Rolleiflex 2.8E Advance lever problem

ravenxarmy

ravenxarmy

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I bought the camera back in November and it worked perfectly well until today.
I changed the film and tried to advance it to the 1st frame when the lever suddenly stiffened. The further I turned the more stiff it got so I stopped as I didn't want anything to get snapped.
Is this something I can fix myself or will I have to bring it to the shop for full overhaul? I looked at the prices of fixing Rolleis and here in Tokyo it's going to be anything between $400 and $600. Ideally I'd prefer to avoid spending that...
 
How far did you get before it jammed?

Ie. were you just getting the film on the take-up spool, or was the door closed?

If the latter, it might be worth abandoning the roll so you can open the back and see if anything obvious has jammed.
 
It jammed before the dial turned to 1
I took the film out but I'm not familiar with the construction of the camera enough to see if anything is out of place.
I could send photos if I know what parts to focus on?
 
This very much sounds like the return spring inside the film advance has either given up the ghost (snapped) or is so tired/gummed up that it can't do it's job, which is pulling down a pawl that lets you advance the camera until either the start is detected or a sufficient amount of film has passed over the toothed roller. Normally what happens is that it gets jammed in the open position, where the symptom will be that you can wind on indefinitely until you have wound through the entire roll - but I can imagine it getting jammed in the "set" position also.

Either way with these "automat loaders" this is not something you should attempt to fix with no prior repair experience and a visit to an experienced Rollei tech is in order. I repair cameras as a side income/hobby but I will stay well away from these, despite having several Rolleiflexes. I can do a "standard" or "cord", but the later models are not for the faint of heart.
 
Good bye $500 then...
Oh well... I will take it to Kanto Camera this week... They have my M3 for overhaul at the moment. There's gonna be some months of waiting again...
 
I would not recommend Kanto camera for a Rolleiflex. They have done a very mediocre job on mine. Lesson learned
They're best for Leica or other rangefinder stuff. They do service Hasselblads and Rolleiflexes but hm...

I asked them to service my rare 2.8B Biometar, because it's rare and valuable and I did not want to ship it overseas. When I got it back I tried to install the Rollei focus knob that allows it to have a larger diameter focus knob. Long story short after undoing the old knob I found 60 year old grease everywhere. Not impressed. It works but it did work before as well... and changing out the old grease and cleaning any camera or lens I get is just 'due diligence' to me.
 
Harry Fleenor is probably not getting any younger but he'd get my vote. Anyone have recent experiences with him?

I have sent him five or six 'flexes and they all still work perfectly thousands of rolls later. The earliest he did is just about a decade out now. Customs was a pain in the backside, because I did not do my paperwork properly (another learning experience!), but ultimately it was worth it having good reliably working Rolleiflexes that did not need to be babysat and can be used in good confidence.
 
Oh... They fixed my Bessa II and now they have my M3 so I thought I'd give them the 2.8E
I'll see how much it will cost to have it fixed by HF with postage to the US and back...
 
Yeah it's not cheap for sure. I learned my lesson and the second two times I did two a time and with the proper paperwork.
Customs of course wanted proof that these were mine when they came back and I had a hard time proving that first time around. There's forms for it.

Again I am not saying it's cheap or hassle-free, but ultimately - to me - it's one of these do it once - properly, or do it many times piece-meal kind of things. I tried some other repairers here (all over Japan) with varying grades of success. Sukiya/Kitamura will refer you to their in-house repairers but in my experience it's a kind of crap-shoot depending on whose desk it lands. I had sent lenses for cleaning that got oily again within 5 months...

Sadly the repair landscape is not looking too hot, in general. Hence I picked up the spanner myself so to speak.
Anyway digression off.

Edit: Forgot. Or rather pushed it out of my mind, perhaps. I also tried Hayata-Camera for a 2.8C. Three attempts and it never came back right. Nightmare. After time four I just ate the loss and sold it on... oh well!
 
Last edited:
No idea who k-repair is. So I can't help you on that.

The latest fleenor quote in my mail was this: (For a 2.8F)

Services required: transport overhaul 139.00, shutter overhaul (oil on
blades) $139.00, Rolleikin counter repair (not working) $29.00, total
for repairs $307.00 + shipping $134.00 Priority Express mail shipping
both cameras in one box with $2,300.00 insurance total is $441.00
invoice #xxxxxx.
Click to expand...

Edit: I asked for a quote in 2020 and the estimate cost was $39.00 - so add that on top of the rest.
 
He wrote me back:
Estimates are $39.00.

I will need to examine your Rolleiflex before I can give you an estimate for repairs needed.

These Rolleiflexes are 50 plus years old and the focusing mechanism lubrication has evaporated. So a focusing mechanism re-lube, that includes re-alignment, collimation and adjusting the focus, is part of the general CLA which also includes
shutter overhaul, transport overhaul, external cleaning, viewfinder cleaning and runs around $700.00 plus parts and shipping.
Click to expand...

He also said:

We aren't accepting international shipments.
Click to expand...

So I guess I'm stuck having to find a place in Japan.
 
Oh wow he's gotten more expensive. And exclusive.
Shame. I assume he must have gotten bad experiences with international packets with people blaming him for screwing up their tax work (like me). Or packets getting lost/damaged in transit.

I guess you could try Kanto camera if their 5-6 month wait and so-so results (for me & a colleague, anyway - maybe you will be more lucky) aren't too off-putting for you.
 
TenEleven said:
Harry Fleenor is probably not getting any younger but he'd get my vote.
Click to expand...
There's another man probably worth mentioning, an Asian man I believe. I think he also has his own camera store. He's said to be good with Rollei. All I have to do is remember his name . . . does Jimmy Koh sound familiar? Ok I just googled it. Yes, Koh's cameras still exists.
 
Rob-F said:
There's another man probably worth mentioning, an Asian man I believe. I think he also has his own camera store. He's said to be good with Rollei. All I have to do is remember his name . . . does Jimmy Koh sound familiar? Ok I just googled it. Yes, Koh's cameras still exists.
Click to expand...

I was just going to send them an email and then I clicked this...

 
I picked up my Nikon D3x today from a local repair shop, the top Rear Command dial quit working.
Not exactly sure what went wrong inside but they were able to replace the part with a new one.
$264 for the repair, no shipping at all. Rebuilding a mostly mechanical camera, time and parts, then shipping I feel I have more to complain about for what I figure was a simple fix.
Dropped it off last Saturday, done by Wednesday...in the end I'm not complaining, super happy its fixed and I have it back.
 
So there's the ending to this story.
I sent Jimmy my 2.8E and he fixed it and CLA'd it in a few days for $200 which is beyond awesome.
So I thought it would be great idea if he kept my 2.8E and instead of it sent me one of his CLA'd 2.8Fs.
He said, sure, so instead of the $200 I sent him a whole load more cash and now I'm waiting for my minty fresh 2.8F with working meter.
Happy ending.
 
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