Camera Review - Rolleiflex
Sunday 16 October 2011 at 10:56 am. Used tags: 120, camera, format, medium, rolleiflex, tlr Another medium format star, I'd always been tempted by Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) cameras since starting down the analogue film path but didn't really know where to start. Both Mamiya (the 'modern' C220/330) and Yashica (quite a lineup that mirrors Rolleis) had some quality candidates in this field but the true legend was the Rolleiflex (and its cheaper cousin the Rolleicord).
The only catch was that the Rollei has achieved a certain cult status among TLR and medium format fans so finding one in decent condition for a modest price wasn't going to be easy. I'd regularly see them going for $500NZ+ and up to $1200 for ones in really good condition.
A few months after my search began a friend of mine mentioned his father had one for sale - turns out he had bought it in the 50's and carried the thing through the Himalayas and New Zealand alps so it had quite a colourful history. Apart from a little wear and tear it was in great 'user-grade' condition - leather, light-seals, speeds, shutter and meter were all in good nick. This was a later model Rollei with a Carl Zeiss f3.5 70mm lens and a selenium-cell light meter (the expensive f2.8 models were out of my league!).
Loading the film is a little tricky but there are plenty of useful YouTube videos to help a Rollei newbie load film. The biggest hassle I find is the film advance and cocking handle doesn't easily lend itself to muscle-memory and can lead inadvertently to double-exposures. Definitely have a bit of a practise with the wind and half-cock reversal before you load film just so you've got it nailed before you go blowing expensive film.
I have to say that using a Rollei TLR is a great experience, even after fifty years it works just as smoothly as ever and the images it takes are stunning with the wonderful 6x6 framing adding to the overall filmy-goodness -
Useful Rolleiflex links here, here and here.
