Rolleiflex

I'm interested in learning to use a rolleiflex, but I don't know where to

start. Are there any suggestions on a book or something where I could decide

what model I want, and then learn about how to use it?

The best book is probably 'The Rollei Manual' by Alec Pearlman. There are various editions up to the mid 'sixties. I have the 3rd edition which covers the 2.8E (first version) and it's a good read as well as holding a mass of information. There's often a copy available on eBay but they do fetch quite good prices. The other, cheaper, alternative is the Focal Guide for the Rolleiflex which is much more condensed but a useful indicator of what's available. Again, there are several editions to choose from. I'm not sure about later books on the subject.<div></div>

I found the book "A Collector's Guide" by Ian Parker to be helpfull before I bought a Rolleiflex. Despite the title, he deals with user issues as well. There's also a lot of info on http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/cameras.html. Scroll down to Rolleiflex. There's also questions similar to yours at http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a?topic_id=35&category=Rollei.

If you already have a basic photo background, you could get most of what you'll need from free owners manuals on the Net.

 

Google around a bit, and you'll find them.

not a hard camera to use.

 

1) pick up the camera. open the back from the bottom. put the roll of film in the

bottom slot and, for most models, make sure to thread the paper under the metal bar

before slipping the paper into the top spool. the metal bar activates the automatic

feature which counts the frames.

 

2) close back and advance to first frame with lever advance, it will automatically stop

at the # 1. disengage shutter lock. you are ready to shoot.

 

3) use hand-held light meter or guestimation (or the built-in meter if yours has one;

although most of those selenium meters are dead and weren't great to start with).

Transfer f/stop and shutter speed settings to the camera using those two wheels (or

sliders, on "T" model, for instance.) one wheel controls the f/stops, the other the

shutter speeds. you can read the settings at the top. Very simple.

 

4) open up the "waist-level finder" at the top. flip up the little magnifier. On most

rolleis you should replace the focusing screen with a newer, brighter screen. lots of

photographers complain about dim focusing on old rolleis. solution is simple. new

screen. Focus using your left hand with help of magnifier. even if you have great

eyesight, the magnifier helps you get perfectly sharp images.

 

5) shoot photo.

 

6) advance film and repeat. at end of roll, after 12 photos, advancing lever will no

longer stop. keeping winding it a few times until you are sure all of the backing paper

of your roll of film is on the top spool. open camera, lick your roll of film tight,

reload, repeat.

 

the flash will sync at all speeds due to leaf shutter design. certain models do have

eccentricities so tell us which model you are using and we can provide totally

detailed, specific instructions.

 

that's it. that's really all there is to it.

Any general book on photography from the pre-digital era should suffice. All cameras have basically the same controls and the principles of film photography can be applied to any camera.

Rolleiflexes are great cameras, fun to use, here is a link to the manual for a Rolleiflex 3.5F,

they are pretty much all the same.

 

http://www.matthes.com/Rollei/Manuals/TLR_F/Coll-c.htm#Shortcut

 

 

good luck,

Todd

Find a copy of Fritz Henle's "Guide to Rollei Photography. I think it's THE Rolleiflex book.

 

Also check out my Rollei page:

 

http://home.comcast.net/~wymanburke/The_Rollei_Page.html