Rollei SL66 Photo Courtesy of James (W.M. Au)

Rollei SL66 Photo Courtesy of James (W.M. Au)

Rollei SL66 Photo Courtesy of James (W.M. Au)

Related Links:
170-320mm f/4 Zoomar For Rollei SL66 (Stephen Gandy)
Rollei SL66 metering prism (Kiev with adapter $200 US)

Related Local Links:
Rollei SLX MF SLR Camera
Rollei 6000 series MF SLR Camera Comparison Chart

For an overview of the Rollei SL-66 series, see the excellent reviews by Danny Gonzalez on the SL-66 series. Don't miss his short list of advantages and disadvantages of the SL-66 series. See the above links for more information on the later SLX and 600x series Rollei medium format SLRs.

When the Rollei SL-66 series cameras were being sold, the Rollei ads touted that they were the most expensive medium format SLR cameras ever sold. Until recently, Rollei medium format SLRs had a price premium of 20 to 40% over similar medium format cameras using Zeiss lenses (e.g., Hasselblad). The prices for Rollei lenses and certain accessories were often quite stellar, and more in line with the price for new automobiles than a few pounds of glass and metal.

So many medium format bargain hunters are often surprised to learn how reasonable the SL-66 series cameras are for the basic camera and normal lens combination. The SL-66SE is a particularly great camera for closeup work, featuring built-in TTL flash and metering. All of the SL-66 series cameras feature a built-in bellows with a tilt feature that is very useful for controling depth of field in closeup work.

Rollei SL66 Series Lenses Data

Rollei Extension Tube Effects - Source: Rollei SL66 Handbook p.107
Large scale image of above

Comments:

There are two leaf shutter lens offerings (80mm f/4 and 150mm f/4) and 5 Luminar bellows macro lenses. The leaf shutter lenses are handy, as the focal plane shutter otherwise offers only a 1/30th second flash sync. The quality of these Zeiss lenses is very high, but unfortunately, so were the asking prices. These SL-66 standard lenses have a built-in reverse bayonet mount, so you can easily use them reversed with the built-in bellows setup, a nice feature!

However, only ten lenses (and one mirror lens) are listed in the Rolleiflex SL-66 Handbook. L.A. Mannheim's The Rolleiflex Way SL66 and SLX [Focal Press Ltd, Great Britain 1975] lists the following additional lenses and facts:

A total of eighteen SL-66 lenses are listed by Mannheim (up through 1975 when the SLX was released), including 5 bellows mount Luminars. The 150mm f/4 leaf shutter lens was not listed by Mannheim, although he does list some additional electronic bus (E) lenses for the new SLX system.

Lens Focal Lengths Overview
• 30mm 180 degree f3.5 fisheye
• 40mm f4 superwide
• 50mm f4 wide
• 80mm - f2.8 and f4 (leaf shutter) normal
• 120mm - fast f/2 and macro f5.6 short tele
• 150mm - f4 and f4 (leaf shutter) portrait
• 250mm - f5.6 and f5.6 super apochromat tele
• 500mm f5.6 long tele
• 1000mm f8 glass and f5.6 mirror long tele
• Luminars - 16, 25, 40, 63, and 100mm macro specialty lenses

This lens lineup is somewhat disappointing in that you have only 9 focal length choices for standard lens work, although five focal lengths have two lens offerings. You do have a fisheye lens (30mm), a macro lens (120mm), a fast f/2 lens (120mm), and an apochromatic long tele lens (250mm), as well as two leaf shutter options (80mm and 150mm). But these Zeiss lenses were quite expensive (e.g., up to $20,000 US list), so finding them at a reasonable price on the used market isn't easy.

One way around this limitation is to use the blank lens board #208-790. This 80mm in diameter machined plug has a rollei lens mount on one side, and a half inch centered hole on the other smooth side. You can mount a lens no more than 58mm in diameter inside this mount. The rear of the lens as mounted cannot protrude very far into the camera body. Naturally, there is no aperture coupling or other automatic features, so you have to use stop down manual procedures. A fair number of Rollei SL66 owners used this approach to mount a variety of missing lenses and focal lengths (see posts below).

By way of comparison, Rollei's competitors in 1966 such as Hasselblad and Bronica had a much more complete lineup of lenses and focal lengths. Some specialty lenses (e.g., for UV light work) and popular focal lengths (60mm, 100mm, 200mm, 300mm, 400mm, 600mm) were only available on these other systems.

Check carefully before you buy. Some SL-66 models (the E and SE) had built-in meters. If you get one of the 500 SL-66x models produced, you get TTL flash synch but no meter. The latest SL-66SE model provided both TTL flash synch and built-in metering.

Only about 100 cameras a month were made on average during the 25+ years of production runs. The Zeiss lenses other than the normal 80mm f/2.8 planar are relatively rare and pricey, as are some accessories (e.g., blank lens mounts and the polaroid back).

The Rollei SL66 camera is often recommended as a very high quality (optical and mechanical) camera for those who do closeup work. The price of the basic body and normal lens camera is surprisingly reasonable, but expanding beyond the initial purchase may take some effort and funds. In other words, this camera is often a great buy if you need a basic SLR and normal lens, especially for closeup work using the built-in bellows. But it may be hard and expensive to locate and expand your lenses without spending proportionately much more money, due to the limited production runs and rarity of many lenses (and their use by professional photographers and Rolleinuts! ;-).

Because of the built-in bellows design of the SL66 series, these cameras were especially popular for closeup work. An 120mm f/5.6 S-planar lens was available for copying (flat-field) work too, reaching 5.6x magnification with the use of extension tubes.

However, you should understand that the bellows use with SL-66 standard lenses is not really functional at infinity. There isn't enough slack to provide tilts at infinity focus. With circa 3.5mm of bellows extension out, you can use up to the maximum of 8 degrees of tilt. This 8 degrees of tilt compares favorably even with the 30 degrees of tilt commonly found with view cameras, because most photographic situations don't require more than 8 degrees of tilt for full correction or controls. Since you have the bellows extended out 3.5mm or more, the lenses can no longer focus to infinity with this additional extension. The new maximum focus distance is:

50mm lens - 3.5 ft.
80mm lens - 7.5 ft.
150mm lens- 25 ft.
250mm lens- 65 ft.
[Source: Mannheim op.cit.]

The electronic motor controlled lenses of the later Rollei SLX and 600x series cameras are reportedly not fully compatible with the earlier Rollei SL66 series cameras (see postings). I don't have enough information on the later Rollei lenses to know how many could be mounted and used on the earlier Rolleiflex SL-66 variants (and which ones), but it appears some (such as the 30mm) could be fitted to the SL-66.

Rollei Lens Adapter (thanks to Mark Delman)

One key advantage of the focal plane shutter and bellows mount design of the Rolleiflex SL66 series was the ability to mount odd-ball lenses using adapters (see postings, also home brew lenses article). You should know that the lens registration distance of the Rollei SL-66 series is 102.8mm. Only a few medium format cameras have longer lens registration distances (Mamiya RB/RZ 102-105mm). Only the Bronica S2a/EC series has a relatively close 101.70mm distance. However, some Bronica lenses extend back into the camera body a considerable distance (e.g., wide angle lenses), so they probably won't work. However, a wide variety of short to long tele lenses (100mm up) and many closeup lens options should work with the right Rollei SL66 setup (see postings, see also W.J. Markerink's page on lens mounts, linked via above homebrew lenses page...).

Deja Vu

From p. 11, Camera Buyer's Guide - 1970 in Life Library of Photography:

Rolleiflex Sl66 with 80mm f/2.8 - $1,350.00

50mm f/4 $560
80mm f/2.8 $340
120mm f/5.6 $650
150mm f/4 $500
250mm f/5.6 $620
500mm f/5.6 $1,350
1000mm f/5.6 - on request

Check out the Rollei SL66 review article for more details and information on their rating system. Note that these are early lenses (1968) and later lenses may well be better. So find out by testing your lenses!

Close focusing distance (p. 139):

120mm 14 inches
150mm 23 inches
250mm 5 feet
500mm 20 feet
1,000mm 72 feet

Rollei SL related notes:

Date: Sat, 25 Apr 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Reply to: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Reliability of SL66E, etc.

Chris,

I've fixed a few Es. The meter contacts are long, and look like berylium (sp?) copper, but they are not "springy" enough, and after sufficient use the contacts don't touch when you push in on the shutter button. Simple fix to take off the side of the camera and bend them, but a nuisance. A buddy of mine had one, and about every six months he would bring it by for me to fix. He got tired of this and sold it.

I don't know if th SE used the same contacts, since I've never had one of them apart.

Bob

Date: Sun, 31 May 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Rolleigon lenses

>On my quest for an affordable SLR Rollei I encountered a mint 6002, with 3
>Rolleigon lenses (50, 80 and 150 mm). I have no experience with these
>lenses. The only remark I read in an old report is that the optical
>qualityof the 80 mm was rated a little bit below the Zeiss equivalent
>(Planar), but that its mechanical properties were good.
>I am very interested in test results and experiences with these
>lenses.
>Jan Helder
>[email protected]
>

The Rolleigon lenses you mention were made by Tokina in Japan under contract from Rollei. They are exceptionally good. In my own experience the 80 and 150 are better than their Zeiss counterparts. I have not tried the 50.

They were discontinued because they just would not sell. BTW, if you decide not to buy this system I'd like to be put in touch with the seller. I've been looking for one of these 150 lenses for several years.

Bob Shell

[Ed. note: see Homebrew Lenses (Bronica) for related ideas and opportunities ;-)]

Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998
From: Tim Ellestad [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Lens adapter for SL66 wanted

I finally got the time to dig out my SL 66 lens adapters and I discovered that the one that I have to mount Leica lenses is a custom created hybrid using what appears to be Leica bellows lens mounts.

There shouldn't be any difficulty putting M39 lenses on the SL 66 via the "Blank Lens Board", however. Just have an M39 diameter hole cut in a Blank Lens Board (I think it's about the same size hole as for a number 1 shutter). There's plenty of room inside the barrel for the Leica jamb nut to retain the lens.

The Blank Lens Board is Rollei of America part number 12034. Mannheim shows it as Blank Lens Board, Rollei SL 66 order code 208 780. Hadley Chamberlain has these new for far, far less than you were indicating in your posting. He also has some pre-cut ones and thinks that he has one already threaded for M39.

These boards, in combination with extension tubes, bellows, etc., open up all sorts of possibilities for the SL 66 that most other medium format systems can't address without serious custom machining. There's nothing like a little creative plumbing.

Tim Ellestad
[email protected]

-----Original Message-----
From: Jan Decher [email protected]
Date: Monday, June 22, 1998
Subject: [Rollei] Lens adapter for SL66 wanted

>Anyone know if NOVOFLEX in Germany makes an M39 (Leica) and/or M42
>(Pentax/Contax S) universal adapter for SL66 bayonet and at what price?
>
>Really want to find such an adapter.  B&H advertises the original Rollei
>item for $500 - crazy for a non-optical ring.
>
>Jan
>

Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: lens mount adapters RE: [Rollei] Rollei SL35

Bob,

You know what a veteran lens hacker I am.

When I was still using SL66 I put all sorts of things on them. One kit came with a 210 mm Schneider Symmar mounted on one of those blank boards Rollei used to sell. That was a nice lens, but didn't focus very close.

I guess my weirdest one was to build an Icarex to SL66 adapter. When Zeiss Ikon went out of the camera business the Icarex lenses were available incredibly cheap brand new. Someone, may have been Marty Lipson at Brooklyn Camera Exchange, got a ton of them complete with camera bayonet ring and was selling them as enlarging lenses (the 50 mm Tessar normal lens). I bought one of these and the bayonet ring and using a piece of plastic plumbing pipe I made an adapter to put this onto SL66. I even put in a little button to stop down the lens. Good for super cloesups only, of course, but that F/2.8 Tessar for the Icarex did a remarkable job as a macro lens.

I still have a 300 mm f/7 Komura lens adapted for SL66, but this is a factory adaptation. It comes with a tube threaded on the front for the lens, and with SL66 bayonet on the back. Been trying to sell this for years, but no takers. Komura had a series of lens heads which screwed into this adapter, but I only ever found the 300 f/7 .

Bob

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Lens adapter for SL66 wanted

>Anyone know if NOVOFLEX in Germany makes an M39 (Leica) and/or M42
>(Pentax/Contax S) universal adapter for SL66 bayonet and at what price?
>
>Really want to find such an adapter.  B&H advertises the original Rollei
>item for $500 - crazy for a non-optical ring.
>
>Jan

I don't know if Novoflex has such a thing. Years ago when I needed an adapter to put M42 lenses onto SL66, I bought two things. First a Durst lensboard, which is round cast metal and has an M42 threaded hole in the middle. Then I bought the rear bayonet piece for as SL66 lens from Rollei as a repair part. I drilled and tapped four holes in the durst lens board, attached the bayonet ring with four screws, and , voila!, an adapter. This cost a fraction of what the Rollei blank board cost, even some years ago.

Bob

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998
From: Tim Ellestad [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Lens adapter for SL66 wanted

Check with Hadley Chamberlain. I know he's got a variety of SL66 lens adapters - uncut as well as sized for certain lenses. He may have one for the M39 size ready to go.

I have one myself that I use for certain macro situations but I can't remember if it is a dedicated M39 mount or if it involves an adapter. If I get a chance, I'll dig it out and see what it is. Tim Ellestad

[Ed. note: see http://medfmt.8k.com/bronhb.html for Ari's note:]
Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998
From: Edward Meyers [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Rollei]lens mount adapters

On Sat, 27 Jun 1998, Ari Pesonen wrote:

> At 02:10 25.06.1998 -0500, Robert Monaghan wrote:
>
> >This means that you can probably use your Rollei
> >SLR lenses on other mounts with adapters and retain infinity focus, but
> >doing the reverse would require an optical adapter in most cases.
>
> SL66 lenses cannot be focused on almost any other camera at all.
>
> >I am wondering which other optics folks have tried on their Rollei SLRs
> >using the lens mount plug or other resources in this thread, besides
> >enlarger lenses for closeup work? Any infinity mount lenses (such as from
> >larger format 6x7 to 4x5 or other lenses? Any tips or ideas to share? thanks!
> I have adapted a Pentacon 300 mm and a 135 mm S2A Nikkor to SL66 with
> custom made mounts.
> There is a commercial adaptor for Mamiya RB67 lenses to SL66 (Zoerk).
>
> Ari P.

Novoflex sold (and may still be selling) a bellows unit with the traditional Novoflex back end 35mm SLR camera adapters, with a front end that takes the Rollei SL66 lenses. This lets me use my SL66 lenses on any number of 35mm SLR cameras with the proper adapter. Works great with my Rollei 3003. I don't have automatic stop-down aperture, however.

Going the other way...the SL66 lens blanks are still available, aren't they? Anyone know what they cost now? Ed

Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998
From: Andras Iklody-Szabo [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 - how many were made?

Craig Chin wrote:

>  ... Did Rollei ever profit from the SL66? Were they  made in large
>quantities? ...

Prochnow gives the following production figures:

SL 66 Oct.1966-Mar.1986 28,900
SL 66E Oct.1982-Sep.1992 2,000
SL 66X Apr.1986-Oct.1992 500
SL 66SE Oct.1986-Oct.1992 3,500

Hope, this helps answer your question.

Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998
From: Jeff Spirer [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] New addition to the family

At 11:15 AM 7/24/98 -0400, Bob Shell wrote:

>Today I feel like a proud papa.  I have in my hands an elusive 150 mm f/4
>Rolleigon lens.  Paul Mayberry at Clayton Classic Camera has been looking
>for one for me, both in the USA and Europe, for well over a year, and just
>happened to stumble onto one last week.

I was going to mention Paul in the recent SL66 thread, because he specializes in them. He knows everything about them that there is to know, and often can locate weird bits and pieces. He's at http://www.classiccamera.com/index.html. (And I have no relationship with him other than as a customer.)

Jeff Spirer
B&W Photos: http://www.pomegranates.com/frame/spirer/

Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998
From: Edward Meyers [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 - how many were made?

Just to add a little to Bob's excellent SL66 info.... The two SL66 bodies I own were purchased in 1968, along with lots of lenses and accessories. I operated an advertising photography studio and much of my work required close-ups and other still-life stuff. I was using a Hasselblad and found it difficult to use for my purposes. The Rollei opened up new vistas for me as I often used the tilting front to gain depth of field in my close-up work. Also, the bellows offers an easy close-up option, especially when I can reverse the lens for improved sharpness, etc. I even have the Luminar adapter and 25mm lens. My lenses are all Carl Zeiss made. In the early 1970s Rollei changed (improved) the shutter mechanism in the camera. I converted both my bodies to the new mechanism. They are still going strong. The only down-feature is the 1/30 sec synch. I had to turn studio lights off while I fired the flash. Although I don't have a commercial studio anymore I cannot part with this wonderful set-up. Also have a number of lens "blanks" with adapters and wierd lenses on them. Still have a few un-used blanks to experiment with, though. Funny thing...The Rollei 40mm Distagon never came with a lens shade. I had to buy a Hasselblad shade for this lens. Same bayonet fitting. This is the only Hasselblad product I currently own. In the early 70s Olden Camera in NYC was selling out SL66 accessories at dirt-cheap prices. I should have picked up the extension bellows at that time. I do have lots of extension tubes, though. Too bad they stopped making this useful instrument.

I was surprised to see one with one film magazine and lens at Tamarken for just under $1,000. I guess shoppers don't know what it is.

Sorry for rambling on about this camera. But I think very highly of it. My meter hood does averaging and spot reading.

What more can you ask? Ed Meyers

Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 - how many were made?

I was thinking back and trying to recall just when it was that I got my first SL66. Must have been 71 or 72. I bought it used, as I did all my SL66 gear. This one had Honeywell on the hood, so was an early one. My others came from EPOI when they carried it and from ROA when they had it.

Since I was an authorized Rollei repair shop at the time, I did all my own upgrades. The cameras are VERY easy to work on, and very modular.

The only weak thing is the flash synch switch, which over time in the older ones would "drift" so it would lose 1/30 synch and go to only working at 1/15th and slower. This piece was easily replaced, though, and they redesigned it several times to make it more robust.

Like Ed, I used to put all sorts of things on the front via the blank lensboards, from view camera lenses to enlarger lenses to a Nikon 55 mm Micro Nikkor. I never owned the Luminars.

