Your experiences with the Rollei Prism

[edodo]

In the 2.8E in sport finder mode, there is this loupe to focus very precisely but only in the center. Anyway the focus view is reversed and upside down but you got clean real view with the finder.

 

[Sanders McNew]

If your model is taller than you, the prism won't make a significant difference compared to through magnifier viewing.

I often find myself standing on something
to raise myself up when shooting. Once,
I balanced myself on my mother's walker
to get the right angle for the photograph ...



... which as you can see got a good laugh
out of her.

But I digress.

I really dislike the prism finders. BUT I do
like another alternative -- a German company
named Baier makes an adaptor that allows
you to mount Hasselblad finders onto Rolleiflex
TLRs. It gets pricey, but you it allows you to
mount a Hasselblad chimney finder, which I
like a lot because it has a focusing magnifier
built in, so, if you're into reading glasses, it
gives you a way of correcting for that. And it
does a great job of blocking ambient light, for
a really bright clear view of the finder screen.
Here's a photo my wife Melanie took of me
photographing our son with the rig:



PS: You don't have to use the Baier adaptor.
With a bit of ingenuity, you can cannibalize an
extra Rolleiflex finder base (that's what I did).

 

[furcafe]

Franke & Heidecke also sold their own chimney finder (perhaps for the "modern" FX or GX judging from the mostly plastic construction?) that fits the E/F series & later models. It's hard to find, but not too expensive (for an F&H accessory, anyway); I got 1 from an RFF member.

But I digress.

I really dislike the prism finders. BUT I do
like another alternative -- a German company
named Baier makes an adaptor that allows
you to mount Hasselblad finders onto Rolleiflex
TLRs. It gets pricey, but you it allows you to
mount a Hasselblad chimney finder, which I
like a lot because it has a focusing magnifier
built in, so, if you're into reading glasses, it
gives you a way of correcting for that. And it
does a great job of blocking ambient light, for
a really bright clear view of the finder screen.
. . .

PS: You don't have to use the Baier adaptor.
With a bit of ingenuity, you can cannibalize an
extra Rolleiflex finder base (that's what I did).

 

[Steve M.]

I recently bought a Rolleiflex T w/ a prism and man, I love that prism. It's like using a 6x6 SLR. The downsides are it's heavy (but I can manage it fine) dimmer than the WLF, and really ugly. But I found this

http://www.photographical.net/tlr_ttl.html

and I'm going to go that route. Put the metered Kiev prism on the Rollei T w/ the adapter (he has a link to the adapters on his site). I don't really need or want the metering function, but that particular prism is just so perfect for a Rolleiflex. Looks like it was made for it.

 

[furcafe]

You can probably save some money by just getting the older non-metered version of the Kiev 45 degree finder.

I recently bought a Rolleiflex T w/ a prism and man, I love that prism. It's like using a 6x6 SLR. The downsides are it's heavy (but I can manage it fine) dimmer than the WLF, and really ugly. But I found this

http://www.photographical.net/tlr_ttl.html

and I'm going to go that route. Put the metered Kiev prism on the Rollei T w/ the adapter (he has a link to the adapters on his site). I don't really need or want the metering function, but that particular prism is just so perfect for a Rolleiflex. Looks like it was made for it.

 

[hookonclassic]

Hello, I have tried out Rollei TLR prism and these are my personal views. It is very useful for model style sport framing shoot especially with the pistol trigger. The prism will totally eliminate the lateral inversion problem for some user without experience using waist level finder. I find no big issue of dimming at edges (I use on 2.8F) or difficulty in focusing at all.

Downside is that it increased the weight of the camera and prism look like a bold head old man...LOL...

For travel, I only carry TLR with standard waist level finder. Really love the form factor of TLR.

 

[jmcd]

Perhaps practice a bit on some non-critical work with the sports finder. I find mine works very well, and with the clear view it feels like using a rangefinder!