richard_fateman

February 4, 2017

I just picked up at a charity "white elephant sale" some Epson paper size Super B (13x19 inch) to use with an Epson R2400 inkjet.

S041143 "photo paper" (glossy) 40 sheets

S041339 "archival matte paper" 12 sheets

In the past I have been happy with S041327 "premium semigloss photo paper", but I haven't really tried lots of alternatives.

Question: Is this 41143 paper going to be a problem in terms of stability/ (using ultrachrome inks)? I gather that it is lighter weight than premium, which I think I can live with...

(I paid $10 for all that paper; maybe it is time to get some cheaper ink...)

Thanks for any info

February 3, 2017

There are several issues here.

1. As Henry said, you shouldn't be taking portraits with a closeup lens because of distortion. Head-on you get big noses because the nose is closer. If you want to use more of the film then you could look for a telephoto attachment, not a closeup lens.

2. The rolleinar set (or equivalent) does not do a perfect job -- even if the framing is approximately right, the angle at which you are viewing is different. That is, if you were trying to hide a double-chin, and were looking through the top lens, it might be hidden. But the lower lens might see it. Using a tripod and cranking the lens position up and down will "fix" this, but at substantial inconvenience, even with the device that Chauncey mentions. It works for a totally stationary subject, not so much for a portrait.

3. It may be way more efficient to get a different camera, maybe with a zoom or mildly telephoto lens. A film 35mm SLR. A medium-format TLR with a telephoto lens is another possibility. I don't know if there are telephoto accessory lenses that you can use with your Ricoh; quality may suffer.

August 27, 2014

The Rolleigrid was not very effective, being a rather crude arrangement. And yes, the Fresnel lens makes it harder to focus, which is why the screens often have a focus aid e.g. microprism in the center.

An alternative is to use the "sports finder" in dim light, or the weird Rollei range-finder attachment in conjunction with the sports finder. Or the binocular attachment (can't be used with a fresnel ground glass).

April 29, 2014

If you want the LEAST expensive way, an auxiliary close-up lens screwed on to the front would probably be less than $200. I dont know if you can get one to go close enough, and this is not as high quality as extension tubes. Bellows for $300 sounds like a bargain, but maybe I'm out of touch with current prices for rollei 6008. You also get TTL metering with 6003 and 6006. Which would save much $$.

Richard Fateman

April 1, 2014

http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/collimator.html

or you may find other methods.

March 31, 2014

Checking the serial numbers will not assure you that a rollei TLR is aligned and adjusted.

There are instructions on how you can do this yourself, or you can pay someone who knows how to do it.

Good luck.

January 23, 2014

A proper charge would start by totally discharging the NiCad battery and then recharging.

The Rollei charger you have probably doesn't do this. I have used a MAHA brand charger that worked better in this respect.

If you had avoltmeter or a multi-meter, you could look to see if the charger was producing some voltage (maybe 12 volts?) across 2 of the pins.

OR If you see SOME change in the battery level indicator after charging, then the charger is presumably doing something.

OR It is also possible that the fuse in the battery was blown, which -- I think -- would prevent it from charging.

Good luck.

December 11, 2013

There are lots of ways of limiting or eliminating newton rings; a spray (from Tetenal), anti-newton-ring glass, no glass, spacing. Mostly this is a pain.

The idea is to keep the film and glass from having a smooth interface that allows for interference rings to form. Generally it is the non-emulsion side that causes problems since the emulsion side usually has enough texture.

I can't spot the newton rings in the original poster's image, even when told where they are. The claim that there are moire patterns is probably bogus unless there is a pattern in the image on the film that is very regular and has a frequency and orientation close to that of the scanning sampler (or a multiple of that frequency) and I don't see that.

You might ask the same shop to re-do the scans but with the film upside down. Or have them spray the flatbed glass with an A-N spray. unfortunately this might need to be done again after each scan.

August 11, 2013

Unless you enjoy collecting Rollei brand objects for the fun of owning them, Rolleikins are probably not of much interest. Think about the various restrictions -- 80mm or 75mm lens, vertical only, image reversed left to right, inconvenient loading... and of course the issues you raise about getting a complete kit and one that fits your camera.

Have fun, but there are great bargains to be had in 35mm film cameras too.

June 5, 2013

1. If you are using flash, the meter is probably irrelevant.

2. If you are using (on-camera) flash to take portraits, expect to be disappointed.

3. If you are using the (normal) 80mm lens, don't try to take "head" shots or you

will have generally unappealing perspective distortion (big noses, small ears).

