thomas_diekwisch1

Best lens of its sort for MF SLR. Only view cameras get better. Even after shift, the image quality in the corners is on par with the best non-shift wideangles.

 

The only problem is the 55mm focal length, which is less than fortuitous for many applications. I'd love to have something wider, e.g. 45mm. I also have the 45mm Arsat shift for my Pentax, but that one is fairly soft in the corners when shifted.

 

Alas, for your 6008 the 55mm is the lens of choice, slightly heavy, but second to none.

You can also check item #7546056323 on German ebay.

Try Hadley Chamberlain http://www.hecphoto.com.

It's all fairly easy. We just wait until their next insolvency and then take over. Lakhinder will be president, Robert organize import/export, Ray Hull will be marketing director, William Carter in charge of customer service, Jean-Louis will work on SL66 image preservation, and I'll help with whatever. We keep the production and engineering department and hire some computer support from India. Dealers will be Eli Kurland and Mike/CTrades. We actually would be doing it mostly for the fun of it - like when the employees bought back Harley Davidson. Sounds like the logical thing to me...

 

Cheers all and thanks for the good spirits!!!

Well spoken - couldn't agree more.

Robert, since you are asking me: I remember that they contracted a package with Phase One, which they are now selling off, possibly to peak interest in the brand, or to make room for an update. Who knows?

 

I am not sure whether it's really the worst of all strategies at this point though. The company has become much smaller, and sales are probably not very high in the U.S. anymore. Look at Alpa, they only sell through Jeff at Badger. When you visit B&H in person, they everytime ask you why you don't buy a Hasselblad if you even mention the name Rollei.

 

You have a point though in terms of communication. They should have discussed this with their dealers in a way that it is uniformly presented to the customers. It is obviously one of their many marketing flaws that have occured over 20 years, and I wouldn't say it's the worst or a sign of a company that is about to go under. It is them, as they always have been, whether they go under or not... It is all so obvious that it has stimulated a decade of disbelief and backseat marketing here on the net. From that point of view it's more a miracle that they are still afloat.

 

Buying Rollei is as if you could buy Albert Einstein in a camera store. You get the genius, and you get the personality. And you often wonder whether you really want so much genius in camera construction. Yes, the camera is just a tool, as they all say, but it is the tools that make it happen...

As usual I agree with Lakhinder. The new dealer choices are perplexing at best. Central Camera in Chicago - I wonder whether any of them has ever been there or dealt with them. I encourage them to just get in a plane and come visit... Helix would do a good job representing them, even though they are ridiculously overpriced, but so is Central.

 

In the recent years, there have been two dealers who have spent an enormous amount of personal effort, passion, and dedication to the Rollei brand toward keeping US sales up. These are Mike at CTrades and Eli Kurland. Both are no longer listed. IMHO, this is fairly shortsighted. Rollei completely underestimates and always has (IMHO) the importance of service, customer opinion, and word of mouth advertising here in the States. They may think we are just a bunch of dummies impressed by the Rollei brand. But here, the pros very carefully consider their investments (rightfully so), and listen to somebody they trust, a colleague, or a trustworthy dealer. While it's entirely up to Rollei, whom they pick to represent them, these sorts of changes most certainly will cause another decline of their consumer image here in the States.

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.

They'll argue about it until the cows come home. But in a nutshell: The digital Pentax 645 offers digital convenience with your existing lenses. It's superior to 35mm once because you can still use your lenses and second because you have the huge finder for image composition and accurate focusing. 35mm competition would be the 5D and the 1DsII, both definitely competitive. Depends and what you shoot and what you like.

A second for Paul Ebel. He repaired my focusing lever very nicely. He installs Maxwell screens as an option. You think your camera will be new when you get it back.

I'd second the one on the Rolleiflex SL66SE. The built-in bellows, the accessories, the curtain-shutter up to 1/1000, the open bayonett for lens hacking, the macro capabilities, the well-thought-out bellows, the retro-mount, the many lenses that were made for the Rollei under-cover, the accurate light meter, the exacting f-stops, the built-quality, the Zeiss lenses, the feel of ultimate precision.

I agree with all of the above. I share Ray Hull's enthusiam for Rollei's design genius and everyone's despair over their marketing and customer service issues. I think Lakhinder and I should host a meeting for both companies to exchange their marketing teams... :).

