Rolleiflex SL66 or TLR

Such camera as SL66 are not expensive today. What are advantages or disadvantages compared to TLR ?

SL 66 should be heavier ? Noisier ?

 

Thanks for your expertise !

Can you be happy with one lens? Hard to beat a TLR for convenience and quietness. I do

believe however that the 80 Planar for the SL66 is probably better, due to better coatings.

Never having used one myself.

SL66 is:

- much heavier than a TLR

- much more complex, and likewise more expensive to repair than a TLR

- noisier than the TLR, due to the mirror mechanism

- more flexible than the TLR due to interchangeable lenses and magazine

 

The SL66 has a reputation of being complex, and a bit fragile.

 

If 80mm is the only lens you need, I suggest staying with the TLR, say 2.8F or 2.8E.

 

If a system 6x6 camera is what you want, I suggest examining Hasselblad.

 

regards

Vick

<p>The SL66 is a unique camera with some important distinctions from other 6x6 cameras.

It has a built-in bellows allowing tilt of the film plane, meaning there is an extreme control of

focussing and depth of field. The lenses are also reversible, which together with the bellows,

means the SL66 is also unusually suited to close-up work. These two features set it apart

from many other medium format cameras. It's certainly not a camera for hand-held shooting,

but if you're looking for an ultra high quality tool for use from a tripod, it takes some

beating. And it offers some advantages over a Hasselblad (and I say that as a long-time

Hasselblad user).

</p>

The SL66 is a beautiful camera but I would agree that the TLR is a safer bet. The TLR is quieter by far, and there is less mechanical stuff to wear out and go wrong.

TLR. The SL66 was a dud.

No doubt about it, the SL66 was a dud. Somebody should have told Brett Weston that.

Sorry, but TLR and SLR don't have the same use. I have both, a Rolleiflex 2,8/80mm and SL66 SE with 40-50-80-150 and 250mm lenses, and several 6x6 magazines...<br>

The SL66 is IMO, and as a user, one of the best medium format cameras ever produced. Quality is outstanding, a true Rolls, and Zeiss lenses are excellent.<br>

The last version, the SL66-SE was rather expensive, but its qualities (built-in bellows with tilt, metering system with average and spot metering in the camera, not in a prism etc..) are exceptional.<br>

And it is not fragile, (sorry again) not too heavy, not too complicated to use. I have been using it for several years, without any problem.<br>

I use it very frequently hand-held (3rd time : sorry) or on a tripod, and I would not exchange it for another MF camera, but the Hasselblad 205FCC, which has the same quality and perfection.<br>

A TLR is not made for the same purpose. I carry mine everytime and everywhere. If you intend to use wide angle lenses and tele lenses too, either you buy three TLR cameras (Rollei wide with 50mm, Rollei classic with 80mm and Tele Rolleiflex with 135mm) or you buy one SL66, E or SE, both with metering cells inside, and change the lenses.<br>

A "reputation" is not a fact ! The Hasselblad always jam, the SL66 are fragile... Nothing but legends, most of the time carried by people who never or seldom used them.<br>

For me, it's a wonderful tool. I use a Linhof Master Technika in large format, and both have the same "german" quality.<br>

Yea SLRs are all duds,,,,,,,don`t but a porsche when you could own a vega. Yes some cameras are more complex, but they can also do lot more things that other cameras can`t. It all depends on what you want to do with it. TLRs pretty much died out when SLRs were introduced in the 50s and 60s, I have used Rollie TLRs great cameras, I have owned several TLRs over the years, but have been using (duds) I guess Hasseys for nearly 30 years.Yes you need to know alittle more to operate them....but I`m dumb and can do just fine with them and I love using them.

I forgot to say it but I know its coming soon......YOU MUST BUT ALL CAMERAS FROM KEH.....its a sacred thing on this site.

The comparison of the SL66 with the TLR, as being like a Porsche and a Vega is way off the mark. If you need to call the SL66 a Porsche that is fine, although it does not handle like one. The Rollei TLR would be more appropriately compared with a Jeep. It will go anywhere, and do just about anything that you can ask of it "if" you learn to handle it properly, just like the Rollei TLR.

The basic question remains SLR versus TLR.

 

That is, choosing between the different sets of advantages each offers. It's horses for courses.

 

Then one can worry about which brand.

 

Nick

Exactly.....that's what I was getting at....some people suggested TLRs not knowing what it was to be used for, each tool has its place.

But Fred I take my Hasseys anywhere also.

No way is the SL66 a dud or is it fragile. I used 3 SL66's for over 25 years daily in the studio and field. I had 3 bodies, 7 backs and a full set of lenses from 30mm to 250 plus a few duplicates. I shot tens of thousands of rolls through them with virtually no problems untill the last couple of years. I had days that I shot 75 rolls and don't think I ever lost a frame due to camera problems. Ever five or so years I had to have backs rebuilt and had one minor lens problem with the 30mm. I had one shutter curtain fail after 20 years and one body lock up but that's it. Without question the SL66 is the inest MF camera I've ever used and I've used a bunch. About 5 years ago I sold all of the gear when I went digital and regret it every day. I later went to Hasselblads for digital compatibility but do not like them nearly as well as the 66's. If you find a really clean one that hasn't been run to death like the ones I had then it's a great camera and it's true they are cheaper than dirt now.

Old V hasselbalds are pretty cheap these days. The hasselblad with w/l finder is not much larger or heavier than a Rollei TLR. Much more hassey stuff around too! Once you have interchangable backs and lenses, you will never use a TLR again!

I own both.

 

The SL66 is chosen for my more studied work, most of the time with a tripod. For nature, landscapes, macro etc, its a superb instrument and I have 4 lenses for it.

 

The TLR is light and portable. Its my choice for a "carry camera". The SL66 weighs something like 2.5-3x as much as my TLR, or it certainly feels like it!

It only feels like...<br>

A Rollei TL4 2,8/80 weights 1.27 kg. <br>

A SL66-SE with the Planar 2.8/80, folding viewing hood and 120 magazine weights 1.94 kg<br>

Maybe not a completely fair comparison as I normally use the prism these days. I also normally have the grip on for handheld work - heavier but makes the camera's awkward horizontal shape easier to manage.

No, both weights are measured with the folding viewing hood. The 90 deg. prism for the TLR is heavier thn the 45 deg. prism for the SL66.<br>

1.94 kg is the weight of the SL66-SE, not the "classic" one. And 1.27 kg is the weight of my 2.8/80 FX. Equality, as both have an embedded measurement system. (The SL66-SE has a spot measure too).<br>

You see that the SL66 is not much heavier. Of course it is longer. But the reputation of the SL66 of being an "anvil", a fragile and complicated anvil is IMO totally wrong and in some measure, stupid.<br>

I don't know why many people "hate" this camera. I prefer that, of course, because if the SL66 was everyone's beloved camera, it would be much more difficult to find some ones on the used market.<br>

Everybody here : go on thinking that buying a SL66 is a huge mistake and a loss of money ! Let this old banger for cretins...<br>

I have used a rollei sl66 for about five years and comparing it to many other medium format cameras I have to say it's the best camera I've used. and I have to agree w/Jean-Louis: this camera is built to last. I find it to be very intuitive and absolutely love using it for my magazine portraits. cheers . . .

I don't know why people hate it either. BTW, is 1.94kg the weight with the 80/2.8 Planar or without lens?

 

I spent the whole day yesterday with mine (SL66 "Classic") and I can't wait to see how its captured the fall colours this year. Its a fantastic camera that I will NEVER part with. I use mine with a 1 deg digital spot meter and an incident meter (don't care for TTL metering).