Contribute to a SL66 "Newbie Guide"

[tvih]

<p>Hi.</p>

 

<p>I'm picking up a Rolleiflex SL66 Classic tomorrow, after wanting

one for a long time. 390 euros for the body, 80mm and magazine. Had to

jump on it without much planning, before someone else would've taken

it. That's just such a cheap price for it (around here in Finland

anyway), that even when I had thought I'd just focus on digital (even

sold my Rolleiflex 2.8 E2 thinking I can't afford to keep it since the

digital system requires resources, bummer) I couldn't pass it. Now if

only I could control my urge to get all kinds of extra stuff for it

(already bought a 80mm extension ring and yellow filter, might get a

Maxwell screen too, depending on how I like the screen that's already

on it - and I want a second film magazine, didn't bid enough on one on

eBay, silly me). Not to mention the seductive calling of lenses like

the 50/4....</p>

 

<p>Anyway, to get to the point, I was thinking of putting together a

sort of comprehensive "newbie" guide for the SL66, for my own use as

well as for others, with information on the "do"s and "don't do"s and

common issues of this camera - at least I didn't find a single good

resource with all such stuff put together, but if there is one, let me

know. Right now it seems there's info a bit all over the place, like

here at photo.net, at sl66.com etc, but not all stuff in one easily

browsable online resource.</p>

 

<p>I've been reading up on SL66 posts on photo.net, and here are a few

things I've seen mentioned:<br>

- Magazine must be loaded correctly in specified order or jamming can

occur<br>

- Both magazine and body must be "in sync" regarding the cocking<br>

- Insert and magazine should be of the same serial number<br>

- If the mirror is locked up, a shot must be taken to deactivate

mirror lock-up</p>

 

<p>That's what I can remember right now from the reading up that I

did. I'd appreciate input from experienced SL66 (later models like E,

SE too!) users on good-to-know info and tips that I could include in

the guide. When I have enough stuff put together, I'll post it on my

website.</p>

 

<p>So, pour in the contributions if you please! :) (I hope this is not

considered a bad idea, like mine often are...)</p>

[tvih]

Oh, and I guess I should add that I will be adding stuff from the SL66 manual as well, but from what I've seen the manual doesn't cover all the little quirks and such.

[harry_zet]

as far as the maxwell screen goes: i have one if you are interested: hi-lux.

plain matte with grid, slightly used.

[king_fung1]

Hi Teppo, hope you'll like your New SL66. Like you, I myself like the SL66 series very much but the worry of very limited repair services and spare parts kept me from buying these loveable all mechanical camera for many years.

[tvih]

King Fung, at this point you can still get at the very least many years of use out of a SL66. If you wait too long, you might not... Remember that even just the body, a single magazine and a single lens is a usable setup, you don't have to have a full range of lenses.

 

Anyway, got my hands on my new precious, feels nice. The mirror really is a bit loud compared to 35mm SLRs, but that's OK, it just sounds more manly! Lots of people have said about the weight being heavy... I find that strange, my first impression was how LIGHT the thing was compared to what I expected it to be. Weight is definitely a non-issue.

 

One thing I noticed, there's a small issue with the upwards tilt. Tends to get stuck. Probably needs a cleaning. Otherwise functions seem to be ok.

 

The focusing screen seems nice outside, but indoors too dim. Guess I'll be getting that Maxwell screen then :)

 

Anyways, as for the guide, no contributions to make?

[thomas_diekwisch1]

Hi Teppo - the SL66 is actually very straightforward. Your shortlist nails down a few issues to watch, but that's about it. It's a marvelous camera, still one of my favorites, even after 20 years of use on my SL66E. One important advice to keep the camera in good mechanical shape: keep on shooting.

[www.antiquecameras.net]

<p>

All you really need to know is here<p>

http://www.sl66.com/<p>

Dan<p><a href="http://www.antiquecameras.net">www.antiquecameras.net</a>

[jean-louis llech]

Hyvää huomenta, Teppo, sekä otollinen SL66 kerhossa.<p>

I am also a SL66 (SE) user. I have several lenses, 40, 50, 80, 150 and 250mm. (My 40mm Distagon is the old-huge-heavy-but-wonderful first model).<br>

Of course, when we begin do use a SL66 (the same thing happens with a Hasselblad) we are frightened by all these "jamming situations".<br>

Your idea is a good one. Nevertheless, all these informations already exist in the most interesting book about the SL66 : The "Rolleiflex SL66 and SLX way" by L.A.Mannheim - Focal Press editions.<br>

All what you have to know about the SL66, its lenses, accessories, tips and tricks, troubleshoots... is in this excellent 612 pages-thick book.<br>

