Your opinion of the Rollei Magic ?

[MinniesMum]

Im new here and not sure if this is the correct part of the forum for Rollei's but my question is: does anyone here have a Rollei Magic 6x6 and what is your opinion of their use/image quality. There are so many different Rollei's-I've always hankered after one but dont really want to pay hundreds for one as so many of the top of the range models go for these days. Ive recently spotted a mint Rollei Magic in working order and Im tempted but would like some advice before investing in one.

Thanks,
Cath

 

[sevo]

From a current perspective the Magic is a uglified Rolleicord encumbered with a extremely fragile automatic shutter. The Magic II at least works in manual mode - but given their relative scarcity their price tends to be quite a bit higher than that of a much neater and lighter Rolleicord. Don't buy, unless you are a collector...

 

[Argenticien]

My father-in-law has two Magics. I have seen family snaps from the period and (although not the same as judging studiously composed artistic shots) they at least seem to indicate generally competent optics. I have not had a chance to play with the cameras, as my relationship with him is not such that I'm comfortable saying "hand them over!" even though he no longer uses them.

The counterpoint would be that when I read about them online upon seeing his a couple of years ago, I believe I encountered phrases like "dodgy", "Rube Goldberg", or similar. (Along similar lines to what sevo wrote.)
--Dave