RIP Rolleiflex... the end of the line this time

I looked at those photos, and it reminded me so much of when they closed down my place of employment. Grab your personal stuff, and get out the door, lads.

PF
 
The photographs of the "factory" seem to suggest a poorly run service and repair facility.
The 35mm SLR cameras, Rollei 66 SLR 120 in cases all make one think these were customer repairs..
I see some tools but no real facility to truly manufacture a high end Rollei.
Maybe what we see is the bones of the picked carcass.
Sad but inevitable.
I love my Rollei.
 
It is sad because the Rollieflex is a camera that creates a siren call that can't be ignored when you get into photography. I guess that won't really change because there will always be used ones available I guess.

I got to the stage where I had to have one and finished up buying a D model from David Murphy a couple of years ago. Such a tactile camera to shoot with ... nothing like it IMO.

That said, from what I saw of those factory shots I didn't get a sense of organisation or efficiency. It all seemed a little hap hazard to my eyes.
 
Dan Daniel said:
Ha- the Terry Richardson creep-o-meter test stand!
Click to expand...

You got me. I laughed.

Keith said:
It is sad because the Rollieflex is a camera that creates a siren call that can't be ignored when you get into photography. I guess that won't really change because there will always be used ones available I guess.

I got to the stage where I had to have one and finished up buying a D model from David Murphy a couple of years ago. Such a tactile camera to shoot with ... nothing like it IMO.

That said, from what I saw of those factory shots I didn't get a sense of organisation or efficiency. It all seemed a little hap hazard to my eyes.
Click to expand...

I have a feeling that whoever is staging the auction probably pulled out stuff from all over the place to take photos. That and people leaving their jobs obviously aren't going to bother tidying everything up once they've taken what they needed.
 
ChipMcD said:
This is an announcement of the auction of the machinery and equipment of the Rollei plant and a listing of the types of machinery available. It's not a sale of a going business, just the equipment, so I think the OP's opinion re: finality is probably correct. The notice states that "know-how" packages (proprietary information, I guess, and perhaps intellectual property) and work in progress will be sold separately. If German insolvency proceedings work like US bankruptcy, they likely would have attempted a sale of the entire business first. A sale of individual articles of equipment suggests that there were no takers on the whole package. Guess my Rolleiflex 3.5F and MVS-EV cameras may have become even more valuable, because we've likely seen the last Rollei TLRs. Guess that is not news though.
Click to expand...

I doubt the older versions will appreciate much due to this event, I suspect few people in the market for a new $8000 camera will turn to the old used versions. Maybe the last examples will eventually demand a premium, but I really don't think so - I can't imagine many were selling, given the outcome.
 
Well to be honest, after the Rolleiflex GX the mechanics of the Rollei TLR's got worse so for a "real" Rolleiflex your best bet is a GX model. In 1991 I almost bought a jubileum version of the F/2,8-80mm TLR in Munich for DM1900,-(Eur. 950) but I decided to buy a second hand Yashica Mat 124-G instead for NLG. 200 (Eur. 95). In 1994 I made the change to a Mamiya 645 Pro. In the mean time I am also working with a C.V. Bessa III 667, even better then a Rolleiflex and more handy when I am traveling.
 
I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I finally broke down
and bought a digital camera last month, a Sony a7ii that I've
despoiled with a crappy Industar 69 (28mm held-frame) lens.
None the less, my Rolleiflexes do not approve and I'm not sure
I do either.
 
My dad had a Rolleiflex when I was born in 1961. It was the first camera I remember seeing and I always wanted to have a go at using it - but he'd never let me. A wise move as I am very clumsy. However, times got hard and he had to sell it. I was still a kid and vowed to buy him one when I started earning. Then I started work but, by that time (1979), he'd had a stroke and lost the use of his speech, one side of his body and some eyesight.

I'd been a keen photographer for many years and had even shot weddings to supplement a very modest income. My dad died and I never forgot the desire I had to own a Rolleiflex and how gutted I was that I'd never been able to buy him a replacement for the one he'd had to sell to keep a roof over our heads between jobs.

Many years later, I bought a 3.5T but, strangely, never really took to it. I traded it and went to a 2.8e which was in beautiful condition (mechanically, optically and cosmetically). Although I enjoyed using it to a degree, I also use Hasselblads and find them easier to use and have the advantage of a selection of lenses.

A few weeks ago, I traded the 2.8e - with some regrets; mainly as a result of it being a tenuous link to my childhood and my dad. One thing is certain, Rollei was a top, top manufacturer and I can't imagine there being many such iconic brands in any field of manufacturing. I'm gutted abut the news - not only for those people who worked for Rollei but also the photographers who, somewhere down the road, won't get the chance to experience using or owning one.

Rolleis are not to everyone's taste and they have their limitations. However, they are a small but important part of my life - but a HUGE part of photography's history and heritage.
 
This was emailed from Rollei to Duncan Meeder of Foto Henny Hoogeven in Lisse, the Netherlands, in March 16th- Duncan is an acquaintance & Foto Henny stocks the entire current Rollei line]

"We are in discussion with an investor for total company.If we are not successful,we will split the business.I will continue with smaller group of people (also doing repair service for all products) continue assembling line, but not take over preproduction.Most of the parts will then be made by subcontractors.

Of course I will let you know ,when something important happens.Be sure we will continue our business---- I am too young to stop.haha"
 
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