My kit consisted of 40 mm, 50 mm, 80 mm, 150 mm and 250 mm, all Zeiss and all Pre-HFT. I always wanted the 30 mm fisheye but could never afford one for the limited use it would have gotten. My 150 was the leaf shutter model with built-in Synchro Compur shutter allowing flash synch up to 1/500th.

I used the E-36RE flash units when I wanted portable flash, with their remote sensors in the flash shoe on the camera.

Great system, and I would suspect that my cameras are still seeing use today. I sold them to a mail order dealer.

Bob

Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998
From: Edward Meyers [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 - how many were made?

The 40mm Distagon I mentioned which accepts the very expensiv shade made for the 40mm Distagon Hasselblad lens...in both cases I'm referring to the first 40mm that was available. It's the same lens so I guess Zeiss used the same parts for t front accessory bayonet. The shade is large and rubber-like a quite thick. I think I paid $40 used. The last new price was prably close to $200.

I have no filters for this large lens and do not know if Tiffen made an adapter. Rollei didn't, I believe. The other Rollei-Zeiss-made lenses I have use the same spring-loaded gelatin filter holder. Tiffen did make a series adapter for the other Rollei lenses. I have it.

I once owned the motor for this camera and sold it for $500, when I thought it was worth about $300. I don't know how many thousands it brings today...Ed

Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 - how many were made?

>Funny story... After I ordered one SL66 and many lenses and
>accessories (new) with four film magazines, the motor, etc.,
>I looked at the list and said to myself, "with all this stuff
>I must have a second body." So I order a second body.
>And later added to the film magazines.
>Cambridge Camera sells a 400mm f/8 (or so) lens for the
>SL66. I'm going to try it.
>Ed

Ed,

I have one of those 400 (or is it 500) f/8 lenses from Cambridge. It's the same one they sell for 35 mm, for T-Mount. Made in Korea. Herwig Zorkendorfer makes the adapters to put the lens on MF cameras. You just screw off the back tube of the lens and screw the head into the adapter. Mine is for Mamiya 645. It is darned dim to focus, but pretty good optically. Also, if you have one of Zork's tilt adapters you can use this lens on your 35 mm with tilt!!!

Bob

We should still have some SL66 straps. The clips were not sold individually.

You can call us at 973 808-9010 x15 during the week and we can check for you. The SL66 uses the same clips as the SLX, 6002, 6006, 3003, 3001 and SL2000 and these straps may still be in stock

HP Marketing Corp. U.S. distributor for Amazon, Braun, Gepe, Giottos, GO Light, Heliopan, HP Combi Plan T, Kaiser fototechnik, KoPho cases, Linhof, Pro Release, Rimowa, Rodenstock,Sirostar 2000

Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Rollei] SL66

Thank you, Bob,

Actually, Mr. Shell's positive comments on the SL 66 in the past helped in my decision to try one.

My knowledge is so limited that my questions may be inadaquate , but here goes :

- will the older, less coated lenses give proper color renditions, or do I need to use filters for that "snap" or brightness

- does the 250mm give a flattened image when used as a portrait lens, making the I imagine it to produce the effect of a 500 lens in 35-format

- if so , what is the best length portrait lens and will I need an extension tube as the Hassleblad 150mm does

- are the focusing screens easily replaceable or will I need to send it in for a Beattie or brighter screen

- I noticed a dealer had blank lenboards avail., would you have to manually stop down the mounted lens to prescribed aperture when using these

- is there a proceedure to follow in removing / replacing lens as in H-brand

I sincerly appreciate your time and patience with a newcomer - hope it's all not too boring.

Thank You,
Dubb

Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Rollei] SL66

>Thank you, Bob,
>    Actually, Mr. Shell's positive comments
>on the SL 66 in the past helped in my
>decision to try one.
>   My knowledge is so limited that my
>questions may be inadaquate , but here
>goes :
>  - will the older, less coated lenses give
>proper color renditions, or do I need to
>use filters for that  "snap" or brightness

The older lenses are coated but not HFT coated, The only difference I ever saw was that shooting into the light caused a slightly higher flare level with the older lenses. Always using a lens hood helps a lot. If you can afford it, get the bellows lens hood and use it with the masks for the longer lenses. If you can't afford the Rollei one, there are generic ones that are cheaper.

>  - does the 250mm give a flattened image
>when used as a portrait lens, making the
>subject look oddly compressed and fatter
>I imagine it to produce the effect of a 500 lens in 35-format

Actually, you have this backwards. It produces the effect of more like a 9- - 100 mm lens on 35 mm, and does make a good portrait lens. So does the 150.

>  - if  so , what is the best length portrait
>lens and will I need an extension tube as the Hassleblad 150mm does

You will NOT need an extension tube since the built-in bellows lets you focus much closer than with Hasselblad.

>  - are the focusing screens easily replaceable or will I need to send
>it in
>for a Beattie or brighter screen

The focusing screens are easy to change yourself. You should get a copy of the instruction manual, though, since it is easier to understand from pictures than a verbal description. I would not recommend the Beattie screen, just get the latest Rollei screen for 6000 series camera. They are the same as SL66 in size and interchange perfectly.

>  - I noticed a dealer had blank lenboards avail., would you have to
>manually stop     down the mounted lens to prescribed aperture when
>using these

If they were not too expensive, I would suggest picking up one or two. You never know when you will run into a bargain lens that you can mount on your SL66 with one of these. Yes, you will have to use manual stopdown.

>  - is there a proceedure to follow in removing / replacing lens as in
>H-brand

Nope. Since there is no shutter in the Rollei lenses (unless you get one of the special ones with shutter) there is nothing to worry about. Even the lenses with shutter go on and off just the same.

Bob

Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998
From: Joe Berenbaum [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Rollei] SL66

At 08:27 30/08/98 -0400, you wrote:

>Hi Dubb,
>Let us know what you need to know about the SL66.  A bunch of us here are
>users or former users of the system and will be glad to help you.
>Bob

I've got a question! Bob, I am now the proud owner of your old L39 -> SL66 adapter, and much to my amazement when I put a 135mm Hektor on this, on the SL66, I seem to get a full image on the focusing screen. The Hektor optics are all at the front end of what is a long narrow tube- so I don't understand why I don't see vignetting on the focusing screen. Do you think it is possible to actually take pictures like this also without vignetting, or do I need to just use the lens head? I've got another adapter for that so it isn't a problem, but I need to know what is happening in the first instance... Maybe you used a long lens on this adapter yourself and know one way or the other.

Joe Berenbaum

Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998
From: Marc James Small [email protected]
Reply to: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] 4.5/13.5cm Hektor

The Hektor was a converted LF lens and will actually give coverage greater than 6cm square. All Leitz (and to my knowledge, all Zeiss) lenses longer than 13.5cm (135mm) will yield MF coverage.

Marc

[email protected] FAX: +540/343-7315
Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!

Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998
From: Joe Berenbaum [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] 4.5/13.5cm Hektor

At 15:20 30/08/98 -0400, you wrote:

>The Hektor was a converted LF lens and will actually give coverage greater
>than 6cm square.  All Leitz (and to my knowledge, all Zeiss) lenses longer
>than 13.5cm (135mm) will yield MF coverage.
>Marc

Marc, I can't tell if this is in response to my query about using this lens on the SL66, but it looks like its a possibility so I am going to assume that it is- if I'm wrong, my aplologies. The question I have is not whether or not the 135 Leitz Hektor optics will cover 6 x 6- I know they will- the question is whether the mount, the "lens tube" of the 135 Hektor that mounts it onto a Leica body will vignette the image-forming light on a 6 x 6 negative. The rear end of the 135 Hektor is a narrow tube, very narrow when compared to the lens opening on the front of the SL66 body or the rear end of the Rollei SL66 lenses, and I cannot understand why I still appear to get a full unvignetted 6 x 6 image on the SL66 focusing screen. Maybe it is vignetted after all and if I shot some slide film I would see it. But the lens is off for cleaning and I can only theorize at the moment.

Joe Berenbaum

Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Rollei] SL66

Hi Joe,

I never tried that lens on a Rollei. If you don't see any vignetting, most likely there isn't any, or at least not much. I'd give it a go and see what happens. Might be really nice to use a Leitz bottle on medium format.

Bob

Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Rollei Pentaprism.

>Hi Richard,
>
>I would like to thank you for responding to my query about the pentaprism.
>However, I was surprised that I only got two responses as you probably
>observed.  One said they were not the same, and yours agreed with my
>understanding that they are all the same.  If you have any other specific
>details on this subject, I would greatly appreciate it.
>Thank you for your time.
>
>Bob Creason

Bob,

I am not an expert on the TLRs, but I think any prism for TLR will fit any of them with removable hood.

The SLRs are a different story, and I do know about this. The fitting for the SL66 is different from the TLR fitting, so they can't be interchanged. The SLX and 6000 series is different again, so they do not fit the TLRs or SL66.

Bob

Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] slide copying for 6000 series

>Has anyone had any experience with making dupes w/ the slide copier
>for the 6000 series/SL66? The catalog says the bellows unit is required.
>What lenses are used? How does this copier work? From the catalog, it
>looks like a slide table holder. With my zeiss 80/2.8 planar and 67mm
>ext tube, I can get about 0.85x, while with my schneider 90 makro and
>ext. tube, I can easily get > 1:1. Can any of this equipment be used to
>avoid having to use the bellows unit?
>
>--Jim

Jim,

I have not tried slide copying with a 6000 series camera. I used to do a good bit of this with my SL66. I have a Multiblitz slide duplicator, which is just a light box with a white diffuser area big enough for 6 X 7 transparencies. It has a flash and a tungsten light source both built in. I used enlarger lenses on the SL66 via an adapter for M 39 thread.

Since slide duping film is not available in 120/220 contrast buildup was always a problem. If you want to hassle with getting it all figured out you can pre-flash the film to cut contrast, but it is a fiddly process, and I eventually just gave up on it and sent my chromes out to a professional duping house. Slide duping film does come in 70 mm, so those places with the right equipment can do really good dupes.

To avoid having to buy one of those expensive blank shutters for 6000 series, you could just work in a darkened room with your enlarger lens on some sort of tubes or bellows. For this purpose you would not need Rollei's expensive bellows and you could use a body cap and some cheap old junker bellows to rig somethimg up. As long as the mirror is down the film is protected, so you could flip the mirror, fire the flash, let the mirror return.

Bob

Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Rollei Sl66 Lenses

>Hi
>     I'm looking at purchasing a 50mm Distagon lens for my (recently
>acquired) SL66, the lens I've found is selling for  $480 US which I'm told
>is quite reasonable. The only issue is that it has a 2mm mark on the front
>glass (~15mm from the lens edge). Will this affect its performance?
>Thanks
>Theo Latsis

Is this an HFT lens? If it is an older non-HFT this is too much to pay for it if it is less than absolutely perfect. If it is a late-vintage HFT this is about right for one in perfect condition. I'd knock off $ 100 for the scratch.

Bob

From Medium Format Digest:
From: tom meyer [email protected]
Subject: Response to Rollei SL66E Experiences
Date: 1998-10-05
hello scott,

KEH camera in atlanta has a sl66e for sale for about $1900.00, i have held it and it's in excellent condition. i have been warned that the electronic sl66 comes with more repair and maintenance necessary than the plain vanilla sl66 (mechanical), consequently i purrchased a beautiful mechanical one (waist level/ 80mm planar/ 120*220 back) for $825.00 and am adding on stuff (prism,lens hood,grid screen), some of which is easily had, some not.

the camera makes razor sharp images and is engineered with fabulous style. for instance, bellows factors are indicated at every magnification using various lenses even with reversed installation. and it's pretty, too. after using an rb67 for years, this camera seems delicate.....there's my opinion...tom

Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 vs 6008 ?????

>Hello Rollei people:
>
>I am having a hard time trying to decide wich one is better camera,  the
>SL66 or the 6008. If we exclude the motor of the 6008, the bellows of the
>SL66 and concentrate in the constructuion quality, metering, strength.
>shutter desing. etc... Which one do you think is better ?
>
>Thanks in advance
>
>Jorge Saravia  

Both are built very well. The metering on the 6008 is much more sophisticated than the metering on any of the SL66 cameras. Also, the SL66 has a mechanically timed shutter, and they are never as accurate as electronically timed shutters as on the 6000 series. When I was using SL66 cameras I had to adjust the shutters very regularly to keep them within tolerance. Of course there is also the problem that the SL66 has very slow flash synch, which limits fill flash outdoors unless you have the leaf shutter lenses.

I weighed all of this at length before reaching the decision several years ago to sell off my SL66 equipment ( I had three cameras, a dozen magazines, lenses, and accessories) and put the money into 6000 series equipment. The only time I miss the SL66 is when I have to shoot closeups.

Bob

Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998
From: Jan Decher [email protected]
Reply to: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] SL66 vs 6008 ?????

Jorge:

SL66 and 6008 are two very different animals. So it depends on what you want them for. It is also a question of cost. You can get excellent built-in macro & some shift capability, two lenses, and a second prism viewinder with an older SL66 system for the price of the 6008 with just the standard lens. But then of course you don't have the metering sophistication of the 6008, or the lens shutter. Again accessories for the 6008 are extremely expensive whereas for the SL66 you can find things at reasonable prices or have specialty equipment (bellows, telephoto lenses) made by Novoflex, Germany.

If I had the money AND wanted top versatilty (metering and all) my choice would still be the SL66 SE (hard to find and VERY pricey). I may revise my opinion once the new Contax 645 is out! Right now I am quite happy with my SL66 system and a hand-held Metrawatt meter (or my Olympus OM 4 spot meter).

Just my 2 cents,
Jan

From Medium Format Digest:
From: james haney [email protected]
Subject: Response to Availability of focus screens for Rollei SL66E
Date: 1998-11-01

I finally did buy the intenscreen for my SL66 and boy, did it make a difference. Focusing with the 5.6 120 S Planar was suddenly like using the 80mm 2.8! And the 80mm is now amazingly bright. I had Beattie make me one with absolutely no lines or focusing aids so I could use it for close-up work without dealing with all of the subsequent problems you get with split screens going black and the sort.

I must say I really prefer the camera now to the old screen. I even think my compositions are improved without the damn split prism in the center of the screen distracting me. And if anything my focus has been better without the "focusing aid."

James

Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 Introduction Date

>At 02:38 PM 1998-10-26 -0800, David Seifert wrote:
>>> When in the  1960 NASA decided to buy 6x6 gear they asked for quotations
>>> from Rollei and Hasselblad. Rollei refused to quote its modified SL 66
>>> because they thought the turnover with NASA would be to small.
>>
>
>The SL66 was introduced at Photokina '66 but, alas!, could have been in
>production much earlier.  This is one of the great Sad Stories of the
>Rolleiflex line:  the SL66 was originally developed in the middle 1950's
>and could have been introduced with, or shortly after, the Hasselblad 500C.
> Had this happened, Rollei would have prospered:  a comparable camera to
>the Hasselblad, coupled with a much more extensive dealer network, would
>have killed the 500C a-borning.  But F&H waited a decade in hopes of
>keeping the TLR at the forefront, and the rest is history:  by the time the
>SL66 was introduced, the dealers had deserted Rolleiflex in droves for
>Hasselblad, and so the Swedish Interloper won Rollei's market away.
>
>Marc
>
>
>[email protected]  FAX:  +540/343-7315
>Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!

I hope they were not lost in the bankruptcy and ownership changes, but Rollei used to have all of the SL66 prototypes. Looking at them, it is obvious that there were two "camps" within Rollei, since about half of them are styled like the Pentacon Six/Praktisix cameras, and half are styled like Hasselblad/Bronica.

The ones styled like Pentacon did not have interchangeable magazines, of course.

Bob

From Medium Format Digest:
From: Scott [email protected]
Subject: Response to SL66 80mm Distagon
Date: 1998-10-22

Daniel-

I was looking into this camera a bit ago and think I have some useful information for you. It has been a while, so if this information proves inaccurate, please someone correct me so Daniel is not misinformed.

the primary differences are: the 80mm Distagon lens has a maximum aperture of f/4, while the 80mm Planner lens can open upto f/2.8

the 80mm Planner lens has the capability to be reverse mounted for extreme close up work, while the Distagon does not.

I hope this proves useful.
Scott

From Medium Format Digest:
From: james haney [email protected]
Subject: Response to SL66 80mm Distagon
Date: 1998-10-23

I have both a Rollei SL66 as well as a copy of the user manual. In the back they list the specifications of the lenses.

The 80mm f4 Distagon has and internal leaf shutter (the speeds are not listed but I would assume 1 second to 1/500th.)

Both the 80mm 2.8 Planar and the Distagon can be "Retro" mounted for closeup work according to the manual with the only issue being that the Distagon is limited to 14.3 cm closest working distancewhen retro mounted while for whatever reason the Planar is capable of a slightly closer working distance of 12 cm.

The main reason for the Distagon as mentioned before is the leaf shutter allowing faster flash synchronization.

James

Date: Mon, 26 Oct 1998
From: "Edward Gosfield III, MD" [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] Re: Rollei Promo Cameras to Pros

I believe Brett Weston received 2 complete SL66 systems from Rollei or their US representatives. Perhaps that was in the Honeywell days. B. Weston often remarked that the use of telephoto lenses in MF allowed him to achieve effects he could not obtain in LF. I have seen 11x14 prints from 6x7 and 10x10 prints from his SL66 which were subjectively as high in quality as his (larger) LF shots. He used the SL66 with tele lenses for some of his 'landscapes' of rooftops in small villages (?in France).

He later used RB67, and Pentax 67 cameras.

ted gosfield

From Medium Format Digest:
From: Per Ofverbeck [email protected]
Subject: Response to ROLLEIFLEX SL66
Date: 1998-11-09

Hi, Kirk,

I owned and used an SL66 for ten years, and I would say that the tilt is far *more* useful for landscapes than for close-ups. For geometrical reasons (Scheimpflug4s rule), you need much more tilt in close-up than you do for distant views. Thus, those 8 degrees are plenty for landscape but mostly insufficient in real close-ups. The limiting factor in landscape is the presence of verticals (trees &c) in the foreground; they look strange if you tilt. Still, if you do landscapes, there is nothing better in 120 than the SL66, and it is worth the extra weight several times over!

Per

From: [email protected] (John Hicks)
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: rollei lens question
Date: 13 Nov 1998

can you use a lens from an SL 66 camera on the new 6008i models?

