Help needed-just purchased Rolleiflex on ebay

[Jason Blake]

Hi,

With some commiseration I write this post. I just received a Rolleiflex 2.8f with Zeiss Planar from ebay. I paid good $$ for it, $1500 AU so I expected to get a good camera. The camera on the whole is in excellent condition, just in need of a bit of a clean. There are a couple of things I wanted to run by the members here to get your opinion.

1. The winder by all appearances and feel turns well however the film counter will not leave the "0" setting and the winder doesn't stop at the start of the film, it just keeps going until you've wound your film off. Is this easily fixed?

2. One of the aperture blades is slightly turned up at the edge, will this be a problem?

3. The taking lens on first view looks very clean, no scratches, no rub marks but when I view it from the film cabin, looking out, at f2.8 I can see a very fine ring around the edge which look like some kind of gunk or fungus perhaps, I'm not sure. Is this removable?

4. The Rolleinar lens has a lot of small raised spots on the lens, I don't know what they are but they be removable.

It seems the camera may have been bought and sold by the seller but doesn't know much about it although his description of the product was quite detailed. The camera, by the sounds of things, may have been in storage for some time, I'm not sure.

It's not the first Rolleiflex TLR I have owned so I have some comparison.

The seller has given a 14 day money back period so I'm thinking about what I will do. I have sent him an email outlining the problems and will take it to a service center to get assessed before doing anything.

The camera is in great nick apart from these issues.

Thanks for any advice,

Jase

 

[pakeha]

mate, i admire your perserverance, but maybe the 14 day money back is a good option, problem 3 is perhaps the easiest fix[if at all] 1, 2 or 4 alone if not described would be grounds enough to return, regards

 

[kully]

(1) - Are you feeding the paper underneath the roller when loading? If you don't it will do just this.

 

[kully]

(2) I have the same on my Rolleiflex, it's never caused a problem - perhaps it is meant to be the case?

 

[notraces]

I would return the camera pronto. #1 is in need of a CLA - Harry Fleenor is the man - but you'll be waiting a bit - and my guess at cost will be minimum 400 bucks. There is no way I would pay what you paid and then have to CLA the thing - not unless the camera was in excellent condition or better. I don't like the sounds of 3 and 4 at all -- not at all -- not for 1500 dollars.

 

[Jason Blake]

Thank you all. Looks like I'm going to take the return option.

 

[Jason Blake]

Kully,

Thanks so much BTW. I was loading the film incorrectly. That's fixed now so I'll see about the other issues.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

Jason,
I bought a 2.8 Planar E2 last year for $600 from a private buyer. I think it was a bargain, but $1500 for one in the condition you describe is not particularly cheap!. Mine had not been used for about 20 years so I sought out and used a former Rollei-trained technician in the Western Suburbs of Sydney to do a CLA. He's retired now but did a good job and prettied up a few cosmetic issues as well as fitting a brand new Gossen exposure meter (the E2 originally came with or without the meter). I've since put a Maxwell screen in to improve the viewfinder and that's been a big improvement. All up, the camera probably now owes me about $1250.
Mine also has a similar "problem" to the one you describe in item #3 of your original post. It's most likely the beginning of edge separation of the lens elements and actually has no noticeable effect on the image quality, (believe me, I've looked!) but I generally avoid using f2.8 in favour of f3.5 or f4 just to be sure. It's taken 50 years for this to take place and I'm advised it might be another 50 before it starts to worry me - and I'll be long dead by then.

So if you accept that #3 is probably not a real issue (you can check this and also #2 by running a film through it at a range of apertures including f2.8) and that #1 has been resolved you have to decide if the other issues are disqualifiers. As you say the camera is in quite good condition it might well be worth persevering with as Rolleiflex 2.8 TLRs are hard to come by at any sort of decent price and if you send it back and then look around for something cheaper - or even the same price you might be disappointed.

 

[Jason Blake]

Hey Leigh,

Thanks for your input. I'm considering keeping it now that the winder has been sorted. I have just sold a rolleiflex T on ebay and it was CLA'd by Harry Fleenor and had a Maxwell screen installed. I compared the 2 screens tonight and they are virtually the same brightness, the Maxwell is just a tad brighter. Yes I've spent a lot but it's in good condition overall, another small amount on a CLA would give me a keeper for sometime. Thank you again

 

[ZeissFan]

1. The winder by all appearances and feel turns well however the film counter will not leave the "0" setting and the winder doesn't stop at the start of the film, it just keeps going until you've wound your film off. Is this easily fixed?

