TLRs can someone give me a quick run down please

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puggie

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Never owned a TLR and I feel I should have a blast with one, so what should the novice TLR owner look for? I have about £70 burning a hole in my paypal account and wonder if this would get me something half decent to have a play with.
 
They are mechanically very simple, so the thing most likely to go wrong is that the slow shutter speeds are either slow or completely out of whack. Same as with all lenses, a clean bill of health with regards to no fungus, no big scratching and no terrible cleaning marks are always a plus.

Keep in mind that TLRs are cameras that never really were significantly popular past the 1960s - the Yashica Mat 124G is the exception, but the vast majority of cameras, especially within your budget, are going to be upwards of half a century old and that context is important to take note of.

An original Yashica Mat with a Yashinon lens would fit within your budget and make a decent shooter - a little soft at f/3.5, but the big negative counteracts that problem and it performs well enough for a camera released in 1958. Minolta Autocords are also popular choices, although they have increased in value (as have most other TLRs, in line with the general increase in film camera prices). If you could stretch to a Rolleicord IV, I believe that the IV with a Xenar lens offers a great bang for the buck - and if you don't like it, they hold their value very well.
 
Don't forget you might need a separate light meter to go with your TLR depending on which make and model you go for and if you've never used one before the view as seen in the viewfinder is laterally reversed.

It takes a bit if getting used to at first that's all.
 
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light meter is no problem, I have a weston master for use with my Speed Graphic LF camera. I've borrowed a Pentax 67 at the moment and I like the convenience/size of MF but I'm not really liking the pentax. So I fancy trying a TLR to see how that fares. My graphic is a 1955 model so older cameras are no mystery. The Rolleis did look appealing for their re-sale value if I don't get on with it, the Yashicas are probably more my budget mind. Mamiya di some TLRs IIRC what sort of money do they go for?
 
I don't blame you for not liking the Pentax - TLRs are very different from them, with their leaf shutters I can often shoot handheld as low as 1/8s-1/15s with no problems at all, even better than a 35mm SLR.

I don't keep much of an eye on the C2/C3/C220/C330 line of TLRs - the latter two are probably out of your budget, and ones in your budget are likely to have problems. They were one of the very few interchangeable lens TLR systems and as a result of that feature can still be very popular. They are astonishingly heavy though, they certainly don't have a engineering finesse to them that befits most TLRs (Yashica to Rollei alike).
 
There is a Seagull TLR on a well known auction site at the moment which is well within your budget and could give you a taster perhaps?
 
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I've used a Mamiya C220 for many years and it's quite a bit lighter than the C330f, which is quite heavy camera for it's size. I think any of the Mamiya tlr range can make a very good introduction to medium format photography. For £70 though your probably going to be looking at a fairly well used item but for that money I'd say it's maybe worth taking a bit of a gamble after all they are sturdy cameras and will take a lot of abuse, there's always quite a few on ebay. A quick google should show up quite a few websites with plenty of information about these cameras and I would certainly suggest having a good read about them before buying anything.
 
Well, courtesy of eBay, I now have a Rolleicord Vb heading my way. Over budget but not by too much and should hold its value if I decide its not for me.
 
puggie said:
Well, courtesy of eBay, I now have a Rolleicord Vb heading my way. Over budget but not by too much and should hold its value if I decide its not for me.
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If that's the one from Kent, you got a really good price on it. With old Rolleis (and any other TLR), make sure you check that the alignment is correct (i.e. that one lens is straight against the other), that all four feet and the film door back are not caved in (could've been dropped), that the focus stops at the hard points (doesn't go past infinity, doesn't go past closest focus distance) and that the bottom hasn't been warped (could indicate that instead of using the proper Rolleifix tripod attachment, the person just attached the camera straight to the tripod).
 
that is the one :), that is this rolleifix widget then?
 
puggie said:
that is the one :), that is this rolleifix widget then?
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It's an attachment that secures to the bottom of a Rollei(flex/cord), which allows proper weight distribution of the camera when connected to the tripod. Most Rollei's have a tripod thread screw in the base, but it isn't actually meant for tripod use and incorrect use of it can cause warping, as the weight of the camera buckles around the tripod connection.

They look like this (in the middle of the two black circles):

2.8B_tripod_bush.jpg
 
I'm a bit confused, does the camera in the photo above have the tripod attachment fitted or not?
 
freecom2 said:
Nope - with Rolleifix it looks like this:

6362393763_db2c339b77_z.jpg
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Ah, I see. That looks like a fairly major attachment, does the same thing apply to other TLR's?
 
RaglanSurf said:
Ah, I see. That looks like a fairly major attachment, does the same thing apply to other TLR's?
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I'm not actually sure. I've used my Yashica Mat on the tripod socket on the bottom, but I've only heard of it being a necessary attachment for Rollei tripod users.
 
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