflex SL66: www.lodima.org/shop/brett-weston-europe
My first 6x6 was a Kiew 88, in the 90‘s I‘d switched to the Hasselblad 500C. A good choice, so I thought. Finally I switched again to my SL66, because I like the integrated macro, also a rewind glass mount und finally tilt by Scheimpflug. In my case, the SL66 ist the best 6x6 option, I own it for near 30 years, ever I‘ll sell ist, even my Leica M4.
Yes, in the end the SL66 and the Hasselblad cameras are completely different beasts. The SL66 is very unique and if you can make good use of its feature set, then there's no substitute! Thanks for sharing your experience!
An exciting camera model, and a unique historical document shot with it (it's interesting, by the way, and maybe telling, that there have been exhibitions of the complete set of images in European countries, but not in Germany itself...)! The SL66/E/SE with its bellows focusing mechanism reminds me a bit of the Mamiya RB/RZ67, while at least the RB of course looks like stone age in comparison! 😉
I think that Berlin Wall project needs a boost. Maybe 1984 was not the time where everyone was really interested in the documentation - the real wall was still there, after all, and no one liked that horrible thing anyway. And after 1989, people just wanted to forget about the dreaded wall, who was looking for a photo project of it back then? But now, it's 2022, the wall is a thing of the past and a whole generation of people, even those being born in Berlin, never saw it in the flesh because they were born after 1989. So maybe time's just right for this photo project to be put back in the limelight now.
Thank you for a fantastic review! :) A very cool feature I discovered by accident on my SL66, was a double exposure lever underneath the winding crank - is there also a double exposure button on the SL66E? Thanks!
HM.....HM..... you are forgetting the Fuji Gx 680/690 cameras, these HAD a 'bench' which took the front standard and lens, so this WAS a built in bellows camera too.
Well, yes: they use 120 film as well! But they’re no 6x6 cameras but offer an even bigger image size. But you are right, I should be even more clear about details when I say something like that!
A superb, informative review Tom, as always, but personally, If I were purchasing a 6X6 film camera, I would buy a Pentacon Six, why?, well you have a focal plane shutter, speeds up to 1/1000, interchangeable focussing screens, interchangeable viewfinders, one of which has a light meter, also interchangeable lenses, with Jena Zeiss optics always focussing closer than average, and of superb quality. It is true that you do not have the lens 'tilt' facility, nor interchangeable backs, but honestly, how often would one use the 'tilt' option, and for the price of a Rollei back, one could buy another complete P6 camera, with all the advatages of having two camera bodies, one with colour film, the other black and white, and all at far cheaper price. Yes the P6 is no lightweight, but it is comfortable in use, especially with the excellent, angled shutter release, the Rollei, by comparison, looks most ungainly in use. There are still specialists in Germany, and the UK, who are able to service P6 cameras. I have been using my example for 20 plus years, and it has only needed attention once, and it was not new when I purchased it.
I used to have a Pentacon Six, which sadly never worked well even though it was rebuilt by a local camera shop who, at the time, were known as experts for all East German cameras. That was in the mid-1990s. Today, there seems to be more knowledge about how to make Pentacon Six cameras reliable. And I have a real soft spot for East German cameras, I deeply love my Praktica FX2 (even though that one is also a bit temperamental despite having been rebuilt recently). So maybe, I'll get a Praktisix or Pentacon Six once again ... :)
Oh yes, that's two gorgeous cameras you have got there! Especially the 500C/M. I used to shoot Hasselblad 500's in the late 1990s for some of my first photo jobs. Fantastic cameras and also so beatiful to look at!
Excellent video, very informative!!. Thanks . I'm planning to get one SL66 But the SL66E looks more modern. Right Now I'm still in 35 mm format. Could you tell me about the cover of the SL66E , because the Original one SL66 looks like it has leather. and for what I saw on internet most of them are already peeled peeled. The SL66E looks more like a rubberised ?. Did you have any problems with the camera?. Thanks for all the advice on that. Best regards
Hi Gustavo! The SL66SE has "leatherette" on it like almost every other classic camera. That means, yes it could peel off over time. It's just that the material itself is different to the older series, it has this "diamond" pattern on it. Overall, I'd maybe not worry too much about damaged leatherette in case the rest of the camera is in a good condition! It can happen over time. In case your camera needs a CLA, they can fix that easily! In the time that I used the SL66SE, I didn't have any issues with it. But the camera in my video was bought new by the same guy who owns it today, and he didn't use it often. But when you're in the market for this camera, make sure that the lens mount is straight. All the weight of the lens hangs on that one arm at the left side of the camera body. In case of hard shocks or the like, it can go out of adjustment and e.g. become a bit bent or tilted. I point that out also in my video. This is the main specific weakness / issue of the SL66, otherwise the other things that can go wrong (for example sticky shutters / problems with the long shutter times etc.) are the same as for any other old camera.
Ah, Dusseldorf, next time I'm in the area we'll take a look there, which neighborhood is that, Rhein promenade? I haven't been there for at least 15 years. What I think you forgot to mention is that you can also make Scheimpflug adjustments with the SL66. Nice camera in many ways...thanks and I enjoy watching your videos. Greetings from Groningen @@tomscameras
I'm a proud owner of a sl66, but I think that I will sell it... It's to heavy and bulky. Probably I'm going to replace it with a hasselblad or a zenza bronica (the piggy one of course).
Personally, I love to shoot my Rolleicord TLR much more than all these heavy 6x6 SLR cameras. Maybe I should look for a nice Rolleiflex 3.5 with the Planar lens. Did you ever think of getting a 6x6 TLR?
@@tomscameras best Tom, I got a question and I need your opinion.. Right n ow I own a rolleiflex 2.8 tlr. Next to commercial work with I shoot of Course digital I also make documentairy work. I am looking for a sl66 because it seemed to be ideal for portraits and the zeis lens looks superb. I also never se fellow documentairy Photpgraphers shoot tlrs for Example a Exibition. Is the quality of those lenses the same or is the sl66 better? Is the tlr good Enough for portraits? Greets stan.
