jeff_bennett1

Rick Oleson sells a series of bright screens that I have found to be excellent replacements. They are about 1/4 the price of a Maxwell and a huge improvement over most of the stock ROllei screens.

If you think you will make use of interchangeable lenses or macro capability, I would say get a Hasselblad. However, I

would suggest hanging on to your Rollei MX-EVS. I own both Rolleiflexes and a Hasselblad outfit, and for some types of

shooting, the Rollei is my preference. I would consider the Rollei to be an easier camera to travel with as well as a less

intimidating camera for street shooting. But the Hasselblad has tremendous versatility, and repair services and

accessories for it are readily available. You didn't say what type of photography you like to do, and that may well

influence your choice.

 

Some have suggested the Mamiya rangefinder system. By all accounts this is a superb system, but not everyone finds

rangefinders to their liking. If you like the reflex approach to viewing, I would suggest trying out any rangefinder system

before you commit to the change.

If the sticky shutter were the only issue, I would say you paid a price that definitely makes a CLA worthwhile. The

issue for me would be the fungus in the lens. How bad is it, and can it be cleaned out without damaging the lens

coatings. Some repair techs will deal with fungus, while others won't.

 

I think it makes sense to get a repair estimate only if you can do so within the return time window offered by the

seller.

Krikor Maralian at Krimar Photo has done several Rolleiflexes for me, and I have been very happy with the work and

the fast turnaround. He is not cheap, but he spent many years with Rollei and has a great reputation.

A Yashica 124G in good condition both cosmetically and functionally for $140-150 is a pretty good deal. I used one

for close to 20 years and got great results. The lens is very comparable to the Xenar on my current Rolleicord Vb, and

noticeably better than the triplet Yashikor, which I also used for a couple of years.

 

A Rolleicord V with significant pitting and corrosion for $180 strikes me as a bit high. You should be able to find one in

pretty nice condition for not much more than that. In general, the Rolleicord is a better made camera than the Yashica

mechanically, even though they are similar optically. But any Rolleicord V is well over 50 years old, so it pays to check

out it's condition carefully.

<p>I owned a Yashica 124G for 20 years and got some great use out of it. The 4-element Yashinon is quite good and very much comparable to the F3.5 Xenars that I have used on my Rolleicords. The Yashica is definitely less robustly built than the Rolleis, but as someone else noted, the ergonomics of the Yashica are better than those of the Rolleicord with its separate film wind and shutter cocking operations. $200 for a 124G in top working condition would be a decent deal in my view.<br>

Realistically, for $300 you can get a Rolleicord Vb (the last version made) if you are patient or one of the Rolleiflex Automats from the 1950s that used the Xenar or Tessar lenses. I currently have a Rolleicord Vb and have come to appreciate its very nice build quality and its simplicity. There is very little to go wrong with them.<br>

In short, I think you can get comparable image quality with either a Yashica or a Xenar/Tessar Rollei. The choice may come down to how you weigh ergonomics versus reliability and build quality.</p>

<p>I have owned both Va and Vb Rolleicords, and there was a significant difference in brightness and contrast favoring the Vb. As I recall, the Vb screen had a split image rangefinder spot in the center as well.</p>