any experiences with Rollei 3003

[erik_wang]

I know this is not MF, but I thought this would be the best place to

get knowledgable responce.

 

Have anyone have any experiences with the 35mm Rollei 3003, I am

intrigue becuase of the Zeiss lenses that it takes, and am wondering

how well the camera is in terms of picture quality, etc.

 

thanks again in advanced

[erik_wang]

Also, is there an adaptor to use these Zeiss lenses on my Canon DSLR 1D?

[harry_zet]

it was the last nail in rolleis coffin. stay away, its very unreliable.

[roland_haid]

I remember myself asking for a Rollei 2000 twenty years ago in a big shop. The sales person turned around, took a Rollei 2000 and smashed it onto the sales table. "We have a demo body her'" he said, "but it is dead". "Do you get new cams in". "No, and if, we would not sell this shit to you. Get an other camera".

 

The 2000-3001-3003 are collectors cameras now, if you find a working one, it is the best idea not to take photos. The specification is not spectacular either: the prism shows only 88% of the final picture, if I remember well. In the days of the 3003, most lens were made by Rollei with Zeiss names, only some expensive (and rare) glass were made by Zeiss Oberkochen then. Some of the lens designs were from the 60ies: they offered a Tele-Tessar 4/135 at a time every Nicanpentympus offered 2.8 for their cheapest fixed 135mm lens (O.K Olympus had a 3.5/135). The Rolleinars are not famous, but perfomance is fair.

[a m]

The Rollei 2000 WAS extremely undependable. The 3001 and 3003 were much better. They never sold well in the US because they were expensive, the Japanese competition dominated the US market, and Rollei had a poor support organization. Until recently, the 3003 was still available new as a metric camera (for photogrammetry, documentation, etc.). If you want one, you better get a complete working body with a battery pack, charger, and at least 2 film backs. The interchangeable film packs were really neat. The lenses are inexpensive because few people want them now.

[calvin_lee]

Erik, As others have said, I would recommend staying away from the Rollei electronic 35mm cameras from the 1980s'. The electronics in these cameras are very unreliable and are prone to failure at any time. I never had the 3003, but several years ago, I was using Rollei 35mm SLRs' almost exclusively for my 35mm photography. I had a Rollei SL35 E, which preceded the model 2000. I bought 6 bodies (used) that were supposedly working. In actuality, only 3 of them worked properly. And after a couple of years, only 2 were working properly. If, when looking through the viewfinder & pressing the shutter release button halfway, you see the LED lights blinking, this is the sign of death for that camera. At first, it may only happen sporadically, but it will eventually be a permanent occurance. At this point, you will not be able to get a proper exposure as the camera will only fire at one shutter speed.

 

I eventually sold off my entire Rollei 35mm SLR collection ($5,500 worth of bodies & lenses) when Marflex announced that they would no longer service these cameras due to a dwindling supply of parts cameras that could be used as a parts base. New replacement parts are obviously no longer available from Rollei. I suspect that by this time, it was getting hard to find parts cameras that still had good electronic components left in them. Also the 2000F,3001, & 3003 use propriety Ni-Cad battery packs that may no longer take a good charge and new ones are longer available. In addition to the SL35 E, I also had the original SL35 (both West German & Singapore versions), SL35M, & SL35ME. The original all-mechanical camera is quite reliable, but the viewfinder is very dark and is difficult to focus in low-light situations.

 

OTOH, the Zeiss & Schneider lenses for these cameras are absolutely first-rate. I found the Schneider lenses to be even better than their Carl Zeiss & Rollei-badged counterparts. The Schneider 50mm f/1.8 Xenotar lens was a particular favorite of mine, offering great sharpness and really beautiful color rendition. However, the reasons stated above were enough to drive me away from these cameras.

 

From there, I moved onto the Contax C/Y mount cameras. You can pick up a 167MT for about the same price as a SL35 E, but it will be more reliable by orders of magnitude. It also has a built-in film advance motor, TTL flash metering, and multiple shooting modes. The lenses are as good, if not better than the Zeiss lenses for the Rolleis'. If you are looking to spend several hundered dollars on a 3003, I would recommend a Contax RX II or RTS III instead, as these cameras are still in current production and fairly new models can be had for good prices.

[OCULUS New York]

Wow, Erik, a lot of misinformation and ancient anecdotal crap flying here. I have a late 3003 that I use regularly, and bought and sold a second one, this year(well, thank you).

http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/1467125-lg.jpg

 

http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/995703-lg.jpg

 

First, I'll say up front that the second one jammed on its new owner. I consulted several US-based collectors and experts and they all advised that I send it back to Germany (as opposed to NJ). We did, this July, and for $350 they overhauled the camera completely, including whatever was jamming the shutter. And, they gave a year's warranty. NJ was much more cagey about an estimate, and needed to determine if the camera had ever been exposed to "salt air." This may have been the problem, as this second one came from Palm Beach, FL. It's fine now.

 

Second, the power packs are easily refitted with 5 new Sanyo NiCad batteries, either by Rollei NJ or yourself if you want to mess with a soldering gun. I think it was $85 and 2 days for my NJ turnaround--same as for my 6000 series cameras.