Nope, SL-66 lenses won't work at all. The 6000-series uses SLX and later electric-shutter lenses.

---
John Hicks
John's Camera Shop

From: "Bob Salomon" [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: rollei lens question
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998

You also would have no way to focus it as the SL66 lenses have no focus mounts.

HP Marketing Corp. U.S. distributor for Amazon, Braun, Gepe, Giottos, GO Light, Heliopan, HP Combi Plan T, Kaiser fototechnik, KoPho cases, Linhof, Pro Release, Rimowa, Rodenstock,Sirostar 2000

From Medium Format Digest:
From: Dan Bereskin [email protected]
Subject: Response to Rollei SL66E Experiences
Date: 1998-11-29

The SL66 is a mechanical marvel, and a joy to use, but it is delicate, which is one reason why the pros preferred the more robust and lighter 'blad. When packing an SL66/E, it's important to make sure that both sides are well padded:an inch or more of foam is not too much. That's where the effect of knocks can have the most serious internal effect.

[Ed. note - see Bob Shell's comments below before using force...]
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998
From: Bob Parsons [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL 66 Jammed

Richard Miller [email protected] asked:

"Does anyone have any information on how to unjam an SL66? Mine has locked up with the mirror in the up position and nothing will move."

Richard,

Mine used to jam infrequently with the mirror up although I didn't do any thing stupid to cause this. In the end the problem got so annoying I had it serviced by Classic Repairs in London. Although they couldn't find the exact cause it hasn't jammed since the CLA by Classic.

You probably don't want to know how I used to unjam it but when you need to get that picture .......... at your own risk.....

With the camera held in the left hand in the normal picture taking position I would bring up my right fist and hit the bottom of the camera hard near the quick release. In my case this always worked and caused the shutter cycle to complete and the mirror to drop. Of course the cause of your problem may not be the same as mine. The long term solution is to have the camera serviced.

I would be very interested to know if others have had this problem and the exact cause/cure. I think Rollei must have been aware of this or something similar because when I spoke to Brian at Classic Repairs I think he said that on later SL66 Rollei increased the length of a pin in the mechanism to try to avoid the problem.

The SL66 is a superb camera, one I enjoy using very much!

Best regards. Bob Parsons [email protected]

and a followup note:

Richard, I wrote:

"With the camera held in the left hand in the normal picture taking position I would bring up my right fist and hit the bottom of the camera hard near the quick release"

If you decide to try what I used to do make sure you dont have a heavy lens mounted and that the lens tilt lock is tight!

Best regards, Bob Parsons

Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL 66 Jammed

>Does anyone have any information on how to unjam an SL66?  Mine has
>locked up with the mirror in the up position and nothing will move.
>
>TIA for any advice.
>
>Richard Miller
>Fairfax, VA

Common problem on older SL66. Take off the lens, and reach in the lens mount opening and GENTLY push up on the front of the mirror. Usually that will cause it to travel the rest of the way up and free the mechanism.

Camera probably needs a good cleaning and lubrication.

Bob

Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL 66 Jammed

>Richard,   I wrote:
>
>"With the camera held in the left hand in the normal picture taking
>position I would bring up my right fist and hit the bottom of the camera
>hard near the quick release"
>
>If you decide to try what I used to do make sure you dont have a heavy
>lens mounted and that the lens tilt lock is tight!
>
>Best regards,   Bob Parsons 

I don't recommend your cure.

The problem is usually caused by the mirror not going quite all the way up, and the reason this may have worked is that it jarred the mirror the rest of the way up. Much safer just to reach in the lens mount and gently push the mirror up.

Force and precision cameras are not a good mix.

Bob

From Medium Format Digest:
From: Paul Roark [email protected]
Subject: Response to SL 66 Lenses
Date: 1999-01-12

I shoot SL66 and have shopped and tested both single and HFT coated lenses. I switched to an HFT 80, which seemed considerably better than the older one I had. I do not know if it was the coating or other factors. I stuck with my single coated 50. The only difference I saw was the intensity of the ghost image if the light source was in the frame. The HFT ghosting is about 1/2 as intense. However, the HFT coating seems softer and dings are common. At f 22 the coating dings actually become visible on the film. All 150s with shutters are non-HFT. Mine seemed sharper than the Rollei HFT 150. However, the Sonnar, while extremely sharp, does not seem to handle flare as well. (Use a lens shade.) Bottom line -- I prefered to save my money and stick with the non-HFT except for the 80.

From Medium Format Digest:
From: Mark Eddey [email protected]
Subject: Response to ROLLEIFLEX SL66
Date: 1999-01-19

I have just purchased an SL66, probably quite old but in good condition according to the service mob I used to get it checked out. The tilt facility is the main reason I purchased this system as you can use the best apertures of the lens ?f5.6-f8, get great depth of field and have the advantage of not needing great long exposures with slow film. In Australia, these things are around but it is a little difficult to find bits and pieces. So far I have the body, 80/4 Planar, 2 backs and I have just found a prism finder in quite good nick. I'm looking for lenses preferably 50mm/4 Distagon and perhaps a 150/4 Sonnar and/or 250/5.6 Sonnar. Maybe a hand grip as well.

I have made an adaptor for the tripod as I found with my Manfrotto that the tilt facility was unuseable due to the size of the tripod head. Contact me for details if interested.

For anyone who doubts the usefulness of the camera for landscape photography, particularly the tilt facility, read Barry Thornton's Book, The Making of Fine Monographs. It convinced me to change from the Bronica GS-1 system to the Rollie.

Cheers, Mark.......

Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Website Link

I was interested in your SL66 references on the Rollei Digest, and have enjoyed the articles on your website listing. I have been specializing in this camera (and other Rollei SLRs) for over 20 years. I was wondering if I could get a link to my website (www.hecphoto.com) on your listing as I often provide interested parties with literature on the SL66 as well as other Rollei MF cameras.

I was also very interested in your comment concerning a zoom lens for the camera 170-320/4. That is news to me - perhaps I have missed something rather large all these years (ha ha). There are/were 12 lenses for the SL66, which includes 2 leaf shutter models. 13 if you count the later 60/3.5 Distagon of which very few were made for the E/SE.

Thanks,

Hadley Chamberlain

Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Website Link

Thanks for adding my posting for Rollei SL66. Please note I also specialize in the 6000 series Rolleis as well, and some Rollei TLR. However, I really am not a Rollei repair site and do not solicit repair business, although I have exceptional sources for repair of what I sell of course.

Yes, while the SL66 is an older camera, having rack an pinion focusing, lens tilt and lens mounting features, as well as macro capabilities, it is still popular with many accomplished photographers and used in many commercial studios. As you know the SL66 was used by Brett Weston, Davidson and others. Like some of the Rollei TLRs it is still one of the sharpest MF cameras on the market.

Thanks again,

Hadley Chamberlain

Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: another SUN zoom for Rollei SL66 135-300mm f/4.5? Re: Website Link

Yes you are right about many non-Rollei brand lenses having been made for SL66 over the years. I don't get involved in selling them much, but I have sold and used some long Century Tele Athenars made here in Hollywood that had SL66 mounts. I sell lens bayonet lens mounting plates that replicate the plate Rollei made that makes it pretty easy to adapt all kinds of lenses to the SL66. View lenses in shutter, enlarging lenses, microscope lenses, barrell lenses, etc. As you know, one of the benefits of a focal plane shutter camera.

Hadley

Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999
From: Alan Brown [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66

>I just had a chance to see my first SL66 from a friend of mine. I was quite
>impressed with the tilt and bellows combination. He told me a basic system
>with waist level finder, 80mm 2.8 planar and 120 back could be had for
>around $1,000.
>
> I've used a rolleicord Vb for over 25 years but I have been thinking about
>going for an interchangeable system. (I've even thought about the Kiev just
>to keep the costs down) I'd love to hear what people have to say about the
>SL66. Good and bad. Things to look out for. costs, lenses, etc.
>Thanks
>Allen

I have used the SL66 for 25 years. It is a superb camera. Great lenes of course, but it is well built and very functional. After 24 years of use I had to have Harry Fleenor work on it, so that is a testimony to its ruggedness. The tilt feature is VERY usable and handy. The only disadvantages are that is slightly heavy and big and that it has a low flash synch speed, which has never been a problem for me since I don't use it in a studio situation.

I think it is the best value in medium format photography.

Hope this helps.

Alan Brown

Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999
From: [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] SL66

I had one for about ten years: a GREAT camera if you need close-up focussing and back tilt (if you look closely, you see that it is really the back that tilts, not the front), a bit heavy if you do not need them.

Two things to be very careful about:

1) NEVER forget to return to zero tilt before turning the focusing knob back towards infinity position!

2) NEVER store the camera standing on its lens in a bag, even a padded one! The weight of the body will eventually deform the lens board and bayonet when that bag bounces around. Also, the screws holding the focusing knob in place are severely under-dimensioned, and they get stressed as well if you carry the camera this way.

Otherwise, it seemed built to last a lifetime!

Regards
Per

----------------------------
I just had a chance to see my first SL66 from a friend of mine. I was quite impressed with the tilt and bellows combination. He told me a basic system with waist level finder, 80mm 2.8 planar and 120 back could be had for around $1,000.

I've used a rolleicord Vb for over 25 years but I have been thinking about going for an interchangeable system. (I've even thought about the Kiev just to keep the costs down) I'd love to hear what people have to say about the SL66. Good and bad. Things to look out for. costs, lenses, etc.

Thanks
Allen

Per Vfverbeck
Stockholm
Sweden

Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999
From: Ulrich Barthel [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SV:[Rollei] SL66

Hi Guys

There is more to watch for on the SL66

1) Do not even consider buying a camera under serial number 8000 sn 2908000 + only unless the vendor can proof that an extensive overhaul was done.

2) Do not try to force the dark slide into place when the shutter is not cocked!!!

3) Early cameras had a tendency for the mirror to hang up in the upper position.

The factory always denied that there was a problem until right before they went "under"; only then did they solve the problem and came out with a mirror release lever which had been slightly lengthened. In order to find this design bug they had to do studies with a high speed motion picture camera.

Ulrich

Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999
To: [email protected]
From: Jan Decher [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] Sl66 blues

From: "Ian Herriott" [email protected]

..... I load the magazine with film, 120 (with the 12 showing on the side), drop it in, shut it up, wind the knob on the right side waiting for the film sensor to bring up a #1 on the exposure window . . . nothing. I can wind through the whole roll and the knob doesn't push down or exposure come up. OK, now even if I pop the back on the body, the shutter will not cock/tension. If I disengage it with the little silver tab on the wind (or without the back on) it is smooth as butter.....

Thanks, Ian

=========

Ian,

I think I had the same happen to me with one magazine once. Frustrating when you waste the film that way, isn't it? I don't have my camera manual or the respective pages of Mannheim's great book here at work right now, but I think, what you need to check is the little sprocket (cog?) wheel sticking out on the camera side of the magazine. It should be "wheeled" all the way in the direction of the little arrow until it stops, then the film sensor will correctly stop at exposure one (try with a ruined film) when you load.

Maybe others can improve on my explanation - I did this from memory. It shouldn't be a case for the Rollei doctor... Happy SL66 shooting ( I will get mine into the spring flora here in VT next week).

Jan

Date: Sun, 16 May 1999
From: Jose Menendez [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] What MF SLR to buy?

You can buy a well kept Rolleiflex SL66 complete with normal 2,8/80 Planar lens and interchangeable magazine back at a price similar to a good 2,8F or 3,5F and you would have a completely mechanical instrument with choice of focal lenghts (Carl Zeiss or Rolley made Zeiss).

The lenses are superb (not cheap) but you can add them later and select your preference on ample selection from 30mm, 40mm, 50mm, 80 with compur shutter, 120mm, 150 with or without compur, 250mm and longer.

You will have also great close focus possibilities with the basic camera because it has built in bellows and reverse lens position, not talking even the Scheimpflung capability.

I have such a camera and a few lenses and I am in love with it.

Jose

Date: Tue, 18 May 1999
From: Jan Decher [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] SL66 & long lenses

I would second Jose's opinion. After all thanks to the focal plain shutter you can adapt all kinds of other lenses to the SL66 (East German Zeiss, Meyer Goerlitz, Pentacon etc.) and Novoflex still sells a nice 5.6/400mm follow focus lens specifically for the SL66 for about $3000 which can also be adapted to work on 35mm cameras.

The main drawback I find with the older (affordable) SL66 is it's lack of a built-in light meter (especially for slide photography). The available chimney meter finder is hard to use with long lenses and only partially coupled.

Jan

Date: Tue, 18 May 1999
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 & long lenses

...
Yes, you can adapt the Zeiss Jena and Meyer lenses, but unless you can do the machine work yourself this is expensive. It is not just a matter of putting an adapter between lens and body, you have to physically remove part of the back of the lens to get infinity focus. I had this done once to a Jena 180 mm MC Sonnar and the adaptation cost around $ 1,000, and that was seven or eight years ago!!

If you don't need square format, you can just buy a Zorkendorfer adapter and use those same lenses on a Mamiya 645. I have a Jena 300 mm f/4 and a Pentaconar 500 mm f/5.6 that I use on my Mamiya 645 that way.

I just got in a Contax 645 outfit and want to check with Zork to find out if he is making an adapter for that one yet, and if the focus confirmation will work with these lenses. If so, this may turn out to be my ideal camera for long lenses.

Bob

Date: Thu, 03 Jun 1999
From: S K CHAN [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 frame spacing

It does not seem to be a common problem to me. Have you check if the serial number of the insert is matched to the magazine housing itself ? If you have more that one magazine, there would be chance of swapping the inserts between magazines. The detection of the start of film is actually quite similar to Rolleiflex TLRs, the only difference is that for TLRs, the film is fed through the gap of two rollers, and for the SL66 magazine, one roller is on the insert and another is on the housing. So if the inserts are swapped, the film start detection could be affected and spacing may also be ideal.

I have consistently been getting 13 exposures from a 120 roll on the 12/24 magazine and can get 17 exposures from the 645 magazine, which is quite amazing considering the negative size from SL66 is actually slightly larger than that from a Hassie back.

Happy shooting...

Jan Decher wrote:

> >Have you had any ordeals with frame spacing?  I would be very  interested in
> >hearing your experiences.  I think I've figured a few things out about my
> >troubles recently, but not without some agony.
> >Tim Ellestad
>
> Tim:
> I think I have at least one SL66 magazine from which I get only 11 shots
> due to frames being spaced out too much (or is it the lab cutting off part
> of the film???).
>  I should check again with my next black and white film  processed at home
> and also keep track of magazine numbers of the three magazines I am using
> (I suppose they are numbered).
> Should really use the SL66 more, but don't have a 5.6/250 lens yet (any
> leads?).
> Jan

Date: Fri, 4 Jun 1999
From: Tim Ellestad [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 frame spacing

>Tim:
>I think I have at least one SL66 magazine from which I get only 11 shots
>due to frames being spaced out too much (or is it the lab cutting off part
>of the film???).
> I should check again with my next black and white film  processed at home
>and also keep track of magazine numbers of the three magazines I am using
>(I suppose they are numbered).
>Should really use the SL66 more, but don't have a 5.6/250 lens yet (any
>leads?).
>Jan

Hi Jan -

Thanks for your response. I had a thought about your fat spacing mag. I wonder if the winding mechanism is stuck on the 220 taper while showing 120 frame counting? If so, I would guess that this is something that would be easily repaired. I have been led to believe, though, that magazine parts for the 120/220 mags may be getting sparse and it might be a good time to get any of these repairs done or replace faulty mags. The latest mags were 120 or 220 exclusively. You could check out whether your problem was mag or lab induced by seeing where the latent frame numbers are lining up. On my mags they start at about one third of the frame height down from the frame line. S K CHAN makes a good suggestion in his post about checking the film feeler roller as well. I am mystified, though, as to how that mechanism could be simply late.

My framing problem is just the opposite (or, in fact, consistent with what C K is experiencing). I had several mags that were sneaking the frames closer together. On the occasional really close pair, the frame lines would butt up to each other (I never did get an actual overlap, however). In that I use this system for commercial transparency shooting I couldn't accept the occasional close pair. When individual frames were cut to tape to the scanner it often meant cutting a portion of the next frame which, unfortunately, was often the next frame of a bracket set that was promised to the client, either as simply a bracket exposure variation or a safety frame. The clients expect delivery of everything I indicate so I can't tolerate this kind of surprise. I sent the most blatant offenders to the healing hands of Harry Fleenor and he made them right.

I have a theory about this close spacing problem that goes beyond simple mag adjustment, though, and Harry thinks I may be correct. I think that I can force frames closer together by over-exertion on the advance crank. When I get going on certain kinds of subjects I can get pretty vigorous and zippy with the cranking and I think that doing this causes quick, slipping starts of the take-up spool that cinches up the accumulating layers of film and paper, thus not pulling a complete frame dimension with each cycle. I know that the first two or three frames will be spaced a little closer and that is an inherent characteristic of the advance mechanism, but I was able to get rolls where the last latent frame number was still well above the last frame exposed. As per the comments of C K CHAN, if I were to ignore the popped winding knob and shoot another frame, It would definitely be still on the film. The problem is I wouldn't be able to bank on it, so the best shot of the shoot, so to speak, might be lost. Incidentally, Harry Fleenor thinks that this cinching effect might apply to twin-lens winding as well.

I suggest that you might take a look at Hadley Chamberlain's web site (hecphoto.com) regarding a 250mm Sonnar. I see that he has several available and they appear to be real values. I have a 250mm myself, and it is a GREAT lens - every bit a match for my 150mm. Mine does not have the HFT coatings but I use it well hooded all the time and it looks great. I've had it on an aerial bench and it is diffraction-limited wide open - f 5.6! I've found Hadley's merchandise to be very honestly represented and that he stands staunchly behind anything he sells. I often use the 250mm for executive portraits of subjects with overly narrow faces or protruding noses and I've sent more than one 5 o'clock shadow back for a shave because the 250mm will show every whisker in a normal bust shot. I think you'll never regret getting a 250mm.

Tim Ellestad
[email protected]

Date: Thu, 01 Jul 1999
From: Joe Berenbaum [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Any SL66 users out there?

