Excellent video. I never managed to get hold of a Rolleiflex but back in 1968 I was posted to Germany when I was in the army, and bought a new Yashicamat M TLR. I shared a room with two other guys and we were all photography enthusiasts. When we were not on duty we used to do quite a bit of sight-seeing and took a lot of Black & White pictures which we developed and printed in our room. I remember we even bought a Durst enlarger and a 'glazer' so we could get glossy prints. The Yashicamat is not as prestigious as a Rolleiflex but it is a pretty solidly built camera and still works well. It was good enough for us poor 'squaddies' back in the day. I still have that camera and it is loaded with film right now and gets used occasionally.

@teamhandsome1974

4 ай бұрын

I’d be happy with a Yashica until I looked at the Rolleiflex. Mind you I prefer my Bronnie S2a over my Hassel 500C/M, so who knows….

@theothertonydutch

4 ай бұрын

I prefer the 124G over the rolleiflex. Also used a Hassie 500 c/m at some point and traded that for a Fujica 645. That's since gone and now I got a Fujica 690 for 6x9, but that thing is bulky as hell and doesn't get as much use as my other 6x9. Which brings me to the Voigtländer Bessa (likely pre-war) that sees a lot of use, though that's mostly used for landscapes and sort of wide-ish street photography because focusing is a bitch on that thing.

@c.augustin

4 ай бұрын

The later Yashica Mat-124 G with its rather modern Yashinon 3.5/80 is quite good, even at open aperture! Compared to older Rolleiflex and Rolleicord models with the Xenar 3.5/75, it gives much more even sharpness over the whole image, but also looks a bit less contrasty (detail contrast) stopped down. I pondered to buy a Rolleiflex with 3.5/75 Xenon or Planar, but the Yashica is actually all I really need for 6x6, and much less of a hassle (and financially more viable ;-)).

I am a proud owner of a Rolleiflex T. BTW, that Kodak Bullseye 620 was made around 1938 to 1941, not in the '50s and the Eumig S3 Zoom is a regular 8mm camera, not Super 8.

I have my late father-in-law's Rollei 3.5T. It is a wonderful camera! When my wife and I were dating, he let me try it, and I was hooked. The lens is magic!

ah ! nice one :) I love the TLR experience I use a Mamiya C330, a bit of a beast :)

Fantastic camera and well done, Nigel. I expect you must be on cloud 9. About 10 months ago I saw in the town market a camera case wedged amongst bric a brac. Bought it for £10 and inside it was an immaculate Leica M2 with button rewind and collapsible lens. Even had a film from 1980s in it. I skipped home 😂😂

Nigel…your enthusiasm, as ever, is infectious. I bet Bailey still has his. Hope next weeks video with have examples of your creativity with this historic and impressive piece of kit. I will give you a fiver for it. Thanks for another amazingly inspiring video 📸👍🏻🇬🇧

That Rolleiflex is beautiful. What a treasure.

Your very lucky. The camera seems to be in excellent condition. Ive been servicing and repairing Rolleiflex for a long time. Ive noticed over the last 10 years a steady deterioration in the condition of the cameras Im asked to service. Its rare to get a mint one through the door. I blame ebay. Too many people now buy Rolleiflex on ebay then do the most awful bodge service and repair and then sell them at silly money back on ebay. As new parts are getting harder to source its becoming increasingly difficult to maintain them. Another issue is the popular 3.5f and 2.8f work work horses for professionals. So they are worn out, exacerbated by lack of servicing or amateurs attempting to service them and destroying the screw and leaving scratch marks etc internally. Its good to see a camera like that end up in the hands of someone who really appreciates it. To many of the great cameras have been taken out of circulation by collectors who own far too many which are kept in glass cabinets and never see light of day. Despite servicing Rolleiflex daily I dont own one. I cant afford one they fetch silly money now.

What a great find! I hope you really enjoy using it for many years to come.

Incredible gift. I have that Rolleiflex, yours is 1 or 2 years younger. I had it CLA'd but the original groundglass is a bit dim. You're very lucky to be able to use it as it is.

@codyallen3729

4 ай бұрын

Buy a screen from rick oleson for about $100...makes a world of difference

Ooh that’s a beauty! Looking forward to seeing how it performs.

Great video

That Rolleiflex is truly stunning. Another one to add to my endless camera bucket list. I am excited for the full review.

Smashing great video! Love your enthusiasm.

@zenography7923

4 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks!