Gang, Rollei USA has a new web site http://www.rollei-usa.com/.

Looks like the product palette has been streamlined, possibly for

the better. Couple of cool pdfs. They once more changed their

dealership portfolio. Great cameras and lenses. I guess the next

couple of years will be important for the future. IMHO, the X act2

is another top-notch product, BTW. Hope they improve their consumer

relationship issues. Wish them all the best.

Sell the 60 and 150 and get the 180. Not a big difference between the 50 and 60, and you plan on keeping the 50 anyway. The 120 is for macro, which you do from time to time, and the 100 is because it's a great lens. The 180 gives you a slightly better perspective for the regular head shot and a different perspective for landscapes. It's also a much better lens than the 150. Later you may get a 350 or a 500 to cover the long range.

Mamiya 7II or Fuji rangefinders for travel and urban landscapes, Pentax 645 for portrait, telephoto and macro, Rolleiflex 6008i or AF for studio, and Rolleiflex SL66 for lens hacking and the more unusual macro shot. In opposite to 35mm, the technical challenges of MF for camera manufacterers are more sizable and have resulted in fairly different solutions. Mirror slap and shutter curtain size as it affects X-synch are probably still significant issues. Thus, if you want to do it all in MF, it would be not unusual to have different favorite MF cameras for different photographic tasks. In your case, you might as well get both of them...

 

But I guess the one that surprised me the most with its performance and versatility was the Pentax 645, mostly because of its true handholdability and outstanding image quality. I got it as an add-on for travel with the Mamiya 7II, but it turned out that I am now mostly taking the Pentax... There's a favorite... :).

 

But they all are. I started with an SLX, which I never really liked, then I got a SL66E, which continues to amaze me to this day. And then I use a 6008i in the studio, which is a joy to use every time.

 

I guess the biggest disappointment was the Mamiya after all. It seemed so practical and lightweight, and the image quality is certainly extraordinary. But when it comes to taking pictures, I find myself often wanting the telephoto or macro capability. And the slides sometimes feel slightly amputated compared to the 6x9s of my Fuji GSW :) But it's still a neat camera system though.

I'd argue that you should at least give them the benefit of the doubt. This morning I received a long e-mail from the same person, Mr. Kay Hoerster, on a related topic, which was similarly insightful. Made me believe the engineering genius is still there. Probably important to talk to the right person, especially if they are understaffed. They are certainly very actively thinking about the issue of digital backs.

 

You should definitely perform blinded (as the make) side-by-side comparisons between the major optics companies. None of what you are stating would hold up. Rollei's strength is their humongous system, the convenience for 6x6 square, and the wide range of outstanding choices.

 

However, differences between lenses and makers are minute. I have been nothing but impressed by the Pentax lenses. I am sure the Fuji lenses are outstanding as well. There may be minute differences, such as the smoothness of some of the Schneider images, but even the APO and non-APO lenses of the same manufacturer behave more different from each other than manufacturers among each other. Mamiya 7 lenses may have too much contrast for some tasts, but are nevertheless outstanding lenses as well. Having said that though, it may be that Rollei has the widest overall lens portfolio if you are willing to pay for it and if they stay in business.

 

Take your camera, have it fixed, put a back on it, and shoot.

Rollei's arrogance tends to cause irate customers... They got me to that point several times as well. Having said that, you may weigh your reaction.

 

The Rollei system is a superior 6x6 system and previous poster's comments on using an Imacon or a Sinar or another back are certainly valid. Just use your Rollei and system, get any of the other backs and be happy.

 

The digital future seems to 6x4.5. Mamiya is too plasticky for me. Pentax has a wonderful system and the lenses are certainly first rate. Moreover, their digital back may be reasonably priced and who knows - there might be a bigger one two years down the road. For me, the leaf shutter system of the H1 with its limitations on lenses etc. wouldn't be my piece of cake...

Both would work. Differences in sharpness would be hard to tell. The Makro-Planar and the S-Planar are corrected for 1:10. The reversed enlarging lenses might work better at other ratios. Among the 120mm lenses, the 5.6 version has been slightly sharper, at least in my hands. There was a 5.6 Macro Planar and a 5.6 S-Planar. They come around from time to time. Also the S-Planar/Makro-Planars can be reversed, making it about even. The only significant difference would probably the automatic diaphragm of the Rollei/Zeiss lenses.

