Rolleiflex 35

[SnappingShark]

My wife found one of these in my father in law's storage locker in what appears to be beautiful condition.

Never used one myself.
Can somebody link me to some film for it? What does it use? How do you use it? I'm asking you awesome guys to save googling, and for some of you to share some tips, tricks and techniques!

It's a 75mm lens, so I'm kinda excited!

 

[dxqcanada]

Ah, do you mean a Rolleiflex SL35 ... the SLR camera ?
Rolleiflex SL35 instruction manual, user manual, PDF manual, free manuals
Are you sure it is a 75mm lens ... typo ? Zeiss or Rolleinar ?

 

[SnappingShark]

Rolleiflex

Top lens says: Heidosmat 1:2.8 / 75
Bottom lens says: Carl Zeiss Nr 4253679 Planar 1:3,5 f = 75mm

Top plate says DBP 3,5 F DBGM
Serial 2819246

 

[dxqcanada]

Oh, that type of Rolleiflex ... twin lens reflex ... I kinda thought that was what you were talking about.
Based on the serial number it appears to be a Rolleiflex 3.5F
It sucks, you should just give it to me

Rolleiflex 3.5F / 2.8F instruction manual, user manual, PDF manual, free manuals

 

[SnappingShark]

It sucks, you should just give it to me

LOL!

Thanks for the documents!! Going to enjoy reading over these! It's a shame no undeveloped film was found in his storage locker. He was a great fisherman and studied photography with this camera.
Based on the photos we found, it's up close and personal with the fishermen telling the story of life in the Bering Sea, I think my wife and I are actually going to create a book with his work!

 

[dxqcanada]

Ah, original photos ... sounds like a great project.

 

[dxqcanada]

It uses medium format film ... 120 format. You should be able to get that from numerous shops.
The harder part might be finding someplace to get it developed or printed ... unless you want to do it yourself.
I have never used a Rolleiflex, so I got no tips ... though if you are willing to send it to me, I will try my hardest to figure it out ... might take some years

OK ... TLR's are not all that difficult to use. All the ones I have used are essentially similar and fairly intuitive ... the film part might be more difficult for you if you have no experience with using it.

 

[dxqcanada]

Oh, and you really have to post a picture of it in Collector's Corner
Not too often a minty Rollei pops up.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

The only trick that will get ya with the Rolleiflex is loading the film. You need to make sure the film is fed UNDER the first bar. If you feed it over the bar (as is the case on many other TLR's you will simply wind the roll through the camera the the counter will never engage and lock properly ultimately spooling the whole roll onto the take up spool. There is a decent video on how to load a Rollei here and lots of others out there on how to use one. If the camera does not have an empty spool in it you will also need a blank take up spool. If there is a camera shop near you they should be able to give you one. If you live in the states, feel free to PM me your address and I'll drop one in the mail for you.

At minimum you will need a way to meter light, there are some apps out there for this as well as lots of hand held meter options. There may even be a meter sitting around near where you found the camera.

If you are looking for a decent film to start with in the BW department I like Ilford HP5 400 speed or the 100 Delta if you prefer something a bit slower. The 100 and 400 stuff out there from Kodak is also bullet proof. I do home processing with all ilford chemistry so I prefer their film. If you are looking to get into color Kodak Ektar is a nice 100 speed stock to work with.

The best advice I can offer here is to pick one film stock and shoot at least a dozen rolls of it before considering changing. A lot of people like to sample film when they get started but until you get your metering technique down, understand when to use what film and really grasp how to visualize the final print you should keep as much constant as possible (including film and chemistry). As for processing ask around on here for a local lab (there are more left than you would think) or you can use a mail away service.

If you get a few rolls in and find that you like it, that its something you may want to keep doing and BW is your jam, consider developing and scanning at home. Second hand stuff can be had really cheap these days (free if you know where to look) and its really not that hard to process.

Anyway, Rollei's are awesome, you will love it, have fun!

 

[SnappingShark]

Thought I'd post a quick pic of it to confirm it wasn't the SL35

 

[Derrel]

Rolleiflex 3.5F.That is the model name.
A classic TLR!