4. If you know what you are doing (even from digital experience) you will know about items 1,2,3 and can (for example) use automatic flash exposure with compensation for white background, bounce flash, appropriate poses and distance for group portraits. You might also use a tripod and no flash so you can experiment with flattering light.

Good luck.

April 27, 2013

If your objective is to take portraits, using close-up lenses is not a great idea. The perspective view with a telephoto lens to get the same usage of the negative size is more pleasing; the closeup perspective tends to make the nose appear much larger by comparison with the rest of the face in a full-frontal portrait.

Some people have argued that putting UV filters on any lenses is simply buying into a scam to sell hugely profitable items while slightly degrading image quality. If you want to protect your lenses, get a lens cap, a camera case, or a sunshade [much recommended].

January 5, 2013

It seems to me there are three reasons to take photos in museums. Either art or natural history ..

1. To take pictures of the material on display

2. To take pictures of the people in the museum

3. To take pictures of the architecture (etc) of the museum.

Re 1: Realize that many museums have sufficient safeguards that taking high quality images of the displays will not be possible by a casual photographer; instead they typically have digital images available (maybe free)

see http://www.metmuseum.org/research/image-resources

Re 2: look for cameras appropriate for street photography.

Re 3: Not sure what you should use; handheld zoom in medium format?

If your intention is to casually collect images of paintings etc that you like, MF film may not be the right economic or technical best choice. Small digital cameras with zoom and way more sensitive sensors (try finding film at ISO 25,600!) may be better.

September 27, 2012

Rollei made an attachment for a TLR that made it into a slide projector:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rollei-TLR-Slide-Projector-Attachment-EXTREMELY-RARE-/150909328512

While this uses a camera lens, it uses the wrong one, namely the viewfinder lens, not the presumably much superior taking lens!

As is the case with some other rollei accessories, it looks more appealing to the collector of nicely engineered objects than to an actual photographer.

August 25, 2012

Before you spend 22Euros for the "right" stuff, consider that a TLR is not the best camera for taking closeups. If you have plenty of time to take a shot, you mount the camera on a tripod, look at / focus the image with the viewing lens, and then carefully shift the taking lens into place by cranking the tripod up a bit (with the auxiliary lens moved, too). There is a device sold by Mamiya called a paramender that does this partially automatically.

If you do get the full rolleinar set, beware that the prism correction helps, but the angle of view is not corrected. You will see, in the viewfinder, more of the "top" a nearby 3-D object.

It is tempting also to think that a moderate closeup lens on a TLR will allow you to take portraits more easily -- that is, you can get more of the film devoted to someone's head. This is true as far as it goes, but it makes for unflattering portraits. The perspective makes peoples noses look larger than normal in a head-on view.

A moderate telephoto lens is generally considered preferable.

Rolleinar sets are one of the many neat accessories made over the years for TLRs. Consistent with many of the other accessories, they pretty much work as they were designed to work, but tend to be more fun to collect, admire, and fiddle with for a while, and not something you are likely to use on a regular basis.

In my experience the most useful accessory is a tripod quick release, which allows you to change film faster with a tripod-mounted Rollei TLR camera. This is probably irrelevant for a Yashica.

Have fun.

November 13, 2011

If you want to compare weights, you would have to find a Hassy with instant return mirror, power winder, built-in ttl metering of flash... and see how much that weighs.

An electronically governed shutter is extremely accurate and stable, and the metering is extremely accurate, too, though for the 6006 it is stopped-down metering.

A 6006 body may be quite a bargain, but it is getting a bit old; 6008i might be available at good prices, and that has some additional features.

It is possible to repopulate the NiCad Rollei battery pack with NiMH cells, which makes it hold more of a charge, for longer.

July 18, 2011

You can precipitate out the silver from the fixer by tossing in some steel wool. I'm no expert on this though, but I think developer/stopbath (esp. if mixed together) won't do much. Other chemicals you might use for bleaching, toning (e.g. selenium) may not be great for septic systems.

There is a rec.photo.darkroom group with experts listening.

June 25, 2011

while it may be a neat piece of engineering, actually risking a rollei camera underwater may not be entirely sensible. Even if is is working perfectly, it would still only provide 12 (or 24) images on 120 (or 220) roll film, and then have to be taken out of water and disassembled. Getting good underwater shots is pretty hit-or-miss, and in my experience, this is an environment in which digital cameras have a huge advantage; underwater zoom lens, autofocus, hundreds of shots before changing battery or memory. No cost to throw away a shot. Other things you might wish for, like an off-camera flash, are probably harder to get with the rollei.