What a dream find (gift). It's gorgeous looking, I love the way you handle it, treating it with respect it absolutely deserves. Am I envious, too flippin right I am. The film counter problem can be fixed. Thanks Nigel. Regards Rob.

The Bullseye has a common mod to reverse the lens for interesting macro effects. Might be worth a try

Beautiful camera, and in great condition. Ive seen many that have had a hard life in press photography and their condition reflected that.

Nice one Nigel.

Beautiful camera!

They are such elegant pieces of work. I've got a 3.5 E. Beautiful.

Nice camera! I once found, in the mud outside a building site in Woolwich, the remains of a Rolleiflex 2.8 f with planar lens. The body had been run over, and was distorted, it had lost the viewing hood there wasn't much left of it, although the lens was still ok! heaven knows how it had got there!

I have a mx-evs which is identical to yours and I have film counter reset issues . normally I open and close the back to get it to reset and if that doesn't work there is a tiny lever inside on the bottom of the camera with the back open sometimes pressing that resets it and if all else fails a wooden toothpick and gently help the counter in the window back to zero ... Great video look forward to seeing more on this camera 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

Used both, but ultimately I prefer the Yashica 124G. Of course there's a pretty big time and development difference between the cameras, and one is Japanese copy of the Rollei, but from my experience with both of them I never think back to the 'flex.

A few years back my wife bought me a surprise present in the shape of a Mamiya 645 1000s medium format SLR camera, from the seventies or maybe eighties, with additional lenses and other bits and bobs in a large camera case. The format is different to 35mm and in many mays a totally different experience. Your Rollie is lovely.

You can still pick up a Rollieflex for about £40 if you know where to look. They make a nice door stop or mantle piece display for hoarders.

You can make a 120 film fit in 620 camera body one way is to trim the top/bottom of the spool with a pair of nail trimmers to make spool ends smaller I believe.......nice video Nigel once again.....

Sir: The MX-EVS has a 10 blade aperture , a very very nice trait , also the camera is very solid and indeed well designed. My TESSAR 75mm 3.5 is superb , I changed the strap hangers to accommodate the F type case and straps , a great improvement. You will be truly amazed at the effect of the 10 blade aperture on the Bokeh in the image. I took my ROLLEI to Vietnam and had wonderful time. Cheers Sir.

Yes camera No.:1 is cute enough, I wonder whether it’d tolerate 120 film through it, camera No.:2 is a cinecamera no less, I’ve got a similar model up on the shelf beside me, acquired by my Father from a lady at church way back when, similar to your aquirance (shame it won’t work again, but that handle might be nice for someones collection or use)…… But oooh camera No.: 3 is special indeed. I’d love that. I’ve heard they are the peak of TLR which I haven’t had much experience of yet! Yet! I assume you are gonna keep it otherwise I’d ask to buy it! Glad I spotted your update now as I haven’t been watching regularly for a while. Who knows why I stopped! Glad to be back though.

Rolleis are my favourite cameras, I have three of them and use them all the time. It's a good idea to have the switch on the front set to X (for electronic flash) rather than M, which syncs for the old flash bulbs and gives a slight delay to the shutter fire to compensate for the extra brightness of those older flash bulbs. The frame counter not resetting is a bit of a worry, hope you are able to get the full 12 shots evenly spaced.

Those Rolleiflex cameras are beautiful I know I got one. One advance is that people are drawn to the camera and that makes it easier to take portraits of them when you walk the streets. But just be prepared to tell them that it’s not a Hasselblad but a Rolleiflex, I get that all the time 😂

One of the family cameras was a Rolleicord V of the 1950's. Like the other TLR family camera, the Yashica 44, this was a "full control/no light meter" camera on which to learn about focusing, aperture, and shutter speeds. I still have the Rolleicord, since it was "just enough" for general photography. I did have a Rolleiflex for a bit, but even with the Rolleikin adapter, didn't seem to be that much of an upgrade from Ye Olde Rolleicord V.

I'm jealous, all my relatives give me is a hard time! Seriously though, that is a great camera and I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the shoot. And I'm hoping that you'll run some 35mm through it as well. Oh, the Bullseye was in nice shape, too.

Thank you

Wow!

Congratulations on the Rolleiflex. This is a great camera. I use a Yashicamat 124 G. Greetings from Heidelberg, Germany.

