TLRs

nealjpage · Jan 20, 2007

Ok, so I used to use a Yashica MAT LM that worked great until I broke the winder on it. :meh: That means I'm back to eBay to find a replacement and am shocked at the higher prices the run-of-the-mill Yashicas are bringing. On a whim, I started looking into Rolleis, including the Rolleiflex and the Rolleicord. What's the biggest diffence between the two? The Rolleiflex looks more like the Yashica, but the Rolleicord seems to bring a much lower price. Why is that? Is the 'cord as good as the 'flex? I'm lost here

ksmattfish · Jan 20, 2007

Rolleicords would be the entry level/consumer camera. Rolleiflexes are the upper end/pro model. Rolleicords aren't as solidly built. Of course we are talking 1950's engineering here; they are probably more solidly built than many cameras today. For instance the Rolleicord winding handle appears to be pressed from sheet metal, while the Rolleiflex handle appears to be forged or cast.

The upper end lenses in a Rolleicord are a Zeiss Tessar or Schneider Xenar. These are pretty good lenses. Stopped down a bit they probably perform about as good as it gets. The upper end lenses for a Rolleiflex are the Zeiss Planar or Schneider Xenotar. These lenses will match the best lenses available for medium format today. Also you'll only find F/2.8 lenses available in the Rolleiflexes.

mysteryscribe · Jan 20, 2007

The first camera I ever shot a wedding with was a rolliecord. I know what you mean about prices. I paid 75 bucks for mine used in 1970.. That camera on ebay is selling for about a hundred bucks. The yashicas are crazy prices as well. Dollar for dollar of original investment they are a worse value than the Rollie.

I bought one of the really really off brands just to have a twin lens on the shelf. I actually shot it this morning talk about coincedence. what a piece of crap that was. It's like 20 degrees at the lake and I'm struggling with the worst designed camera in history, Anyway good luck and if you get a good deal on a cord don't be afraid of it.

If you look in the snapshot gallery you can see the results of the camera test... mostly awful but that might have been because I only took one light reading all morning it was just too cold.

Torus34 · Jan 20, 2007

You might look into sniping a Minolta Autocord on ebay. Mine was purchased new and still performs well. The lens fitting is the same as the Rollei bayonet.

Torus34 · Jan 20, 2007

Small correction: Rolleiflexes were made with both f3.5 and f2.8 lenses.

ksmattfish · Jan 20, 2007

Torus34 said:
Small correction: Rolleiflexes were made with both f3.5 and f2.8 lenses.

I meant that they don't make f/2.8 Rolleicords. My Rolleiflex (the one in my avatar) is a f/3.5.

The tessars and xenars are bayonet 1. The f/3.5 planars and xenotars are bayonet 2. The f/2.8 planars and xenotars are bayonet 3.