Lots of rollei attachments are more fun (in a collecting sense) than useful. Enjoy it..

December 8, 2010

For me, the metz cl-4 works well, and you can use it with TTL, but, as I said, fill-flash is computed

wrong, so I just use it in auto mode when I want to use fill.

In general this is a pretty good, powerful (2-flash head) flash. but not just on the Rollei.

December 8, 2010

It does not sound right. The adapter part that slides into the SCA356 is extremely snug. This has something like 6 spring-loaded contacts. The SCA356 itself (main housing) has a threaded ring that clamps down on the hot shoe. When it is tightened, it is extremely snug. The main housing jiggles a little -- maybe rotates 2 degrees.

You should read about the "fill flash" settings on the 6008I before using them. basically they do the opposite of what one wants. It is likely that for fill flash you would do better just using an "auto" flash setting -- bypassing the so very nice idea of through-the-lens flash measurement -- because Rollei blundered.

If you use an auto flash, you don't need the SCA356.

Rollei apparently fixed their blunder for 6008AF. The SCA356 can also be used on the 6006 with fill flash by simply lying on the flash about the film speed.

I am not sure about how your SCA 356 moves around, but maybe you should consider returning and getting an auto flash which does not require it at all.

June 8, 2010

As I recall, using an IR filter in daylight with an IR filter (on a TLR it is ok to have an opaque filter!)

I had to use rather long exposures (like 1/5 sec), with f/4 - 5.6 on Maco film, for scenery.

But modified digital cameras are quite different (so I hear), and as you say.

June 7, 2010

what color is the horse?

will the woman know you are taking her picture?

(more seriously) the amount of infrared light available in DAYLIGHT is such that you generally need very long exposures. At night you would have considerable problems exposing film.

Maybe you should rent night vision equipment?

Maybe you should consider taking the photos during the day, since they may very well look like you took them at night.

December 4, 2009

Maybe get a tripod and stop down from 2.8 to (say) 5.6 and perhaps your problem will go away.

October 5, 2009

You are probably loading the film wrong.

You are already doing some of it just fine, but let me review.

You take out the little plastic holder.

Then you put the new film on the little plastic holder in the empty spot, and roll the film by hand to where the line on the film backing matches the arrow.

Next you take the plastic holder and insert it in the back. But wait -- THERE ARE 2 WAYS IT FITS!

You should look at the little pictures on the magazine. One side has a picture of a fat roll of film. The other side has a picture of a skinny empty reel. When you put the plastic holder in, make sure the fat roll is where the fresh unexposed film is.

Close the magazine, move the darkslide to uncover the film, press the shutter once. It grinds for a while to get to exposure number one. Then for the next 11 shutter clicks it grinds to the next exposure. For the 12th, it grinds all the way to the end of the roll.

By putting the new roll on the wrong side, the first shutter click rolls the film backing off the take-up reel.

The second shutter click uh, probably realizes something is wrong and that you apparently have no film?

But the roll of film is just fine. Not reversed to the other reel or anything. You can reload it and put it in right.

Anyway, that's what I think happened.

Good luck with your new camera.

August 3, 2009

You probably would find the actual use of a Rolleikin to not be worth the effort and expense. This does not necessarily deter Rollei fans who collect the odd accessories that have been produced over the last 60 years or so.

Do you really want to run 35mm film through your Rollei? All your photos will be in "portrait" mode unless you have a prism. You will be using a "short telephoto" lens (80mm) for the 35mm format. Not particularly fast (f3.5) and not particularly close focusing. Exhibiting parallax.

For less than the cost of the rolleikin parts you can probably buy a very nice film camera, used.

I think the most useful accessory is the rolleifix tripod quick release, and then an L bracket with cable release.

Enjoy your new camera!

July 16, 2009

I have an old Metz CL-45, and the rechargeable Nicad battery pack went quite dead. I tried reloading it with new (AA) size Nicad cells, but the spot-welding that appears to be needed is too hard. Soldering doesn't do it, at least for me. (Instructions on disassembling linked to above)

Pertinent to this discussion Metz now (7/2009) sells a NiMH unit with a different charger. I don't know how long it lasts, but I'm going to try it out.

Also, maybe pertinent to the discussion -- of the 6 Nicad cells, 2 were totally dead, and leaking out one end. the other 4 are, I think, close to 100%, at least after putting through a (non-Metz) MAHA brand charging unit that fully discharged them first.

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Posts posted by richard_fateman