Any Rolleiflex TLR users here?

Gene said:

Pherdinand, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield ... yikes, don't get us old-timers started :cool:

Gene

Looks like you'd get along with Al Kaplan from Leica forum quite well, Gene :D

Denis
 
Forgot to add that I'm quite fond of them, too ;)
Although I'd add the Doors to the list...
I always thought of myself as a hippie who was a few years late :D

Denis
 
Denis, if you like the Doors, you fit right in! Not to mention probably a couple dozen more groups of the day.

One thing for sure. I noticed a lot more TLR's being used back then. And if someone had a Hasselblad, they were considered at the top of the game! Mamiya TLR's were called a 'poor-man's Hasselblad'. When I took a couple of photo courses way back when, they didn't even allow 35mm. A bit stupid, I thought, even then ...

Gene
 
Cool shot, Oscar. That's a nice looking 'Cord! Yup, every generation has to have its own music. My son is into industrial stuff -- he creates his own industrial compositions. I don't understand it at all, but his friends think it's great :)

Gene
 
Wow, lots of responses...let me add a few things...
I have had a 124G in the past, foolishly sold it, have nice
Velvia slides from it. Had an Yashicas EM? at one time too.
So I already know I like the ground glass focusing.
I have played with Mamiya C330's before and never cared
much for them. I do have med fmt experience with other
cameras so I want a big negative with ground glass focusing
with a very good lens attached.
I know about Maxwell screens, I had one of his loupes once.
He is also local to me...
So I guess I should look at Rolleicords too....
 
You know, it was funny with us behind the Iron Curtain. In the early nineties, all the musical culture from louis armstrong till modern talking came upon us in one single wave. We were just in highschool, everybody was listening to everything, on a good party dr alban was mixed with jethro tull and rolling stones with kraftwerk... it was a real big mess, but so many new things...

Something like being let into a large camera museum and allowed to pick five to keep :D
 
You guys are so old ;)
Back in my wild youth (ie. the early Nineties) I used to play in a hardcore punk-rock band, never cared for that hippie stuff (OK, I did like Neil Young).

Roman
 
Hehehe, this thread made me recover the faith on my Rollei and I've got back home with a finished Ilford FP4 roll, 12 shots (well 9 in fact, the double exposure interlock has failed and lost 3 frames :bang: oh well) that are now hanging in the shower.

It's also been my first 120 roll processed at home, it's a bit tricky to unroll it properly in the dark and I missed it once and ended loading both film AND backing paper in the reel :p but could solve the problem finally :)

Let's see how these shots come out, may be the end for a great day, my job contract has been extended for another 6 months (so extra time to finish my final degree project) plus I had great luck in my film purchase (got a 5% photography student discount with 10 rolls of Neopan and the seller has given me a free roll of Tri-X when while talking about films I told him I had never tried it!).

Oscar
 
Last edited:
I trained for a time in a medical illustration lab back in the 60's. When we developed 120 film, we were taught to grasp the end of the film between thumb and forefinger as it unwound and flick the roll toward the floor (don't let go). The unwanted part would spool away and the film remained in your hand. We would then load it into the reel and peel of the tape at the end (beginning).

I can't do this at home because my bathroom is too small to be flicking anything that long without breaking something else.

-Paul
 
Paul, Oscar, you're right -- threading 120 film can be a bit tricky when you're used to 35mm. It flops around a lot more.

In my changing bag, I always separate the film from the paper by unrolling it, letting the film roll into a tube while taking off the paper. Then I untape it when I reach the end. I push the 120 film onto Patterson reels and find I have to use one hand to spread out the end of the roll as flat as I can in order to get it started. That's the hard part, and sometimes it takes several tries while I do a little cursing, which I'm convinced helps! Once it gets started, it loads quite easily.

Gene
 
I use stainless tanks and reels... As I spool the film onto the reel I let the paper roll up separately as it "wants" to do anyway, and then have only the tape to deal with at the end.
 