I suggest to have a look at the Horseman as well; it's more versatile. Excellent viewfinder and very nice design. However, in your particular case (for street work), the Linhof may be optimum since you won't need the extensive shift of the Horseman, and the Linhof is more userfriendly than the Fotoman appears to be.

I agree with Helen and Jonas: the SL66 is a lens hacker's dream.

The Pentax ED IF 300mm f/4 for the 645 is certainly way better. The difference is quite obvious. The Zeiss is acceptable starting f/8 while the Pentax is already excellent at f/4. Telephotos 300mm and above have greatly benefited from the introduction of ED or FL glass elements.

Another vote for the Pentax 645. Almost vibrationless mirror and fast lenses. 1/30 easy to handhold with predictable results. I also have a Mamiya 7II, which I like, but focusing with the 150mm really takes some time. The P67 mirror slap when handheld almost negates the 67 advantage.

I really like the site. Very nice images and nice layout. The suggestion about re-organizing the images and finding themes is a good one though. Otherwise well done.

Another vote for the Pentax 645. As for the looks: you'll change your view after you use the camera. Everything so practical and ergonomic. It also looks cool behind the 600mm...

I'd wait before swapping just a little bit and try the Mamiya first. I have both systems, more or less by chance. Three years ago I found myself on a major Europe trip without my Rollei, which of course I had forgotten in Chicago. Don't laugh!

 

Anyway, I called up Robert White, who sent a new Mamiya with 43mm, 65mm, and 150mm lenses in a heartbeat. For a couple of weeks I was all excited about the Mamiya, mostly because of its portability.

 

Then the light meter drove me nuts and then, another couple of weeks later, I was just ecstatic about the results, especially on Velvia.

 

Today, three years later, I still like the Mamiya from time to time, but it hasn't become the travel camera that I wanted it to be.

 

The first thing that drove me up the wall was the lack of macro capability, even though I knew about it. Guess what I learned: I use macro even more than I thought. The second was the lack of portrait capability, even though it is certainly usable for a certain type of protraits. But the 150 is on the slow side in terms of focusing (due to the finder, not the lens). The third thing was the lack of telephoto lenses.

 

Now you say you mostly shoot landscapes, thus the question is whether mostly is really mostly. However, two more issues came up over time. One is the lenses. In terms of sharpness and contrast, they are certainly some of the best. However, you won't get the creamy midtones of your Rollei Schneiders.

 

The other thing that came up over the years was the lack of the matte screen for composition. It's probably just a matter of habit, but I have really gotten used to it. It's not just framing, but the screen is just far superior in terms of image composition.

 

Having said all of this, the Mamiya wins on a number of occasions when the Rollei can't compete. One is the extremely soft shutter release for handhold photography, which is probably one reason everybody agrees on the sharpness of the Mamiya. You can really handhold at medium and low shutterspeeds, which you can't really say of the Rollei. Thus if you want to travel without a tripod and enjoy the quality of the large format, the Mamiya is certainly the camera of choice.

 

Another stellar advantage is the 43mm Biogon copy. As you probably know, there are no 95 degree wide angle lenses for common 6x6 SLRs. However, I really like this perspective, an equivalent to a 21mm or 20mm lens in 35mm photography.

 

The last issue is the 6x7 format, which I never quite got accustomed to. 6x6 is the creative challenge, and half of the time I love it and half of the time I hate it. 6x7 is odd - I'd rather prefer the 6x9 of the Fuji rangefinders, the Optika, and the Horseman. I always end up trimming 6x7, and it somehow feels odd, at least for me.

 

In terms of your five questions, the Mamiya does well on all, except possibly the focusing and metering issues. I have found the camera durable even though the body feels plasticky - however, the lenses are very well made.

 

If I was you, I'd keep the Rollei, especially with the 90mm lens and the 40mm Super-Angulon, if that's what you call 45mm, and get an additional Mamiya. Alternatively, I'd try out a Mamiya, it's more of a specialty camera. It may be just right for you, but I'd try first.