Rolleinar?

Well, I've read the whole thread and I've got a bit more of an understanding now, thanks.

But firstly I'm missing shots from these nice contraptions 🙂 and secondly I'd be most interested in a shortlist of possible solutions for my 2.8F, on which I'd like to use a dioptre-1 attachment.

I've seen nice filter ring adapters that transform Bay III to simple 46mm filters, but am not sure if these can be used on both lenses, and what about parallax then?

Gotta add, I'll be using the camera for portraits 90%

Thanks for any info on this!
 
Johan, I have thought of the Close-up filter solution too, but they will not correct for parallax. The viewing piece (one part or two) on a Rolleinar has a prism which corrects for this to some degree. If you are doing tripod work there is a separate item which I forget the name of at the moment, which you can engage once focus is achieved to lift the camera body slightly to correct for the parallax. If you use this device then the much less expensive because they don't say Rollei on them close-up filters will work.

In the end, for close ups, I figured my Hasselblad is better suited and I got a Hoya close-up filter, in 67mm as I have a Bay 60 to 67mm adaptor ring, and a Bay 60 close-up filter is over twice as expensive as a 67mm, because it is of course associated with Hasselblad.
 
rover said:
Johan, I have thought of the Close-up filter solution too, but they will not correct for parallax. The viewing piece (one part or two) on a Rolleinar has a prism which corrects for this to some degree. If you are doing tripod work there is a separate item which I forget the name of at the moment, which you can engage once focus is achieved to lift the camera body slightly to correct for the parallax. If you use this device then the much less expensive because they don't say Rollei on them close-up filters will work.

In the end, for close ups, I figured my Hasselblad is better suited and I got a Hoya close-up filter, in 67mm as I have a Bay 60 to 67mm adaptor ring, and a Bay 60 close-up filter is over twice as expensive as a 67mm, because it is of course associated with Hasselblad.
Click to expand...
Mamiya produced a couple of versions of a device called a Paramender for their C series TLRs. Fitted between the tripod and the camera, the user focuses with it in the lowered position. Before making the shot the Paramender is used to raise the taking lens into the precise position occupied by the viewing lens during composition of the shot. Parallax and perspective problems are thus eliminated rather than compensated for.

I do not know how adaptable the Paramenders are to other TLR types such as Rollei and Yashica. Varying distances between the lenses of the different types may be a factor. I have been using a C220 recently in addition to the Rolleis, so I would like to acquire a Paramender eventually myself for the Mamiya, ideally for Rolleis as well.

Last time I checked KEH had several on offer--too bad the minimum shipping to Australia is $60 flat...
Regards,
Brett
 
I just saw on ebay a Minolta version for the Autocord, and I am relatively sure there is a Rollei Paramender too. That is the accessory I was thinking of.
 
rover said:
I just saw on ebay a Minolta version for the Autocord, and I am relatively sure there is a Rollei Paramender too. That is the accessory I was thinking of.
Click to expand...
OK, thanks, I was not aware of the Rollei type; I will have a look in "The Rollei Way" to see if I can find out more about that one.
Regards,
Brett
 
rover said:
I just saw on ebay a Minolta version for the Autocord, and I am relatively sure there is a Rollei Paramender too. That is the accessory I was thinking of.
Click to expand...

There's an accessory for the Autocord called the Minolta Paradjuster. Works great. I haven't tried it on any other TLR -- the question is whether the distance between viewing and taking lenses for the other camera in question matches that of the Autocord. Bay I fit cameras would be the prime candidates, and interchangeable lens caps would be a good sign. The Paradjuster attaches to the tripod bush, while the Rollei is ideally attached with a Rolleifix, so in order to preserve the interocular distance one would have to take care going naked without the Rolleifix.
 

The Old Man gets new glasses by *monz*, on Flickr

The Rolleiflex 2.8F has a 80mm taking lens which is either a Planar or, as in this model, a Xenotar. If the Rolleiflex was an old man, it would be diagnosed “longsighted” because the closest focusing distance for the 80mm lens is only about 1m. This limitation makes it difficult to take head and shoulder portraits without cropping. One workaround is to use a Rolleinar close up attachment. Rolleinars come in three strengths - they are, in increasing order of magnification:

Rolleinar no 1: focuses 39.5 - 17.75 inches
Rolleinar no 2: focuses 19.75 - 12.125 inches
Rolleinar no 3: focuses 12.5 - 9.5 inches

Each Rolleinar comes as two lenses: one thin lens fits over the lower “taking” lens of the camera; a second thicker lens with built in prism (to compensate for parallax) fits over the upper “viewing” lens of the camera. After a long search, I managed to get my hands on a Rolleinar no 2 in good condition. In this photo, the two parts of the Rolleinear no 2 are attached. The system works well and the results are very acceptable. Here are some examples using the Rolleinar no2:

www.flickr.com/photos/monz/5606896200/in/photostream

www.flickr.com/photos/monz/5610209381/in/photostream/
 
Impressive stuff, Monz. Seems you got that close-up shooting down real good!

Meanwhile, I found this manual on rolleiflex accessories on butkus.org. Thought I'd post it here to help out those that were as lost as I was/am on the Rolleinar stuff.

Unfortunately, the Rollei eq. of the paramender isn't in there. Anybody that can show me one?
 
I just had a look at the Mamiya paramender on ebay. It is a simple geared column. It can't be too hard to just use a marker and mark out the distance between the lenses for your Rolleiflex on the column. Or, if you want to make it permanent, use a file and make a permanent mark there.
 
Saw some questions/confusion on the parallax issue with the Rolleinars. You should have two lenses. The smaller lens goes over the taking lens. The larger lens that fits over the viewing lens has a prism in it that takes care of parallax -- no need whatsoever for a paramender item such as Mamiya and Minolta offered for their TLRs.

And in terms of focusing, look through the finder and turn the focusing knob until the subject is in focus. No estimating needed. You just need to know what the usable focusing ranges are for the different Rolleinars -- the Rolleinar 1 goes from roughly 1 meter down to 1/2 meter; the 2 goes from 1/2 meter (or 18 inches) down to about 12 inches; I'm not sure about the 3 since I don't have one, but it's maybe 12 inches to 8 inches. Use small apertures since the depth of field gets really shallow!

I'm a big fan of these, since they really give a TLR a lot more flexibility.
 
I did a little review here:
http://photo-utopia.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/rolleinar-close-up-lenses.html

I wouldn't be without my Rolleinar II
This is a I & II stacked and still to my eyes looks OK

112777681.jpg


The II on its own is nice for close head shots

101210288.jpg
 
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