william_carter1

One more link on the Rollei 6008 AF: http://www.pdnonline.com/newprod/articles/article1435.html. Only info in addition to that already presented here is that the camera will apprently sold as two "kits" -- one with the standard 6x6 back and another "RB" kit that comes with the 6x4.5 rotating back. Also states (as above) that "summer 2002" is the expected release date.

See this link for more info on the Rollei 6008 AF (and other Rollei news) from PMA: http://www.beststuff.com/article.php3?story_id=2998

 

(scroll about halfway down the page)

I'm just curious -- has anyone heard confirmation that the Rollei AF will be introduced at PMA? The Leica boars have been burning up with rumours (and now actual facts) about the upcoming Leica M7 (to be introduced at PMA this weekend), but I haven't heard much lately about the Rollei 6008 AF. Is Rollei just more tight-lipped? Are Rollei users less excited? Or has Rollei delayed the introduction and will not be showing it at PMA?

Does anyone happen to know (e.g., if you read Japanese) whether the

Bessa R-2 is aperture priority (the Bessa-R isn't, right?)? That

would make things really interesting vis-a-vis the M7...

FWIW, I just got back from New Orleans a couple of weeks ago, and had no trouble getting a hand inspection (coming and going) of about 30 rolls of 120 film. The screener tried to give me the argument about "it will only harm high speed film," but I happened to have a couple of rolls of 3200 in the (clear plastic) bag, and I said (truthfully) that I didn't know where exactly in the bag they were.

 

Also, while in New Orleans, if you find the time, stop in at this gallery: http://www.agallery.com/index.htm. Almost all black and white -- really impressive collection -- there was an Elliot Erwitt exhibit while I was there.

 

I also had no trouble getting a hand inspection at O'Hare on my way to New Orleans. But it's still pretty luck of the draw, I guess...

Good point -- I'm in the U.S. (Cleveland, Ohio). But I'm happy to

order form the UK if necessary.

Please ignore this post -- just saw a old thread suggesting a couple

of places I haven't tried yet, so I'll investigate further then re-

post if necessary (however, if anyone has actually purchased on from

somewhere recently (within the last 10 days or so), I'd really

appreciate such information, as it'll save me more fruitless phone

calls).

Just curious -- I've done some searching around (Tamarkin, B$H, Robert White, Adorama), but no one seems to have any in stock. Thanks!

Stupid question for Ralph: what's the grip on the right side of your

M6? Is that a Leica grip, the handle of a motor winder or an

aftermarket product? Thanks, and sorry for the (very) newbie question.

I'd suggest you wait and take a look at the upcoming Rollei 6008 autofocus (probably April). Not that you necessarily need autofocus, but there may be other differences (e.g., a sensible system for TTL flash on the new model) that may justify the extra cost over the 6008 Integral (if you're considering that model). Reportedly, the new model will allow focus confirmation with previous manual focus lenses. Also, one of the first AF lenses with be an AF Schneider 180mm f2.8 -- in theory, at least, the new 180 2.8 could be smaller and lighter than the current one.

I'm not (yet) a Leica user, but am looking. Um, I'm sure this is

Leica-heresy, but has anyone heard whether the film loading system

(remove the bottom) is the same? So far, the only thing I've read

(here and elsewhere) that might entice me to buy an M7 instead of an

M6 TTL is the aperature priority operation. And that's probably not

enough (for me) for the $1000 price difference (particularly if, as

reported above, the highest shutter speed is still 1/1000th). But

changing the film loading design might push me over the edge to the

M7.

 

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Just a question. I know there are some valid reasons for the current

design (rigidity).

(1) I always found the regular hoods to be adequate -- no need for a bellows hood.

 

(2) I never noticed any vignetting w. the 45mm+polarizer+hood, either thru the viewfinder or on the negs. I used hoya then B+W regular (non-slim, non-wide) polarizers w. no problems.

 

(3) Get the 120mm instead of the 140mm. Trust me. I had the 140mm then sold it to get the 120mm later. If I needed a longer AF lens for portraits, I would have gotten the 210mm. (moot now, since I sold the system a couple of months ago). There are several threads on photo.net re: 120mm v. 140mm -- run a search to see the almost universal view to get the 120mm instead of the 140mm.

See the following threads for answers to your question:

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=001Ban

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0012qZ

I'm not a pro, but have owned both the Mamiya 645 Pro and the Contax 645 AF and used them extensively. Just a couple of comments. I took the Contax on a recent trip to Ghana under some fairly rough conditions, and it performed fine. Not in sandstorms, etc., but pretty hot, dirty, rough conditions nonetheless -- no problems at all. Regarding the Mamiya 645 Pro: (1) back to body integrity -- I didn't notice any problems. (2) mirrow slap: it at least feels much more significant than the Contax 645, which has a fairly gentle mirror slap; on the other hand, I mostly handheld the Mamiya when I used it and got very sharp results. I have a photo that I took at the FDR memorial in DC that was shot at 1/60th w. the 80mm lens, and it's one of my sharpest pics (I don't have a scanner, so I can't post it -- sorry). (3) 645 Pro lenses wide-open -- I can't recall a specific photo that I took wide open with a 645 Pro lens, but I'm sure I must have at some point, and don't recall any sharpness problems (I will say that I have taken many photos with the Contax lenses wide open, particularly with the 120mm Makro, 140mm f2.8 and the 80mm f2, and they all performed very well (although I found the 80 did not perform as well wide open as the other two)). If you don't need the AF, TTL flash, flash metering, spot metering in the body, higher shutter speed, etc. of the Contax, I'd go with the Mamiya.

 

One final comment: I did notice some subtle differences between the "look" of the Mamiya and Zeiss lenses, but not as much as some people report, at least for black and white existing light photography, which is what I primarily shoot. If I studied 2 of my photos side by side, one from the mamiya and one from the contax, I could see the difference, but it didn't jump off the page -- mainly an advantage in smoothness of tonal gradation from the Zeiss lenses. (yes, I was using the same film -- Delta 100) In color, however, the Zeiss lenses rendered colors in a way that was more pleasing to me. (This isn't to say that the Zeiss lenses are "better" -- just that I preferred their look, especially with subjects with a long tonal range). The differences between the Zeiss and Mamiya for B&W aren't nearly as great as the differences between Zeiss and Schneider lenses for the Rollei 6008i -- I can see the difference between my prints from photos taken with those lenses immediately. (Not that the Schneiders are better, but they definitely look different, at least in B&W).

Yeah, I saw this in Shuuterbug as well. Good to know what the first few lenses will be and the "Trap" function was also interesting. Perhaps next month, Rollei will provide a working model for testing by one of the photo mags? (the press release for it is supposed to happen in Feb.). I'm interested to see is how much more expensive the camera/lenses are than the existing ones. (There's a short blurb by Bob Shell on BestStuff.com that the word is that the body will be about $1000 more and the lenses will be a bit more than existing lenses). We'll see... I'm also interested to know if Rollei really fixed the flash system and the size/weight/performance of the zoom.

 

I'm kind of surprised by the relative silence on various boards regarding this upcoming camera...

Thanks for your response, but I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying that even using the Slim Heliopan filters, I would still get vignetting with this lens and I should therefore get the "extra-wide" filters? Thanks.

I know there are other thread on this issue, but I haven't seen an

answer to this particular question. Several users have said that a

standard thickness polarizer will cause some vignetting on this

lens. But what about filters other than polarizers (Red, Yellow,

etc)? Polarizers are generally thicker than other filters. Has

anyone experienced vignetting using other, non-polarizer standard

thickness filters? I'm planning on getting 77mm screw-in B+W filters

(having read another thread saying they're slightly thinner than

Heliopan). I'm willing to get a Slim polarizer, but would rather get

standard thickness for the others, because it's much cheaper. Any

thoughts? Thanks.

 

BTW, I'm not interested in a filter holder system such as Lee, etc.,

primarily because I want to be able to use the standard lens hood for

this lens.

Thanks for all your responses. I have the 6008i and am looking at a couple of prisms for it. Now someone stop me and tell me that Rollei's going to make an "improved" prism when they release the new 6008. :-)

From the other side of the answer above, I don't have the M6TTL, but

I have the 54MZ-3 w. the R8. It's a great flash. TTL is spot on

(again, with the R8 -- no experience w. M6) and the flash has lots of

useful features.

