The 4x4 Baby Rollei Club

Got her back from the repairman today! He took a foto of all the parts when it was disassembled. It was a complete overhaul for $170 US dollar. Now I just need some film....

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Pirate said:
Got her back from the repairman today! He took a foto of all the parts when it was disassembled. It was a complete overhaul for $170 US dollar. Now I just need some film....

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Suddenly a repair quote of 170 dollars does not seem to be that outlandish. A lot of work.
It would be interesting to reevaluate the usability and reliability track record of the Baby Rolleis. Harry Fleenor states that he simply does not work on Baby Rolleis. One hears about issues with the transport mechanism... then one hears about fundamental issues with film flatness because of how tight the film is wound etc. etc... so the general reputation, the way it comes across to me so far, is that of a amateur/toy camera, nice to fondle, downright cute, but not suitable for serious work. In the sense of: they will break down on you, they are money holes, fuggedaboutid.

So I salute the participants of this thread, keep it up, and show us what the cameras can do.

All the best,
Ljós
 
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One man told me he does not work on this camera because some parts of the body are riveted together and he cannot clean behind the parts, even when using a solvent tank, so he will not work on them. He also states that the lens always needs new springs and to be re-calibrated. He does not like doing that.

This man said "Yes, it is no problem, I work on them all the time.". What a great guy!
 
Pirate - I may very well keep the Rollei. The postwar black babies are rare but the demand is low and prices follow demand. On the other hand, the Alpa seems to be going for good prices and if I'm going to use a 35mm, I have plenty of other cameras to use.
 
JeffGreene said:
Just wanted everyone to know that there is a resource on the East coast of the US who will develop 127 and 120 film, both traditional B&W and C-41 as well as 135. She no longer does E-6. I have no commercial connection to Pat, other than to say that she is very customer-oriented. I have been using her for many years. If you'd like to ask her any questions her contact info is below:

http://www.thephotographycenter.com/


I think you'll find her pricing more than fair! Feel free to use my name and mention Rangefinderforum.
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Jeff,

in general every professional lab that does 120 prcessing can also process 127 film.
There is no difficulty in developing 127 film.

Cheers, Jan
 
JeffGreene said:
I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of some rollei 80s and Efke 100. I'm looking forward to putting the new Primo Jr. through its paces. I'll post the images as soon as I can. Does anyone know if the Cross-processed Crossbird has any color artifacts when processed in C-41 chemistry?
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Hi Jeff,

the reason why photographers do cross-processing is to obtain strange colors and strong color shifts.
Rollei Crossbird tends to a mainly green color shift if cross processed in C-41.

Take a look at flickr or lomography.com for cross processed pictures of Rollei CR 200 = Rollei Crossbird = Lomography X-Pro 200 (all the same film).

There are lots of examples.

Cheers, Jan
 
Another option for excellent results with 127 film is
using Rollei Retro 80S 127 film in dr5 reversal process.
I've seen some examples from a friend of mine.
Outstanding quality!

Slide projection is the field where film really shines.
I've seen demonstrations of the new 10,000€ Leica digital beamer vs. Leica Pradovit with Leica Super Colorplan lens.
No chance for the beamer, it completely sucks compared to the film slide. Both color brillance and sharpness/resolution/detail rendering are far superior with the slide.

And BW slide is a league of its own.
I love my 16x20" fibre prints from my wet darkroom.
But compared with my 35mm and 4x4 SuperSlides on my 1x1,5m da-lite screen with HP surface, the brillance, sharpness of the slide are unsurpassed.
It's much more impressive looking than the print.

Hey, and quality projectors with excellent projection lenses are dirt cheap today 🙂

Cheers, Jan
 
HHPhoto said:
Jeff,

in general every professional lab that does 120 prcessing can also process 127 film.
There is no difficulty in developing 127 film.

Cheers, Jan
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True, but the few local independents we have in the area who develop 120 generally will not work with 127. That was my experience in my local area. Thus my post. I prefer to develop my own B&W, but find C-41 setup and clean-up a pain. That's what I have been using Pat for. She develops my Bluefire Murano C-41 and my Portra both 127 and 120. 🙂
 
Pirate said:
What kind of bayonet does the Rollei 4x4 have? I would like to look for some filters for my Black & White photography.
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I would think bay 1. that's also the one the 4x4 and 6x6 yashicas have. I have UV and yellow filter plus 2 hoods (an original Rollei and the generic yashica 44 one) and the yashica close-up lenses (v1). everything fits every yashica I have except for the rollei lens hood because the lenses of the 44 models are too close to each other.
 
Yes, it takes bayonet 1.

There's a special grey lens hood for the grey baby. It's marked "4x4", and easy to find. As Simon says (no pun intended 😀), the ordinary 6x6 lens hood won't fit.
 
Yes, it is bay 1. The Primo Jr. uses all the same filter and hoods as the Rollei 4X4. I use my Bay 1 filters and rolleinars with the Primo Jr. I am awaiting the arrival of a Yashica 44 hood that is supposedly compatible as well. I'll know for sure when it arrives.
 
I picked up a SAWYER'S mark IV a couple of years ago. It's been protected in a zip lock as I've never used it .I do have a few rolls in the freezer, and now I feel all guilty having left this beautifully crafted piece unused. Think I'll roll her out this week. Today is Sunday, any advice for a newbie? Thanks Red Robin
 
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