Rollei 6008 digital back - new product?

I just noticed on the Rollei (Germany) site they are now listing a 6008 AF Digital bundle,

with a Phase One 16 mb back. It seems to be untethered, CF cards, and with the Rollei

name on it! Anyone know anything more about this? Cost, availability? Nice to see

something going on with Rollei.

 

Geoff Goldberg

I do not for a moment doubt this development. After all, I just spent the long dollar for a new film back....

Nice to know, that Rollei offers the 6008AF with DigiBack as bundle.

Thats new and good news (new is also, that Rollei starts to promote the stuff they have;

time ago they often forgot about)

But the Rollei 6000-Serie was ever since made for both worlds, analog as well as digital.

This was one of the reasons I decided to go for this - in my eyes - most advanced and

most convenient camerasystem with perfect lenses. Its so easy to switch from filmback to

digitalback. all major digi-brands can be attached. So rental is not a big deal, if you really

need digital (you have to burn a lot of films/year before investing in digital is paying off).

 

BTW, I do not have any connection with Rollei. I'm only a proud owner of a 6008 system.

 

Urs

The "News" section of the web-site provides detailed technical information. In German

language only. At the home page, select the German language, then "News". Look under

"Presseinformationen", January 2005 (1). Phase One used to have a 16 MB back suitable for

Rollei for years. Maybe this is an updated one? Anyway, some good news at last. Now they

"only" have to market the stuff. The last really good marketeer at Rollei's was Mr. Franke

and he died in the early 1950s. Hopefully things have changed in this department too.

About the only department in the Rollei corporation that needs a major overhaul IS the marketing department. They offer the most advanced and best valued MF product available. They just have kept it a secret for all these years!

 

The Digital back is not new - so to speak as someone else has stated. The Phase One back has been available for the Rollei for some time. The fact they are bundling it is the news. Nothing more.

 

I called the Rollei Germany marketing department to ask about a neck strap that I never received with my camera (I live in Germany currently). They were very happy to sell me one for about $25.00. Seems something like that should be a marketing give-away, not much different from a neck keychain. But it seems that's the company philosophy. The idea of name brand recognition fails them.

 

Price and availability is not out on the streets yet (or at least I couldn't find any even here in Germany), however, as it's not new products, I would imagine it shouldn't take long.

I agree with everything that has been said above. Great product. A marvel in engineering and sophistication. Just got my new AF with 180mm from Mike at CTrades (no affiliation, still super nice service). They should have worked with him years ago. Anyway, looks like they are finally waking up. Neat web site BTW. Also way overdue to offer some nice digital packages. Marketing and customer service remain the areas that need most improvement, but looks like they are moving in the right direction.

You can imagine my surprise when I found out that Rollei wasn't offering their current

6008AF owners with a retro-fitted digital solution. They told me to "sell" mine and buy

the new digital bundle. They said that Rollei wasn't planning on developing a retro-fit for

a camera I purchased a year ago. So, guess what, you either take a $4,000.00 dump with

your Rollei investment and move on or you dump another $15,000.00 on a camera that

might not be supported into the future like mine. If you would have asked me whether I'd

have problems with my Rollei or their service when I purchased my camera I would have

told you that you were nuts but here I am a year later and the president of the company

won't reply to my e-mails (o.fix@rollei.de) and U.S. tells me that the improvements made

to the "new" 6008AF make it a new camera and that mine cannot work with the Phase One

back currently offered. I was fully prepared to go on this journey with Rollei but, forgive

me for asking this, WHY? Why would anyone take this walk when the best one can hope

for is a 1.6x aspect ratio as compared to the 1.1x aspect ratio being offered to 645 users.

There is nothing that states that this bundle will be supported for updates like other Phase

One backs. In fact, when I called Phase One, they told me that it was indeed a "one-off"

developed for Rollei and that Rollei did not want a stand alone offering. I would have bet

the bank that Rollei wouldn't sell me out (as a current owner of the 6008AF) but here we

are a year later- and they did just that. No retro-fit, no upgrade, and no interest in

resolution. I won't make that bet again. Maybe you shouldn't either.