Topic: A Rare Find - 1933/34 Rolleiflex

[Lawrie]

Regular visits to our local "junk shop" paid dividends when I recently snapped up a 1933/34 Standard Rolleiflex (including original leather case) for the princely sum of forty quid.     After a good clean up, and a little coaxing, I was pleasantly surprised to find the focusing, aperture and shutter speeds all operated smoothly. Surprisingly the lenses are clear, scratch free and with no signs of fungus - quite remarkable for an eighty year old camera! I am planning to shoot a roll soon - watch this space.

Regards,

Lawrie.

[tani.P]

Gorgeous! I love the simplified look, reminds me of my Argoflex. Can't wait to see the results.

[hookstrapped]

Cool!

[Sandeha Lynch]

Is that a 75/3.5, model 622?  I have a 621 with the 3.8 Tessar that I use quite regularly, a beautiful cam with great rendition.  I replaced the mirror and picked up a s/h Beattie screen so it's now a lot more comfortable in use.

[Lawrie]

Is that a 75/3.5, model 622?  I have a 621 with the 3.8 Tessar that I use quite regularly, a beautiful cam with great rendition.  I replaced the mirror and picked up a s/h Beattie screen so it's now a lot more comfortable in use.

Hi Sandeha,
I have managed to establish that the model 620 had the f4.5 lens, the 621 had the f3.8 lens and the 622 had the f3.5 lens. Mine (serial no. 280XXX) has the f3.8 Tessar so I assume it is the model 621. Glad to hear that you are happy with yours! Can't wait to develop my first film.

Regards,

Lawrie.

[Sandeha Lynch]

A close cousin then.  Mine is 301xxx.  IIRC, my lenses are 1932 going by the Zeiss numbers, but scratched on the back of the old mirror was 1934, year of assembly.  The back plate on mine is in French and there's a pc flash sync in place of the cable release socket - a useful addition.










You're sure to enjoy it.

[astrobeck]

that's so very cool, and thrilled you adopted it to give it another life!!!
Can't wait to see some pix from it.
I love stories like this.

 

[Terry]

Nice find, Lawrie.  The glass looks very good--looks like a fun project.

[Photo_Utopia]

Hey that is a thing of beauty, I feel the need to buy more Rolleiflexes.....
I look forward to seeing some photos.
Have fun
Mark

[Francois]

I must admit it looks pretty sweet. I never had a Rollei... and you're starting to give me hope I could one day find one!

[harragan]

Bingo! Nice find. I regularly trawl local charity shops and have occasionally found half decent cameras but never anything as nice as this. As I live in the Cotswolds there is no such thing as a "junk shop" only "antique shops" selling junk at ridiculous prices.

[DS]

I've got one of them. It's currently a paperweight, but I've got the shutter working. Just needs a new mirror, screen and something doing to the focus adjustment. It's been in this state for at least 5 years 

[Sandeha Lynch]

I've got one of them. It's currently a paperweight, but I've got the shutter working. Just needs a new mirror, screen and something doing to the focus adjustment. It's been in this state for at least 5 years 

What !!  Mirrors cost around US$20, (though I have  a recipe somewhere for making front surface mirrors) screen you could even grind yourself (well, better to buy, but you could waste an hour or two having fun) and the adjustment comes by loosening two screws on the front (oh, find out which first, I can't remember).   

[Francois]

The cheapest way to get front surface mirrors that I know of is to get them either from an old Polaroid 600 or from an old 8mm movie editor...
The movie editors have an added bonus, they come with a ground glass and many of them have also a fresnel on the back.

[Sandeha Lynch]

Yep, the Rolarpoids are great for mirrors, though over here even duds go for the same price as a new mirror from http://www.uscamera.com/rflextlr001.htm.

[DS]

Yep, the Rolarpoids are great for mirrors, though over here even duds go for the same price as a new mirror from http://www.uscamera.com/rflextlr001.htm.

The cheapest way to get front surface mirrors that I know of is to get them either from an old Polaroid 600 or from an old 8mm movie editor...
The movie editors have an added bonus, they come with a ground glass and many of them have also a fresnel on the back.

Yup- tried to cut the mirror from a onestep / 600 and failed:

fail by Archaeobobalist, on Flickr

[DS]

Also, I really should get it fixed before its 70th birthday: 28th October

[Francois]

You can always check Anchor Optics http://www.anchoroptics.com/

As for cutting very delicate mirrors, I think that using a diamond wet saw is the only way to go. Also, if using a cutter with a wheel, you have to be on a very flat table. You score the glass only once. You don't need to put a lot of force on it, just score it lightly. After that, just putting the mirror under a stream of very hot water should be enough to break it on the scoring line. It could probably easily be cut nicely with a dremel and the diamond saw bit.

[Sandeha Lynch]

It could probably easily be cut nicely with a dremel and the diamond saw bit.

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