At 02:29 PM 7/1/99 -0400, you wrote:

>Hi, everybody.  I'm looking for opinions from folks who have used the
>SL66 system, especially in a backpacking situation.  The bulk of my
>photography is of nature, and since you can't see very far in Virginia's
>dense forests anyway, I've been concentrating on close-ups.  If anybody
>has used the SL66 in this or similar situations, I'm curious about:
>
>1. Relative weight
>2. Ruggedness/Reliability
>3. Any "hidden" must-have equipment (e.g. how necessary is a tripod
>macro stage? anything else?)
>4. Exposure calculation - are the film plane and rear nodal points of
>the lenses marked so you can factor bellows extension?  If not, how is
>this accomplished?
>5. What size(s) filters do the lenses take?
>6. Anything else you care to add.
>
>TIA.
>-Aaron

Re; [2]; I've had an SL66 system for a few years and I do like it very much, but I would be reluctant to take it out backpacking or even take it out at all if not well padded and protected. I discussed this with Brian at the UK Rollei Service dept (Classic Repair Services) and he explained that in his opinion it is more of a studio camera and not really designed for banging around with. I have also read elsewhere that it is more than usually susceptible to knocks and bangs and needs to be well padded if carried about. If I was going to do nature photography I would seriously think about the alternative systems, like Hasselblad if I wanted the same kind of lenses, or Mamiya, Bronica, Pentax etc. Especially Pentax 67.

Joe Berenbaum
mailto:[email protected]

Date: Thu, 01 Jul 1999
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Any SL66 users out there?

----------

>From: Aaron Reece 
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [Rollei] Any SL66 users out there?
>Date: Thu, Jul 1, 1999, 7:29 PM
>
>
>Hi, everybody.  I'm looking for opinions from folks who have used the
>SL66 system, especially in a backpacking situation.  The bulk of my
>photography is of nature, and since you can't see very far in Virginia's
>dense forests anyway, I've been concentrating on close-ups.  If anybody
>has used the SL66 in this or similar situations, I'm curious about:

I live in Virginia, too, and used SL66 from around 1969 until just a few years ago. The following is from experience.

>1. Relative weight

Heavier than a Hasselblad, lighter than an RB or RZ. I didn't mind the weight when I saw the photos!

>2. Ruggedness/Reliability

Just don't poke a hole in the bellows and you can hardly hurt one. Mine were dropped repeatedly in the years I had them, and all three are still in use by the people who bought them from me.

>3. Any "hidden" must-have equipment (e.g. how necessary is a tripod
>macro stage? anything else?)

Good tripod is a must. These days I would use one of the Gitzo Mountaineer models to save on overall weight. I never had a macro stage and didn't really miss it.

>4. Exposure calculation - are the film plane and rear nodal points of
>the lenses marked so you can factor bellows extension?  If not, how is
>this accomplished?

I had the TTL meter and used it for closeups. You can use the scale on the side of the bellows support to calculate if you like.

>5. What size(s) filters do the lenses take?

They all take bayonet filters. Bay VI if I remember right. Get one of the adapters from Tiffen or B + W and use with 67 mm screw filters which are much less costly.

>6. Anything else you care to add.

Great camera system. I was always sorry that Rollei didn't put the electronics of the 6000 series into an SL66 body. I switched to the 6000 series because I wanted the automation.

Bob

Date: Thu, 01 Jul 1999
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Any SL66 users out there?

>I would like to know what he used to carry it around in
>because if I can do it I would like to! It would be a great camera to use
>for ladscape photography because of the tilt and bellows but I do believe
>it is somewhat delicate and my own experience seems to bear that out.
>
>Joe Berenbaum
>mailto:[email protected]

Berenbaum >mailto:[email protected]

Joe,

I must disagree. The SL66 is a rugged camera. If you drop one with the bellows fully extended you can mess it up, but that's about the only way.

Mine were subjected to heavy use and carried around a lot in ordinary camera bags and on neck straps. Never had a problem.

Bob

Date: Fri, 02 Jul 1999
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Another question for SL 66 afficianados

I'm going to assume that you intended to ask if it was possible to mount non-Rollei lenses.

The answer is yes, but with some caveats. Rollei did sell a blank lens board for the SL66, and I had one and used it with some view camera lenses.

As for lenses made for Pentacon 6/Praktisix/Exakta 66/ etc. The barrels are too long to just mount on the SL66 unless you want to use them only for closeup. I had a 150 mm Meyer that someone had converted for SL66 by taking the lens head out of the focusing mount and adding a tube. I had a 180 mm f/2.8 CZJ Sonnar MC which Herwig Zorkendorfer converted to SL66 mount for me. This was nice because his conversion leaves the focusing mount intact, so you can run the bellows all the way out and then turn the focusing ring for more extension.

This sort of conversion work is not cheap, though.

Bob
----------

>From: Gary Toop [email protected]
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [Rollei] Another question for SL 66 afficianados
>Date: Fri, Jul 2, 1999, 2:25 PM
>

>
> Here's a question for the SL 66 users on the list:  is it possible
>to mount Rollei lenses on the SL 66, or does the bellows generally
>preclude doing so?  There were a lot of interesting lenses made for the
>Exacta 66 and, I believe, Schneider still makes some very nice lenses for
>the current version of this camera.
>
>Gary Toop

Date: Fri, 2 Jul 1999
From: Tim Ellestad [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Another question for SL 66 afficianados

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Date: Friday, July 02, 1999 10:53 AM
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Another question for SL 66 afficianados

>I'm going to assume that you intended to ask if it was possible to
>mount non-Rollei lenses.

I believe that early in this thread there was a question about the SL 66 concerning close-up suitability with a follow-up comment pointing out the SL 66's 1/30th second focal plane shutter x-sync. Here the SL 66 offers the possibility of addressing both problems by easily adapting some superb close-up lenses (G-Claron, various enlarging or process lenses, etc.) in leaf shutter. Shooting can be conveniently handled with a dual cable release that trips the focal plane shutter first (set on bulb).

Regarding durability, I too have put a lot of mileage on SL 66's and have found them to be sturdy and reliable. I carry everything that is remotely breakable in cases that are appropriately padded and, if they have to withstand shipping, armored (Anvil, A&J, Pelican, etc.) I have always operated under the assumption that any photo related gear was likely delicate - and certainly expensive.

Tim Ellestad
[email protected]

Date: Fri, 02 Jul 1999
From: Gary Toop [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Another question for SL 66 afficianados

Bob Shell wrote:

> I'm going to assume that you intended to ask if it was possible to
> mount non-Rollei lenses.

Oops. Yes. Thanks!

> The answer is yes, but with some caveats.  Rollei did sell a blank
> lens board for the SL66, and I had one and used it with some view
> camera lenses.

That sounds very handy.

> As for lenses made for Pentacon 6/Praktisix/Exakta 66/ etc.  The
> barrels are too long to just mount on the SL66 unless you want to
> use them only for closeup.  I had a 150 mm Meyer that someone had
> converted for SL66 by taking the lens head out of the focusing
> mount and adding a tube.  I had a 180 mm f/2.8 CZJ Sonnar MC which
> Herwig Zorkendorfer converted to SL66 mount for me.  This was nice
> because his conversion leaves the focusing mount intact, so you can
> run the bellows all the way out and then turn the focusing ring for
> more extension.
>
> This sort of conversion work is not cheap, though.

I can imagine. It's rather disappointing that you can't use lenses in Pentacon 6 mount on the SL 66: the Schneider lenses for the Exakta 66 III are supposed to be superb and are available new, but the body is not reputed to be very solid. It would have been nice to be able to match them with the SL 66 body, which seems to have a much better reputation for reliability.

On a related note, do you know if the blank lens board for the SL 66 could be drilled to take the heads of lenses with removable heads? I have in mind, particularly, the Leitz 135mm Hektor for LTM and M-Mount cameras. I understand that it will cover 6x6 and it is reputed to be a very fine performer at small apertures for macro and copy work. It might be a very useful combination.

Many thanks for the useful information!
Gary Toop

Date: Fri, 02 Jul 1999
From: Joe Berenbaum [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Another question for SL 66 afficianados

At 01:58 PM 7/2/99 -0400, you wrote:

>       On a related note, do you know if the blank lens board for the SL 66
>could be drilled to take the heads of lenses with removable heads?  I
>have in mind, particularly, the Leitz 135mm Hektor for LTM and M-Mount
>cameras. I understand that it will cover 6x6 and it is reputed to be a
>very fine performer at small apertures for macro and copy work.  It
>might be a very useful combination.

I've done this with the 135/f4 Elmar bayonet mount lens head but I had to have a custom adapter made by SRB in the UK in order to make the lens focus on infinity- the lens head needs to screw into a panel about 2" (very roughly) in front of the SL66 bayonet. I use this combination for portraits. And I can get medium format Leica pictures this way! The lens head for the LTM Hektor 135 is supposed to be a different thread but it fits too. And I think it focuses on infinity but not in exactly the same position, IIRC the camera bellows need to be focused out about 1mm or so with this combination for infinity.

Joe Berenbaum
mailto:[email protected]

Date: Fri, 2 Jul 1999
From: Tim Ellestad [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Another question for SL 66 afficianados

...

>Tim Ellestad wrote:
>>
>> I believe that early in this thread there was a question about the SL 66
>> concerning close-up suitability with a follow-up comment pointing out the SL
>> 66's 1/30th second focal plane shutter x-sync.  Here the SL 66 offers the
>> possibility of addressing both problems by easily adapting some superb
>> close-up lenses (G-Claron, various enlarging or process lenses, etc.) in
>> leaf shutter.  Shooting can be conveniently handled with a dual cable
>> release that trips the focal plane shutter first (set on bulb).

Gary Toop wrote -

> This is an interesting possibility for macro work.  However, might
>there not be some drop in resolution compared to what is possible with a
>good MF macro lens such as the 120 S-Planar?  It is my understanding
>that LF lenses often give up some resolution in order to obtain greater
>coverage.

Probably so on large format lenses. The diffraction limitation stop is likely farther down - my 120 S-Planar is diffraction limited wide open. But many of the lenses I was thinking of are medium format lenses - certainly some enlarging lenses like the Componons can be shuttered. But maybe most importantly, in these close-up and photomacro image sizes, three dimensional subjects plus the medium format stinginess with depth-of-field will demand such small apertures that there shouldn't be any difference anyway. Sharpness vs image size is always a trade-off in photomacrography.

Years ago I was a biomedical photographer and we concerned ourselves about this quite a bit when shooting gross specimens. Diffraction loss starts to defeat the minute subject detail that you are trying to convey. Kodak published a wonderful manual on this very thing including a method to calculate the subject detail/diffraction loss compromise point. I think that EK hasn't put out anything like this in years, though. Anyway, this is all starting to mix in with the dust bunnies in my aging brain now.

Tim Ellestad
[email protected]

Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] 45 degree prisms & handgrips

----------

>From: "itzik it" [email protected]
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: Re: [Rollei] 45 degree prisms & handgrips
>Date: Tue, Aug 24, 1999, 5:42 AM
>
>
> hiya melinda
>
> lovely name by the way.
>                            
> well there some more expensive ones who have place to connect a shutter
> release cable.
> most have a place to connect a flash on top.
>
> there are some with a hand-grip - like it's holding the camera and flash.
> others are flat - no hand grip - like the camera is holding the flash.
>
> itzik

Rollei only made ONE kind of hand grip for the SL66. It is an L-bracket and attaches to the quick release fitting on the camera. It goes on the left side and allows you to easily focus with your left hand and then trip the shutter. Your right hand steadies the camera and winds the film.

There was a flash mounting bracket which attaches to this grip, but it was sold separately and most likely is pretty hard to find these days.

Bob

Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] 45 degree prisms & handgrips

----------

>From: melinda [email protected]
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: Re: [Rollei] 45 degree prisms & handgrips
>Date: Tue, Aug 24, 1999, 5:16 AM
>
>
> Thank you Bob.  I will now try to hunt down both of these things.
>
> The very reason I think that I need a 45 degree prism, is the fact that I
> am getting a very bad  
> neck, but didn't want to put that in my previous note as I thought perhaps
> I was a wimp.
>
> Regarding the grip - do they have a function on them so that you can
> release the shutter from them,
> or would this be a fantasy of mine. Melinda

The grips came with a cable release so you could fire the camera. Many of the grips I see for sale don't have the cable, though. So long as the mounting piece for the cable is still there you could buy a cable release separately and hook it up.

Bob

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Sat, 09 Oct 1999
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Re: Melinda's request for SL66E backs

> I've been told you can use SL66 backs on the SL66S/E but you lose the
> use of the exposure meter, and cosmetically they are different.

Yes, the backs for the E series have an ISO setting on them. Any SL66 back will fit any SL66 camera regardless of specific model but the older SL66 backs will not key the meter with the ISO setting. I don't remember if the meter just doesn't work or if it just defaults to ISO 100.

The backs for the metered models come in separate versions for 120 and 220 film, while the backs for the older non-metered cameras have a switch to change from one to the other.

Bob

From Rollei List:
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999
From: Tim Ellestad [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] camera quality

Gary Toop wrote -

> Many thanks for the clarification on the use of "HFT" - I have a
>feeling I should have known that by now - though I didn't!
> Let me rephrase the question - how much difference in contrast and
>flare control is there likely to be between later Planar equipped Fs,
>which have a Zeiss T* coatings, and the GX?  My guess is that the
>differences are probably minimal, but it would be interesting to learn
>that I am wrong!

Gary -

I have made a side-by-side comparison of the original 40mm Distagon F4 for the SL 66, original coatings and HFT. I did this both on aerial image and photographically. Rollei advertised that the lenses for the SL 66 would reach diffraction limitation by the first stop, and they both did. The older lens, however hit diffraction limitation before the first half-stop detent, on axis. The HFT coated lens achieved diffraction limited performance before the first full-stop click. Contrast was better in the HFT coated lens as would be suspected, and that was fairly easily identifiable in side-by-side prints. While diffraction limitation performance was slightly better in the older lens, I suspect that MTF performance, the true measure of a lens, nearly evened them out. I think that the older lens looked slightly better, albeit flatter, only because it was a better assembly. The HFT coated lens also lived up to Rollei's promise.

Both lenses were superb and hard to tell apart in 6 foot enlargements. Of the SL 66 lenses, the HFT lenses are warmer and there is a better color match from lens to lens, something that I am well aware of having spent years as a cinematographer. The shadows are slightly "richer" with the HFT coatings.

The biggest difference, though, comes with hot, small light sources are within the frame such as in some architectural interiors, construction site shots, night-for-nights, etc. There the older coatings can really make trouble with unwanted iris-shaped flare patterns, etc. The HFT coatings can truly master this problem. I shot right into intense, fiber-optic sources in dark fields with no problem. This can be impossible with the older coatings.

I had to re-shoot an architectural inter done with my old 40mm Distagon because I got some terrible flares as described above from a recessed light in the ceiling, right above me, and at about 80 degrees to the front element - well out of the angle of the light circle. When I went back to re-shoot, I simply couldn't see the light-strike on the focussing screen. I killed it with a black-wrap "eyebrow".

It is fair to say, however, that in more standard situations the performance difference between the two coating schemes is minimal - particularly with longer focal lengths.

Tim Ellestad
[email protected]

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999
From: Tim Ellestad [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] camera quality

-----Original Message-----
From: Marc James Small [email protected]
Date: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 6:34 PM
Subject: Re: [Rollei] camera quality

>At 05:23 PM 7/21/99 -0500, Tim Ellestad wrote:
>>All multicoated SL 66 and SLX lenses are HFT.  The layering schemes are
>>different from T* (they are visibly different as well) but achieve pretty
>>much the same results.  A Blad shooting colleague of mine who also had used
>>Rollei in the past actually told me that he thought the Rollei coatings were
>>superior.  I couldn't vouch for that being the case myself, though.
>
>I do not believe this to be so.  Our information is that all CZ lenses
>after 1973 were multicoated whether so marked or not.  Hence, an SL66 lens
>made at Oberkochen in, say, 1976, will be multi-coated though it will lack
>the "T*" designation.
>
>Marc
>
>[email protected]  FAX:  +540/343-7315

Marc -

I looked in my folder of SL 66 stuff and Rollei started selling HFT lenses in Feb '73 or earlier. I suspect that they continued to sell off the inventory of non-HFT coated lenses until re-stock, then went to HFT since it appears and has been stated that the first HFT coated lenses were the same as the standard coated lenses except for the multicoating. Some lenses, such as the leaf shutter lenses apparently were never available in HFT and I have those lenses.

Mine are definitely not unmarked T* coatings, though. Under modest inspection you can plainly see that they are quite different from T*. I don't know any SL 66 person who has ever seen what appears to be a T* coated SL 66 lens. While I really appreciate my non-HFT SL 66 lenses, if they have some kind of multicoating scheme it's a rather poor one.

Only HFT lenses were ever made for SLX. That's also what Mannheim shows in his '75 edition.

Tim Ellestad
[email protected]

From Rollei List:
Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999
From: Marc James Small [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] SL66 Lens Provenance

At 08:22 AM 7/22/99 +0100, Bob Shell wrote:

>Any info on the 50, 80 and 150 built by Rollei under Zeiss license?

I finally dug out the Zeiss objective flier -- my most recent copy is from 6/96. I must correct my earlier posting. Here is the straight skinny from Zeiss on the SL66 lenses:

MADE BY ZEISS AT OBERKOCHEN BUT MARKED "HFT":
3.5/30 F-Distagon
4/40 Distagon
4/80 Distagon w/Compur shutter
4/120 Makro-Planar
5.6/250 Sonnar
8/1000 Tele-Tessar

MADE BY ROLLEI AT BRAUNSCHWEIG:
4/50 Distagon
2.8/80 Planar
4/150 Sonnar

To my knowledge, these lenses are identical to the Hasselblad versions.

The same situation prevails witht he 600x lens line, save that the 5.6/250 Sonnar PQ/PQS is also manufactured in Braunschweig.

Marc

[email protected] FAX: +540/343-7315

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999
From: Mattei [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 quirks

Vis the unstable back: I was reading in the Mannheim about advancing the geared wheel on the magazine interconnect. Could this be a solution? Read pp176 - 178 of the Mannheim. He goes to great pains to explain the GENTLE engagement of the magazine to body with the coupling gear correctly positioned. Melinda, if you do not have the Mannheim, you must obtain a copy. Xeroxes are available from Hadley Chamberlain.

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] 45 degree prisms & handgrips

----------

>From: melinda [email protected]
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [Rollei] 45 degree prisms & handgrips
>Date: Mon, Aug 23, 1999, 7:46 PM
>
>
> I am thinking of getting 45 degree prism for my SL66E.  What are the
> advantages and disadvantages.