What a find! The poor man's Hasselblad. Though I haven't used it in a few years (shame on me), I still treasure my E2 Rolleiflex with a Schneider Xenotar 3.5. If you can get your hands on one, don't hesitate. One of the 4 or 5 most classic cameras ever made. The Tessar is a bit downmarket from the Zeiss Planar, but still a helluva good lens. Zeiss may be sexier than Schneider, but I promise you your shots will be just a good with a Schneider. Hope we see some shots out of this TLR.

congrats. that is a very sweet tlr.

Great video. It's very similar to the yashica tlrs

I love the TLR experience got a Mamiya with bellows will focus to 7 inches Hefty at around 5lb in weight....you can also take it apart to clean can make some beautiful images.... Yeh have used ood colour film and you are right never ood mono though v good info thanks.... Yeh beautiful Rollie.... Like the Kodak bullseye might get one of those.......ta mate.... I have not been too well hope to be better soon.....

Yes I would like to see some photos taken with it, also the other cameras.

That Bullseye is by no means a camera from the '50s! -- :) -- It was manufactured in the late '30s, just before WWII.

My heavily used ex wedding photographer 3.5F has a sticky counter like yours. If you open and close the back a few times it should ease up the mechanism and reset the frame counter to zero. If you don't get it back to zero the camera will stop taking photos at twelve and assume the film is finished. At 13.40 I can see your back is not totally shut - make sure the rotating catch is facing the front of the camera.

A Rolleiflex with a 3.5/75 mm Tessar - that's one of the better models! And in very good condition, as fas as I can see in the video. Would be interesting to see images, especially at f4 and f5.6. Edit: The frame counter might be a problem, the whole mechanic is a bit tricky (you might encounter uneven transport, including overlapping frames).

So pleased you have a different format camera to enthuse about Nigel. These are so versatile , I remember our school photographer explaining about his. He had various attachments including a removable prism if I remember ; also lens hoods , filters etc. I hope you have a great deal of enjoyment out of it. Happy snapping.

There's something unquantifiable about shooting a TLR. I have a considerably more humble MPP Microcord (a rolleicord knock off made in Richmond, west London). The only word that seems to fit for me is *romance", they just spark a lot of joy.

Rollieflex + Bailey snapped many iconic images. I prefer the Hasselblad 503CX with Carl Zeiss 50mm, 80mm & 150mm.

start watching at 8:20

Would really like for you to have a dabble with medium format photography, and now you have no excuse 😀👍

It is a beautiful camera. But my photography 'journey' was so damaged because my father owned one. When (in early 1970s) I wanted a camera, he insisted on a russian TLR, none of that "japanese rubbish". Oh the frustration, the anger, the despair, the mockery of my school friends. Parallax error ruined so many of my pictures, the waste of film because I shot with a mask so I could have 35mm slides, the exposures worked out according to his formula which was good for B&W but not for colour. I talked about in-camera exposure metering and auto exposure, he laughed dismissively. I talked about wanting to shoot telephoto or close-up images, he laughed dismissively. I bought a Zenit B camera but hid it from my parents. In 1976 with weekend and summer holiday jobs I saved enough to buy an Olympus OM1. Best £180 I have ever spent. So yes the Rollei is a beautiful camera but for a certain limited type of photography only.

Never understood why there was a B setting on a box camera with no tripod mount or cable release. I doubt the general public this type of camera was aimed at would have any idea what to do with it.

no stereo cameras in that bag?

😊

Just to remember for your next video: Rollei = "rolleye", not "rolly".

$1,000 camera from quick research.

Eumig is pronounced Oymig. Surprised you didn't know that.

@michaelmiller641

4 ай бұрын

Yes, but unless you are German

@hypnotised-clover

4 ай бұрын

@@michaelmiller641 Eu sounds like oy in german (not exactly, I don't know how to mimic the sound in text) and Eumig is Austrian, German speaking. I personally don't like mispronouncing foreign company names, especially when there is google to tell you exactly how it's pronounced.

@michaelmiller641

4 ай бұрын

Yes, but we all pronounce it that way, we don't say mairklin, instead of marklin, or carescher instead of karcher, although I do pronounce marklin with the umlaut a, in the same way i pronounce citrowen as in Citroen ( it wont allow me to do a trema!

@hypnotised-clover

4 ай бұрын

@@michaelmiller641 What are you even saying about Citroen? That's french. You're not making sense.

I think you should really abandon this kind of titles for your videos Nigel. I really miss those times when you didn't go for those typical KZread clickbaits, now every video is like that for a couple of years. Maybe it's worth it, I don't know...

You're creepy.

Sorry buddy to let you know that your audio is overmodulated!