I think that you've settled this. The film wasn't loaded correctly, right?

2. One of the aperture blades is slightly turned up at the edge, will this be a problem?

I've seen this on a number of cameras. I don't know where it comes from, but it's never caused a problem for me.


3. The taking lens on first view looks very clean, no scratches, no rub marks but when I view it from the film cabin, looking out, at f2.8 I can see a very fine ring around the edge which look like some kind of gunk or fungus perhaps, I'm not sure. Is this removable?

This sounds like surface grime. Remember, this camera is at least 30 years old, possibly older. I would clean the lens with some optical cleaner.

4. The Rolleinar lens has a lot of small raised spots on the lens, I don't know what they are but they be removable.

Hard to say about this. Might be just tiny water spots on the inner surface of lens. Again, try cleaning the lens with optical cleaner.

When cleaning a lens, use optical cleaner and a 100% cotton ball or plain white facial tissue (no fragrance or lotion or other stuff). I know that facial tissue seems like the wrong thing to use, but it's fine. Spray some optical cleaner on the tissue, and wipe the surface of the lens. Turn the tissue and wipe the lens dry.

The camera sounds OK to me. I wouldn't hit the panic button. It's a large investment of money, for sure, and that often is what causes people to become anxious about the condition of a camera.

From what you describe, the camera is in otherwise fine condition. What you want to check is whether the slow speeds work and whether photos are in focus. Shoot a test roll at various distances wide open.

As I mentioned before, any camera that hasn't been serviced since it was first made is a candidate for routine cleaning and adjustment. It's a bit like buying a 30-year-old car with the original belts, tires and oil. You would take it to a mechanic first before taking it for a drive. The one difference here is that a mechanical failure with a camera won't put you in the hospital -- or at least, I hope not.

 

[Hector Negron]

As a seller, one often has to deal with the panic-stricken initial "buyer's remorse" of people who buy things they're not familiar with.

There will often be a barrage of frantic emails with such people when they receive the item, demanding a refund or return.

If they don't send it back immediately, they finally figure out that the error is theirs. The seller rarely gets an apology.

I recall selling a Hasselblad C/M to one person who did not comprehend the system where the dark slide locks the shutter or that the lens cannot be removed without the shutter being cocked.

I had to babysit this person for a week, as he lurched from imagined trauma to trauma.

PS: The turned up aperture blade is normal on a Rolleiflex. It is designed that way.

 

[Beemermark]

Hi,

1. The winder by all appearances and feel turns well however the film counter will not leave the "0" setting and the winder doesn't stop at the start of the film, it just keeps going until you've wound your film off. Is this easily fixed?

You have the film loaded wrong. Find an instruction manual.

2. One of the aperture blades is slightly turned up at the edge, will this be a problem?

No, it's made that way.

3. The taking lens on first view looks very clean, no scratches, no rub marks but when I view it from the film cabin, looking out, at f2.8 I can see a very fine ring around the edge which look like some kind of gunk or fungus perhaps, I'm not sure. Is this removable?

Being around 50 years old it's probably dirt that you can't get out with normal cleaning. Send to Harry Fleenor for a CLA.

4. The Rolleinar lens has a lot of small raised spots on the lens, I don't know what they are but they be removable.

See answer above.

Did you buy it for a collection or to use? If you plan to use I suggest you get an owners manual and then go out and shoot a bunch of film.

 

[Jason Blake]

Thank you Beemermark and Hector. Wise words from you both and I will take all inot account. I didn't know about optical cleaner so I'll get some tomorrow. Hector I will sen an apology to the seller (this made me laugh). Thank you!!

 

[Hector Negron]

Before you send the apology, shoot a couple of rolls of film and make sure everything is in working order. It sounds like you did OK.

 

[Jason Blake]

Oh and Zeiss fan, many thanks for your feedback. You're right on the money. The camera is in pristine condition otherwise, it has been kept in its leather case. There's not a mark on the camera and the controls are all pretty smooth.