Rolleicord / Rolleikin (35mm in a Medium Format TLR) at the Farmer's Market in DC

I've been shooting twin lens reflex (TLR) cameras more and more lately. I've always loved TLRs, especially Rolleis. One of the things I love is the square (6x6) format that most of them are set up to use, on medium format 120 film. Today, I'll share something different - an older (1954-1957) Rolleicord V (cheaper version of the Rolleiflex), fitted with a Rolleikin attachment.

 

The Rolleikin, produced by Rollei as an add-on option, allows you to use 35mm film in a TLR. It shoots full-frame on the 35mm format, in portrait orientation. Since the Rolleicord has a 75mm lens (a Schneider Xenar in my case), shooting on 35mm film yields a medium telephoto result. The telephoto lens and portrait orientation make the Rolleicord/Rolleikin a lovely portrait camera.

 

(Click Here) to read more about my Rolleicord/Rolleikin.

 

(Click Here) to see some earlier shots I made with this camera.

 

Here are some shots I made at the farmer's market in DC with my Rolleicord/Rolleikin. All are shot on Ilford HP5+.

Farmer's Market, DC, by Reed A. George

Rolleicord V with Rolleikin Attachment

 

The Rolleikin is quite easy to use. The viewing lens on the Rolleicord, which is used for focusing, is not as bright as my Rolleiflexes, being f3.2 versus f2.8 on the 'flexes. In the bright sunlight of the market, that was not a problem at all.

 

I've also come to realize that I need to wear my reading glasses when focusing a TLR. That's kind of a pain. I understand that there are diopters that can be fitted to the Rollei finder, but have not located one for my camera yet.

 

It's fun to experiment with these lovely old cameras, and the Rolleikin is an interesting attachment that changes the character of the camera.

 

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Not All TLRs Are Rolleiflexes

 

Seafood Market, Super Ricohflex TLR

 

Well, of course not all twin lens reflex (TLR) cameras are Rolleiflexes. There are also Rolleicords! But, all jokes aside, there were many, many respectable TLR cameras by makers other than Rollei. I've owned a Yashica TLR that was quite capable. I still have a Minolta Autocord, which rivals any of my f3.5 Rolleis. I also have a couple of Ricoh TLRs, including the Super Ricohflex that I used to make the picture above.

 

Most of the other brands are less expensive than Rolleis, as well. My first TLR was a Chinese camera, made by Seagull. Not as robust as the Japanese or German makes, but it worked quite well.

 

(Click Here) to check out a post by Rick Schuster on the blog "shot on film." Rick uses a Super Ricohflex himself, and shares some nice color shots. However, Rick also mentions a strange phenomenon of the area of focus being somewhat unpredictable on his camera, toward the edges of the frame. I've never experienced anything like this with my Super Ricohflex. If forced to speculate, I'd say that Rick's camera has suffered an impact that misaligned the lens axis with the film plane. That said, Rick's still making great pictures with his camera, and by all appearances enjoying the process.

 

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You Know How They Say The Camera Doesn't Matter?

Well, based on this morning's browsing of the Rolleiflex and Rolleicord group on flickr, I don't buy it.

Ada, by flickr user Traveling Darkroom

http://www.metaroundthecorner.wordpress.com/

 

Okay, I know, the photographer matters more than the camera. That is true. But there's an abnormally high frequency of great images in this particular group, if you ask me.

 

(Click Here) to judge for yourself.

 

Now, it could be the square image format that I happen to like. Or, it could be the different perspective that you can get with any twin lens reflex (TLR) or other camera that has a waist level finder. But, I think there may be more to it than that.

 

I went out with my Rolleiflex yesterday, and without seeing any results yet, feel more confident than usual that I got at least one or two great images. The film ships out to The Darkroom today, so we'll know in a couple of days.

 

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Rolleicord / Rolleikin Portraits - Buddhist Monk

I've written about the Rolleikin attachment for my Rolleicord TLR, which allows me to shoot 35mm film in it. With the 75mm f3.5 Tessar and 35mm film in portrait orientation, the camera is quite useful for shooting portraits.

 

(Click Here) to read a little about the Rolleicord and Rolleikin.

 

I've started a new project, with a focus on contemplation and meditation. For some time now, I've been attending meditation class at our local Buddhist temple, led by Achaan Edward. He has just moved to a new temple, and I'm exploring both the inward concepts of meditation and the external setting of his new location, in the beautiful Virginia hills.