I can't imagine owning one of these cameras without the 45 degree prism. Advantage is an unreversed view and less sore necks from peering into a "waist level" or chimney finder. I can think of no disadvantages.

> Also the same question for the handgrip (the reason I am thinking of
> getting this is I find it very
> difficult to handhold etc.

Ditto on the handgrip. The camera is very awkward for hand held shooting without one of these.

Bob

From the Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999
From: Paul Roark [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL-66 What's the Story on Them?

David Chananie wrote:

>...
>SL-66s seem to be starting to come up for sale.  ...  What are the good
>and bad points about them?  Is it easy to get them repaired in
>the US?  What should they cost?  ...

I generally concur with what the others have said about the SL66. I've used the SL66 for about 20 years. It's a great camera for certain purposes . In my case, I use it for landscapes, primarily, but it's great for close-ups also. Let me just add a few notes that may not have already been covered.

The tilt is the most unique part of this camera. It is very useable in landscape photography as well as close ups. Some of the information you'll see about the SL66 implies that the tilt is just for close-ups. That is not really accurate. The "problem" is that you cannot focus the center of the field on infinity as you tilt. However, the top of the image will focus on infinity even with the maximum 8 degrees of tilt. As such, foreground to background sweepers are definitely doable. (I'm looking at two of my favorite shots on my wall that do this -- with the 50 mm -- and the horizons at infinity near to top of the frame are perfectly sharp.)

In looking at cameras and lenses, there are distinct price differences between the SL66 (no meter) and the SL66SE (meter), and between the HFT (multicoated) and non-multicoated lenses. The plain SL66 and non-HFT lenses are available and much cheaper. The only HFT lens I bothered to get was the 80. I've compared the 50 HFT and non-HFT and stayed with my non-HFT; the main difference was less intense ghosting in the HFT when the light source was in the image (just what you'd expect of multicoating versus older, but not bad, coating). I've stuck with my non-metered SL66 both because of price and because I generally do tripod work, where I prefer a spot meter.

In the wide angle department, there are two 40s out there. The newer one has a floating element. The floating element 50 was never made for the SL66 (unfortunately).

One thing that is often not mentioned about the SL66 is the smoothness of the shutter. It is so good that a relatively light tripod can be used.

My main problems with the SL66 are, first, as a backpacker, the weight of the system has become a bit of a chore for me to carry. On this front, though, it's not as heavy as the 6000 series. As a practical matter, I've been using my GX more lately on backpacks. Second, the 50 mm gives rather poor close focus results. This is normal for retrofocus, but important for tilt purposes. As a practical matter I have to stop down and pay attention to the focus shifts. (The only option here is to go to a view camera -- which has other baggage.) For people shots, I don't use the SL66 -- it's too slow.

Service through H. Fleenor is still good. In fact, that's where my camera is now. The shutter finally needed some overhauling -- after well over a decade without such.

I've seen SL66s for between $800 and $1200. the metered ones are considerably more. The non-HFT lenses are often around $800 (less for the 80). I think for landscape photography or macro, one could put together a great system for a very reasonable price with the above equipment.

Good luck.

Paul Roark
http://www.silcom.com/~proark/photos.html

From Rollei List:
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL-66 What's the Story on Them?

>Hello Rugers,
>
>SL-66s seem to be starting to come up for sale.  From the
>pictures, these seem to be Rollei's version of the Hassy in
>an all mechanical way.  I know nothing about these cameras
>and would like to know the story on them.  What are the good
>and bad points about them?  Is it easy to get them repaired in
>the US?  What should they cost?  Thanks for the enlightenment.
>
>David Chananie 

This question requires a multi-page answer...even the "Reader's Digest" version would take a lot of space.

SL 66s have been coming up for sale for decades. There soesn't seem to be any indication there is a glut of them all of a sudden.

Indeed they are Rollei's response to the Hasselblad. The most significant difference between it and the Hassy is that the Rollei is head and shoulders above the Hasselblad on most counts (IMHO, of course - but do I own 2 Hasselblads and *used* to own the SL 66 - but for practical reasons sold it). The SL 66 might be the finest camera EVER built by anyone (next to the Leica M5). It is still in production (or, at least was, last time I checked).

The bad points: slow synch speed; heavy (not RB67 heavy but still no Minox).

The good points: that's the part that takes the writing space. The good points are almost innumerable.

A strong recommended buy for the fine art photographer, less so for the wedding shooter owing to the flash synch speed (unless you buy shuttered lenses).

Regards,
Curt

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999
From: Bill Barton [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL-66 120f2.0

All right I found the brochure with the cover picture of the SL-66 with the 120mm f 2.0 lens on the camera. It also lists the Superachromat 250mm HFT f 5.6 with the cut away showing the lens elements for all the lenses. They have the cut away for the regular 250 and the Superachromat 250 switched!!!!

This appears to be when they are introducing HFT coatings on the SL-66 because the only lenses that are listed with the HFT are the 120 mm HFT f2.0, the 250mm Superachromat HFT f5.6 and the 30 mm F-Distagon HFT F 3.5 All the other lenses in the brochure are non HFT. This brochure is dated February 1973, I have never seen another brochure with the 120mm HFT f 2.0 or the Superachromat listed after this......Plus I have never seen these two lenses in real metal and glass....

Also Hasselblad did not multi-coat there 250mm Superachromat as I remember....

Any one else with any information on them out there??????

Bill

Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000
From: "Dwain A. Hicks" [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] Kiev 88 TTL Prism on SL-66

Hello,

Does anyone have any experience with the Kiev 88 TTL Prism which has been modified to work with the Rollei SL-66? I found a description of it at the following website and was wondering just how good it was and some the pros and cons of this approach.

http://www.baierfoto.de/rollei1.html

Thanks,
Dwain

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000
From: Slobodan Dimitrov [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 film loading screwup?

Hi Craig;

I'm an SL66 user myself for more than two decades and I still goof every now and then. So here goes, first the camera's shutter must be cocked before winding the film to the first frame. That means, after your last exposure with the film leader wound up from your last roll of film ,check that the shutter is cocked. Also, after you've wound the film to the 1st exposure make sure that the winding knob is depressed back into its recess before making an exposure.

Good luck.

Craig Roberts wrote:

> Ok, I'm dumb.  I shot two rolls of 120 with my nifty keen, newly acquired
> SL66.  In both cases the frames overlapped and I completely lost the last
> four exposures.
>
> Since this happened with two different magazines, I figure the fault was ME!
> WhadidIdowrong?? (I don't have instructions for this machine).
>
> Humbly,

Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000
From: Craig Roberts [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Info on sl66.

> Thinking about getting a used SL66, what are some of the main things I should
> be looking at before I purchase one.
>
> John 

Hi John,

I just got an SL66 a few weeks ago and absolutely love it. After an initial hiccup caused by my incorrect film loading (get an instruction manual!!!!), it works perfectly and takes extraordinary photographs. I spent most of my adult life playing with Leicas and thought no camera could excite me as much or give me as much pleasure. I was wrong. The Rollei...and medium format...has captured me.

Anyway, please be aware that some lenses and accessories for the SL66 are scarce. I was lucky enough to get 3 lenses, 3 backs, Halliburton case, prism finder and other little goodies for mine...but I bought mine from a studio pro who used the outfit as his primary gear for years. I subsequently got a leather "never-ready" case, a filter, blank lens board, and accessory grip from the wonderful Hadley Chamberlain (www.hecphoto.com).

I would consider the grip an absolute necessity if you intend to use the camera outside a studio. The rig is bulky and heavy and very awkward to hand hold without the grip. With the grip you'll still be building your biceps, but it makes field shooting far more pleasurable (and practical).

I don't know of any mechanical caveats...though the flash sync connector is said to be unreliable after long use and the camera can be damaged if you don't follow Rollei's "Rule #1" on handling the SL66: BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING...COCK THE SHUTTER!! ALWAYS KEEP THE SHUTTER COCKED!! If you buy an SL66, you'll soon learn why.

If you can find the accessories you want and need, I know you'll love the SL66.

A convert,

Craig

Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000
From: Slobodan Dimitrov [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Info on sl66.

Hi John

I've had mine for almost twenty years, and frankly anticipate another twenty. But by then the camera will have a digital back. If you can, get the HFT planar for it, you'll be glad you did. I gained a 1/3 of a stop when I switched. Also, Rollei has over the years upgraded the internal springs stemming from new processes and whatnot. Lastly, if the camera needs re-leathering as most of the early ones do, that would also be worth your while, as it makes the camera look virtually new. Those changes really don't amount to much when you consider the trouble free years to come.

Best Regards
Slobodan Dimitrov

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000
From: Craig Roberts [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] SL66 manufacturing dates

Wow!!

Thanks for all the responses to my question "when was my SL66 made?" Two very kind correspondents replied with detailed information from that page-turner, best selling, non-fiction trilogy "Rollei-Report" by Claus Prochnow. The listing below is from a secret source deep within the bowels of the Rollei factory. He wants to remain anonymous to avoid a choking flood of e-mail to Rollei's little Web server. I will respect his request. The other respondent who kindly provided this same Prochnow-esque information and some very entertaining and enlightening comments notes that, essentially, I will now be able to ascertain with absolute certainty that my camera was made by Rollei (unless it's a fake) sometime between 1966 and 1986(!).

I now understand why several kind fellows offered to share their camera's serial number and the date they bought it. Anyway...thanks again!

(From Rollei's secret correspondent)

SL 66 serial nos. 2.900.000 to 2.927.800 October 1966 until March1986 serial nos. 7xxxxxxx (coded) 1982 onwards

SL 66X serial nos. 1xxxxxxx (coded) April 1986 until October 1992

SL 66E serial nos. 7xxxxxxx (coded) October 1982 until September 1992

SL 66SE serial nos. 1xxxxxxx (coded) October 1986 until October 1992

All this information is given in the "Rollei-Report" 1 - 3 by Claus Prochnow. Unfortunately the books are available in German language only.

Report 1 describes the years 1920 until 1945 with all cameras, prototypes, accessories and company history. ISBN 3-89506-105-0. Mini-report 1 contains short descriptions of all manufactured products in this period with illustrations and collector prices ISBN 3-89506-116-6

Report 2 describes the years 1946 until 1981 ISBN 3-89506-118-2
Mini-report 2 ISBN 3-89506-117-4

Report 3 years 1963 until 1990 ISBN 3-89506-141-7
Mini-report 3 ISBN 3-89506-142-5

Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2000
From: "Thomas J Balfe" [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Adapter to use Kiev lenses on SL66?

While I was sloshing around the web I found this.

http://www.baierfoto.de/rollei1.html

It adapts Kiev 88 45 degree TTL prism to SL66. It says 390DM which is about $205 US and includes the prism and adapter.

"Das TTL-Prisma der Kiev 88 bietet auf der Rollei SL66 folgende Vorteile..."

My German isn't very good, something like: "This Kiev 88 TTL-prism gives Rollei SL66 the following benefits... exposure something blah blah lens... leaves camera only very slightly altered" and goes on to use some words that I don't know. The picture pretty much says it all though! Hope this helps SL66 owners.

Can someone with better German translate it?

Regards, Tom

From Rollei Mailing List;
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000
From: Tim Ellestad [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 film loading screwup?

I've had some frame spacing problems (too close) with SL66 mags. With the able assistance of Dr. Fleenor I deduced that some of my problem was caused by excessive speed on the return stroke of the crank (the return stroke advances the film). My quick, vigorous action on the return crank was cinching the take-up roll into an extra taught wind, shortening the frame-for-frame film advance. Doing this multiple times would only compound the problem since them the take-up core diameter would then be undersized. At least that is the theory that I came up with. Subsequent rolls done with methodical, reasonably easy return cranks yielded perfectly spaced frames. ethodical, reasonably easy return cranks yielded perfectly spaced frames.

Has anyone had any experience with this with either SL66 or TLR Rollei's?

Tim Ellestad
[email protected]

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000
From: Bob Parsons [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 film loading screwup?

....

Yes, I have found the frame spacing on the SL66 reduces if the wind crank is operated at speed. I also suspect when quickly winding the crank in the forward direction that it's possible to reverse it (which winds the film) just before the mechanism reaches the end stop so that the reverse stroke is fractionally shortened. Now I make sure the forward stroke hits the end stop before reversing and don't wind back too fast. Frames are then almost evenly spaced.

One useful tip about film loading is to make sure the drive teeth on the film insert mesh with those in the magazine body before closing the back. You can do this by turning the magazine wind knob slightly until they mesh and then close the back.

Bob Parsons. [email protected]

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL-66 What's the Story on Them?

> Hello Rugers,
>
> SL-66s seem to be starting to come up for sale.  From the
> pictures, these seem to be Rollei's version of the Hassy in
> an all mechanical way.  I know nothing about these cameras
> and would like to know the story on them.  What are the good
> and bad points about them?  Is it easy to get them repaired in
> the US?  What should they cost?  Thanks for the enlightenment.
>
> David Chananie           

I used SL66 cameras professionally for years. They are very solid and reliable cameras. They use a cloth focal plane shutter which limits flash synch to 1/30 second or slower, the only real limitation of the camera. The built-in bellows is great for closeups and some of the lenses can be reverse mounted for greater magnification. The bellows tilts for depth of field control in closeups.

Mechanically they are pretty simple and easy to repair. I think parts supply is still good since they were only recently taken out of production. Last I heard B & H still had brand new ones in stock.

Bob

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] BLACK 35S made in Germany

Wait a minute here! Honeywell stickers mean a camera made BEFORE the move to Singapore. By the time of the Singapore move Honeywell had not been the distributor for some time, and distribution was through Rollei of America. The only Rollei camera I ever owned with the Honeywell name on it was my OLDEST SL66, late 60s production.

In between Honeywell and Rollei of America, the distributor was EPOI.

Bob

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Info on sl66.

I guess you intended to say that it did not have the longevity of the TLR Rolleis. If that's what you intended to say, I must disagree. The big old cloth focal plane shutter on the SL66 can go on forever, and the focusing rack will last equally long unless you drop the camera with it extended and strip out the teeth on the rack. The bellows is tougher than you might think and easily replaced if it ever did have any problems. In all the years I repaired them I never had to replace a bellows.

The one weakness in the SL66 is the flash contact mechanism. It was redesigned several times in an attempt to make it reliable, and the final redesign was good. With the older ones metal fatigue sets in on the contacts and the synch speed "slips" downward to 1/15 second, and is not adjustable after a certain point.

Although harder to find, the lenses with leaf shutters are worth seeking out if you intend to do outdoor fill flash.

Bob

> The SL66 does not have the longevity of the SLR Rolleis.  If you must have a MF
> SLR,
> get a H'blad, and use it.

From ROllei Mailing List:
Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1999
From: Bob Parsons [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] 16 frame film backs for the SLR

Hi Melinda, I assume you are talking about the SL66 .....

I use a 16 on 120 magazine on my SL66. Actually it's a switchable 16 on 120 or 32 on 220. I say this because I'm not sure if separate 120 and 220 magazines exist like some of the early 6x6cm, all my 6x6 ones are switchable.

What you do need to be aware of is that the 6x4.5cm aperture is offset in the vertical direction so that it's lower edge is where the bottom of the normal 6x6cm frame would be. As a result any pictures you take have the effect of a rising front.

There is no way to take a vertical format picture except by turning the camera on its side. Due to the offset you also have the effect of a cross front.

There is a single metal strip mask which fits along the bottom edge of the viewfinder and goes on top of the screen, so make sure you get this if you buy a magazine.

I have mixed feelings about the format. You can of course get the same result (and cross/drop front etc.) by cropping the 6x6 negative, but the 6x4.5 does give you more pictures per film. However one great advantage of the SL66 is its tilting lens panel which gives the ability to get near - far sharpness with the lens at wide apertures. This works well to give interesting and dramatic landscapes with the 6x6 format but is nowhere near as effective with the rectangular 6x4.5.

I think the SL66 is a superb camera it's good to know there are others out there using them.

Bob Parsons.

----- Original Message -----
From: melinda [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: 02 September 1999 18:03
Subject: [Rollei] 16 frame film backs for the SLR

> Does anyone body use these or know about them?
>
> Melinda

From Rollei Mailing List;
Date: Mon, 05 Jul 1999
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Re: SL66 thread

> First of all, thanks to everyone who responded.  From the exchanges re:
>SL66 ruggedness (glad I asked!), I think I'll hope for Bob's experience
>but prepare for Joe's by buying from someone with a warranty at least
>long enough for me to take it out on a couple of hikes - 60 days seems
>common enough.

A good idea always. I wouldn't buy without a warranty unless I was buying from an individual and getting a very good price. Just be sure to check out every feature on the camera to make sure all is working properly.

> I didn't think to ask this the first time, but the SL66 does provide
>mirror lock-up, yes?

Not mirror lock-up, but mirror pre-release, which is just as useful to most of us.

> In any case, it may be a while before I can afford to give one a good
>home, but I'm not truly happy unless I'm obsessing over something,
>anyhow.  May as well be something fun.

Yes, fun. And a camera that you know is very well made the minute you pick it up. Be sure to get the L-type grip for the camera since this makes it much better for hand held shooting.

> BTW, the main reason I covet the built-in bellows is because of the
>close-focus ability, but I always figured the tilt-function was strictly
>an afterthought, at least operationally speaking.  But what about the
>shift-function? About how much shift (without tilt) do you get before
>the bellows vignettes or the lens illumination falls off?  I'd love to
>leave the 4x5 monorail at home except for very special occasions, but I
>am not kidding myself in the meantime.

The SL66 has tilt, but it does not have shift. And, the tilt is for closeup use. You can not use the tilt with the lens set at or near infinity. I always wished they had done this differently and allowed tilt at any distance setting.

Bob

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 1999
From: Tim Ellestad [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Another question for SL 66 afficianados

Gary Toop wrote -

> This is all very interesting.  One of the uses to which I would
>like to put a MF camera is copy work - we have quite a collection of old
>family prints for which we have no negatives.  From what you have written
>it sounds as though, ideally, I should be using different lenses for copy
>and macro work.  That is, for copy work I should look for a lens that at
>some, probably quite wide, aperture gives exceptional resolution in the
>plane of focus as well as freedom from distortion, evenness of
>illumination, etc. On the other hand, for macro work, I need to consider
>performance at a viable working aperture for the intended subject, which
>might well be a number of stops down from where a good copy lens can
>optimize performance.  Does that sound right?

