Fear of being gouged when purchasing a Rolleiflex F.

Okay I`m about to purchase a Rolleiflex F but what is stopping me is

the fact that the shops(all of them) here in Hong Kong charge

everything piece by piece. It`s been a while since I purchased

anything used but in the past when I bought used they usually sell

things as a set or throw some freebies. I`m talking about the States

now. IE strap, filter etc.

 

The price for a silver lens cap is about $75-$100 US and a shade for

the camera is about $60 US and colored filters are about $35 US isn`t

this a ridicuous price or is about right also the strap is about $25

US, do you think I can get it cheaper in the States or in Europe?

BTW the F model average wear, meter working is about $650 US. The

lens has a few nicks reasonably clean may have been cleaned due to

fungus. I have a feeling because Hong Kong is humid most of the year

and if the camera is around 20-30 years old the chances of the lenses

be wiped clean due to fungus is high. Anyways please give any

advices and opinions because I`m about ready to purchase this camera

but if you all feel the prices are bad then I`ll hold off and plot a

different course.

 

Please don`t mention the word ebay I`m the type of person that

believes in buying upon immediate inspection and I don`t have the

patience for auctions.

 

Thankyou.

Ben...those prices are not unusual even in the US. Rollei and Leica are outrageously expensive. However, you might want to try to buy one from the US that might not have been exposed to the Fungus problem. Check eBay or the photo.net classisfied. Todd

I`m Ben the poster,

 

Thanks Todd for the helpful response and everyone please keep them coming.

 

I forgot to mention the F model is with the Xenotar F2.8 lens and to reiterate what I mentioned the hole in the logic is how can a lens cap cost around $100 US? Didn`t the cap originally come with the camera? When I add up the accesories it almost amounts to the camera while most of the items are really trinkets and shouldn`t cost that much. It defies my logic but they(alot of shop keepers) keep telling me that these accesories are becoming rarer and so prices go up. ???? I`m lost in the twilight zone.

Ben-A lot of the original, chrome plated Rollei TLR caps got scratched up, lost, or otherwise mutilated. I would imagine that this is why it is not unusual to see a $100 price tag on a nice chrome lens cap. If you think that is an outrageous price, check out the price on a new, black plastic Rollei TLR lens cap!!

 

The odds and ends of accessories for the Rollei TLR are pricey. I think there are a lot of collectors who never use the cameras, but help push up prices through their demand of nice accessories. It is the free market at work. All that aside, that Xenotar lens is typically a top notch lens and you will absolutely love it. Assuming of course, that you like TLRs.

I have seen the special Rollei strap go for $80 even on e-bay. These cameras are collectors items now, so when dealers sell them, they piece out everything and make more money that way--simple economics. I have seen the cases, strap, filters, caps, etc all sold seperately and the Rollei used speciality places here get a lot of money also for Bay 3 hoods, close up lenses, etc. The older bay 1 stuff is a lot more reasonably priced, but the demand is high for good condition bay 3 items and I doubt if it will go down any time soon. The only place I ever see stuff sold all together is on e-bay.

Ben, $100 for a lens cap offends me too, but I'm a guy who paid $75 for a Leica lens hood not too long ago. Nevertheless, I would give greater weight to that suspected fungus problem. If it doesn't feel right, I wouldn't do it. It can't be the last lens cap around, or even the last Rollei. If you can work up a little trust, maybe you could order from a reputable US dealer, with return privileges.

 

Best Wishes,

Check out Hadley Chamberlain's site (sorry I don't have the URL - a search through Photonet should pull it up). He specializes in Rollei's and all applicable accessories.

Hadley C: www.hecphoto.com .

Hi it`s Ben

 

Today I was about to make the big purchase and I`d figure I`d knock down the price of the camera inorder to compensate for the high prices on the accessories and what an ordeal it was. This was my second visit to the shop and I was hoping it would be my last for the Rolleiflex F camera but I walked out of the shop again in dismay and disgust. This shop (Tin Cheung Camera Company) has the overall best price and selection however like most used car salesman oops I mean second hand camera dealers they can twist things around to their advantage, this guy was a wolf in sheeps clothing. He then upped the price of the hood and camera strap to compensate for lowering the price on the camera thinking I was a fool. However at the time everything in me wanted to purchase this camera and I kept thinking of what Rob F mentioned that it `s certainly not the last cap, or camera around and I kept asking him are you sure you can`t do any better on the accessories and he was firm about it. He thought he had me by the nuts and I was really anxious and like a child wanting a sweet. I was literally dribbling over the whole system on the glass table but I got hold of myself and walked out and you should of had a look on his face. He literally thought he had me. I`m not saying he`s a crook but I felt uneasy and needed to think this one over. The prices I gave you all in my first posting was from my memory and I`m abit confused now because maybe I remembered it incorrectly. This time the prices are even worse. The shade is now $105 US and the strap is $65 US however the cap is the same price. The new prices works out to be about what he knocked down on the camera. Is this a coincidence? I really hate buying used things here in Hong Kong the used prices are generally higher than the rest of the world. Not enough local competition and money was really easy to make in the past for them and so they`re spoiled IE alot of Japanese customers. It`s tougher now for them as the world is becoming global and we are all street smarter because of the internet and we have a better price comparison through the computer.

 

I really want to thank everyone for their help and once again if you have any advices, opinions thoughts on this matter please don`t hesitate to help.

 

I`m going to contact Mr.Hadley Chamberlain and ask him for a quote on a a similiar set up and compare the prices. You all highly recomended him and so I have a good feeling about this one. I really need to think this one over. It`s not like I`m buying a Rollei 6008 system where the real dough is being spread out but I just don`t want to be reamed.

 

The F model has been in my mind for over twenty years ever since I started out in photography and so it`s a sentimental thing for me. I should of bought it many years ago when people didn`t want them as badly and parts were more plentiful. I figured I`d lock and load and saddle up and get it this year and what a shocker for me in regards to the prices of the accessory items.

 

One more thing may I ask you all for some prices that you paid for such as the lens cap, hood, strap, color filters ie green filter?

 

Thankyou.

 

Cheers

Ben

Hello Ben,

 

Well, one alternative is to buy a Bay II (or Bay III if you spring for the 2.8F) to 49mm adapter/step-up ring. That way you can use cheaper filters, and even lens hoods. If memory serves B&H at NYC has them.

 

Good luck and I hope it works out for you.

instead of an answer, allow me to pose a question, which i

hope will be of help. i am assuming that you do not now own

a rollei, so my question is, why bother spending 1k for po-

tential problems when other mfgs. provide format, lens qual-

ity, flexibility, etc, etc, etc.......not to mention better

prices. after having owned two rolleis, i wouldn't buy an-

other unless it had everything needed included, at the proper

price. i submit that unless you really need more tonal separa-

tion/gradation, you might not even need the larger negative.

your technique and a quality 35mm can produce outstanding image

quality, rivaling that of rollei. it is also true, i think, that

35mm lenses are generally as sharp as those for larger formats.

repairs for rolleis are not cheap, at least in the u.s.. also,

parts are hard enough to find that repair times are necessarily

long. in many cases, the best you can hope for is adjustment, not

replacement of parts that need to be replaced.