tak_l._poon1 Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 Dear Friends, I notice that with the recent split of the Rollei company, not only are the cameras not produced by Rollei anymore, but the product pages are also gone from the official website. Does any one know is there a new official website of the medium format Rollei cameras? Thanks. Tak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hart michael Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 That is a good question. If you go to the Robert White's website, it refers you to Franke & Heidecke, and if you go to Franke & Heidecke's website, you don't find anything there, no links: http://www.franke-heidecke.net/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_bunnik Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 the franke and heidecke website states, in German, that they are working on their website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h._hillebrand Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 The medium format cameras are still made in the same factory in Brunswick by the same people, only the name of this part of the company has switched back to Franke & Heidecke. The Rollei brand name is now used to sell cheap consumer electronics and OEM (digital) cameras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q.g._de_bakker Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 There is, of course, more to it than just a change of name.<br>Rollei (a Danish firm selling, among other things, MP3 players) sold the camera production, but kept the rights to the Rollei name. They sold the production because the market for these machines has gone.<br>So far so good.<br><br>Franke and Heidecke bought the production line hoping to succeed as a small company where the larger Rollei could not. A wise decision?<br>F&H not just bought the manufacturing bit, but also gained a license to keep using the Rollei name. And there's the sting: not only will they have to try to survive in a dwindling market without the backup and support of a larger, diversified company and the income generated by products that actually do sell (like those MP3 players), but they will have to do that and (!) pay Rollei for the privilege. And not just once, but every time they put the Rollei name on anything (whether they succeed in selling that thing or not).<br>Dwindling market, less support, extra overhead... Good luck to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fwstutterheim Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 <i> and (!) pay Rollei for the privilege. And not just once, but every time they put the Rollei name on anything (whether they succeed in selling that thing or not). </i><p><p> How much do they pay for this privilege? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q.g._de_bakker Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 <i>"How much do they pay for this privilege?"</i><br><br>That, i believe, was not disclosed.<br>But it is not going to help make the F&H Rolleis gain a more competitive position in the market, is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas_hardy1 Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 Try this ... www.rollei.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCULUS New York Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 In USA: http://www.rollei-usa.com/ Still located in NJ, but factory service is now done by a contractor (again). Ray Hull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik scanhancer Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 Tak, The medium format Rolleis are still produced by the same people in the same factory with the same equipment and using the same components. They just changed the name plate at the door. You are correct that the overview of cameras is missing from the "old" website. Looks like they are migrating to the Franke & Heidecke website. However, there is still a nice Rollei 6008 AF/i2 brochure online at Rollei.com that holds most info you might be looking for: http://www.rollei.com/files/Prospekt6008AF-i2%20e.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tak_l._poon1 Posted June 1, 2006 Author Share Posted June 1, 2006 thank you aall for the information. In actual fact there is no information that i have missed as i have been using Rolleis (only) for 20 years. and their old website had not been updated for a long time. I miss the website only just for sentimental reasons. Tak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne_crider4 Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 I really hope that they succeed. I wonder if they would have a layaway plan (^: Maybe I'll email them and say that alot of us are hopeing they survive. Of course, lowering the cost of their TLR's might help, but so would a cord version of their latest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hart michael Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Franke & Heidecke still have to sell new product to stay alive - in their case by their own choosing - a niche and expensive product to a miniscule market. They aren't even overly concerned about having uptodate marketing information available on a website, as has been pointed out. We have the case of Cosina Voigtlander which has been attempting to capture the small remaining market in 35mm film cameras by marketing affordable product, we are told this is with some success by those who are purveying the product although I am still not convinced, I am even less sure that in medium format producing affordable product would work in these times to keep a business viable had Franke & Heidecke decided to go this route. Although part of me still wishes to believe that if you put the equivalent of the wonderful Rollei Zeiss Distagon 60/3.5 lens in a TLR which is a simple Rolleicord in design to cut down on costs and sell it for $1000 or less, there would be people who would buy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q.g._de_bakker Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 H.M.<br><br>There is no reason to doubt the success of Cosina: they were (!) very succesfull indeed. You must however keep in mind that this was before (!) the 35 mm based digital SLR cameras became affordable and the 'hit' they are today. Even consumer grade digital cameras were then still expensive 2 MP affairs. In short: that was before the digital wave.<br>Cosina's worldwide success started with their amazing, and cheap, 15 mm lens and the cheap body it had to go on. Later came the 12 mm lens and the rangefinders, by which time the price level had risen a bit already. But still, succesfull they were.<br>If you are looking for a similar product to worry about, look no further than the current Zeiss Ikon RF. They sell, yes. But not very fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fwstutterheim Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 <i>Franke & Heidecke still have to sell new product to stay alive .. </i><p> Off course. Their sales depend heavily on the Far Eastern market. Komamura (Horseman) is the distributor in Japan. They ordered enough of the new Wides and Tele's to make production possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl_glover Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Franke and Heidecke have already released something new and it's rather useful too... It's the "Rapid Battery Charger C with discharge mode". I've bought one (from Robert White) and it works! Hopefully their serious new product will be seen at Photokina later this year. I'm crossing my fingers for a digital body that takes their excellent lenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hart michael Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Nice to know they are using medium format in Japan. Does this mean that I will be able to order my medium format slide mounts and negative sleeves from Japan, because I'm worried about their supply everywhere else ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_mcbride Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 It is good to see that F&H seems to have done something about the truly awful state of powering for the Rollei electronic cameras. I have thought for a long time that the battery- charging woes of the electronic Rolleiflexes (from the SLX onward) were the Achilles' heel of these otherwise wonderful cameras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik scanhancer Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Other F&H intros: filter holder for their TLR's<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik scanhancer Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 ... and the eMotion digiback:<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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