Hi Gary -

I think that before you go buying and adapting other lenses for an SL 66 you should try the Rollei lenses available in SL 66 mount. I've had wonderful results with the 120 S-Planar for close-up subjects, photomacro subjects, and copy shooting. I've also used the 80mm Planar for copy work with excellent results in terms of both flatness and sharpness. Also, we've overlooked one of the SL 66's exclusive conveniences here - all the Bay VI lenses reverse and mount on the camera without any additional adapter (you can even get an additional coupler that is a standard part of the extension tube set that will automate the diaphragm operation and mount the Bay VI hoods with the lens in the reversed position using a double cable release). In the photomacro range the results from the reversed 50mm Distagon, 30mm Planar, and 120 mm S-Planar can be quite spectacular. I think that you would probably find that further lens shopping wouldn't be necessary except if leaf shutters became an issue, and even then, remember that the 80mm Distagon gives you leaf shutter sync with continuous focusing from Inf. to .6 magnification.

A lens mount for Luminars and Photars is also available, but I think that you will find their application limited only to single plane, scientific-type images in the true photomacrography range - 1:1 to 20:1 - between normal close-ups and photomicrography. The prices for used can have real teeth, too, on the rare occasion when you can find them.

I think that the SL 66 is undisputed MF close-up and macro champ.

Tim Ellestad
[email protected]

From Rollei Mailing List;
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 meter finder

----------

>From: Jan Decher [email protected]
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [Rollei] SL66 meter finder
>Date: Tue, Aug 3, 1999, 11:30 PM
>
> I recently bought an EX+ SL66 CDS meter finder in Germany with instruction
> book.  Does anyone on this list use this device?  How fast is the meter
> needle supposed to react?  Does it always turn off after every 25 seconds?
> The finder seems to be very logically designed and fortunately uses a
> standard 9-volt battery.  Still need to calibrate it with a roll of chrome
> film in integral and spot mode.

I had one of these for years when I was still using SL66. It was very accurate, but a bit slow in settling while taking a reading. It does have auto shutoff to save the battery but I don't remember if 25 seconds is the normal time for this. I always wished they had made a prism with built-in meter instead of this "chimney" finder.

> I also finally handled a Contax 645 in Munster, Germany.  NICE camera!
> Strange enough, in Germany a detailed brochure on this camera is available,
> whereas Contax, NJ, informs me they have not yet been printed in the US.
> ROLLEI should think about a more compact 6x6 or 4.5x6 with those Zeiss AF
> lenses!!

Yes, I have a complete Contax 645 outfit here on loan for testing. I like the camera. Unfortunately, in my last studio shoot with it all of the film turned out BLANK. I know it went through the camera properly because the edge imprinting of the information is there. It shows the camera was set to 1/90, which is what you get on the X setting, and I know from visual verification that the flashes were firing, so I just don't know what the problem is. 35mm shot side by side turned out fine. I hope the camera is not defective, since they are hard to come by and a replacement might take a long time.

BTW, it is not uncommon for the pre-production or very early production cameras we get for magazine tests to be defective. That's why I would never buy a camera of totally new design when it first comes out. There is always a shakedown period during which they find and fix problems.

Bob

From Rollei Mailing List;
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999
From: Jan Decher [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] SL 66 meter finder battery

Joe,

The battery compartment on the SL66 meter finder is the big Z-shaped panel with the logo "Rollei" on it. If you take the finder of the camera or remove the cover from the underside there is a little chrome latch which you push in and, voila, the aformentioned panel can be pulled of and reveals the 9-volt battery.

Let me know if you need the English portion of the instruction booklet copied (unless it's on the amazing web somewhere - what isn't these days).

Jan

From Rollei Mailing List;
Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Rolleisoft Questions

>Bob may well be correct, but-. Looking at a Softar, at smaller apertures,
>the incoming light is going through a lesser amount of "bubbles" as you
>state, but obviously it is ALSO going through a lesser amount of plain
>non-"bubble" area of the filter. Since the bubbles are evenly  distributed,
>the ratio of bubble to non-bubble in the light path remains the same
>regardless of aperture used. All that changes is the amount of filter area
>in the light path. So if a wider aperture gives a greater effect- why?
>There must be some other reason.
>
>Joe Berenbaum
>mailto:[email protected]

Joe,

Of course I'm correct. I'm ALWAYS correct! Doesn't mean I'm always right, though.

As for why, I'll defer to the optical experts. When this came up a long time ago, I took a series of test shots with Softars I, II and III, and at a variety of apertures. Stopping the lens down decreases the softening, just as with other softening filters. I used to use a Softar I at about f/8 for all my glamour shooting. It just barely takes the edge off harsh sharpness without making the images look soft at all or producing any halo effect.

When I owned the 120 mm lens for the SL66 it was just too darned sharp, and when shooting portraits and glamour I never used it without a Softar. After doing this for some time I traded the lens in on a 150 which looked about the same without the Softar.

Bob

From Hasselblad Mailing List:
Date: Thu, 11 May 2000
From: Craig Roberts [email protected]
Subject: Re: Kiev TTL prism

Hello Carsten,

I got the same Kiev metered finder adapted for my Rollei SL66 and it works well. I was bought from Germany, however, so the firm that made the Rollei mod may have tweaked the stock finder. You might want to call or email Kiev USA and ask how theirs does. I've talked to them a couple of times, and they were very pleasant and informative. At any rate, I shoot Ektachrome E100 series films with it with consistently accurate exposures.

I especially like the fact that the Kiev finder saved me over $1,000!!

Craig Roberts
Boston

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Thu, 01 Jun 2000
From: Lisa Dimitrov [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 trouble

Jan

Pro-Camera Service is where you want to send your sickly SL66. Jurgen is their SL66 specialist who worked at Rollei El Segundo when they had a warranty facility there. I've never had a problem with redos on his work. the phone number is (805) 497-7240

Slobodan Dimitrov

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Thu, 01 Jun 2000
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 trouble

First of all, take off the lens and reach in the front with the camera at infinity and gently push up on the front of the mirror. If it moves up and unjams the camera, you're home free. If not, then you have a real problem.

If the mirror goes up and frees everything, the mirror may not have enough tension on the spring. There is a ratcheted adjustment for this.

The SL66 is one of the easiest cameras in the world to work on, IF you know what you are doing. All of the mechanical stuff is on the left side, only the focus rack is on the right. The screws to take off the side cover are under the leather, so it is best to have spare leather on hand in case you mess it up getting it off. The shutter speed knob and film advance crank are attached to the side plate and come off with it. All internal parts are big.

I don't know if you can still get the repair manual, but if so and you are pretty good with tools you could probably do your own repairs.

BTW, your problem may be lack of use. These cameras are happiest when you put three or four rolls a week through them at minimum. They need exercise. If you don't shoot that much film, take the magazine off the back and exercise the shutter/mirror mechanism by "dry firing" it a bunch of times, two or three at each shutter speed.

Bob

----------

>From: Jan Decher [email protected]
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [Rollei] SL66 trouble
>Date: Thu, Jun 1, 2000, 9:57 AM
>
>My SL66 has jammed again in the mirror-up position right after I switched
>magazines and used the mirror-lock function on the first frame.  Two years
>ago I sent it to Harry Fleenor with the same problem and now I am worried
>to face a nother $168 charge having shot only 12-15 rolls since the last
>repair.
>
>Has anyone on this list ever remedied this problem him- or herself (aside
>from Harry)?  How hard is it to work on the SL66?  Perhaps with a 35 year
>old mechanical camera one should get a little bolder...
>
>I am also starting to envy Hasselblad owners for their handy little
>unjamming tool...
>
>I may consider selling the whole SL66 system after a repair and get into
>one of the three uneven (Zeiss-lens) alternatives:  Hasselblad, Rolleiflex
>600x, or Contax 645.  But none of those has the wonderful built-in macro
>capability of the SL66 and close-up shots are my primeinterest for this
>system.  And macro lenses are too costly...
>
>Any ideas, suggestions are welcome.
>
>Jan
>(MF-less in sunny Vermont..)

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] New (to me) SL66 - need assistance

That's a mirror pre-release, if I recollect correctly. Been years since I used an SL66. Also, there is a chrome catch in the middle of the film advance crank which lets you cock the shutter without moving the film for multiple exposures. Try using that and see if the camera will wind.

These are rugged cameras, so it is probably nothing major that is wrong, but they do need cleaning and lubrication occasionally, and if you don't know the history of this one it couldn't hurt to get this done.

Bob

> BTW, what does that
>slider switch in front of the crank do, anyway?

[Ed. note: Can anyone suggest a solution and email [email protected] - Thanks!]
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Rollei SL 66 Question

Would you mind posting this to the SL66 page? I'm having a problem and I'm not exactly sure where to go for answers. Thank you!

I just bought a Rollei SL66 in beautiful, almost unused condition. It operates flawlessly, with one unfortunate exception. I was hoping I could fully explain the problem to you, to see if it needs repair.

The problem is with the film advance. When cranking the advance lever, there is a bit of extra resistance that occurs about 3/4 of the way through the forward throw. About 1/2 way through the return throw, there is a similar short resistance. It is not severe, just barely enough to feel and notice it. The extra resistance disappears when advancing/firing the shutter without a back attached. After advancing the gear on the front of the magazine all the way in the direction of the arrow, the extra tension disappears, but returns after just a few exposures.

In addition to this, the frame counter periodically counts off more than one frame per advance (usually a frame and a half). The result is that the magazine knob pops out after only 9 exposures. It is possible to continue to advance the film and make exposures after this, but I know this is not how the back is supposed to operate.

The worst part is that I'm also having problems with frame spacing. The space between frames gets narrower and narrower as the roll goes on, until the frames overlap by as much as 1/8 of an inch. Even at the beginning of the roll, frame spacing is somewhat skimpy, no more than 1/16 of an inch.

I do not have another back to try out, to determine if it is just a problem with the back. Other than this problem, the camera operates very smoothly, and seems like new. I have read the instruction manual thoroughly, and thought I was doing everything correctly, but perhaps there is something I'm forgetting.

Do you have any ideas as to what might be wrong, or any suggestions as to what I should do next? I would really appreciate any help you might be able to give me. Thank you.

Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2000
From: Jeff S [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Rollei SL66 Review ?

That's a very fine SLR! I used one on a daily basis a few years back and liked it a lot. It's particularly good at macrophotography as it will do 1:1 with just the 80mm Planar. The mirror pre-release takes requires a somewhat delicate touch, so you may want to practice a little beforehand.

Tips:

-Get to know the bellows factor markings if you do much macro work

-Rollei 6000-series viewscreens should fit just fine. I used an Intenscreen in mine and found it a worthwhile improvement over the stock unit, particularly when doing macro work with a polarizing filter.

-If you go with a non-Rollei tripod QR system, make sure the camera plate does not interfere with the camera's movements. And if you buy the Rollei QR clamp, make sure that the camera is actually locked down properly before letting it go.

-The shutter speed control always felt kind of harsh and gritty to me; this seems to be normal, so don't worry about it. Both cameras felt the same way, even after an overhaul.

-On some units, the shutter release's sleeve gets loose, and when it does, it will bind. There's a single hidden setscrew which holds the assembly in place but it's not always up to the task. If you experience problems and are mechanically inclined, remove the side panel of the camera and epoxy the sleeve into place from the inside. I've seen SL66's with this already done, so it may have been a factory modification.

-Take care not to drop the camera or subject it to hard impact: It is not as rugged as a Hasselblad! But with reasonable care, it's reliable enough. I'd probably avoid buying bodies or film backs that were really dented or obviously subjected to hard use.

Enjoy your new SL66; I certainly had fun with mine.

Jeff S

..

From ROllei Mailing List:
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2000
From: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Rollei] SL66 info

It is a fantastic camera. I have used one for twenty years. And although it's mainly a studio camera featuring close up focussing with a bellows and a tilting lens, I have used it as a hand held out door camera. With its handle it is well balanced and easy to carry. It is totally mechanical and reliable. The lenses are good, available, and no longer outrageously expensive. It can also handle 12 and 220 in the same back with the switch of a switch. The 6x6 format I find ideal, though that is personal.

I will be reluctantly selling my entire outfit when I finish building a Rollei 6008 outfit which takes time due to the expense. Why? Two main reasons. First flash synch is 1/30 which is barbaric. Though that can be overcome with a lens with a shutter which are available. Second is the lack of a meter. I have used a hand (or pocket) held meter, which is fine but sometimes seriously slows me down. I have also mounted a small meter on the flash shoe on the handle. That helps but what I need.

Good luck

Larry Merrill

...

FRom Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Zeiss 110 f2

> From: adam forrester [email protected]
> Reply-To: [email protected]
> Date: Fri, 01 Jan 1904 
> Subject: [Rollei] Zeiss 110 f2
>
> Bob--- your memory is wrong !!

I had to do a lot of digging in my filing cabinets to find it, but yes there was such a lens. 120 mm f/2 Planar for SL66. It is shown in a Rollei brochure I have dated October, 1973. As I understand it, very few were made and it was never offered as a production item. I remember hearing of one for sale years ago, but it was far out of my price range. It was one of the few SL66 lenses with a threaded front for screw-in filters, and looks from the photo to be about 80mm on the front.

Maybe Marc knows something about this rare lens.

Bob

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000
From: Jan Blottcher [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Zeiss 110 f2

There was at least one sample of a 2.0/120 made to fit the SL 66 to be pictured in the early SL66 propaganda pamphlets.

Regarding the "best" lens, I thought we were talking about "comparable" lenses. I think one could compare 100, 110 and 120 mm lenses for 6x6 cameras, maybe even 90 and 135mm, but 300 is "far out".

Jan

> ...Zeiss have never made a 120f2 ,I think your confusing it with the cf120f4
> macro planar which replaced the old 120f5.6 s-planar in 1982.The current
> 110f2 is identical to the one launched in 1977 apart from data bus to
> connect with later electronic metering  205tcc type cameras.The optical
> spec. sheets and mtf charts are the same.
>
> The lens with the best mtf graphs in the entire zeiss range(apart from
> motion picture)is the new tele-superachromat 300f2.8.You can hire one at the
> pro-centre in London.

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000
From: Gerard Tripptree [email protected]
Subject: Re:[Rollei] sl66 and film problems?

Hello:

The SL66 magazine can be tricky to load properly.

1). Make sure the frame counter is set correctly to either 12 or 24 frames depending on the film you are using (120 or 220).

2). When loading the film per the instructions, you should wind the film until the arrows on the paper backing are just about at the center of the film insert when looking at the UPPER spool; then place the insert in the magazine, close the back and CONTINUE to wind the film until the winding knob STOPS ON ITS OWN. Once the winding knob stops, the film is in proper position for the first exposure.

3). I can't speculate on what scratched the film without examining the insert and the magazine.

Check out

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-one-category.tcl?topic_id=35&category=Rollei

for a couple of threads on SL66 film loading problems.

...

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 - can I ask for your opinions and experiences please?

> From: Vick Ko [email protected]
> Reply-To: [email protected]
> Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [Rollei] SL66 - can I ask for your opinions and experiences please ?
>
> Hello all.
>
> Can you help me with my thinking about getting an SL66?
>
> 1)  are they reliable and robust?
> - I've read the web and archives, and read about jams, fragility (side bumps
> are bad!)

The SL66 is one of the most durable cameras ever designed. They are not fragile. Drop one from four feet onto concrete and you might hurt it, but under normal use they hold up very well.

> 2)  are SL66E preferable over SL66?

Depends on whether you want the built-in meter. That's the only difference. Lenses with the lug to key the meters are much rarer.

> 3)  are there certain years or "batches" to avoid?  Or certain models with
> particular> modifications?

Yes, although I don't know serial numbers. The later cameras has a number of modifications which improved them.

> 4)  what do you recommend before finalizing the buy?  Thorough check by
> technician?
> What if I buy privately?

Failing that, put a half dozen rolls of film through the system during the return period. The flash synch switch is a weak point on older cameras, so make sure flash synch is working.

> 5)  what about the lens?  I am looking for the 80mm standard lens.  Is HFT far
> better than the standard Planar?

No the HFT is not any sharper, but it does have better flare control. Depending on the type of work you plan to do this may or may not matter.

> 6)  magazine and camera jams - is this real and "most of the time", or only
> a rare minority?  And if it happens, can I recover without sending out for
> repair?

Jams are rare and usually caused by misuse. Learn to use it properly and it won't jam on you. None of the four I owned ever jammed. Always keep the camera cocked and cock it immediately after each shot. That's the most important thing.

Bob

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000
From: David Morris [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 - can I ask for your opinions and experiences please?

Never had any problems myself but then again, I take great care of megabucks cameras. I like the SL66 best, mainly because it looks nicer! If you want to use through the lens metering and OTF flash you need the SL66E and matching lenses and backs . SL66s were first made in 1966 and so can be a lot older than SL66Es which replaced them around 1982. I don't think you need worry much over multcoating unless you plan to use the lens wide open or contre jour. There is a handle/bracket which is very useful for hand held photography although somewhat heavy.

David Morris

From ROllei Mailing List
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 - can I ask for your opinions and experiences please?

> From: David Morris [email protected]
> Reply-To: [email protected]
> Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 - can I ask for your opinions and experiences
> please ?
>
> There is a handle/bracket which is very useful
> for hand held photography although somewhat heavy.

I wouldn't think of trying to use an SL66 without one!!

Another thing about the SL66E is that the meter is switched on by partial pressure on the shutter release button. A couple photographers I knew using them when I was still repairing SL66 cameras had to send them to me on a regular basis to adjust the meter contacts since they would bend with use and in time the meter would not switch on without firing the shutter.

Bob

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000
From: Edward Meyers [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 - can I ask for your opinions and experiences please?

Bob,

you are correct about the upgrade to the SL66. I bought all my SL66 (two bodies and lots of lenses, etc) stuff in 1968. I ran an advertising photography studio in NYC at the time and did much close-up stuff on 120 film. The tilting front end and the bellow sold me on the SL66, and of course the great lenses helped. In 1978 or so, The president of Rollei USA, Fred Weitz insisted that I send him my two bodies for an upgrade. I believe they changed the shutter escapement, or something like it. They keep on ticking.

