Taking the Rollei on vacation

Sorry for no update on this... waiting for the frustratingly looooong Precision Camera shipment... we are officially over two weeks now!

Will share some shots soon, I hope!
 
Soon I'm going to take mine on a trip to a family wedding. I have a long-standing policy of not shooting when the official photographer is shooting as it causes that "which lens do I look into?" problem for people posing, and generally makes the official photographer's job harder. But I shall be shooting around the edges, at the reception, at the rehearsal dinner, and maybe on the street the day before. It's the camera's first trip back to see the family whence it was handed down to me. I hope I can keep it working long enough to survive the trip; shutter is getting stickier (needing much exercise right before each roll of film) and the time for a CLA draws closer.
--Dave
 
Some good photos here. Look for Fritz Henle's book on the Rollei - just the best on out there (IMHO). I love my old Rollei - never lets me down.
 
The Rolleiflex has given our family most of our favorite photos. The processing firm we use - their people always come out to look at the negatives or slides on the light table. We recently came back from Cape Cod - and used the Rolleiflex more than our 135 cameras. By all means - take it and have fun.
 
Fun to think of it as a travel camera, inspiration for me to take my humble but beloved YashicaMat on my next trip. Do our TSA friends recognize a TLR as a camera or does it require explaining?
 
Orbiter said:
Fun to think of it as a travel camera, inspiration for me to take my humble but beloved YashicaMat on my next trip. Do our TSA friends recognize a TLR as a camera or does it require explaining?
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I hope our TSA friends won't ask me the remove the lens like they sometimes do with the Leicas.
 
skipjack said:
The Rolleiflex has given our family most of our favorite photos. The processing firm we use - their people always come out to look at the negatives or slides on the light table. We recently came back from Cape Cod - and used the Rolleiflex more than our 135 cameras. By all means - take it and have fun.
Click to expand...

jpa66 said:
My Rolleiflex has been coming with me on holiday for several years now. I wouldn't think of NOT bringing it!
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Not bringing it was never a question. I did, and it was fun... unfortunately the pictures are still traveling their way back to me from the lab.

My concern was about the style of images I would capture with the Rollei (or fail to capture without the 35mm RF). Despite the good advice, I feel like the majority of the images I captured where my standard 'flex fodder. Did not venture into the beautiful landscapes like Hausen or observant details, like Rogier --but that's because I don't normally shoot those images anyway. I was hoping that the 'flex would be put to use to create more dynamic images --kids running around the backyard family having a meal together, etc (granted mine are not the typical travel vacations). Instead I fell back on more predictable lines... in any case, it's too soon to talk without having even seen what's on the rolls!🙄
 
I am also excited to take my humble Rolleicord III on vacation next month. I actually like the stares and questions I got from people around me, it helps them to relax and feel comfortable. I'm learning to approach people instead of just shooting from afar. Hope I can do this on my next trip.
Oh, and enjoy your vacations with your Rolleis, folks!
 
Finally!!!

Finally!!!

It's been an agonizing wait for the scans to get back to me, but finally here they are!

Overall, I pretty happy, but I guess I still failed at nailing the vacation snapshots gerne with the TLR.

The classic "postcard" type of landmark photography it's not usually my bag, but the Rolleis make it pretty hard to take a bad picture of static subjects, so on that front I was happy. However, this type of shot represents 1% of what I like to photograph on vacation.

Helsinki Cathedral on Portra 400

94940012 by kafe-pic, on Flickr
Helsinki Cathedral on Portra 400

Same goes for posed portraits of the family. Easy to do at home, easy to do on vacation...

The kids in Torino on XP2

94950001 by kafe-pic, on Flickr
The kids in Torino on XP2

and

The kids on Lago d'Orta on Portra 400

94930002 by kafe-pic, on Flickr

However, the casual vacation snapshots that I was pushing myself to capture with the Rolleiflex were a disappointment... Many were out of focus, some were shot at too slow camera speeds, others lacked a clear, strong composition, such as the image below:


94940003 by kafe-pic, on Flickr

or were taken without paying attention to the details of what was happening in the image, e.g. closed eyes below:


94910011 by kafe-pic, on Flickr


I did manage to capture a few candid shots that I thought successful, but what I learned from this experience is:

1- the Rolleiflex is fun and light to travel with, and I can use it to the traditional shots with no problems

2 - I need to either slow down more or improve my shooting instincts dramatically to improve the quality of the snapshots. Here I found the TLR limiting, though the limits were mainly my own and not the camera. I felt I needed to be fast to capture fast developing action, and I neglected to pay attention to good composition, focusing, exposure, etc... all the basics! Fortunately my idiot-proof P&S saved the day, but I'm committed to improving my TLR skills beyond posed portraits and city/land scapes.

More pictures soon!
 
A TLR is not an action camera.

That said you can take action photos with one, you just need to have everything preset, so all you have to do at the precise moment is push the button. That does take some practice and forethought. I would call it "you" getting the photo, instead of the camera getting the photo.
 
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