Show off your TLR!

[neal3k]

I've had this Graflex for years but never enjoyed using it.
Graflex 22 with Graflex BC Flash by Neal Wellons, on Flickr

I decided I had to have one of these and with zone focusing that I use mostly now, it has become so easy and fun to use.
Baby Rollei 127 Format by Neal Wellons, on Flickr

It helps that Shanghai makes 127 film and also I don't mind splitting 120 film.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Test shot on some Tri-X 120 that I cut down to shoot in my Baby Rollei:



Best,
-Tim

 

[Timmyjoe]

Rolleiflex Auto K4:



Best,
-Tim

 

[Muggins]

Cheating slightly, this is me mugged up as a 1940s press photographer. I think it captures my best side!
(since I took this, I have realised that I can clip down the rest of the viewfinder hood so I don't need to hold it so awkwardly)

 

[Solanum]

 

[p.giannakis]

 

[Duofold RF]

This is the well‑known former member and photojournalist Al Kaplan’s Minolta Autocord. It came to me with a broken focus knob, so I machined a replacement on a CNC and gave it a full restoration, including new leatherette. It’s all back in perfect working shape now.

 

[fub]

Weltaflex Trioplan 3.5/75 - random ebay purchase. Basicly shot all my 120 photos last year with that camera. i was able to replace the viewfinder mirror with a mirror from a Polaraoid 636. Had to cut it, but it works perfectly. Only problem is that one has to slightly push the magnifier down to get be able to get a sharp magnification. No idea why that is. Oh and it has the "S" marking from the VEB which should make it 'special' quality

 

[38Deardorff]

My trusty Rolleiflex T... been all around the world

 

[Duofold RF]

View attachment 4885008

Uncoated Zeiss Triotar is a capable lens even for color. Mine is a 75mm f3.5 version.

 

[p.giannakis]

Uncoated Zeiss Triotar is a capable lens even for color. Mine is a 75mm f3.5 version.
View attachment 4885567

It's the same lens - on the Ia, the lever goes past the f/4.5 but the brightness is limited by the smaller lens diameter.

 

[38Deardorff]

 

[David Murphy]

My Tower Reflex. It takes fabulous pictures. It is sort of a Rolleicord copy. The light meter is non-functional, but still a cool thing to have on a 1950's era TLR. Apparently this model was related to the Walz TLR models in some way, judging by the names of the lenses. Tower was a Sears brand, so this was certainly a re-brand of some sort.

 

[David Murphy]

My Rolleiflex 2.8D Planar, not a particularly common 2.8 variant. It works flawlessly. Most 2.8's this old show significant signs of aging. Not this one - it's a thing of beauty IMO.

 

[38Deardorff]

Rolleiflex T FP4+

 

[38Deardorff]

 

[38Deardorff]

Paris à la Doisneau w/ Rolleiflex

 

[BobCoRn]

Revue 6x6 (SeaGull 4A103A), HAIOU SA-85 1:35/75mm.​

Before buying this camera, I spent a lot of time reading reviews online. Lots of bad reviews. They talked about the camera's unreliability and the very poor image quality of the three-element lens. Well, I bought it!
Result: the camera's shutter didn't work. But I simply unscrewed the front part of the lens and cleaned the shutter blades with gasoline. And lo and behold! The shutter worked perfectly. Then I cleaned the lens itself. It had a slight haze from age. And you know what? I got stunning sharpness. The film advance mechanism works perfectly. The distance between the negatives is perfect!
Conclusion: don't rush to criticize what can be improved. You just need to think carefully about how to do it.
I got the perfect camera for a ridiculously low price, which is in no way inferior to much more expensive cameras from famous brands! Happy photography, everyone!

 

[fub]

View attachment 4886066

Revue 6x6 (SeaGull 4A103A), HAIOU SA-85 1:35/75mm.​

Before buying this camera, I spent a lot of time reading reviews online. Lots of bad reviews. They talked about the camera's unreliability and the very poor image quality of the three-element lens. Well, I bought it!
Result: the camera's shutter didn't work. But I simply unscrewed the front part of the lens and cleaned the shutter blades with gasoline. And lo and behold! The shutter worked perfectly. Then I cleaned the lens itself. It had a slight haze from age. And you know what? I got stunning sharpness. The film advance mechanism works perfectly. The distance between the negatives is perfect!
Conclusion: don't rush to criticize what can be improved. You just need to think carefully about how to do it.
I got the perfect camera for a ridiculously low price, which is in no way inferior to much more expensive cameras from famous brands! Happy photography, everyone!

didn't know they were rebranded by Revue. Went on ebay and found they even rebranded the Kiev 88. Going to keep my eyes open for one of those

 

[Vince Lupo]

I posted this elsewhere on the Forum last year but not in this thread. I guess the sub-zero temperatures have caused a bit of Saturday morning boredom!

This may have been one of those many cameras that I should have kept. I purchased this Ikoflex II locally for a very good (okay cheap) price - it belonged to the seller’s father and it likely hadn’t been used in over fifty years. She loaned it to a photographer friend of hers and he purchased a roll of Rollei Retro 400 to run through it but he never did. She must have loaned the camera to him a while ago as the film expired in 2021. I fixed the sticky shutter, cleaned it up a fair bit and decided to run that expired Rollei Retro 400 through it myself. Never having shot Rollei Retro 400 before (let alone a four-year expired roll of it), I exposed it at ISO 200 and developed it in D76 using a Rollei pull-developing formula and a bit of finger-in-the-wind calculation. Negs turned out pretty nice - a blind squirrel gets an acorn every once in a while I suppose.

I ended up selling the camera to a friend of mine but in the back of my little pea-brain I’ve often considered asking him if he’d sell it back to me. Resist Vinny, resist.

BTW I couldn’t understand the upside-down Zeiss Ikon plate on the focusing hood - undoubtedly an Ikoflex rarity!


Ikoflex II by Vince Lupo, on Flickr


Duct Tape Boat Race1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr