stephen_mcateer

@Niels - NHSN Thanks Niels — will go & take look. As for my own Rollei, I got it back from the repairers and they managed to clean the haze off. The taking lens looks pretty clean to me. I now have some film in it. Will post results here for comparison / before & after cleaning.

@robert_bowring Noted thanks Robert. I'm going to see if an UpStrap will fit. Cheers.

@Niels - NHSN Thanks Niels. Yes it is a clever design. The leather on my strap is reasonable but not great. As I said above, I'm not completely comfortable with trusting a camera that's worth this much to it. I think I might remove an UpStrap from one of my other film cameras and see if it'll fit through the gap in the lugs. (I'm thinking the main reason for removing the strap frequently would be to put the ever-ready case on the camera — maybe I can just live without the case…)

Thanks for that. I'll look for Tamrac straps and see what I can find. (I use UpStrap straps on my other cameras and they're great.) The leather on my original Rollei strap looks okay but I'm not completely sure about trusting a camera worth this much to it.

@John Seaman Yes — I found myself doing that too. I just never feel 100% sure that I've engaged the scissor locks correctly. (There's also the fact that the strap / locks are probably 50+ years old.)

The design of the strap connectors on my Rolleiflex 3.5F seems to me to be over-engineered. I'm not sure I trust them. Does anyone know of an alternative method of attaching a strap to these cameras, or am I worrying too much? Thanks.

Ah. Okay. I wondered about that. Hopefully it'll be the surfaces that are open to air. I'll update this thread once I have the camera back.

Interesting. I don't think I've owned a lens that had separation, so I'm not sure I would know what to look for. From what you say Niels, I suppose there will be glue holding the various elements of my own Rollei lens together, and if there is, how would someone go about cleaning haze from there? Does the glue have to be removed and re-applied? (I'm going to go & Google that.) Thanks.

@john_stockdale2 Interesting., thanks John. I've heard that elsewhere too, including on this thread. I'm just going to stick with this 3.5F — it does everything I need.

(Note: I did a quick review of this camera on my blog in case anyone is interested in seeing it. Link: https://stephenmcateer.com/2023/09/30/rolleiflex-3-5f-planar-quick-review/ )

@Niels - NHSN Niels — thanks for all of that information. Very useful. It's difficult for me to tell where in the lens assembly the haze is exactly. (I realise the photos of the haze I posted aren't that great.) I hadn't heard of that problem. The possibility that it might be separation hadn't occurred to me either. Yes — I think I'll send it away and see what the repairer says. It's otherwise in almost-new condition. Besides which, I like this camera a lot. Cheers.

@Niels - NHSN @orsetto Just to update this thread — I inspected the lens of this Rollei and it's not very clean after all. I see what looks like (Maybe) finger grease on the front element and perhaps some haze somewhere in the inner elements but its difficult to say if that's the case or not. (I also see some dust but that's normal I think.) I think my first step is to clean the front element of any grease that might be on there (Need to Google how to do that properly), then see if there is haze. Not sure what I do if there is haze — send it to get cleaned? Is it possible to remove haze? (Pics below.)

You're right Niels. I've bought quite a few duds on eBay over the years — haze (Difficult for sellers to spot this uness they know to look for it) ; sticky shutters; cleaning marks; paint wear — none of which were listed in the description.

Thanks Niels. It's an estate clearance, so history / seller rating is not available. (And I don't think there's a return option.) As I said to John, above, the upside is low pricing. I'm going to put in a low bid and see what happens I think. Cheers.

Thanks John. You're right — whatever it is, that mark won't affect performance, which is the main thing. As for the other functions — there's no detail in this listing and I can't get one. On the upside, price should be low on account of that. Cheers.

@John Seaman Thanks John. Having looked more closely at this pic of the lens, I notice a faint three-pronged shape at the top right, just to the right of the white mark — I'm wondering if that's some sort of fungus? (I'm also wondering what that white mark might be…) I don't know. This camera looks like it has seen lots of use, but if it's cheap enough I might take a punt on it.

I see a mamiya 6 for sale on an online auction site. There's only one detailed photo of the lens (See below) and I'm finding it difficult to judge whether or not it's worth bidding on. The rest of the camera is pretty rough but it might be available for a good price. (I'm not concerned about cosmetics, as long as it works.) What do you think? Thanks in advance.

Update: I decided to go anead and get an Oleson screen. It arrived today. Fitting was a simple two-minute job. I'm very happy with this new screen — where the original Rollei screen was pretty dark in the corners, this one is brighter all over, maybe by as much as a stop or even more than that. Illumination is even across the entire area of the screen. The variant I purchased has grid lines and a microprism centre-spot. There are many others. The microprism seems to be good for fine focus adjustments. Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this screen. It makes my camera much more pleasant to use. (I'm posting a photo of the view through my Rollei's finder with the Oleson screen fitted. It didn't occur to me until it was too late to make before and after photos.)

@Niels - NHSN Thanks Niels. I think I would agree with you that this lens isn't performing as well as it probably should. I'll look through it again, more closely this time, once I finish the roll of film I have in it. I'm not really too confident about disassembling it with my limmited DIY skills and tools — I think if it does need a clean, I'll probably send it to a repairer. Cost wouldn't be astronomical I hope and it's such a nice camera I don't mind spending a bit to improve it (Within reason). Anyway, I might just try and shoot this film over the weekend so I can take a look at the lens again. I'll update this thread if I find anything. Cheers. PS — The image of the clothes peg: I just remembered I had a Rolleinar close-up attachment on the camera for this one, so probably not a useful example.

@jc1305us Nice work there.

@orsetto @Niels - NHSN Another frame from this, the first roll of film I've put through this camera. That 'Smoke-ring'-like circle is maybe just characteristic of this lens. I don't know:

Thanks Niels. I shone the LED light on my phone through the lens a few weeks ago but couldn't see any obvious haze. I wasn't looking through it at a dark background though, and perhaps the phone light isn't really bright enough. I just put a roll of film in it yesterday so for now I can't re-check it with a brighter light and so forth. Once this roll is finished, I'll test it again and update this thread with my findings. Actually, I got a set of negatives from a roll of Portra 400 back from the lab today. One of those pictures — of clothes peg — is contre-jour and it's not completely terrible (There's some lens flare in the centre. At least, I think it's flare…) The second one, of a couple of Poplars: I think I see a patch of lower contrast in the middle of this image but I'm not certain and it's pretty subtle if it's there at all. (NOTE: This shot wasn't against the light.) Anyway, Thanks again for the advice.

@orsetto Thanks for that excellent overview of the FX / GX history. I had no idea. Very interesting. I had read elsewhere about the Shutter release 'Problems' with these cameras. It did put me off the idea of owning one I have to say. You also mention repairability, which is something to consider. As you say, there aren't many Rollei repairers to choose from (I'm in the UK). Hopefully this camera will last me a long time without needing more work though. It seems to work smoothly enough, and despite asking for opinion on the GX, I can't see me selling this Rollei. (Incidentally, I also have a Mamiya — a 330. I like this camera for the same reasons you like your 220 — simplicity, bulletproof build, and interchangeable lenses. It's also, of course a lot cheaper than a Rollei.) Cheers.

@orsetto Thanks for that detailed information. Very helpful. I like the 'Feel' of my current Rollei, the way it handles. I like the all-metal and glass construction too. The GX does look a bit more 'Plasticky', which is not a good thing. Looking on eBay, I think a decent GX would probably cost me upwards of £3000. I'm not certain what my Type IV is worth — maybe £1500-ish at a guess, so a huge chunk of cash to find as you say. It's probably not worth the outlay for me at this point, being realistic. (I suppose I could always try to 'Dehaze' the backlit images in Photoshop…) Cheers.

I have an older Rollei — it's a 3.5 F Planar Type IV. I like to shoot into the sun / against the light. In these conditions, I see quite a bit of haze in the resulting photographs with this lens. (The lens is clean / free of haze etc.) My old Hasselblad 501CM with the 80 CB Planar was miles better against the light. So I'm wondering: is the 2.8 Planar on the Rollei GX any better / is it comparable to the Hassleblad / Zeiss Planar? Thanks in advance.