Mannheim made a huge work writing this SL66 bible. Unfortunately, there was no new edition taking into account the new models like the SL66 E and SE.<br>

This book is rather hard to find, and very expensive. But if you go on the Rollei Club USA Website, they sell 3 Compact Discs with all brochures and manuals, and a huge Acrobat PDF file (111 Mb) which contains the integrality of the Mannheim book scanned.<p>

I give you the link to the <a href="http://www.rolleiclub.com/rollei/Rollei_Innovationen/index.htm">Rollei Club USA page</a> if you need to buy the CDs ($29.50 shipping included). It's one of the best investments that you'll do.<br>

If you need other informations write to me directly.<p>

Friendly,<br>

Jean-Louis Llech<br>

[tvih]

Jean-Louis, thanks for the pointers. I was wishing of getting direct tips, but I guess there's no free lunch :)

 

And on that note, so it seems with my SL66 too after more "messing around" with it. Looks like it really needs servicing. The film back's feeler mechanism doesn't seem to work - my first film only recorded frames two frames, 11 and 12, because it started from frame 11 due to not stopping in time! And silly me didn't realize I had transferred it so damn far. What a waste.

 

Today I shot another roll, and had to position the the film in the dark by moving it into place in the dark with the dark slide removed, and feeling with my fingers when the film area started. And I only took macro pictures, because the thing won't focus farther than 3-4 meters. The front panel stays 1-1,5mm "out" at infinity position, so needs to be adjusted to get infinity focus back.

 

Bad thing is apparently in Finland repair shops don't have the parts anymore, so I'd have to send it to Paepke. They estimate anywhere between 200-400e for the fixes & general CLA. Will have to see what the seller says, if he'll refund me 200e, I'll probably send it to Paepke. If not.. I guess I'll just have to return the whole thing and try to find another one.

 

If I send it in for service, I wonder if they have the parts to change the focusing knob's scale readings from feet to meters. I don't like using feet readings. Forgot to ask this in my mail to Paepke.

[tvih]

Ugh, one more flaw confirmed now that I got the new roll back (at least I got all 12 frames this time, thanks to my "manual film positioning) - there's a weird stripe on the top of each frame - I suppose it's either caused by the mirror or the shutter somehow. Rather weird. Well, if I keep the thing and have it serviced, that problem should go away too.

[tvih]

<p>Hmm, the "stripes" are puzzling me. Seems like they'd have to be light leaks. Another thing is how the magazine can leak so much. When I had to manually "rewind" the film, I properly caused some light to spill on the film since a door farther from my "dark room" managed to creep open, letting some soft light shine from between the nearby door's hinges - but that doesn't account for the identically placed leaks on all of the frames. So the magazine has to be leaking.</p>

<p>Here's an example - each frame has identical leak marks:<br>

<img src="http://th.joroinen.fi/webpics/sl66/kukkanuppu1.jpg"><br>

The marks are rather obvious - top and bottom (the bottom is probably the same leak as the top from another frame), and the extra streak near the top.</p>

<p>I can't figure where the light would be leaking from. The only part I can think of is the slot where the dark slide is slid into. But since the negative is inverted, wouldn't that mean the bottom would have more of a leak? Well, I suppose this should be easily fixable by Paepke.</p>

<p>Overall, it looks like that even if the seller accepts the partial refund I and get the thing serviced, the repair bill keeps going up. Still, such a tool would deserve to be brought back to life!</p>

[lata]

I have had a SL66E now for a few months, and it is a marvellous camera. I had one SL66E for less than two weeks before this one, but the shutter mechanism broke up, and I had to send it back. It also had a light leak in the magazine, looked much like your stripes, Teppo.

 

If the focusing doesn't go to infinity, the focusing rack may be damaged. This can happen if you focus near, apply tilt, and then forget that the lens was tilted and focus "back" towards infinity. (Never ever do this!!)

 

The rack is made of somesort of plastic, and it is one of the easiest things to break in a SL66. It is not cheap to repair either, I'm afraid. If you can give the camera back, do it. It will probably cost you some hundreds of Euros to get it repaired. You could ask Paepke by e-mail in advance, they are very helpful.

[lata]

Reading more thorougly I noticed that you had obviously contacted Paepke and got an estimate of the repair costs. If you send it in for repairs, you will in the end have a serviced SL66 for a total of 600-800 Euros, I guess. The price for a SL66 with 80mm Planar and magazine is around 600 Euros on the Ebay, but they are of course not CLA'd.

I am curious about where you bought your SL66?

