The Rolleiflex 2.8f – A dream came true.

Long time, no post…sorry….again! I’ve been up to my eyes in it, but a new acquisition has spurred me on to post on my Blog. That new acquisition is the Rolleiflex 2.8f! Sometimes one has a deep joy moment and this ranks towards the top, if not the very top in terms of analogue photography.

Although this was not my first Rolleiflex having had a “3.5 T” for a short period. My first Rolleflex was produced in the 1930’s and although physically almost “mint” in condition suffered from a poor viewing screen and mirror degradation which gave a very dark viewing experience. This made composition and focussing very difficult. So, I was absolutely delighted when a friend offered me his 2.8f, this was an extremely generous gesture as the price was unbelievably low, but also it is in very good condition. It also came with the complete set of “Bay 3” filters and hood in the original leather case, which alone cost a King’s ransom! The only item of the 2.8f which does not work is the coupled light meter and it is hard to find one that does. Many owners never repaired this function because they preferred to use a more accurate light meter instead. That is what I do, however repairs can be made and there are many excellent Rollei repairers in the UK which offer this service at a reasonable price. I may well get mine repaired as this would increase its future value.

This 2.8f model S/No: 2455455 model Model Model K7F2, January 1966 – December 1966, with Planar lens, flat glass provision and 12/24 frame counter. 2,8F-2.455.000 – 2.8F-2.479.999. So this camera is the 455 camera of this model to be produced. In total 88,000 of this camera were produced. The full details are:

Taking Lens:
Planar 2,8/80mm, Carl Zeiss Oberkochen,
Xenotar 2,8/80mm, Schneider (from 1973), both Bayonet 3
Finder lens:
Zeiss Heidosmat 2,8/80mm, Bayonet 3. Interchangeable focusing screen & finder loupe. Parallax control.
Shutter:
Synchro Compur MXV, 1 – 1/500 sec., B, X-sync., self timer.
Film: 120 – 12 exposures

During the production of the Rolleiflex other models included the “Magic”, “Baby” “Tele” and the uber expensive and extremely desirable “Wide” The 2.8f is regarded as the “must have” Rolleiflex due to the large f2.8 finder lens and f2.8 taking lens. Being Zeiss lenses the reasoning is obvious why this was and remains a sought after Rolleflex which still enjoys top status amongst analogue cameras. The first Rolleiflex TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) camera was produced in 1929 and production continued until the 2000, when it was producing the 2.8 GX, although the last camera it produced was a special edition 2.8 FX.

My journey so far.

I visited Conwy harbour (Conwy, Gwynedd, UK0 on a cold early January day this year armed with a roll of Fuji Provia 120 ISO100 transparency film and a Kodak Tri-X B&W 120 ISO400 film. Taking great care to remember to expose 1 stop lower using B&W when fitted with Rollei “yellow” filter, I carefully set every shot up both hand holding and tripod mounted. I sent both films off to “Peak Processing” and to my joy received back both films perfectly exposed.

Below are a few of my first results. The negatives have been scanned on a CanonScan 8800F flatbed scanner. To say I am delighted is an understatement.

One thing missing was the lens cap. Fotodiox do a 3rd Party superbly built replacement which is sourced from Amazon UK although it is despatched from the US. The last image shows the Rolleiflex 2.8f looking smart and ready to go for 2015.

Finally.

I have bought my 2015 supply of 120 film which will supplement my dwindling stock. Is this an expensive interest, you bet it is. Film is hardly cheap and processing expensive. I enjoy it and what it does achieve is very important because it slows me down, makes me consider every shot, but most of all it’s great fun.

See you soon 🙂

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