- This topic is empty.
Rolleiflex screen
-
Just bought a minty Rolleiflex 2.8D which arrived Wednesday. Am considering changing
the focus screen as typically they’re very dark. Will probably go for a Rick Oleson one if I doHas anyone does this before (I know we have a few Rollie folk on the site)? Any gotchas ?
cheers
Congrats on getting a Rolleiflex. Its a lovely camera to use. I have a 2.8F and love it to bits, just back from Italy shooting with it. The optics are amazing, better than any Mamiya or Nikon lenses I own, the contrast off them is just superb.
I just use the standard screen, I dont find it dark, small bit of fall off in the corners but I sort of like that. Not answering your question I know but have to say you will love the camera Mark congrats
M
Thanks Martin, ya I’ve seen some of those photos, really super!.
I guess I should really use the camera first before making mods :) However I bought it knowing that
that there was a small bit of fungus on the mirror so I think I’ll have a go at removing. The glass
seems fine on both the viewing lens and actual. Still will keep an eye on it. Everything else is mint, it’s like
it was never used. Much like your own I suspect.It didn’t come with a strap so I’ve ordered a 3rd party one off eBay. Anyhow a test roll has gone into it.
Can’t wait to get cracking :)Congrats Mark on the lovely machine. The C & D models are the Rolleiflexes that interest me most, occupying such a sweet spot in the line.
Re: the screen, I think a lot depends on the stage in production, as to the useability of the screen. My reference is rolleicords, but imagine it is similar with the ‘flexes. My near end of line VA, has a lovely screen, and believe it is just the stock screen. Very contrasty, and quite bright. The screen on my older, and now sold, Rolleicord II was simply a nightmare. Very dim, and very low contrast. I imagine its the same with rolleiflexes, with the older models having terrible screens, and the newer ones having quite nice screens.
Bear in mind, a cleaning can go a long way. My VA ‘cord did not look so great when I got it, but removing the hood, and giving the screen (front and back), and the mirror a good cleaning, ended up giving me a screen where I would not want better. It all really depends on if there was a decent enough screen in your Rollei to begin with, though. In the case of my Rolleicord II, the screens was simply poor, no matter what I did with it. This is not just my opinion, but that of others like Rick Oleson too, who states that the some of the Rollei are amongst the worst he has seen, at least when comparing them against what is possible in terms of gains by just a decent fresnel screen like his.
Another factor is also the mirror in some of these older Rollei’s. A mirror that has degraded (as these mirrors can over time with age), can take a lot of brightness away from an otherwise good screen, and often replacing the mirror can work wonders. Whether this is an option worth entertaining will be something you can discover when you see the mirror in your ‘flex. If it looks fine, leave it be, and look at the screen instead. If it looks in poor shape, perhaps consider buying and fitting a replacement though.
Hope any of the above if helpful. I am just dusting off my VA presently, and looking forward to the prospect of producing some beautiful squares with it :)
EDIT: don’t be put off any of the above by your Rollei having user-changeable screens or not. The only difference user-changeable Rolleis & non user-changeable Rollies is four little screws :)
Martin wrote:
Congrats on getting a Rolleiflex. Its a lovely camera to use. I have a 2.8F and love it to bits, just back from Italy shooting with it. The optics are amazing, better than any Mamiya or Nikon lenses I own, the contrast off them is just superb.
I just use the standard screen, I dont find it dark, small bit of fall off in the corners but I sort of like that. Not answering your question I know but have to say you will love the camera Mark congrats
M
Some really beautiful images Martin, enjoyed looking at them in your flickr stream.
Congrats Mark welcome to the club, they are a great camera, I have a very old Tessar 3.5 again in real nice condition, screen is a little dark but I find I can live with it. I’d stick with the screen as is and put a good few rolls through before making a decision. I used to have a policy years back when I worked with 35mm “one camera one lens” which always served me well. This Rolleiflex will serve you well in this regard, look forward to seeing the results.
Thanks Damien and Eddie. Lots of good info and advice, all appreciated.
Have put a test roll through it and will dev it tomorrow before taking it out in earnest :)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