[tvih]

<p>Hi Lauri.</p>

 

<p>I bought it from a Finnish private seller. He said he can either refund 150e (which would end up me having paid 250e including shipping for the set), or take the whole thing back for a full refund.</p>

 

<p>As for the infinity focus, I suppose the rack could be damaged, but at least the bellows moves smoothly from one end to another, except that it stops before infinity. Maybe a small misalignment - hopefully nothing more. It also seems that the bellows actually goes almost 1mm farther out than it should - this would seem to support the misalignment theory as well.</p>

 

<p>The bellows sticking up seems to be a matter of the upper spring mechanism being disabled - should be an easy fix for Paepke. So should the light leaks of the magazine, I suppose. So, unless the rack really IS broken (I actually once almost ended up "backing up" too much with the bellows tilted - but luckily reflexively stopped at the first hint of resistance, and at that point I didn't hear anything "unhealthy" inside the camera - and the infinity focus wasn't possible even before this, so if it is damaged, it was before that) the repair price shouldn't be over 300e, I'd guess (or rather, hope...).</p>

 

<p>I'm afraid the seller might not get the thing repaired if I don't keep it, and surely such a wonderful camera should be returned to full working condition. I guess the price will probably end up being about the same or perhaps slightly higher than finding a new deal, but I'm still leaning slightly towards keeping it.</p>

 

<p>What's your take (others than Lauri welcome to chime in too), is it wise to keep or should I try and get another one? At least after the service it should be internally in such a conditions as to last for many years to come, while a new non-serviced purchase could break quicker. A bummer though, I thought I got a really good deal with this.. but I guess this time "you get what you pay for" applied :/ As if I wasn't swamped enough by camera purchases anyway, damn it...</p>

 

<p>Well, here's two somewhat usable shots from the roll I shot yesterday:</p>

<img src="http://th.joroinen.fi/webpics/sl66/haro1.jpg"><br> <br>

<img src="http://th.joroinen.fi/webpics/sl66/kukat1.jpg">

[lata]

It is a hard decision to make whether to keep the camera and have it repaired or to give it back. These are rare cameras in Finland, and you hardly can find another without having to wait for quite a while. If the camera is otherwise in good condition, and if you can be rather sure that repairs won't cost more than 300-500 Euros, it is not a bad buy.

 

But if you in the near future are planning a trip to Germany or USA, where you could find a decent used SL66, I would advice you to give this one back. Now that you are familiar with the camera you know what to look for when evaluating a used SL66. But don't buy one without loading the camera and shooting a roll of 400 ISO slide film with it. And expose the magazine to strong light to reveal light leaks, they are probably rather usual in old magazines.

[tvih]

Indeed is hard... although now I got word from another repair guy in Finland, who was rather confident he could fix these small issues. And the price would be a lot lower (he said about 100e) than sending it to Germany. Thing is, he still can't actually guarantee success, although he was somewhat sure he could do it. And for what it is worth, he agreed on my misalignment theory regarding the focusing rack. He said that if it was broken, I probably should be able to manually push the front panel in for the rest of the way to get infinity. But I can't - hence it is probably just misaligned.

 

With that said, with Paepke the probability of a working camera would pretty much be 100% - with the Finnish repair guy maybe 75%. He'd clean and adjust the focusing rack mechanism, and fix the rest of the flaws, but wouldn't do a general CLA (nor is it to be expected at that price).

 

Since I could send the camera Monday the earliest, I think I'll try and see what happens with a few eBay auctions over the weekend, and if those exceed my limits, I'll probably send it to the Finnish guy, even though it is a slight risk.

 

One last thing - do the E and SE models work without a battery? Since one of the auctions closing during the weekend is an E model, I'd like to know.

[lata]

The SL66E and SL66SE only need a battery for the exposure meter. Otherwise they are totally mechanical.

 

Are you familiar with the mechanics of the SL66? I have some pictures of the mechanics inide a SL66. That could help you understand what maybe wrong with the focusing. If you email me I will discuss this in finnish and send you the pictures.

[david_lee23]

I just got interested in the Rolleiflex SL66 too and am looking into buying a set. I have heard that the SL66 is so complicated that there is very limited resources to repair. The repair might even introduce another problem inadvertently. If you are not 99% sure about the repair and repair guy, I rather not do the repair but return it to look for another if it might take longer. At least that is what I would do. I have been an avid user collector of Leica and all other 35mm classic systems inlcuding Zeiss. Hope this helps. It seems that the SL66 is more of an collectible item now with prices going up. I recently saw a couple of the latest sold for more than $1300 USD.

[tvih]

Yeah, I'm now set on sending it to Germany, since there they can also put new leathers on the beast. Plus I'm perhaps looking to get another defective body (and/or a working one) and perhaps get it fixed at the same time. Will have to see how things go. Already won a bid on an additional film back, which is nice.

[tvih]

Well, won a bid on a supposedly working body (too bad I missed the bid on a few cheap lenses) - now to wait 'til all the stuff I've bid actually gets here.