TLRs

gingerjon

gingerjon

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There seem to be quite a few of these in working order going cheap on ebay and other more reputable secondhand sites.

Now, as a complete novice in this area, is there anything I should know about such cameras before taking the plunge as they seem a fairly decent way into medium format?

Apologies if this has been covered before.
 
Anything from Rollei is good. The Rolleiflex was the top of the range but the Rolleicord (which I have) is similarly built but has a knob wind instead of lever and needs the shutter cocking separately to the wind on.

Minolta Autocords and the Yashica range are good too.

I would steer clear of the Seugulls and Lubitels.

If you want changeable lenses then the Mamiya C220 and C330 are the only choice. These are a bit bulkier though.


Steve.
 
I have a Yashica Mat 124G and it's a really nice camera with great optics - available at "human" price ;)

Be sure to check if the lenses are free of fungus. And you will have to re-seal the camera light seals, most likely. Apart from that, the construction is simple, so usually a bit of cleaning does the job.
 
TLR's can be great camera's, best used in studio's, with a few exceptions the are fixed lens cameras, a better bet would be a SLR, usually come with, changable backs, interchaneable lenses, and a choice of WLF or Prism, have a look in the For Sale section here, there is at least one for realistic money there.



Dave.
 
WLF is a waist level finder, you look down and see an inverted image on the screen. Has no metering.

A prism is what we are more used to seeing in a camera, has an eyepiece at the back, shows you the image the right way up and sometimes includes some basic metering.

HTH
 
AliB said:
WLF is a waist level finder, you look down and see an inverted image on the screen. Has no metering.

A prism is what we are more used to seeing in a camera, has an eyepiece at the back, shows you the image the right way up and sometimes includes some basic metering.

HTH
Click to expand...

Ah. Good stuff. Thanks for that.

Still learning!
 
Gingerjon

To try MF; the following are the choices

Old folder MF : they are either Rf or non-rf. Zeiss are the best - ikonta, nettar et al. Ensign selfix, Kodak,and some Japanese are also reputed. Amongst the russkies Moskva is supposed to be an exact copy of Ikonta. Usual problems are the leaking bellow and jammed shutters. Many well functioning copies abound in the price range of 20 - 80£

TLR : Rollei is the king. Mamiya and Zeiss are also reputed. Usually dont have a meter, though some do. Prices are all over the place; and usually driven by collectability rather than features.

SLR : the square boxy ones. Great to use, rubbish to carry. Bronica and mamiya are the best value for money - 150 - 200£ usually gets a camera + wlf + 75mm lens. Hassleblad is the king. Rollei is highly regarded

Modern RF : Very few and very expensive, especially the lens. Mamiya six, 6, 7, Bronica 645RF are the usual suspect.

Offcourse there is a decision around whether to buy a 6X4.5, 6X6 or 6X7. There are somecameras which has masks and can take photos in different formats.

Ujjwal
 
You may find it difficult to get on with a WLF. As previously mentioned, it's upside down. But it's also reversed left to right. Once you've rewired your brain you may be ok, but some people never are.
 
Thanks for all your help and directions - unfortunately my Canonet 35mm appears to have gone the way of all flesh today (at least until I find out if it's fix-able) so I'll have to get that sorted first before looking at MF properly.
 
AliB said:
WLF is a waist level finder, you look down and see an inverted image on the screen. Has no metering.

A prism is what we are more used to seeing in a camera, has an eyepiece at the back, shows you the image the right way up and sometimes includes some basic metering.

HTH
Click to expand...

MisterE said:
You may find it difficult to get on with a WLF. As previously mentioned, it's upside down. But it's also reversed left to right. Once you've rewired your brain you may be ok, but some people never are.
Click to expand...

Surprising that this is mentioned twice.

The image in a WLF is indeed mirror reversed, but the correct way up, you soon get used to it.

On the Rolleicord there is also, what was known as, a 'sports finder', basically two holes you look through at eye level for fast(er) image capture.

I also have a separate Porroflex pentaprism, (done with mirrors), which can be attached to the top of the Rollei to give true oriented images at eye level, although I never had any trouble with the mirror images, coming as I did from a 4x5 view camera, which was reversed and upside down when viewing the plate back.
 
You need to know that, if you want the very best in TLR's, a good Rolleiflex model is the way to go. :D
 
amgard said:
Surprising that this is mentioned twice.

The image in a WLF is indeed mirror reversed, but the correct way up, you soon get used to it.
Click to expand...

Maybe my memory is incorrect. I had hold of a Yashica 124 for a while and I thought it was reversed both ways. Perhaps I'm wrong.
 
Very dim viewfinder on a TLR though.
SLR 645 Mamiya are good value, much like a 35mm SLR but a bigger and you can get metered/auto prism which makes handling a lot easier.

Matt
 
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