Are there multiple versions of the 45 degree finder for the Rollei

6000 series? I'm almost positive that I've seen pictures that are

different -- one that says "Rolleiflex 6006 (or maybe "SLX")" and

another that says "Rolleiflex." IS this correct? And if so, is

there any appreciable difference between them?

I have the 54 MZ-3, and got it rather than a TLA for the same reasons (slightly cheaper and can use it on different cameras just by buying a different module). The proper adapter is indeed the SCA 3802. I happen to have one to sell on a popular auction site (*Bay) if you're interested. My username on that site is chipcarterdc. (I'm selling it because I'm selling my Contax 645 system, not because there's anything wrong with the adapter. But, because I went with the SCA system, I'm keeping the 54 MZ-3 because I got a different module to use it on my 35mm camera as well).

I too have noticed the overexposure in bright light situations. And I'm really looking forward to TTL fill flash that actually works on the new 6008.

 

Here are two questions for pure speculation: (1) where the heck is the AF button going to be on the new body? Presumably, they'll integrate it into the shutter release, so it autofocuses when you push the button halfway (if they take this route, they'd also better take the Contax 645 approach and allow switch-over to manual focus simply by manually turning the focusing ring). But which shutter release button? One option would be one of the shutter release buttons that falls under your right index finger when holding the camera with the grip (if the upper one if for AF, then the lower one can be a "normal" shutter release not involving AF, thus allowing you to activate AF with one button and release the shutter with a different one, a la the Contax 645). Another option is to co-opt one of the exposure lock buttons that you activate with your right thumb. I think using the "up" position (the one that only lock in the reading as long as you hold it) works better here and I think it's more ergonomic. (2) Are the new AF lenses going to be Zeiss, Schneider, or both (presumably, whichever brand they are, there'll be a 50mm, 80mm and 150mm to start)? If they're based on the Zeiss lenses for the Contax 645, presumably they'll also carry over the faster maximum aperature of those lenses as well (e.g., the standard 80mm Contax 645 lens is f2.0 instead of f2.8). Or are the differences in leaf-shutter lenses such that Zeiss (assuming the first AF lenses are Zeiss) will be building the new AF lenses from the ground up? And, finally, will the AF lenses be of reduced weight and have a screw-in filter mount rather than bayonet, but be of arguably lesser durability, along the lines of the EL lenses?

I can't comment on the price (seems fair enough), but I can say that

you need to read this article "Buying a Used R4":

http://www.angelfire.com/biz/Leica/page6.html. I also purchased a

used R4 from ebay (from a private seller, not a dealer like Samy's),

and it had 2 or the 3 problems described in this article (1) crack in

depth-of-field preview lever which caused the lever to crumble when

pushed slightly sideways (DON'T use massive amounts of froce to find

out -- a gentle push (and close inspection) as described in the

article should be sufficient; and (2) the green film seal was sticky

and not springy. I must say, upon my discovery of these defects, the

seller was quite cooperative and happy to return my payment. In any

event, if it has these defects, presumably Samy's will let you return

it.

For anyone else who makes this mistake, I got the following response

from Ilford:

 

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To: US-techsupport/US/ILFORD@ILFORD

cc:

Subject: New v. Old Delta 400 (120 size) developing problem

 

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"The old version of the film was labeled as "ILFORD 400 DELTA

PROFESSIONAL",

The new version is "ILFORD DELTA 400 PROFESSIONAL", with the 'Delta'

and

'400' reversed. This is the only way to tell them apart.

 

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Regards,

David Carper

ILFORD Technical Service"

I mixed up a few rolls of exposed "old" Delta 400 with some "new" Delta 400. They have different developing times (using X-tol) and I can't figure out which are new and which are old. Is there anyway to tell the difference between the two in 120 size? (I know in 35mm, the canisters are different colors, but I didn't see any differences apparent in the 120 rolls). Do you have any other suggestions? Would it make sense to use a different developer where the development times are reasonably close? Or is the only way to really be sure (if no one knows how to tell the old from the new) to develop a clip from each roll (thereby probably ruining at least one shot, but hopefully getting it right for the rest of the roll)? Thanks!