Rolleiflex for street photography?

[mike kim]

I'm about to buy a Rolleiflex 3.5E for a reasonable price of $390, in perfectly working condition. I've already tested it with a roll of Ilford HP5 and I'm quite satisfied with the results.

The only thing that holds me down (just a bit) is that 12 exposures against 36 is... well... it has to be taken into consideration when you're just a college student like me 😛. Even thought the quality is superior, what I love more of the Rolleiflex is its mechanism and waist-level shooting.

Anyway, I was wondering how TLR cameras perform for street photography overall against rangefinders. Because I got the money, but I have to decide which camera to get, either the Rolleiflex or a Bessa R. :bang:

 

[FrankS]

A tlr for street photography works great, on many levels. On one hand, the waist level shooting allows you to be very discrete in what and when you're shooting. On the other hand, using a vintage tlr may invite discussions as strangers often come up to you to talk about the camera, Let them look into the viewer, etc. This can lead to a friendly relationship and more (posed) shots. On the other (third) hand, the quality of the 6x6 image is so high that you can easily crop out a 35mm section of it to use which means you practically have a zoom lens. I say go for it.

 

[PlantedTao]

If your going to do streetphotos...go with the R or R2. Street is about taking pictures, lots of pictures...unless your good, really really good.
The Rollei is great for street, but you don't get to snap as many pics...although it is really a stealthy camera that takes great candids because of the waist level finder.
The Rollei also takes fantastic landscape photos on a tripod that you can blow up big.
I find myself using the R2 more than my 124G (same as Rollei) but I love my negs from the 124G.

 

[furcafe]

I don't use TLRs because I don't get along well w/the waist-level finders generally, but many shooters use them for street photography. They were used extensively for photojournalism back in the day & many of the greatest "RF" photographers often used TLRs, too (e.g., Robert Capa). Their waist-level finders & quiet leaf shutters can be great advantages when you want to shoot discreetly & not call attention to yourself. Also, you can use the same techniques of zone & hyperfocal focusing, etc. that some street shooters use w/RFs when using a TLR.

The disadvantage of only having 12 shots/roll is inherent to medium format, & would also apply if you were using a 120 or 220 RF or SLR.

 

[kully]

I'm with Frank for all the reasons he mentions, I love using the TLR I bought in China.

Not good for snapping squillions of frames as Tao says, but I hate doing that anyway.

 

[photogdave]

I find the Rollei can be a great camera for getting candids and such, with the right approach. Forget about being the roving, shoot from the hip stealth photog, like you can with a rangefinder.
Just get set up right in the middle of all the action, even with a big old tripod if you like, and shoot whatever comes across that big glass screen. Most people don't have a clue what the camera is seeing and won't know they're being shot. You can even turn the lenses in a different direction from the way you're facing and people still won't get it!
The only down side I find is that people tend to come up to me and ask about the camera and question why I don't shoot digital because isn't it supposed to be better?

 

[rpsawin]

Mike,

I recently saw a PBS program about a photographer in Vancouver, BC who shoots the sex workers on Vancouver's West Side. He does it with a Rollie TLR. I watched him closely and while his subjects are somewhat posed he pretends to fiddle and fuss with the camera. After a minute or so of this the subjects tend to relax and not pay attention to him. It is at this point he starts shooting.

His shots are really engaging and I think his technique is brilliant for the type of essay he is doing. Anyway, I think a tlr can be used for street work. You just need to find how to make it work for you.

Needless to say the Rollies have excellent glass, are workhorses and the negs....

Best of luck,

Bob

 

[nightfly]

I used a Rolleicord V for street photography for a coupla years before eventually getting a Leica (I still have the Rolleicord).

I find the TLR tends to work better for more meditative pictures rather than quick work. You can use it but it just doesn't lend itself to street work for a number of reasons:

1) the waistlevel finder, though discreet, is a bit awkward particularly as the subjects move the opposite way across the viewing field than you would expect. you get used to it but it's that split second between making or not making a photo.
2) the standard lens, 75 or 80 (like a 50 on 35mm) is a little too tight for street work, at least for me.
4) square format doesn't work so well for me for street work. yes, you can crop but I sorta have an aversion to it and tend to "see" in the format I'm shooting in.

I use the TLR occasionally for landscape type of stuff or portraits or abstract things which I think work well in the sqare format but I think the rectangle is better for street than the square despite a lot "classic" street photogs that worked in square.

Get the Rollei and also pick up a Olympus XA or something like it for quick work. There is a satisfaction to using a Rollei and to seeing the wonderful tonality of medium format negs that isn't approached in 35mm, it's just not the greatest for street work

 

[photogdave]

That's Lincoln Clarkes. Great guy...
He recently bough a Leica but couldn't get used the "open" viewfinder and ended up masking of the 35mm framelines with tape!
I don't think he stuck with the rangefinder for very long!

