Wednesday, August 30, 2017

One roll at a time with a Rollei

Earlier this year I bought a twin lens Rolleiflex Automat 6 x 6 - model K4B medium format camera with a Tessar ƒ3.5 lens, made from April 1954 to September 1956, researching the serial number of my camera, mine was manufactured around 1954.

To back track a bit I had been looking for and wanting to own a Rolleiflex camera for some time now, I have owned all the must have cameras, Leica (still own one) Hasselblad and Nikon. It just so happened one day earlier this spring, a Facebook friend, Annie, who had done some modelling for me, sent me a photo of some old camera equipment that she spotted at a used furniture store in Kelowna where I live. My eyes lit up when I saw that one of the photos she sent me via Facebook messenger was a Rolleiflex camera, just what I was looking for!

Coincidentally I had just ordered another Rolleiflex from a camera store in the U.K. I thought I should at least go and have a look this other camera. I had no idea of the actual working condition. Upon arrival I asked to see the camera and spoke to the owner's son, it was priced at $200(cdn), and it was not working, not even a single shutter speed was firing, plus the focusing screen was missing, it looked to be in pretty rough shape. The owner's son was firm on the price.

After waiting for over a week for my other Rolleiflex to arrive from the U.K., which it never did, the deal fell through and I got my money back. I went back to the used furniture store in Kelowna to see if the old non-working Rolleiflex was still there and it was. This time I spoke to the owner of the store, at first I was unsure if I wanted it because of the previously mentioned condition, I didn't want to end up with a nice looking paper weight sitting on my desk, I also had no idea if I could even get it working again. We haggled on the price and settled on $150, it came with some accessories, a red filter and a stereo tripod adapter which I later looked up and was worth around $150.

 To get the camera working I sent it off to a certified Rollei repair guy who just happens to live in Vancouver, I waited to hear back from him. Yes it was in rough shape, yes it needed a new focusing screen plus a few other parts, but the good news was that he could get it working again for a price, which turned out to be quite reasonable. It appeared to be neglected for many years with some rust here and there. The one good thing about the camera was that taking lens was in good condition. Good glass in older cameras is hard to come by.

Since I have had the camera back I have been running mostly black and white film through it, getting used to how it feels and operates in my hands, it is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of equipment to use, the shutter is quiet, very Leica like. On a recent trip to Vancouver to visit friends, I was given a roll of Kodak Ektar color film. I shot the roll in and around Golden Ears Provincial Park east of Vancouver during the B.C. Day long weekend in August.

 I have since got the film back from from the lab which they also provided me with low resolution scans. From the 12 exposure roll of film, frame number 1 is a double exposure mistake, Opps!. The ugly, the good, or plain just boring, thanks for looking.

Frame 1 (double exposure)
  Frame 2
Frame 3
Frame 4
Frame 5
Frame 6
Frame 7 

Frame 8

Frame 9

Frame 10 

Frame 11 

Frame 12

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