Everyone will have a different method for loading film onto reels, but when I read about flicking the whole rolland exposing the entire roll at once to possible scratches and kinking, I flinched. Here's the way I load 120 film so that it goes directly from a rolled up state on the film spool into the film reel spiral with minimal exposure to damage:
The roll of 120 film is cradled in my left hand. I use my fingers on my right hand to rip the sticky seal holding the paper backing and film rolled up. I discard any paper bits I have in my right hand. I hold the freed end of the paper backing with my right hand and pull so that the roll spins in my left hand, my fingers curled around it loosely. With the fingers of my left hand I can feel when the film comes up. Holding the film roll tightly now in my left hand, I tear off the paper backing with my right hand (still holding the beginning end of the paper backing) by pulling it off to one side. When I do this the way I do, I'm left with about 2 cm of the beginning of the film exposed. The paper backing has been torn off shorter than the film. I transfer the roll of film to my right hand and pick up a plastic film reel with my left hand. (While I was getting things set up, I placed the film reel down with the beginning of the spiral facing away from me so I don't have to search for it in the dark while holding a roll of film in one hand.) I hold the still rolled up film roll in my right hand and unwind about 5cm (remember the film is sticking out past the paper backing) holding the beginning of the film between my right thumb and forefinger. I orient the beginning of the film to the beginning of the spiral on the reel and thread it in. This happens with everything held close to my chest. I push the film into the spiral and once I'm sure it's being held by the 2 little ball bearings, I place the roll of film on the table with the reel above it and use 2 hands to ratchet the film real to take up the film, which is unspooling as the roll sits on the table.

BTW, I was shocked to learn that my best buddy, very experienced in MF photography, did not realize that the ball bearing thingys work on the smooth edge of 120 film. He thought they engaged the sprocket holes of 35mm film only, so he always loaded 120 film by pushing it on the reel.
 
I like seeing how others load MF film. Have you found different films load differently? I find Kodak 120 to be less tightly curled than HP and stopped shooting it after I couldn't get 3-4-5 rolls on the reel. On the last two occasions I left the roll in the tank overnight but that didn't help.
 
One thing I have noticed is that HP5+ is thicker and stiffer than Agfa 400 B+W. I usually just stick with HP5+. I'm not that adventurous about trying new film. I did just buy a bottle of Agfa B+W paper developer as it was half the cost of my usual Ilford paper developer.
 
I own, and sometimes use a Rolleiflex 3.5E with a Schneider Xenotar lens.

However it does need an overhaul regarding the slow speeds.
 
denishr said:
The Mamiya TLRs (C2, C3 and newer) and the Universal, or Press, or Super Press - are all much heavier than a Roleliflex TLR. Rollies are very nice cameras... Although you can get similar (optical) quality with a better Yashica TLR (like the 124).
Depends on what you like. Try to borrow a TLR for a few days, and see how you like it.
You can't miss with a Rolleiflex, BTW. :)
But, as others said, there are cheaper options - even a Czech-made Flexaret will knock your socks off if you've never seen a 6x6 negative... And the enlargements.... :D

Denis

Awwww ... It's not that bad. I haven't had my arms calibrated lately, but I think my Super Press 23 is only about twice as heavy as my Rolleiflex. And for the weight I get interchangeable backs and lenses. And, those great 6x7 negatives.

Of course, after carrying that beastie all day ...

When I was in my thirties in Korea, running up and down mountains with 35mm plus lenses and a MF seemed worth it. Now, I am more inclined to want to carry only one system, with the other in the car in case I change my mind. :(
 
Hmm, on my very first roll of 120 film (taken with a YashicaMat with Yashinon lens, BTW - my first MF camera) I spooled in the backing papaer, too - but without the film... :(
Now, with all the necessary stuff inside the changing bag, I hold the finished roll of film in my left, tear of the little paper tape with my right, and slowly start rolling off the paper (letting it curl into second roll) at the same time I feel with the fingers of my right side on the inside of the backing paper, and those of my left on the roll itself, until I sense the (untaped) end of the film; then I thread the film into the reel (using A&P plastic reels with wider rims at the entrance point helps a lot...),; I lay the film roll on the table (inside th changing bag) and keep spooling away until the beginning of the film (taped) has been reached; then I cut off the tape, finish spooling and put the reel into the tank - voilà!

Roman
 
Back
Top Bottom