jim_chow

This is a follow-up to the original posting I made regarding service

problems with my Rollei. I also posted the identical response as an

answer to the original question, but figured that posting it as a new

question would gain more reader attention.

<p>

Here's what I found out about the repair. As I mentioned before, I

didn't purchase the body through one of the distributor's stores, so

the distributor's repair facility will NOT honor the warranty. I

received the repair estimate (from the distributor/service center) of

$100 for parts and $200 for labor to replace a 'shutter board.' It

will take more than 3 MONTHS to receive the parts for the repair. The

problem with the magazine is that it just needs some adjustment so the

body "knows" when the darkslide is closed. That estimate is $130 for

the labor for the magazine, so the total is over $400 or more than 10%

of the price of a new body kit!

<p>

I have sent email to twice Rollei at their information email address

in Germany (info@rollei.de) as well as the Rollei digest, and have yet

to receive any response from either place. It appears the only

alternative I have is to send it back to Germany and wait up to 6

months for the repair. Needless to say, especially for a product this

expensive, I'm very unhappy with the lack of product support/service.

Here's what I found out about the repair. As I mentioned before, I didn't purchase the

body through one of the distributor's stores, so the distributor's repair facility will

NOT honor the warranty. I received the repair estimate of $100 for parts and $200 for labor

to replace a 'shutter board.' It will take more than 3 MONTHS to receive the parts for the

repair. The problem with the magazine is that it just needs some adjustment so the body

"knows" when the darkslide is closed. That estimate is $130 for the labor for the magazine, so the total is over $400 or more than 10% of the price of a new body kit!

<p>

I have sent email to twice Rollei at their information email address in Germany (info@rollei.de) as well as the Rollei digest, and have yet to receive any response from either place. It appears the only alternative I have is to send it back to Germany and wait up to 6 months for the repair. Needless to say, especially for a product this expensive, I'm very unhappy with the lack of product support/service.

I use both heliopan (made by Rodenstock in Germany) and B+W ([schneider] both

multi-coated and single coated B+W). While I can definitely see a difference in the

multi-coated vs. single coated filters (with the multi-coated 95mm B+W UV, you can't tell there's even a filter on without

looking closely, while the single coated filters are obviously visible). As far as image

quality goes, I don't think there's any difference. I use both brands on my zeiss/schneider

lenses and can't decipher any distortion through the loupe. At night, I prefer to go with

no filter provided the weather is benign (no wind, dust storms, rain, etc.). THe pro who

sits near me says he prefers a hood w/ no filter, but says to ALWAYS use a hood if there's

one made for that lens.

<p>

I do have a tiffen polarizer for another camera, and , boy, is it flare prone. I don't mean

a little reflection around the edges, I mean bright orange flare right across the center

of the image, making cropping impossible. IMHO, tiffen is really junk. I hear their colored

glass filters are really some colored liquid sandwiched in between two pieces of glass.

For my 6x6, I have a 40, 90 macro, and 180 tele and don't really feel that I'm missing any

shots. If I had a 300, I'd probably use it for long-distance scenes at the expense of the

180, so I figure a 1.4x teleconverter w/ the 180 (to become a 250/4) will probably be

sufficient, not to mention a LOT cheaper and lighter. If I had to take only one lens, I'd

go w/ my 90 macro. For two lenses, I'd go w/ the 40 (very compact) and the 90 (big because

it's a macro, but light because the glass is small).

This past weekend, the dial that controls the shutter speed on my 6008 integral

malfunctioned. When it is in "A" (aperature priority or full auto) or bulb mode,

everything's okay. But when one turns it to any shutter speed between 30 sec and

1/500 (1/1000 for the PQS lens), it reads '15" ' for the first one or two clicks

and "30" ' for all the remaining shutter speeds. Upon pressing the shutter release,

it is, indeed, either 15 seconds or 30 seconds. The lens aperature adjustments seem to

work correctly. I was using freshly charged batteries (tried two of them). Other than

this problem, all other body fuctions seem to work properly.

<p>

Another problem I discovered that appears to be unrelated but somewhat trivial is

that when the magazine drawslide is up (in the "change" position), the shutter will

fire if the shutter release is pressed instead of it being disabled and the word

"slide" appearing in the display. I recently bought a new magazine (the malfunctioning

one is 5 months old) last week and the word "slide" is displayed when the shutter

release is pressed with the drawslide in the change position, so I know that problem

is with the older magazine (the original one that came with the body...purchased new

5 months ago).

<p>

Now here's the catch. The shop I purchased it from in Tokyo does not belong

to the Japanese distributorship, so they would have to send it back to Germany for

repair, which takes up to 6 months from what I'm told. I also never bothered to send in the

warranty registration number, but still have the original warranty card with the

serial number on it (but no date of purchase since the store didn't fill it out) and

the accompanying sales receipt with the serial number and date of purchase. The store

I purchased it from says the warranty is for 6 months, of which there is one month

remaining. The Rollei distributorship in Japan has a repair facility, but I'm told that

they, in general, will only honor the warranty for cameras purchased through their dealer

network. Is there any way I can get it repaired without having to wait 6 months for it to be

fixed? That seems ridiculous. I'm told that if I had purchased the camera in the US, I'd

have to send it back to the US to get it repaired. You'd think that for something this

expensive, there would be some kind of worldwide product support...customers don't always

reside in the same country as the product is purchased in.

If you plan to use your camera overseas, you might have problems getting 220 film. In Japan

120 is very popular, but 220 is very difficult to find. Even the largest camera chain store

in the country doesn't carry much 220, and at one time, was out of Velvia 220 for over one

month! When I bought a second 6x6 film back, I opted for the 120 just for this reason.

I'm planning to buy a flash and have narrowed it down to either the Metz 60 CL (CT?) or

the Metz 45CL4. It's to be used for general use (portraits, fill-in) w/ a Rollei 6008

w/ 40mm (or longer) lens. Do I really need the extra power of the model 60? (Is the 45CL4

enough?). Is the NiCad battery pack recommended?

<p>

--Jim

Though the low price and built-in meter make this a virtual impossibility, you could look

at the Horseman SW612 (don't think it has a meter, though). It's about the size of a Mamiya 7, yet different formats (6x7,6x9,6x12) can be used with either 120 or 220 film, provided

you buy the converting back plate. It's "only" about $3K including the Rodenstock lens (see

the B&H webpage), which is less than the Mamiya w/ wide angle lens.