Will all Tele Rolleiflexes Eventually Suffer from Lens Separation?

[robdeszan]

Hi all,

No doubt lens separation in Rolleiflexes is a thing, even more so with the Tele variety.

I have a hankering for a tele but I am trying to establish the likelihood of the separation developing if - up to this point - it has not. If some cameras of identical age are indeed spared from that fate, is this a case of poor storage or balsam batch differences? Or is it pot luck?

There are so many cameras on the market blatantly advertised as "exc, with no optical defects" with premium price tags and yet the photos show obvious lens degradation... I guess they are hoping for someone to take it as a CLA-able issue...

What are your experiences? Have your cameras suddenly developed the issue? If so, were you able to link it to anything in particular, like exposure to excessive heat or humidity?

Thanks!

 

[DownUnder]

It has been my experience over many years of using Rolleis (my first 3.5 E2 I bought in 1966 and I still have it) that the Zeiss Planars and Sonnars are prone to separation. Not all, but many go that way.

The good news is they can be repaired. Not a simple process. The less than good news is of course the cost.

I had a Tele in the 1980s and it had separation along the edges. Didn't affect the images at all.

Ditto my 3.5 E2. One large egg-shaped glob of separation. It still makes okay images. But worthless for resale.

Not that I intend to ever part with it. As many old photographers say, a Rolleiflex is for life. No longer now so sure about 120 roll film, but the cameras, yes...

 

[robdeszan]

(...)

I had a Tele in the 1980s and it had separation along the edges. Didn't affect the images at all.

Thanks, interesting. If it happened as early as the 80s then perhaps age is not the main factor in all this. It gives a little bit of hope for those cameras which have stayed separation-free until now.

 

[Freakscene]

Eventually they will all separate. The cement that Zeiss used is optically excellent, but not so good at holding on to the elements. My father made a lot of money in the 80s and early 90s repairing separated Zeiss lenses.

 

[robdeszan]

Oh, did not realize it was so common.

If it is indeed inevitable, perhaps those that do not show any signs of separation (being ove 60 years old at this stage) had been re-cemented at some point in their lives then.

BTW, I am based in the UK but could facilitate an EU repair, has anyone had theirs (Tele) Rollei done recently by any chance? What sort of money are we talking?

Thanks again!

 

[Freakscene]

Oh, did not realize it was so common.

If it is indeed inevitable, perhaps those that do not show any signs of separation (being ove 60 years old at this stage) had been re-cemented at some point in their lives then.

Not necessarily. It depends on temperature variation of storage and rate of temperature change, physical knocks, and minor variation that occurred at manufacture. But the cement is not that good at holding the elements. Eventually they will all separate.

 

[DownUnder]

Interesting, though, that the Zeiss Tessars in the early Rolleiflexes and the later Ts, rarely if ever suffer from the same lens separation. I've owned a good dozen of these in my time, and none had any glass problems at all. Unlike the Planars and the Sonnars in the more expensive Rolleis.

Different construction, maybe? Or more complex assembly of the elements? Or different cement?

Jury seems to be out on this one.

 

[Freakscene]

Interesting, though, that the Zeiss Tessars in the early Rolleiflexes and the later Ts, rarely if ever suffer from the same lens separation. I've owned a good dozen of these in my time, and none had any glass problems at all. Unlike the Planars and the Sonnars in the more expensive Rolleis.

Different construction, maybe? Or more complex assembly of the elements? Or different cement?

Jury seems to be out on this one.

Different cement. No question.

 

[Rayt]

Yes the tele and the 80mm Planar are prone to separation. The camera repair tech I used is over 80 years old with over 50 years servicing cameras. He said the 80/2.8 Planar front cemented elements are prone to separate. Since the Rolleiflex 80/2.8 camera are much more popular than the tele version and thousands and thousands more had been sold he said the ok ones you can find used now were probably fixed by Rollei at some point. This is why I have the Rolleiflex 2.8E3 Xenotar which does not have cemented front elements.