TLR owners/users (If you dare admit if)

TLR owners/users (If you dare admit if)

  • Do own a TLR?

    Votes: 45 7.1%

  • If so, do you use it a lot?

    Votes: 134 21.2%

  • If so, do you use it some?

    Votes: 266 42.0%

  • If so, do you seldom use it?

    Votes: 116 18.3%

  • Does it sit on a shelf looking longingly at RF's

    Votes: 47 7.4%

  • Wouldn't dirty my hands on one and handle my RF's

    Votes: 5 0.8%

  • What is a TLR?

    Votes: 20 3.2%
  • Total voters
    633
woohoo i'm the first one to answer! I'm guilty. Guilty of using it - and guilty of not using it enough! Heh.

As some of you might know, i had a Yashica D which migrated towards South in the autumn and works for taffer now. :)
I kept a beautiful Rolleicord V - with xenar 75/3.5 and a very dark matte focusing screen which i plan to change in the future ($$$).
Few weeks ago, by the way, i bought a generic Fresnel lens (3x magnification) for eur 2.80 incl shipping. I cut it to fit into the chimney finder of the 'cord, dropped in and now it's a bt brighter. Still far from perfect...
 
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I voted seldom use it. Actually, I have three. A Rolleiflex, a Yashica LM (non-working), and a Weltaflex (wish I had the folder TLR). I have film in my Rolleiflex which has been in for more months than I want to admit. Someday I will get the Yashica fixed, perhaps, well maybe. The Weltaflex is new. I didn't really expect to win it on eb*y. I don't even know why I bid on it. At least the Rolleiflex has a split image; a rangefinder, sort of in its viewfinder. :D

So, how about all of you?
 
Like Pherdinand, I have used mine less ever since I got a Leica... I did shoot some about a month ago, and I even have two shots, I think, in my gallery.

Denis
 
Ricohflex "Million". Cheapy but seems pretty good. I've played with it a bit, but have yet to shoot a full-roll.

I'd like to get something a bit better, like a YashicaMat or a Minolta Autocord. A RolleiFlex/Cord would be great, but the prices are a bit much.
 
Kin, dunno about your case, but here (Netherlands) Autocords are extremely rare and go for a price of 200euro+, while Rolleicords can be had for euro50 to 150 in reasonable working condition...
 
I got two, and seldom use them:
My Yashicamat was my first MF camera, and I always think about using it more often (for street stuff), but I would have to clean the really dim screen and the mirror first.
I've also got a Mamiya C220 not in a very good state, but it works; wanted to have an MF system, and did not have a lot of money; later I discovered the Kiev/PentaconSix/CarlZeissJena stuff, and built a system around that (much more affordable, even than the Mamiya, and wider wide-angles, which I needed for landscape work); now I mostly use a Mamiya 645 Super, the C220 only gets out w/ its superb 105 and 135mm lenses when I need a lens-shutter camera for flash work.

Roman
 
2 Lubitels. :) But after shooting 3 rolls I never touched them again. I just couldn't get used to the upside-down view and to the awkward way of holding them. Besides, I don't have a scanner that'll let me scan MF negs. I tried scanning them on a flatbed but wasn't pleased with the result. And then I found RF cameras and was hooked. :)

Oh, the Lubitels are in a drawer. They don't even get to look at the RF's. :)
 
I recently sold my TLR (a YashicaMat 124G) but I regret it. Prior to buying my Iskra, I used it alot but hadn't in awhile so I sold it. Mistake.

Once I get the Contax III paid for I may look into another, perhaps a Rollicord or a Mamiya this time though.

William
 
Ricoh Diacord and Mamiya C220, dont use them very much, my Agfa Ambi Silette and Yashica gets more exercise.
 
I own 12 not including the parts cameras. 9 are fully functional and 3 are in various stages of restoration. Yashica 44, 44A, 635, and 2 Yashicamats; Mamiya C33 and C330; Flexaret II and III; Rolleicord III, Rolleiflex Automat and Ricoh Diacord.

I shoot about 12-18 rolls of 120 film through them a year.

-Paul
 
For many years I did wedding Photography with a couple of Mamiya c330s and loved them. I actually preferred then to the Hasssy (honest!). This may of course may just have been familiarity but nice lenses all the same.

I have a Yashicamat 124G but for some reason the shutter has just stopped working. Haven't a clue what 's wrong so it just sits there like an ornament. May put it up for auction as is.


Paul
 
I own a Rolleiflex 3.5F Planar and don't use it nearly as much as I'd like. I've had it for over 30 years and it was once my primary camera. I've just put an Epson 4180 scanner on order so I can do better scans with it. Last year I added a new Maxwell viewing screen and the viewing image just pops now.

Gene
 
I own a "Marvel-Flex" tlr that I bought mainly because: a) it was really cheap, b) it looks cool, and c) I liked the name.
Unfortunately, the little winder nub won't grab a 120 spool good enough to wind it. I plan on fixing it one day, but then again, I plan on doing a lot of things one day.
I'd like to get a Yashica 124G, but I'd settle for the Holga I put on my Xmas list. (the viewfinder is kind of a lens, isn't it? Doesn't that count as a TLR?) :)
 
I have a Rolleicord V with a Beattie-type bright screen. It's a nice camera, but I only used it twice this year to shoot three rolls of film. So, I checked, "seldom".

By comparison, I must of shot 20 rolls of 120 with my Super Speedex, (a.k.a. Super Isolette). Yes, I miss the big viewing screen, but when comes down to choosing the Rollei and its camera bag or the folder in its belt pouch, well................

Also, I bought two 6x9 folders in 2003, one of which has a rangefinder and I just started using them over the summer. Yet, another excuse.
 
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Started with the cheap plastic Lubitel 166U, wonderful almost toy-like camera, fun in pure shape :)

Was bitten by the bug and got a Rolleicord Va locally, probably not used as it deserves but I love the TLR design, its use and results so much that I adopted Pherdi's Yashica D so it's now here spending the winter in the south.

The screen on the Va is really dim, but even though that's a problem for composing, I've found it's pretty good focusing.

That said, when you combine photography with your daily tasks (work, uni), even the Canonator becomes 'small and light' compared with a TLR...

And nonetheless, I still love them :)
 
where do i sign up for no, i don't have one?

played with a mamiya 330 and a yashica mat a few times but the waist level viewing wasn't for me.

joe
 
I have a Pearl River. I think it makes the Seagull look like a quality camera. Really cheap. Shot a roll through it recently and loved it, particularly for portraits. However, not a very sharp lens. I'm watching Minolta Autocords on eBay. I will be using it for portraits and panoramics. The TLRs are so small and light compared to my Mamiya Universal.
 
Have one and use it. The RFs are my main guys, but I do enjoy my MF cameras quite a bit.

Yashica Mat 124G and proud of it.
 
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