 

[Ash]

The shutter is so quiet, you can use it for any purpose. I agree that 12 frames is limiting (there was a 24-frame add-on somewhere on the market I read about) or else buy a Rolleikin and use 35mm as well!

I only use my Rollei TLR's for posed portraiture, since I have the very basic leica standard for street. If I didnt have rangefinders, I'd take a TLR with me everywhere.

 

[Marko]

My Rolleifelx cames more and more to use for Streetshots. The 6x6 format is much bigger then the 24x36. This allows you a bigger view of the things. For snaps i use my Leica CM. She fits perfect in my jacket pocket and works fully automaticly. But when you are underway with the Rolleiflex you became more often a smile from the peoples and many questions. Wow.. you shot with such a camera and so on. This can be very funny at all!

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Rollei's work well on the street but they do require you to slow down a bit and are not as fast to use as an RF. People don't seems to get "put off" as much when I use mine, maybe it's the whole "retro" look.

I like to use the focus scale on the knob to set the hyperfocal range when shooting street stuff, Tri-X at 400 and f11 means most things will be in focus on a sunny day.

a few of mine taken with a 2.8 Planar:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=44437&cat=500&ppuser=489

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=44406&cat=500&ppuser=489

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=44404&cat=500&ppuser=489

http://apeture.my-expressions.com/archives/6717_1727252692/161547

http://apeture.my-expressions.com/archives/6717_1727252692/157414

Todd

 

[mike kim]

Wow, I didn't expect so many replies that fast. Thanks for the input everyone.

I have a Canon AE-1 for 35mm photography. It may be bulkier than a rangefinder but I believe I can use it for while, but it's so noisy and people keep staring at me so it feels a bit akward using it for street photos. But the rolleiflex... its shutter is the quietest I've heard (I'ver never tried a Leica yet).

Todd, I really like your photos, thanks.

By the way, here's a photo I took when I tested the Rolleiflex. It was scanned from the negative with a not-so-good scanner.

 

[Ash]

It's quieter than most leica's/contaxes

 

[nightfly]

I think it's more the character of the shutter sound than the absolute loudness. Rollei's are quieter than Leicas but the tone of the Leica sound doesn't draw attention. To me they are about equal in that as is the Olympus XA or the Mamiya 6. The tone of an SLR shutter seems to draw more attention for whatever reason as well as being objectively louder. So since the Bessa uses an SLR type of shutter it might not really be effectively much quieter but not having used one, I don't really know.

Photo wise I think the one you posted is a good example of a TLR type street photo, two people, fairly tight to the frame and not much of the surrounding context. I found when I shifted back to 35mm with a wider lens after a long period of using medium format with a normal lens, my work really opened up in a pleasing way.

Todds' work is a good example of this type of street portraiture. If that's what you are looking for it's a great way to go, however the combination of the square format and the normal lens is a bit limiting if you are looking to pull in a little more of the context and the geometry of the street. Depends on your emphasis.

Also the relatively smaller depth of field fo medium format is really nice for empasizing the foreground element and blurring the background but again this works against you if you want a more definitive context.

I guess it comes down to if you are shooting people who you want to pop out as specific, unique human beings or are more concerned with a more general emphsis of people and their interaction with the street environment. For the former, a TLR will be great, for the latter the option of a wider lens and a less restrictive format is attractive.

 

[rpsawin]

That's Lincoln Clarkes. Great guy...
He recently bough a Leica but couldn't get used the "open" viewfinder and ended up masking of the 35mm framelines with tape!
I don't think he stuck with the rangefinder for very long!

Thanks Dave.

I really enjoyed the program and think his work is very good. I guess the whole 35mm rf package would be a big change after shooting for 4 years with a 6x6 tlr.

Bob

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

street photos with Rolleiflexes ?

Doisneau ... it can be done 🙂

 

[VictorM.]

My 3.5E has become my daily shooter...look at my Flickr Series "Parkdalians" for some results.

 

[MelanieC]

I have had little success using my 2.8F for candid and/or street style photography but that is because I'm slow with the camera more than anything else.

It's incredibly quiet (the shutter is practically inaudible) and really not any larger than my M3 in practical terms (they take up about the same amount of space in a bag) so there's no reason why it shouldn't be a good street shooter.

I tend to have more "keepers" off of a Rollei roll than using any of my other cameras, but I also take fewer photos and spend more time composing them using the TLR than a rangefinder or an SLR.

 

[mike kim]

Okay, I think I'll buy it tomorrow. Thanks a lot everyone.