Re: [Rollei] The Rain, the Park and Other Things

[Martin Jangowski <martin]

On Fri, 16 May 2003, Russ Bates wrote:

> I'm thinking of once again doing location portraiture - primarily
> families and children - in b&w.  And while my beloved 3.5F Xenotar will
> serve me well for some of that work (IMO), I'd really like to use a
> longer lens from time to time as well (or, perhaps, primarily).  So,
> being a happy Rollei user (and perhaps more than a little naive), I
> thought that a Tele Rollei would make a good tool for the job.
>  
> On the plus side, I'm familiar with Rolleis and how they work.  A Tele
> would allow me to use flash properly, and wouldn't distract everyone
> with a lot of shutter/mirror-flap racket.  The Tele being a mechanical
> beast, I'd be free of electronics - another plus.  I've heard that the
> 135/4 Sonnar is a good/great lens, even though needing a .35 Rolleinar
> to get close.  For some uses, handheld would be a possibility with a
> Rollei.  Hmmm - sounds good, so far.
>  
> I well know, of course, that the Tele hasn't been made recently, and
> that it has become an item coveted by collectors.  If I could find one,
> what would be a reasonable price to pay for it (as a user camera, not a
> collector camera)?  
>  
> Or, would a better choice be an SL-66, with the leaf shutter 150 lens?

After several years with Rollei TLRs and a RB for studio work I recently
bought a SL66 and a few lenses, including the S-Planar 5.6/120 and the
Sonnar 4/150.

I only exposed a few films (mainly landscapes and a few portraits) with it
until I gotten it stuck (my error... one should take more notice of small
things in life...), but even this first impressions were extremely
favourable. The SL66 (with the left hand grip!) feels absolutely perfect,
if you are used to Rollei TLRs. The screen is bright, the zone of pinpoint
sharpness is very easy to find (a problem with older TLRs) even when
using the S-Planar, and the builtin bellows allows very tight shots.

The SL66 is an absolute natural extension of the TLRs and the lens quality
(even of my old single coated Zeiss lenses) is _very_ impressive. The SL66
will stay!

Martin


| Martin Jangowski                         E-Mail: Martin  
|                        Netzwerke und Multimedia                     |
| Voice: +49 7946/940790                         Fax: +49 7946/940791 |
| Snail Mail: Von-Olnhausen Str. 4            74626 Bretzfeld Germany |

------------------------------