Rollei SL66 Owners Feedback

I am about to purchase a super clean and fully serviced Rollei SL66

camera with an 80mm non HFT lens. I'm curious as to what current

owners of this camera have to say about their experiences with the

camera; its strong points, its negative aspects, what to be careful

of or avoid, what kinds of results with the non HFT lens. More to the

point, am I buying a white elephant?

I've used my SL66 since 1981 without any significant problems. The tilt is, of course, a tremendous plus. Also, the smooth shutter is great. The weight is the main negative. I have both HFT and non-HFT lenses. My HFT 80 is considerably better than the non-HFT I had, but I'm suspicious that the old one was damaged by cleaning. I chose to stick with my non-HFT 50, the difference being the intensity of the ghosting from a light source in the frame -- not worth the price difference. HFT also seems to be damaged easier. This is a classic camera for at least landscapes, close ups, and exacting type work. It's not a snapshot type camera, however. Grab it if the price is right, the weight is not a problem for you, and you do the type of work mentioned.

Michael,

I recently bought an SL 66 with 2 backs, 80mm Planar (non HFT) in Australia. The price $1500 in our money. I have also seen them with only one back in poorer condition for $2400. There's not that many around, but I still advise a check over by an independant service centre that specialise in Rollie stuff and are comfortable with the SL 66. I have shot only three rolls of film in mine so far and as yet have not fully tested it, but the only thing I have found that I don't like is the dull focussing screen. I am in the process of finding a new/brighter screen. For landscape work, thhe SL66 should be great: not too heavy, mechanical etc. I reckon they're great!

Great camera (within it's limits) , great glass (non-HFT), and very respected. Only drawback is lack of easily found accessories due to age and small numbers produced ( less than 34,000, so I'm told, world-wide). Contact Hadley for those needed. Simply put, you can get exceptionally WONDERFUL negatives from it , so.............p.s., Thanks all on this net for your assisstance.

Great camera (within it's limits) , great glass (non-HFT), and very respected. Only drawback is lack of easily found accessories due to age and small numbers produced ( less than 34,000, so I'm told, world-wide). Contact Hadley for those needed. Simply put, you can get exceptionally WONDERFUL negatives from it , so.............p.s., Thanks all on this net for your assisstance. Dubb

The SL 66 really is a great camera, even today. With its built in shutter and focusing mechanism it is the ideal platform for photograpers who want to use special high performance lenses like Zeiss Luminar, S-Planar 1:1, S-Orthoplanar, which can all be rather easily adapted. All the focusing screens of today4s Rolleiflex 6008 can be used. And so can accessories like compendium, lens hoods, filters and the like.

I have had my SL-66 with Zeiss Planar 80mm lens and two back for about two years now. Excellent camera! Yes, it's slower going than a manual 35mm, but only about 1/2 as quick to use. I can get a good rhythm going with this camera doing landscapes with a tripod, loaded with Agfapan 25 or Ilford Pan-F 50, or handheld with Verichrome Pan. Before, I had (still have for special stuff) an Agfa-

Ansco 4x5 that was so cumbersome, it really seemed too static to get any rhythm going at all on a long day of shooting. Actually, I DO use the SL-66 like a snapshot camera (hand-held), even with ASA 25 film at about f2.8 - f 8. On a tripod at f22, the infinite depth of field is spectacular. Only caveat: With flash using sync cable, you can't shoot faster than 1/30 sec on x mount, as it has a curtain shutter. Must use tripod or have really steady hands for flash.