 

For one session, I decided to photograph Achaan Edward meditating, with the Rolleicord. Here are my favorite results, all shot on Kodak TMax 400 film:

 

For the shot above, I used a reflector on the floor to help even out the glow from sunlight coming in the side window.

Achaan Edward, by Reed A. George

 

As far as using the Rolleicord goes, I have some things to improve. Many of my images from this roll were not so sharp. Based on the fact that nothing in the affected images was sharp, I'm tending to think it was motion blur. I was shooting at ~1/50 of a second, handheld. A tripod was in order. Also, the shutter release mechanism on the Rolleicord is different from my Rolleiflexes. Instead of a simple button, the Rolleicord uses a lever to both load and release the shutter. I think I probably tend to move the camera when using this unfamiliar mechanism. So, a remote release may be useful, even when I'm shooting handheld.

 

The ground glass on the Rolleicord is a little dim. With my aging eyes, it's also a little hard to find the right focus point. But, I think most of my problems were associated with camera motion.

 

All that said, I'm quite pleased with these particular images. I believe they'll be up on the temple's new webpage quite soon.

 

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First Few Shots From the Rolleicord/Rolleikin Portrait Machine

About a week ago, I posted about how I installed a Rolleikin kit (converting it from 2 1/4 X 2 1/4 square medium format images to 35mm portrait orientation) in my Rolleicord TLR camera.

 

(Click Here) to read about my Rolleicord and Rolleikin.

 

Dying to test it out, I loaded up a roll of drugstore 200 speed color print film and made my daughter sit through a few portraits by our kitchen window. It turns out that I should have shot 400, as the light was rather low that day, and so every image was taken at the same exposure settings - f4 and 1/30 second. That's a pretty low shutter speed for handheld images, and several of my shots showed motion blur. However, I think you'll see that this is a promising start for the newly-converted camera.

 

 

It is also pretty challenging to focus in low light, looking down into the Rolleicord hood. But, I think most of my focus problems were related to motion, not simply missing the focus point.

 

As I mentioned in my previous post, one of the really fun things about the Rollei (and other) TLRs is adding a closeup lens (filter-style, to the front of the fixed taking lens) for closer portraits. Here are a few I got after adding the Rolleinar 1 (closeup lens) to my Rolleicord/Rolleikin.

Portraits - Rolleicord/Rolleikin/Rolleinar, by Reed A. George

 

So, clearly I have more work to do to perfect my own shooting with this camera. But, I'm pretty pleased with the results from ten minutes shooting at marginal exposure settings. I am convinced the camera's up to the challenge.

 

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Rolleikin Installed - My Rolleicord is Now The Portrait Making Machine!

My Rolleicord

 

I recently picked up a Rolleikin 3.5 kit from KEH, for around $40, shipped. What's a Rolleikin, you may ask? It's a set of components (which comes in the nice zipper container on right), which allow you to load and shoot 35mm film in your medium format Rolleiflex or Rolleicord Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) camera. The neat thing is, the frame of the 35mm image will be oriented in portrait position, which should be a lot of fun.

 

(Click Here) to go to KEH, the best used camera store I know.

 

It took me a little while to figure out which Rolleikin kit I needed for my Rolleicord. The Rolleikin 3.5 fits Rolleicords with serial numbers higher than 1137000, and Rolleiflexes (with f3.5 lenses) with serial numbers above 1100000. My Rolleicord is number 1542806, so I'm in good shape.

 

Installation requires replacing one knob on the right side of the camera (while you're looking at the front of the camera), where you see the red check mark above. That's the only step that requires tools at all, a small screwdriver, to remove and replace three screws.

 

For complete installation instructions, (Click Here) to download the accessories manual from butkus.org. Be sure to donate a little something to Mr. Butkus (there's a simple Paypal "Donate" button on the site). I think $5 is appropriate for this manual, but that's up to you.

 

In any case, it took me about 20 minutes to get the kit full installed and working. It's really quite cool. Here's what the 35mm film guide looks like installed:

 

Rolleikin Installed

 

So, you can see that this should be an ideal setup for shooting portraits. I think for head shots, it'll require using the Rolleinar closeup lenses (simple screw-in filter type closeup lenses), which I have. The Rolleinar also makes the depth of field more shallow, which should be great for portraiture. Wider portraits won't need the Rolleinar.

 

So, I can't wait to get some film in this old beast and give it a try! I'll report back once I have some results to share.

 

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