|
Main Page
Medium Format 35mm AF 35mm Manual Focus Point and Shoot Equipment Reviews Links |
Rollei: The Rolls Royce of TLR
For those interested in the TLR design, the Rollei has always been the benchmark of quality. With rugged construction not matched by many other cameras (both modern and classic) and featuring top notch optics from Schneider or Carl Zeiss, the Rollei's are truly excellent options to consider for both amateur and professional photography. I have had the pleasure of owning two of these cameras - a Rolleicord V and a Rolleiflex 3.5E. Both impressed me greatly, and in hindsight I am sorry I let go of the 3.5E. Rolleicord V: For anyone looking to get into medium format, the Rolleicord V is one of the best bargains out there. This camera has the legendary Rollei quality and many of the later features, but is often overlooked by collectors (who favor the Va and Vb), so the price stays down a bit. You can find one for $125-200 in excellent working condition, depending on where you go. This camera has the 75mm Xenar f3.5 lens (coated), MX flash sync, EVS, self timer, and all the other usual Rollei features. The only downside to the camera (if you can call it a downside) is that you must manually cock the shutter. Performance is truly excellent considering the age and relatively low cost. The lens is quite sharp and contrasty, and provides excellent negatives. I consider the lens in this camera is a true gem, and once I have the aperature blade repaired it will be back in regular service. The camera handles well, thanks to Rollei's excellent design. Everything is straightforward and easily located. The aperature is set via a lever on the left side of the taking lens, and the shutter is adjusted via a lever on the right side of the taking lens. The camera features EVS, and will actually move both shutter and aperature together to maintain an EVS value. No sitting down to fingure out that 1/125th at f16 is equivilent to f8 at 1/500th or f22 at 1/60th. The camera will adjust things to keep equivilent exposure times. Aperature settings are in 1/3 click stops (no need for guesswork like on the fully adjustable Rolleiflexes), and shutter settings are in full stops. This camera is a true pleasure to use. Just one note - like with all TLR cameras, there is the standard parallax problem, so close-up work is a little difficult. Just as a final note, I would not have gotten either the C33 or the Rolleiflex 3.5E if this camera had not broken. It's an excellent 2 1/4 TLR which will become my back-up to the Bronica once I have it repaired. Click here for a feature list. Rolleiflex 3.5E: After the aperature blade broke on my Rolleicord, I decided to replace it with this camera . The 3.5E is one of the later Rolleiflex cameras with the 75mm f3.5 coated Xenotar lens. I had the type 2, which lacks a meter. Overall, this is another fine example of Rollei engineering. Everything functioned flawlessly, and negatives were excellent. The viewfinder on this camera is quite interesting. My Rolleicord has the standard waist level finder with sportsfinder. The 3.5E had a waist level finder, but had a quasi-pentaprism as well so you could focus while using the sportsfinder! Quite clever and very useful. As for the general handling of the camera - it's everything you would expect from a Rollei. Mechanics and optics are superb, and the controls are well laid out. The only feature I thought the camera lacked was multiple exposures, which is one reason I moved to the Mamiya C33 when the opportunity arose. However, as a number of people pointed out, I was in error and the 3.5E does indeed have multiple exposures, and I had simply missed it. Feature List and Photo |
Medium Format
Cameras - User's Guide to Buying and Shooting
by Peter Williams is
now available from
Amherst
Media!! [1/2001]