Ed

postscript:
Forgot. I also have the meter snoot which acts as an averageing meter or a spot meter. You must move the shutter setting yourself. Ain't automatic, but this CdS meter works fine. Ed

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000
From: Edward Meyers [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Off topic: Rapid Rectilinear

Nobody mentioned the "trick" for using the older viewcameras lenses. And by the way, you can put them on a Rollei SL66 by mounting one in a lens blank. Anyway the trick the oldtimers used to make the old lenses perform better, for black and white, of course, is to use a yellow filter in front of the lens. Somebody please explain how this works...

Ed

From Rollei Mailing List;
Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 - can I ask for your opinions and experiences please?

The original flash synch switch was a bad design. Over time it would "drift" so that your synch speed would decline from 1/30 to 1/15 and slower. They redesigned this switch assembly several times during the course of SL66 production. When I was an authorized Rollei repair station they provided the new parts free of charge and instructed us to change them on any camera that came in for service. The flash synch switch is modular, thankfully, and easily changed with a couple of screws and one solder connection.

The other thing which was significantly upgraded was the focusing rack. If I remember correctly the original one was a simple molded Nylon piece on the rack and a brass pinion. Later the rack was made in several pieces instead of just one and was a brass and Nylon assembly. You could not simply replace one with the other and had to change the whole assembly. Stripping the rack was a common problem if the camera was dropped and landed on the lens or caught a good impact from that direction. This also usually bent the lens panel since it was supported only on one side. I always hated telling people what this repair would cost since it required replacing a lot of parts and took around four hours to do correctly.

Bob

...

From Rollei Mailing List; From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] SL66

I'm considering the purchase of an SL66 because of the tilt capabilities. I don't know anyone who has the camera so I can't get my hands on one. Can anyone with experience fill me in on how useful this hybrid tilt/shift is in actual practice? Any limitations or surprises I should know about?

First of all the SL66 has tilt only, no shift. It can not be used for perspective correction, only for using Scheimpflug to extend apparent depth of field. You can not use the tilt at infinity. It works best for closeup work.

Bob

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001
From: Bob Parsons [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66

Jonathan Prescott asked:

>I'm considering the purchase of an SL66 because of the tilt capabilities.
>I don't know anyone who has the camera so I can't get my hands on one.
>Can anyone with experience fill me in on how useful this hybrid tilt/shift
>is in actual practice?  Any limitations or surprises I should know about?

I've used an SL66 for landscapes for many years and find the lens tilt invaluable for obtaining near-far sharpness. That together with the square format can make pictures that are "different". Those taken with tilt "draw" you into the scene.

The tilt will not work when the camera is set to focus at infinity. For 4 deg. of tilt the bellows need to be extended about 1.5mm and for 8 deg. about 2.5mm. In practice this is not too much of a restriction. Most landscape subjects contain a plane which extends from your feet out to infinity and objects such as trees which rise up out of the plane. Tilt takes care of the feet-infinity plane but to get the tops of the trees sharp when using tilt you have to stop down and extend the bellows to a suitable hyperfocal distance. The hyperfocal extension needed is usually enough to allow use of some but not maximum tilt.

For close up work tilt is very useful, you can usually use the full 8 deg, but again for most subjects you have to stop down and use hyperfocal focus as well. I'm told the SL66 was originally designed for forensic work. Much of this would be closeup, maybe that's why Rollei didn't make the tilt operational at infinity.

With lenses such as the 150mm and 250mm applying tilt gives an eye capturing sharpness (in a single plane) and perspective which are seldom seen.

You will find tilt also introduces some rise or fall of the lens panel. This can be annoying with large amounts of tilt. To regain the original subject framing you have to tilt the camera/back in the opposite direction. This means you may now have converging verticals. It's a compromise. I find the easiest way to adjust focus, tilt, aperture and framing it to look in the viefinder and just do it!

It's interesting that although the SL66 lenses are quite old designs and may not perform as well as more modern ones on an optical bench etc, in practice, the use of tilt and a medium aperture can give sharper results than a camera with fixed lenses at the smaller aperture needed to give the depth of field. I have a lot of trouble getting equivalent results with a Mamiya 7 which has some of the sharpest lenses I've ever used.

If you decide to buy an SL66, e-mail me off list. I'll send you a list of items to check and simple no film tests to do before you buy. It's a bit too long to post.

Regards, Bob Parsons
[email protected]

[Ed. note: Mr. Meyers is a noted author of numerous articles in Modern Photography and other photography publications etc.]
From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001
From: Edward Meyers [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] 200/3.5 Voigtlander Color-Dynarex

In the 1970s I visited the Rollei factory in Braunschweig. At the plant where "Rollei" lenses were made for the SL66 (for example) there was a string going across a number of work tables. "What is the string?", I asked." On this side we're making Rollei Zeiss lenses and on the other side there is being made Zeiss lenses." It was in the old Voigtlander building, so perhaps Voigtlander lenses were being made on another floor. Ed

...

From ROllei Mailing List;
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001
From: [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] lens adapter for SL66

A good friend of mine informed me this afternoon that, he saw an ad ,probably in Shutterbug, for a adapter that would allow Pentax 67 lenses to mount on the SL66. The price was around $175.00. Does anybody out there know if this is a manufactured item and not a "homemade". Also, I used to have a table of lens - flange to film plane distances but, I'm unable to locate them. Would the Pentax lenses work at infinity on the Rollei?

Rich Palmer

From ROllei Mailing List:
Date: Wed, 07 Feb 2001
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] lens adapter for SL66

Can't speak for the adapter offered, but Zorkendorfer did make them commercially and may still. Yes, Pentax 67 can focus to infinity on the SL66.

Bob

> From: " " [email protected]
> Reply-To: [email protected]
> Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [Rollei] lens adapter for SL66
>
> A good friend of mine informed me this afternoon that, he saw
> an ad ,probably in Shutterbug, for a adapter that would allow
> Pentax 67 lenses to mount on the SL66. The price was around
> $175.00. Does anybody out there know if this is a manufactured
> item and not a "homemade". Also, I used to have a table of lens
> -       flange to film plane distances but, I'm unable to locate them.
> Would the Pentax lenses work at infinity on the Rollei?
> Rich Palmer

From ROllei Mailing List:
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000
From: Edward Meyers [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Saint Nick,

Good idea from the start. I do have the 39mm threads on one of my many SL66 "lens blanks". Also have the Luminar one and about three not even used yet. One interesting gadget I have is the Novoflex bellow which accepts the different 35mm camera adapters on one end and one the lens end accepts SL66 mounted lenses. Ed

On Thu, 7 Dec 2000, jkufrovich wrote:

> Saint Nick, should be arriving, sometime next week.  Mint sl66.
> The owner of this camera has an adapter for 39mm.  Is using an enlarger lens on the sl66 useful.
>
> John Kufrovich

From Rollei Mailing List;
Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2000
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] sl66 and film problems?

> From: "John Kufrovich" [email protected]
> Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2000 
> Subject: [Rollei] sl66 and film problems?
>
> 1).  There are only 11 pics and the 1st picture started at the tape.  I
> thought I followed the instruction manual.  The only thing I can deduce is
> when I loaded the film on the insert that I didn't do 1 or 2 complete turns
> on the take up spool.  I just turned the take up spool just enough to catch
> the paper backing.

After putting the film insert back in the magazine you turn the knob on the side until it stops. Then, and this is VERY important, you push the knob in so it is flush with the side of the magazine. Most problems I have seen with SL66 film advance are from not pushing the knob in.

Bob

From: Jeff S [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2001
Subject: Re: SL66 reliability problems? Re: Rollei vs Hasselblad

A very nice camera! I used one almost daily for awhile, and here's what I made of it:

-Lens lock never really worked right, even after Marflex service; easy to twist the lens off without pressing lens release. In actual use, this wasn't a problem, but out of keeping with a camera advertised as "The Most Expensive Ever Made".

-Shutter release tends to get loose and bind: It rides in a metal sleeve which in turn is fastened to a side panel by a single setscrew which works loose after awhile. Retightening it helps for awhile, but the real fix seems to be to remove the entire cover and to epoxy the metal sleeve into place from the inside.

-Body panels on the original SL66 are stamped aluminum, so take care not to throw this camera around. I have seen cameras which had been dropped, and the camera body and back had both warped so that they could not be interchanged with other SL66s. For durability's sake, I think polycarbonate would've been a better choice for these panels-I do not know if this was in fact done on the newer SL66X and SL66SE.

-Mirror pre-release involves squeezing the shutter release ever so gently--quite workable but surprising in a camera this expensive.

-The original viewscreen is rather dim, with a bright central spot. Fortunately you can replace it with bright screens designed for the 6000-series.

-Lens tilt is useful only in the macro ranges, so if you are taking a landscape but want added depth of field in the foreground, you are probably out of luck.

All in all, a very nice camera for macro work, but I've moved on to a 4x5 camera and never looked back.

Jeff S

Robert Monaghan wrote:

> what reliability problems, besides the problems caused by users putting
> the dark slide in without cocking the camera first (breaks a gear) which
> is really a user error IMHO? This focal plane shutter rollei sl66 is
> attractive for macro use, and should take my bronica tele lenses, so I  am
> interested in learning of any potential problems before I spring for  one.
> Tiz rather shocking to see SLX kits going for $700 US with zeiss lenses,
> so I could live with 1 or 2 lenses if the body were reliable?...

From: [email protected] (KFritch)
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Date: 08 Mar 2001
Subject: Re: SL66 reliability problems? Re: Rollei vs Hasselblad

I used an SL66 for a while. The most annoying problem on mine was that the internal focussing track was a small plastic tab held in place by a screw at either end and it kept breaking. No, I was not being rough with it. I wound up keeping a couple of spares on hand as they were easy to replace, but I was never really happy with the camera. On the other hand, the optics were quite nice and the camera was a joy to shoot with.

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: 16 Mar 2001
From: [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] Rolleigrip with Rolleifix?

David,

another secret: the later pistol grips for SLX cameras contain a genuine Rollei tripod fixture that can be used for SL66 through to 6008i cameras and can sometimes be found for small money as many of them are damaged electrically.

Sven Keller

>Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001
>From: "David Seifert" [email protected]
>
>Yes! One of the great secrets of Rollei accessories is that each
>pistol
>grip contains a RolleiFix. Grips without cables can frequently be
>found for
>lots less than the Fix.
>
>David
>
>> Is the Rolleifix removable from the grip then useable as normal
>with a
>> tripod?
>>
>> Dirk

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2001
From: S Dimitrov [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] Re: 120 f2 Planar fro SL 66

Recently I stumbled on a site that has a photo of a SL66 with what looks like a 120mm f2 Planar. I didn't know that there were any around. Anybody have any input on them? And while we are on the subject, how about the 250mm Apochromat?

http://www.sl66.com/index2.htm

Slobodan Dimitrov

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2001
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Re: 120 f2 Planar fro SL 66

We talked about this a while back. Zeiss apparently made a small number of those 120mm f/2 Planar lenses. They were shown at photikina, and pictured in Rollei literature, but so far as I can determine were never actually sold.

I don't know about the 250.

Bob

...

From Rollei Mailing List;
Date: Sat, 07 Apr 2001
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] 150mm for sl66

John,

So far as I can recall from when I repaired them you can't buy shutter parts separately. You had to buy the whole assembly, which is the middle of the barrel with the Compur shutter and diaphragm assembly in it. Last time I did an inventory of old stuff I had two of these assemblies new in boxes. Probably cost me $ 350 or so each in the 70s.

Let me know if you get desperate and I'll see what I can turn up.

Bob

...

[Ed. note: a reminder as to why you should use a specialist repairer familiar with the Rollei SL66...]
From Rollei Mailing List;
Date: Mon, 28 May 2001
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Rolleiflex SL66

> From: "Tim Spragens" [email protected]
> Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 
> Subject: Re: [Rollei] Rolleiflex SL66
>
> Thanks Bob. I'm afraid it will have to take a trip before I'll have a
> chance to get it look into, but will shortly.
>
> Tim

Is this problem encountered with the film magazine off the camera?

Are you feeling it on the forward (clockwise) action and the reverse (counterclockwise) crank motion, or only on one. If so which?

One thing which occurred to me is that someone may have set the curtain brakes with too much tension. As the shutter finishes its travel the metal bar attached to the front of the shutter curtains passes across two stiff springs which prevent the curtain from bouncing open when it stops moving. The curtains have to be pulled past these springs when cocking, and if the springs have too much tension on them it could produce something like you mention. I know that these were sometimes hard to get tensioned just right. I used to repair these cameras in the 70s and 80s, but have forgotten a lot in the intervening years, but do remember these springs and the hassle of getting them just right on some cameras.

Bob

From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001
From: David Seifert [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66

The SL66 is very worthwhile! To my mind it represents the epitome of mechanical camera design and manufacture. It has valuable features which are still unique more than 30 years after it's initial appearance. The list of features goes on endlessly. It is unique in that it is a focal plane shutter camera with a bellows focusing mechanism with Scheimpflug capability. While you can't easily use PQ lenses (Rollei did make a contraption to make it possible but not practical) because of the lack of electrical interfaces to control the aperture, you can attach nearly anything else to it via mount adapters drilled for standard view camera lenses. It is perhaps the ultimate macro system with it's built-in lens reversal capability. Unlike the Hasselblad 500 series the SL66 features instant return mirror and aperture

Reliability is not really an issue if you maintain you cameras. Every 30 years or so you may need to replace the shutter curtains and perhaps CLA every 10 years it should run forever. Like that other brand of mechanical MF system camera, there are some rituals which must be observed, but barring that it is a very reliable system.

One of my favorite features is film backs which feature the Automat film loading system and 120/220 capability just like in the contemporary TLRs. I don't know why Rollei dropped it from the modern cameras, it is so nice.

Best Regards,

David

...

From ROllei Mailing List;
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL 66

>  Are there any sites specifically for the SL66 and it's successors?
> George
>
>From the RUG faq.html (http://www.stutterheim.nl/rollei/faq.html)

Rollei SL 66:

http://www.rflex.de/rflex/sl66.pdf
http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/go2.html#rolleisl
http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/g6x6.html#SL66
http://www.sl66.com/

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=000OzI

--
Emmanuel BIGLER
[email protected]

From Rollei Mailing List;
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001
From: David Seifert [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] "macro" photography with a TLR?

Robert,

The SL66 was designed with macro work in mind. It has built in bellows focusing with Scheimpflug tilt adjustments. It has built in lens reversal capability for high magnification macro work with a standard Rollei Bayonet VI fitting on the lens mount. Of course, a full range of extension tubes with aperture automation (via double cable release) is also available. Adapters were available for the Zeiss Luminar series. When that fails there are blank lens mounting plates for mounting any large format lens you could imagine. At macro ranges exposure correction for bellows extension is always a problem. Rollei provided a magnifying metering hood with spot as well as averaging metering modes to solve this problem. Add to this the availability of Polaroid backs and dedicated macro lenses optimized for flat-field work and you have the ultimate macro system. Of course, change lenses and backs and you then have a great portrait system as well.

Check out http://www.sl66.com/ for lots of info about the SL66 system.

Best Regards,
David Seifert

From: "Jeff S" [email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Rollei SL66!!!
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 

Very nice camera; I used to use mine almost daily for a couple of years (I
never thought to try street photography with it though!) This is one of my
favorite MF SLRs and it's much nicer than a Hasselblad for macro work, and
there are a number of handy features such a film wind knob that pops out
at the end of the roll. Take reasonable care not to bang it around as it's
largely made of sheetmetal and can be warped out of spec if dropped. Weak
points include the shutter release which can loosen and bind, a bellows
which is aging, and a lens lock which doesn't. The first can be remedied
by a little home disassembly and a well-placed dollop of epoxy; the second
by the likes of Camera Bellows in the UK who can build a new one.
Viewscreens from the 6000-series fit just fine. Rollei Bay VIII filters
and hoods are none too common, but 67mm ones are, and Heliopan makes a
good (expensive) adaptor.

All in all, a brilliant if somewhat cranky and eccentric camera.

Jeff S

"Neurula [Sydney]" intelligence@!!!technologist.com> wrote:
> Hi ive just won a bid for a Rollei SL66, after extensive research of
> price vs. features, I decided the SL66 is a good bet.
>  I am paying $600 for it, which is very reasonable.
> As you know I considered getting a RB67, which is generally selling on
> ebay for $100 more, although its a larger format, the setup would be too
> heavy for my intention to shoot street. The SL66 is perfect for me in
> that it has focal plane shutters so the lenses are cheap yet good
> quality (zeiss). This camera was introduced in 1966, its one of the
> hallmarks of Rollei camera design(for details visit www.sl66.com),
> Basically its a hassy but with more features, including built-in
> bellows, so its perfect for both handheld and portrait (the weakness of
> slow flash sync is solved by 2 special lenses that have builtin shutter
> leaf). Repair-wise I admit I will be doomed if it stops working, this
> camera is very complex (something like 1200 individual parts!), so if
> anyone would like to fill me in on the accessibility of parts itd be
> very much appreciated.  Id like to hear comments about this camera if
> you've had any experience with it.
> Thanks,
> Kevin.


From: [email protected] (ClintAK)
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Date: 19 Oct 2001 
Subject: Re: Rollei SL66!!!

The SL66 should treat you very well.  I've been using one for a couple of years
now  and I do like it.  

I think the "secret" of the SL66 is out a bit. When I first started putting my
SL66 kit together, lenses, while sometimes hard to find, were generally
inexpensive.  They're still much less than a comperable Hasselblad lens but
they're starting to go up in value.  With one exception, they all have the
Bayonet VI filter mount.  Not Bayonet VIII like someone else said.  The only
Bayonet VIII lens I'm aware of is the 40mm Distagon.  My dream SL66 lens.  The
500mm might have a Bay VIII now that I think about it.  I'm not sure though.

Ebay has been far and away the most consistent place to find SL66 lenses and
accessories.  With the exception of a compendium lens hood I found at KEH, I've
put my whole kit together from Ebay purchases.

In my experience, repairs haven't been all that hard to get.  I've used Harry
Fleenor at Oceanside Camera Repair.  There's another guy in Thousand Oaks, CA
who advertises in Shutterbug that I've heard is good with SL66's as well.  I
agree that the shutter and shutter release are the weak points.  

Anyway, it's a great camera and if your carefull, it can still be an
inexpensive way into MF photography.



Subject: Re: Rollei SL66!!!
From: Bob Salomon [email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 

ClintAK at [email protected] wrote:

>> Only the old 40mm the newer version is not Bay VIII. It accepts 95mm filters
> in it's lens hood.
> 
> I guess I was under the impression that all of the lenses built for the SL66
> had Bayonet filter mounts.  Are you sure the newer 40mm isn't just for the
> newer Rolleiflex SLR's? I kind of think that's the case here and I thought we
> were only talking about SL66 lenses.

