calcuting exposure of slide film with old Rollei TLR

[ned_otter]

Greetings,

 

Forgive me if this has been covered before, but I could not find a

direct reference in the archives.

 

I've done some reading that says to properly expose slide film, one

needs to adjust the f-stop by 1/3 stop or /2 stop, etc. My Rollei 3.5F

doesn't have these interim stops, so how does one properly expose

slide film on an old Rollei TLR?

 

Thanks in advance --

[stephen hazelton]

On my SLR, lenses have click stops for whole stops or half stops. But you can set it in between the clicks- I would assume you can do that on a TLR as well. It would be guesswork as to whether you were hitting a 1/3 stop or 1/2 stop but probably close enough.

[tim_n]

Ned,

I have a Rolleicord V which has 1/3 stop adjustments on the aperture ring. I'm surprised to hear that a Rolleiflex doesn't have the same adjustment (the 'flex being the superior camera).

 

Tim.

[ned_otter]

Thanks Stephen and Tim,

 

FYI Tim, the Rolleiflex 3.5F has the following f-stops:

 

3.5, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22

 

There is a half-stop between 3.5 and 4, but all the rest are full stops.

[kram]

I have a Rolleicord V and just got a Rolleiflex 3.5F today. The 'cord does have 1/3 stop

increments and they come in very handy. The 3.5F has no such thing. I just try to rotate the

dial between stops but it's very imprecise.

 

The only thing to do is carefully rotate the dial between stops and bracket like hell. Or if you

are in a stable lighting situation, you could shoot the entire roll at the same exposure then

have the lab do a snip test and adjust exposure by pushing or pulling the film.

 

BTW Ned, you bad! < Saw your resume, wow!

[Ed_Ingold]

You can set a Rolleiflex to the nearest half stop. The divisions are close together and there are no clicks, but it's easy to position the numbers symmetrically in the window. The amount of play in the setting dial does not inspire confidence. The Rollei was designed for press photography in simpler times and black and white film, as an alternative to the Speed Graphic.

[ned_otter]

I'd be interested to hear from others about a MF camera (classic or contemporary) that has 1/3 or 1/2 stop increments, and the pros/cons of various models, i.e. mirror slap, etc.

 

I really love my Rolleiflex, but perhaps I need to investigate the Rolleicord V, at least for the sake of economy.

 

What is the opinion of others regarding 120 slide film? On it's way out? Still great choices available? I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

 

Major Black - thanks for the compliment. Music is my first love, but I've fallen for photography in a big way. My late father was a pro photographer during the 1960s here in NYC. He shot MF and 35mm (his work can be seen at www.RobertOtter.com and was recently profiled in the Dec/Jan issue of Camera Arts magazine).

 

Thanks again to all have replied.

[victorm.]

It's possible to bracket by half stops on my Rolleiflex 3.5E by locking in the EVS settings, then pushing in the locking button and moving the aperture dial to the next locking position, which is a half stop away.

[Ed_Ingold]

My Hasselblad has 1/2 stop clicks on the lens, and the focal plane shutter has 1/4 stop settings via TTL metering (only 1 stop increments on the setting ring). I generally use a substantial tripod, a cable release and the mirror pre-release to minimize vibrations. I don't know how much mirror-slap affects the sharpness, but I don't take any chances. Medium format is only worth while (compared to a DSLR) if you take extreme measures. I think any of the medium-format SLR's would have similar capabilities.

[kram]

Ned, still plenty of good 120 transparency film out there. My favorites are Fujichrome

Velvia (the ISO 50 version which is rumored to be on the way out), which I use for intense

color/landscapes. For people I use Fujichrome Sensia and Astia. I expect they'll be with us

for a while but the prices may rise.

 

I enjoyed your fathers work. Thanks for sharing.

 

Let us see some of your Rollei pix once you get rolling.

[robert_marvin]

I never have trouble setting 1/3rd stops by eye on my Rolleiflex 2.8E.Granted, they might be SLIGHTLY off, but being off by say 1/8th stop doesn't really matter. It's only SLRs with a mechanical automatic diaphragm mechanism that NEED in-between clickstops--not so with TLRs or RF cameras.

[tim_n]

Ned,

 

Rolleicords are cheap to buy but the results are great. I am not a professional and I've never owned a Rolleiflex but I have used Fuji Velvia slide film on various photo shoots and the results are really impressive - colour, tone, sharpness. I've read a lot about Rolleis and the 'cord is not far behind the 'flex in terms of performance - esp at smaller apertures. (Of course I am talking about from IV onwards which use the Schneider Xenar lens). You won't be disappointed.

 

Tim.

[kelly_flanigan1]

All you do is set the shutter speed; and adjust the Fstop for the 1/3 or 1/6 stop. This works with a 1930's TLR.

[kram]

Kelly- do you own a Rolleiflex 3.5F?

 

I'll bet you some serious money that you could not accurately set the aperture for a 1/6th

adjustment on a Rollei 3.5F. I doubt if you could accurately adjust for 1/3 stop.

 

As someone said above, if you're off by a half stop, in most cases, it's fixable in photoshop.

[kelly_flanigan1]

The ASA spec has one twisting the fstop ring both ways stop to stop; then adjusting form one direction, to get the slop out of the iris. Movie camera crews do this; but few still photographers. There is more than were the fstop ring/lever is set; there is the "take out the slop" procedure too.

[kelly_flanigan1]

Major; I own a Rollieflex Standard; a E3; a cord IV; a Mamyia C3 with plate, 120, 220 backs, a Kodak duaflex II.

[joe_s6]

Hi there Ned. I've got a few Rollei TLRs around here, but not the "F".

My 3.5E offers 1/2 stops, and are easily found on eBay. No need to go with a 'Cord to gain this feature.

 

I believe MF will always be here, and as long as they're making it, I'll be shooting it. Good example being the recent demise of APX.....used it for years, now trying Efke 100 as a replacement.

 

IMO 6x6 & 6x9 are the most "user friendly" formats, and 6x6 will most likely be around for at least another 100 years, hopefully forever.