A camera to restore

This great camera knew better times, I'll try to restore it or it will be a spare parts source for my other Contax II that works fine and looks very good. The interesting point for the camera above is the lens, it is an immediate post-war (March 1947) Sonnar 2/5 cm showing the Zeiss "T" coating developed by Smakula and patented for CZ in 1935, it was the first lens coating process suitable for regular industrial use and stated top secret up to about 1940 when the USA developed a similar hard lens coating process and then CZ was authorized to apply the coating for commercial lenses, it means the lens above is among the early lenses with the process, the story behind the camera and lens makes almost impossible it could be an uncoated lens originally and coated after the war (click on thumbnail).

Rolleiflex Stereo photograph

Stereo photograph taken about 1953 by a Rollei 's engineer with a new Rolleiflex Stereo prototype in the Alps (Bavaria, Germany). The young engineer Hans Logé appears in the window, he worked for F&H integrating the Richard Weiss (technical head) team that developed the Stereo Rolleiflex on the basis of two Rolleiflex Automat bodies during 1953, Hans Logé was one of the main designer and for this camera underawater housing "Rolleimarin" too. He was the "Rolleimeter" designer, a telemeter for some Rolleiflex TLR cameras (click on thumbnail,1615x778 image).

Rolleinar 3...1

(Click on the thumbnail above)

I bought a Rolleinar 3 BIII some weeks ago (http://dobleobjetivo.blogspot.com/2010/04/rolleinar-3-biii.html), I took images using the set , they were out of focus where they looked in focus through the viewfinder ground glass and they were in focus where they looked out of focus through the viewfinder ground glass. After some tests, I found a big difference focusing identical subject from identical distance according I used the Heidosmat Rolleinar (viewing lens) and the Rolleinar 3 lens (for the camera taking lens) on the camera viewing lens, this difference couldn't exist for a regular Rolleinar TLR set, the focusing must be identical for both auxiliries lenses.


I verified that the focusing range for the Rolleinar Heidosmat auxiliary lens for the camera viewing lens was within the Rolleinar 3 range, 24 to 32 cm (9.45" to 12.60"), but the Rolleinar 3 auxiliary lens (for the camera taking lens) focusing range was within the Rolleinar 1 focusing range, 45 to 100 cm (17.70" to 39.37") !!. I discovered I have a true Heidosmat Rolleinar 3, but a Rolleinar 1 taking lens glass with a ring engraved "Rolleinar 3" !!.


I couldn't find a detail to say someone inserted a Rolleinar 1 glass in a Rolleinar 3 ring, perhaps I could be wrong about it, or perhaps someone made an error at factory (this is my main guessing), but I don't know really. The image above shows the Rolleinar set, click on the thumbnail, it was taken with a little P&S digital camera, a Benq with Pentax digital zoom.

Polarizing effect via software

The photograph was taken with the Rolleiflex 3.5F, Planar 3.5/75, Agfachrome RSX 100. The first image (below) is the original scanned image. The second image received an edition software manipulation to simulate a polarizing filter effect, the effect is not so good like using a true polarizing filter but it could be useful for analog and compact digital cameras that couldn't use a filter for some reason (click on thumbnail for a bigger image).

ROLLEIFLEX SL66

This is my "new" Rolleiflex SL66 (click on thumbnail) with the Distagon 4/80 standard lens provided with an additional Compur shutter, it's a great MF camera manufactured from 1966 to about 1993, the built-in bellows and focusing mechanism allow focusing up to 16cm from the subject with 80mm standard lenses, image magnification can be increased via the reverse lens mounting without accesories. A complete Carl Zeiss and others manufacturers lenses range is available and a lot of professional accesories, film magazines, focusing viewfinders and focusing screens too; the bellows can move up/down up to 8º allowing a limited "Scheimpflug" effect. Most camera's mechanical parts were designed by Richard Weiss and Claus Prochnow, Rollei's engineers, while Ernst Moeckl from Stuttgart was in charge of the camera general aesthetic design. The SL66 was a successful camera, this page is plenty of info about it:
http://www.sl66.com/

220 film with Rolleiflex

I had published a comment about to use 220 film with a Rolleicord IV: http://itarphotos.blogspot.com/2009/04/220-film-with-rolleicord-iv.html
Now I tried 220 film with a Rolleiflex 2.8C Xenotar 2.8/80 without the special mechanism to use it regularly; the difference with a Rolleicord and others Rollei TLR cameras is that the C and most Rolleiflexes from the Automat model have the rollers to "feel" the film when it starts, to advance the film counter up to the number 1, using 220 film you need to do it again after to shoot the frame 12: before to advance the film I open the the camera back in the darkness adding a tape to the film beside the film feeler rollers, I close the camera back, advance the film and the tape activates again the frames counter mechanism and I obtain another 12 frames, completing 24 (see photograph, click on thumbnail, note the tape at the middle of the roll). It was commented to me other method looking even simpler, I'll try it for the next time

Rolleimot

The Rolleimot was an accesory intended to provide automatic film advance mechanism and shutter release for the Rolleiflex and Rolleimagic TLR cameras (Rolleimot 1 and 2) and Rollei SL 66 camera (Rolleimot 3). It can be handled with a wire remote control from 3m(10 feet) to 200m (650 feet), the 6v motor needed four D size batteries to work, it was manufactured from 1963 to 1969 (click on thumbnails).


Rolleimot 1 and 3 size is 100x180x180mm, the Rolleimot 2 shown above (diagram) size is 100x220x180mm, it was taller to compensate the camera height with the special 150 frames magazine, only 10 Rolleimot 2 were made.