Re: [Rollei] Flat glass?

[Jerry Lehrer <jerryleh >]

Helen,

To be very literal, it was not the backs that "accepted" the
flat glass.  It was the body of the camera.  The backs permitted
the pressure plate to be relieved of its pressure, which inn turn,
permitted the film to be transported without being pressed against
the glass.

The flat glass proved to be more trouble than it was worth. Dust
mainly, scratches secondarily.  there was a calculable focus shift,
but that was so little that it did not even affect focus in the
Rolleiwide at full aperture.

Jerry

Helen Bach wrote:

> I've seen plenty of Rolleiflex backs that will accept the 'flat glass'
> - and I have one on my tele - but I've never seen the glass itself
> except once on eBay. It looked like a plain piece of optical glass
> with nicely bevelled edges. Not very difficult to replicate, it seems.
>
> My guess is that it wasn't popular, possibly because of dust and
> scratches - but that's just a guess.
>
> How useful was the flat glass? Why is it so rare?
>
> Thanks,
> Helen