Rollei TLR viewfinder problem

[mark_l6]

<p>Recently I bought a Rollei TLR, specifically a 3.5E3, which I love. However the magnifier is on a very small flip up panel hardly bigger than the magnifier lens, so it hardly shields the focussing screen at all. Under the bright Australian sun where I live I find the focussing screen almost unusable because of sun getting past my face and flaring the view. If I shield the top of the finder with my hand the image becomes perfectly clear, so it's not the focussing screen, which is the original, but simply a matter of too much light hitting the top of the screen. Do other people have this problem, and if so how do you get over it?<br>

My Rollei 6006 magnifier is in a square panel that fills the top of the waist level finder, as does my RB67, so I've never come upon this before and I cannot find any sign of this problem on the net although Phil Greenspun in his review of the 2.8f mentioned using a baseball cap to help shield the finder. I don't like hats of any form so any brighter ideas would be appreciated.</p>

[dhbebb]

<p>Yes it's a problem! To get over it, I use a prism finder on my Rollei T almost all the time out of doors. Shielding the finder with your third hand is good but somehow impractical. I can only suggest making a tube out of black paper and slipping it over the finder. Purely for focusing, you can of course use the hood in sports mode by pushing in and locking the center part of the front and focusing by looking through the lower hole in the back of the hood - you can then compose with the sports finder.</p>

[sumo_kun]

<p>I've never really had a problem with my 2.8C. I find that my head usually provides enough shade to let me see the screen when I am using the magnifier.</p>

[marc_batters]

<p>You might try putting the neck of a dark T-shirt around your neck...essentially, putting a T-shirt on, up-side down. The rest of the T-shirt you wear around your neck like a bunched-up scarf. When you need to focus a shot in extreme sun, you pull the waist of this shirt over your head and camera similar to a dark cloth in LF photography. If necessary, use a child's or woman's size shirt or cut excess off the waist end of the shirt. This is most useful, or easier to manage, when shooting from a tripod.</p>

<p>Mamiya and others made a folding shroud that attaches to the top of the WLF (slides over the erect WLF)...which may work for you. Below are a few I found on the big auction site. Sorry, they all seem to be USA sellers.</p>

<p>Generic hood for TLR's:<br /> 290733954432<br /> 380403573697<br /> 190638438715<br /> Binocular hood from Rollei:<br /> 261007243963</p>

[fwstutterheim]

<p>Under the circumstances you mentioned I prefer to use the prism finder in stead of the WLF. It will solve your problem completely but it will add weight and costs quite a bit.</p>

<p>Ferdi.</p>

[dan_daniel2]

Probably a cheaper way than buying a Rollei prism is to get a Hasselbad finder adapter and then an NC-2 45-degree prism. The NC-2 goes for pretty cheap, and isn't prone to separation or ugly dents like the Rollei 90-degree prism. The 45 degree is very easy to use handheld, also.

 

Or a Hasselblad/Kiev waist level finder with the full shield magnifier.

 

A Hasselblad adapter-

http://www.baierfoto.de/tlr_engl.html

[mark_l6]

<p>Well I'm pleased that I'm not the only one with this problem, I wondered for a while if I was doing something wrong myself.<br>

I don't wish to do anything to devalue the camera in the long run, but I have to wonder if it is possible to adapt my 6006 WLF or even just the magnifier panel?. Never had this problem in grey old England!<br>

I tried a prism briefly but it seemed to me to make the handling considerably more awkward.<br>

Thanks for your responses.</p>

[brett_rogers]

<p>A baseball cap helps a lot. I use Rolleis in Australia without too many problems with the aid of a cap.</p>

[Two23]

<p>I wear a big wide brimmed hat.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

[fwstutterheim]

<p>Only the bases of the prisms for TLR and System 6000 are different. I guess it could be possible to change the base but I am not aware it can be adapted to fit both. </p>