 

I have a broad range of lenses for mine, ranging from the Zeiss 16mm Distagon Fisheye to a Rollei (Japanese, Mamaya I think) 400mm, including some stars, like the 85mm 1.4 Zeiss, and the Japanese 28-105 with macro, lenses that are wonderful. They are not "creamy" like my Leitz lenses, but never were supposed to be. They are reliable and come in 1, 2, and 3-pin versions. The 3003 takes the 3-pin in order to meter wide open, but it is not necessary.

 

http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/1643373-lg.jpg

 

http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/1643437-lg.jpg

 

As for the body, someone above called it the "nail in the coffin" which may be true, but not altogether for the reasons implied. In fact, it was the camera's COST that sealed Rollei's fate. They were left at the peak of 35mm camera sales with a complex, expensive piece that was an engineering tour de force....and nothing else for the pro market. Indeed, it was over-engineered and cost a fortune to produce--in Germany only.

 

Conceptually, the camera is amazing, and has since been copied by many--right down to the leather strap that slips over the back of your hand--by every camcorder ever made. The waist-level finder is not very useful--until you are down next to a todler and need it. The magazines tend to be tricky due to lots of springs and levers, but my local repair guy hasn't missed yet on replacing whatever spring was needed. Tricky or not, is there another 35 you can change films on mid-roll?

 

I should also mention that the interlocks for the magazine represent the only repeating "glitch" mine has shown. Sometimes after re-load, it won't fire, and the reason seems to be the interlocks are not fully latched. A twist and relatch, and off it goes. Mine needs service and lube, and I assume this will be cured.

 

The metering system is great; it does NOT have a spot mode though. But you can zoom in on an object and "memo" the reading, then reframe. And once you figure out the variables to the very complete readout system, you can use the cheaper, earlier, more common two-pin lenses that need to be manually stopped down. If you stick with 3-pin lenses, it's pretty much aperture-priority point and shoot, and the Japanese Rollei lenses are superb, and a bargain.

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=284368

 

I've never had any aiming/framing trouble with mine, and I doubt that I'm only seeing 85% of the frame as someone asserts (at least not through the eyepiece). I must, however, commend Rollei on the ease with which the focus screen is changed or cleaned. Just as easy as the big brother models. And of course, it is wonderfully bright. And the diopter adjusts.

 

Finally, I'll mention ergonomics. It takes some getting used to. I have never tried the 2000, which, without the top release button and strap is probably a whole different handful. (I'd guess that the attachable handle is almost required) But once you are acquainted with handling the 3003, it's very natural. It does, however, represent a bulky lump around your neck, and for that reason, I generally leave it lashed to my hand, or back in the bag.

 

In sum, at first, they are quirky, but not unreliable. I've never owned a Nikon F, but I know they have their foibles too. But, what they don't have is this camera's landmark versatility and accessory range...and now, collector interest. I used to get: "What kind of camera is that?" Now, it's: "I've never heard a vhs cam "fire" like that..." I tell them it's a simluated audio recording.

 

Please, feel free to ask any questions you have; I'd be happy to try to answer them.

 

Ray Hull

[OCULUS New York]

http://www.rolleiclub.com/rollei/sl35/models.htm

 

http://www.rolleiclub.com/rollei/sl35/lenses/lenschart.htm

 

http://www.rolleiclub.com/rollei/sl35/lenses/qbm.htm

 

Cheers,

Ray Hull

[martin_reekie]

I have to go with Ray on this one. I've owned a 3003 for over ten years without a problem. I bought it to use my SL66 lenses on 35mm with the clever adaptor - then you have no problem with image quality using the centre of a 6x6 Zeiss lens.

 

It is so unique in design that it can't be compared to anything. There are so many upsides, three releases, two methods of viewing, interchangable backs (no need for two or more bodies), etc.. One downside, for me, is it needs electricity to operate. How many cameras now don't!

 

Any questions, drop me an e-mail.

 

Martin

[mike_ross1]

I have a 2000F, not given me any trouble beyond the occasional issues with the back already described. Wierd handling but I like it. Not enough to make me a hard-core fan tho; fun to play with but I keep my F-1 (original flavour) for serious work :-)

 

I do also have a 3003 body which I got with a bunch of other stuff - looks near-mint, but is dead; switch on the power, press the shutter, and the red 'F' LED on the back lights up. Never lights viewfinder LEDs. Nothing else works. Any thoughts? Terminal? Something simple and stupid?

 

If anyone has one, or comes across one, I'd like to buy a 3003 in the 'Traveller' edition - grey body instead of black... email me if you're selling!

 

I also have a mad mad scheme of one day obtaining a junker magazine, gutting it, and building a digital back...!

 

There is of course a Tamron Adaptall mount for the Rollei QBM system... useful for odd lenses where Rollei equivalents are hard to find - the Tamron 17mm, and the 28-105 2.8 aspherical zoom come to mind.

 

Mike

[pensacolaphoto]

I had a similar problem with a mintish 2000F. It was dead. I first tried KEH repair, and they forwarded it to Germany as only the main repair fascility still had spareparts, It is the main board that needs to be replaced. Cost is about $350 as a discount!

[pensacolaphoto]

I own also several SL35 bodies (which I really like) that are reliable and sleek in design. As someone posted, its viewfinder is dim and it is difficult to focus the camera in dim light. The 2000F does not have this problem. I own the 85mm/1.4, 50mm/1.8 and 1.4, 35mm/1.4 Zeiss lenses. I also like the 50/1.8 Schneider lens which is very sharp. I am accepting the relatively lower reliability of the bodies (compared to a Canon F1) for the super lenses.