[Rollei] Introduction

["INMAN J S" <S.Inman]

I have just joined this group, I have no idea how active it is so I'll 
post a brief introduction. I live in London and am an artist who 
now uses a lot of photography.

I got into medium format photography ten years ago with a 
yashicamat. I still have and love that camera, but always wanted 
more. A few years ago I got  a Rolleicord Va cheap, the focusing 
was stiff and that was the only reason it was half-price. I had not 
used it that much, but got good results, preffering to use the 
Yashicamat. Then last year I got a Mamiya M645. A wonderful 
and versatile camera, especially with the metered prism and 
55mm lens, but I still craved a "real" Rollei with a nice square 
glass and all that. Finally, earlier this year, I forked out for a 
battered but otherwise perfectly working Rolleiflex 3.5F with a 
meter. I took it to Venice with me and got wonderful results 
except for those that had bad flare. (I suspect it is partly to do 
with Venice, the proportion of pictures with flare was higher than 
I'm used to. I managed to get a rubber hood, but am still looking for 
a metal one.

Two weeks ago I saw a Rolleiflex 3.5E in Greenwich market 
going for £150. I decided to chance it as I'd bouight stuff off the 
guy before. it looked really sad when I bought it, dirty and 
neglected, but I spent last weekend cleaning it up the best I could. 
It was as if the machine was coming alive in my hands, and by 
the time I put film in it everything had that silky-smooth feel that I'd 
heard about the mechanics of Rolleis and had recently 
experienced with the 3.5F. I have not seen the results yet, will do 
so by the end of the week, but expect great things, the machine 
seems fairly perfect. Oh, and I got  a leather case and scissor 
strap thrown in. Not bad for £150? Well, I can tell you next week!

Stuart

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