No the last version of the 40 was the new version
> 
> That kind of leads me to another question. Is there any  compatibility between
> SL66 era lenses and newer lenses built for the SLX, 6006, etc.?  I realize
> that
> the newer cameras are a whole different animal in how they focus but are the
> bayonet mounts the same?
> 
No. And they couldn't work, even if you mount them as you could not open the
shutter in the lens, you could not activate the aperture, and the helical
focus mount makes the lens impossible to focus to infinity as the 6xxx/SLX
lenses are longer then the same lens for the SL66.

HP Marketing Corp. 800 735-4373     www.hpmarketingcorp.com
US distributor for: Ansmann, Braun, CombiPlan-T, DF Albums, Ergorest, Gepe,
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Date: Mon,  5 Nov 2001 
From: "Joe B." [email protected]>
Subject: [Rollei] "Balsam" issues with some Zeiss lenses?
To: [email protected]

A repairman I spoke to tonight said he's seeing a lot of Zeiss lenses from the
60's with what people call balsam problems- he says it is actually optical
cement and not balsam that is giving this problem with these lenses. I was
originally asking about a 120 S-Planar for the SL66 that had a "balsam problem"
that was going cheap, but he persuaded me that this might not be so easy to
recement and so I have given up on that idea. The Zeiss lenses for the SL66 are 
from this period and I wonder how much of a problem this is, or is going to be.
And I also wonder if the Rollei-manufactured SL66 lenses are likely to have this
problem- maybe they were made differently. I'd really like more information
because I don't want to buy lenses that have the potential for decementing
without there being any good fix for the problem. Any additional info would be
welcomed.

Joe B.


Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2001 
To: [email protected]
From: Marc James Small [email protected]>
Subject: [Rollei] Separation Issues and Zeiss Lenses

Joe B. wrote:
>A repairman I spoke to tonight said he's seeing a lot of Zeiss lenses from the
>60's with what people call balsam problems- he says it is actually optical
>cement and not balsam that is giving this problem with these lenses. I was
>originally asking about a 120 S-Planar for the SL66 that had a "balsam problem"
>that was going cheap, but he persuaded me that this might not be so easy to
>recement and so I have given up on that idea. The Zeiss lenses for the SL66 are
>from this period and I wonder how much of a problem this is, or is going to be.
>And I also wonder if the Rollei-manufactured SL66 lenses are likely to have this
>problem- maybe they were made differently. I'd really like more information
>because I don't want to buy lenses that have the potential for decementing
>without there being any good fix for the problem. Any additional info would be
>welcomed.

The problem DOES occur and, yes, it does not involve "Balsam" as Zeiss quit
using Balsam as a cement for lens elements donkey's years back.

The problem only afflicts selected lenses, and I don't recall that the
5.6/120 S-Planar was one such.  The most heavily affected are the 35mm,
85mm, and 115mm Pro-Tessars for the Zeiss Ikon Contaflex III through S line
and the Rolleiflex TLR prism -- and, in these cases, the poor cement used
seems to have only been in use for a very brief window of time, possibly
from 1960 to 1963.  I have never heard of a Rollei-made Zeiss lens
suffering from the problem.

Marc

[email protected] 


Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2001 
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Separation Issues and Zeiss Lenses
From: Bob Shell [email protected]>
To: [email protected]>


> From: Marc James Small [email protected]>
> Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2001 
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [Rollei] Separation Issues and Zeiss Lenses
> 
> The problem only afflicts selected lenses, and I don't recall that the
> 5.6/120 S-Planar was one such.  The most heavily affected are the 35mm,
> 85mm, and 115mm Pro-Tessars for the Zeiss Ikon Contaflex III through S line
> and the Rolleiflex TLR prism -- and, in these cases, the poor cement used
> seems to have only been in use for a very brief window of time, possibly
> from 1960 to 1963.  I have never heard of a Rollei-made Zeiss lens
> suffering from the problem.


I had a 120 S-Planar for SL66 bought around 1973 as I recall.  It had
belonged to a doctor before me.  It had serious separation when I got it
and I sent it out for recementing.  I later got rid of it because it was
simply too sharp for glamour photography.

The lens I saw most often in need of recementing was the 150mm Sonnar for
Hasselblad, 60s vintage.  Like Marc I never saw a Rollei-built lens with
separation.  

Bob



From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Rollei] "Balsam" issues with some Zeiss lenses?
Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2001 

Joe B. wrote:

"A repairman I spoke to tonight said he's seeing a lot of Zeiss lenses from
the
60's with what people call balsam problems- he says it is actually optical
cement and not balsam that is giving this problem with these lenses."

I've heard this too, from a specialist Rollei repairer in London. The lens
we were discussing was the 135mm f4 Sonnar in the Tele-Rollei, and he warned
me to check *very* carefully for this effect. His optical specialist has had
the cemented elements of two Tele taking lenses sitting in a bath of
whatever-it-is-they-use-to-take-them-apart for over *twelve months* and they
won't separate (so they can't recement them).

www.ffordes.co.uk has three Tele Rolleis for sale on its site, and when I
enquired about the lens condition by mail a few weeks ago I was told that
two of them had separation problems in the taking lens.

-- 
David Morton
[email protected]



Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2001 
To: [email protected]
From: Richard Knoppow [email protected]>
Subject: RE: [Rollei] "Balsam" issues with some Zeiss lenses?

you wrote:
>Joe B. wrote:
>
>"A repairman I spoke to tonight said he's seeing a lot of Zeiss lenses from
>the
>60's with what people call balsam problems- he says it is actually optical
>cement and not balsam that is giving this problem with these lenses."
>
>I've heard this too, from a specialist Rollei repairer in London. The lens
>we were discussing was the 135mm f4 Sonnar in the Tele-Rollei, and he warned
>me to check *very* carefully for this effect. His optical specialist has had
>the cemented elements of two Tele taking lenses sitting in a bath of
>whatever-it-is-they-use-to-take-them-apart for over *twelve months* and they
>won't separate (so they can't recement them).
>
>www.ffordes.co.uk has three Tele Rolleis for sale on its site, and when I
>enquired about the lens condition by mail a few weeks ago I was told that
>two of them had separation problems in the taking lens.
>
>-- 
>David Morton
>[email protected]

  FWIW, A company called Summers Optical makes optical cements and
solvents. Their web address is:

http://www.emsdiasum.com/Summers/optical/cements/default.html

Even if you are not interested in taking on recementing yourself the primer here makes interesting reading. 

  Synthetic cements have been used for nearly all lenses from the late
1940's. A few manufacturers began using them even earlier especially for
aerial lenses for use at high altitude. These lenses are subjected to
temperatures which will almost instantly crystalize Canada Balsam, making
the layer cloudy and the lens useless.

  Many kinds of cements have been used. The early ones were mostly
thermosetting. While synthetic cements should have a much longer lifetime
than Canada Balsam there are subject to some problems in assembly and
curing. I've seen some lenses, including Zeiss lenses for the Contarex,
which had what looked like large bubbles in them. This is the cement
separating. I have also seen a few Kodak lenses where the cement layer has
become turbid, looking like wax paper. 

  Many lenses can be recemented. If the elements are not completely
separated the technique is to bathe the lens in a hot solvent solution. The
solvent Summers sells operates at around 340F. The problem is that
sometimes the thermal shock can cause the elements to fracture. The
Summer's solvent is started cold to avoid this problem. Once separated the
lenses can be cleaned with Acetone and pure Ethyl alcohol and recemented.
Summers sells both binary type and UV setting cements. I've used the
conventional binary type. This requires curing at 130F for an hour. There
is also a room temperature curing cement but I prefer to have the longer
working life of the mixed cement. The temperature is not critical and the
recementing procedure is not too hard to do. 

  Most cemented elements have edges which are carefully centered. When
these are clamped together the entire assembly will be centered correctly.
The difficulty comes with lenses with different diameter elements, such as
the Schneider Angulon. I've not recemented a finder prism but would guess
that its practical to do.

  Steve Grimes also has a little on lens re-cementing on his web site
http://www.skgrimes.com

  He uses prisms to clamp the lens edges. I've found that even large
machine nuts seem to be suitabley square. A sheet of thick glass is used as
the reference surface. I've used an ordinary gas oven for curing although a
temperature controlled electric oven would be ideal. 

  I have also recemented using Canada Balsam, but it is actually more
difficult and fussy to use and the results are not as good. 

  Lenses cemented with Canada Balsam can be gotten appart by gentle
heating. The text books say to use a frying pan but I've also had good luck
placing the elements in water and heating it until the fall apart. 

----
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
[email protected]


Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2001 
To: [email protected]
From: Richard Knoppow [email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Separation Issues and Zeiss Lenses

you wrote:
> [email protected] (Bob Shell) wrote:
>
>> > The problem only afflicts selected lenses, and I don't recall that the
>> > 5.6/120 S-Planar was one such.  The most heavily affected are the 35mm,
>> > 85mm, and 115mm Pro-Tessars for the Zeiss Ikon Contaflex III through S
line
>> > and the Rolleiflex TLR prism -- and, in these cases, the poor cement used
>> > seems to have only been in use for a very brief window of time, possibly
>> > from 1960 to 1963.  I have never heard of a Rollei-made Zeiss lens
>> > suffering from the problem.
>> 
>> 
>> I had a 120 S-Planar for SL66 bought around 1973 as I recall.  It had
>> belonged to a doctor before me.  It had serious separation when I got it
>> and I sent it out for recementing.  I later got rid of it because it was
>> simply too sharp for glamour photography.
>> 
>> The lens I saw most often in need of recementing was the 150mm Sonnar for
>> Hasselblad, 60s vintage.  Like Marc I never saw a Rollei-built lens with
>> separation.  
>> 
>> Bob
>
>I'm now viewing my 150mm Zeiss Sonnar for SL66 with some concern. I wonder if
>there is any way of knowing whether this lens is likely to separate at some
>future time or not. And I wonder if I can assume it is effectively the same lens
>as the Hasselblad lens- same optics, same manufacturer. It looks fine at the
>moment, but if I wait until I see some evidence of separation, I will have left
>it too long. I have half a mind to sell it forthwith. Have you (or anyone else)
>ever heard of the SL66 150 Zeiss Sonnar developing this problem?
>
>Joe B.

  My guess is that if the lens shows no sign of separation its not going to
separate. Unlike Canada Balsam, which slowly crystalizes at the edges,
properly cured synthetic cements should have virtually indefinite lifetime. 

  I suspect the bad Zeiss lenses are due to either defective cement or some
problem in curing it. The problem may not have been recognized at the time.
Likely it affects lenses made only over a fairly short time. 

  The separated Zeiss lenses I've seen (from a Contarex) looked like they
had large bubbles in them. However, I've also seen other manifestations of
bad synthetic cements on other lenses. Some Kodak lenses get an overall
haze in the cement which under magnification looks slightly wrinkled, like
reticulated film. The main effect of this is to diffuse the image a little,
unless its very bad. 

  Separating cement can also give a sort of oil-slick effect, probably from
Newton's rings from the variation of index in the bad cement. 

  The difficulty of recementing depends on the construction of the lens and
the difficulty of getting the components apart. Old lenses, cemented with
Canada Balsam are not difficult at all to get apart, nor are lenses with
synthetic cement which has sufficiently separated. However, where synthetic
cement is just starting to have trouble the lens must be treatet in hot
solvent, with the consequent risk of thermal shock.

  There are a couple of people in the US who offer recementing services.
One is Steve Grimes the other is John van Stelten. I know Steve a little,
he is a carful workman. I've not had direct experience with van Stelten but
he has a good reputation. 

  Recementing is expensive because there is a lot of hand work. Whether its
justifiable or not obviously depends on the lens.

  Its not too difficult to do your own recementing but I would suggest
giving any really valuable lens to someone who does it all the time. 

  In a previous post I gave the URL of Summers Optical, who supplies both
optical cements and accessory items. They have a pretty good on-line primer
on cementing. I wish it were available as a PDF (maybe it is now, I haven't
looked lately). 

  Unfortunately, the cements and the solvents must be shipped as hazardous
materials. The haz mat charge nearly doubles the price. I strongly suggest
ordering cement and solvent at the same time since I think the haz mat
charge is per shipment rather than by item. 

  Recementing simple lenses, like Tessars, is easy. The main problem with
small Tessar type lenses is that the rear (cemented) element is likely to
be mounted in a "burnished" or "spun-in" mount which requires some
machining to get apart. The mechanical work is much more difficult than the
recementing. 
----
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
[email protected]


Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL 66 flash sychronisation 
From: Bob Shell [email protected]>
To: [email protected]>

Sven Keller at [email protected] wrote:

> I have read somewhere that the SL 66 flash synchronisation sometimes fails.
> I have never used my SL 66 with flash but checked whether it would work
> yesterday, just in case I might suddenly need it...
> Sadly, the flash did not fire with the cable attached to the x-socket (the
> m-socket did fire the flash).
> Is this likely to be caused by the flash switches (which I believe lie
> behind the shutter parts under the right cover) or has this to do with the
> sockets
> itself?


What speed did you try this on?  If you only tried 1/30, give it a try
at 1/15 and see.  These cameras have a tendency to no longer synch at
1/30 as they age, but usually still work at 1/15.  If it works at 1/15
you can use that indoors, or repair/replace the contacts.

The flash synch contacts were a poor design.  Rollei redesigned them at
least twice that I know of to solve this problem.  Sometimes you can get
them to work by bending them (what goes wrong is that they bend over time
until they no longer touch).  Better to replace them, though.  It is a
modular assembly, and as I recall you only need take out a couple of screws
to remove the module and solder a couple of wires.  Not a complex repair.
I've done it many times.  You may want to check with Rollei to see if they
still have new ones.

Bob



Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 carrying orientation
From: Bob Shell [email protected]>
To: [email protected]>

[email protected] at [email protected]
wrote:

> I would be a little bit more careful with the orientation. I think that normal
> carrying is no problem, but a little more violence on the front side (the
> lens) 
> could damage the interior. I had a rather costly reparation on the
> potentiometer that transports the lens opening position towards the exposure
> meter. I am afraid that this has been caused by uncarefully putting down my
> camera bag. Since then I always have the camera lens up.


Agreed.  I don't think Joe has one of the SL66 models with the built-in
meter.  I was speaking of the original SL66 in my comment.  The metered
models are much more fragile than the original.

Bob

Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 
Subject: Re: [Rollei] ON-TOPIC adapting lenses on a SL66
From: Bob Shell [email protected]>
To: [email protected]>

[email protected] at [email protected] wrote:

> I've seen listed on German dealer web sites some long telephoto
> modified by Zoerk to adapt on a SL66.

When I was still using SL66 I had him modify a 180mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss
Jena MC lens for my SL66.  He left the helical focusing so I could rack
the Rollei bellows all the way out and then use the helical for additional
focusing movement.  Unfortunately it was impractical to make the diaphragm
also work automatically.  I used it for portraits.  He also modified my
500mm Prakticar for use on my Mamiya 645.  This was after I had sold the
SL66 outfit.  

I had an adapter I made for the SL66.  I attached a Durst round lensboard
for M39 thread to a SL66 bayonet bought as a repair part.  This let me
use enlarger lenses on the SL66.

Bob


Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 
Subject: Re: [Rollei] OT - hello to the rollei list
From: Bob Shell [email protected]>
To: [email protected]>

Not so easy to do, unfortunately.  Back when I was shooting with SL66 I
bought a 180/2.8 MC CZJ Sonnar and sent it over to Herwig Zorkendorfer
for conversion.  You must remove a substantial portion of the rear of the
lens to do this.  Not cheap to do either, as it was close to $ 1,000
for the work.

However, the converted lens looked like it was made that way, and still
retained the helical so you could rack the Rollei bellows all the way out
and then continue with the helical for close-ups.  I sold the lens when
I sold the last of my SL66 stuff.  Boy was that a bad deal!  I consigned
the stuff (three cameras and a bunch of lenses and accessories) to a dealer
who had been in business forever.  Shortly after getting the stuff he went
out of business and disappeared.  I tracked him down a couple of years later
and he did make partial restitution, but I lost big time on that.

Bob

> From: S Dimitrov [email protected]>
> Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [Rollei] OT - hello to the rollei list
> 
> On the other hand, one could always get a blank lens mount for the SL66
> and refit the CZJ 180 F2.8. It won't have an auto diaphragm, but it
> seems like a wide open lens anyway.
> 
> Slobodan Dimitrov



Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 
From: S Dimitrov [email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] OT - hello to the rollei list

Bob;

Mark at SL66.com had three versions for sale, at very low prices. He had
the 120, 180, and 300 CZJ. That sure vetted my appetite.
I once saw one of your SL66 "bastards", at a camera show, a 135 F2
converted to SL66 mount. That must of been some chore.

  Slobodan Dimitrov


Bob Shell wrote:
> 
> Not so easy to do, unfortunately.  Back when I was shooting with SL66 I
> bought a 180/2.8 MC CZJ Sonnar and sent it over to Herwig Zorkendorfer
> for conversion.  You must remove a substantial portion of the rear of the
> lens to do this.  Not cheap to do either, as it was close to $ 1,000
> for the work.
> 
> However, the converted lens looked like it was made that way, and still
> retained the helical so you could rack the Rollei bellows all the way out
> and then continue with the helical for close-ups.  I sold the lens when
> I sold the last of my SL66 stuff.  Boy was that a bad deal!  I consigned
> the stuff (three cameras and a bunch of lenses and accessories) to a dealer
> who had been in business forever.  Shortly after getting the stuff he went
> out of business and disappeared.  I tracked him down a couple of years later
> and he did make partial restitution, but I lost big time on that.
> 
> Bob
> 
> > From: S Dimitrov [email protected]>
> > Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 
> > To: [email protected]
> > Subject: Re: [Rollei] OT - hello to the rollei list
> >
> > On the other hand, one could always get a blank lens mount for the SL66
> > and refit the CZJ 180 F2.8. It won't have an auto diaphragm, but it
> > seems like a wide open lens anyway.
> >
> > Slobodan Dimitrov


From: sai chan [email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: SL66 questions
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2001 

There had been different versions of lenses for Rolleiflex SL66, the original
Carl Zeiss lenses without HFT, Carl Zeiss lenses ( as marked on the lenses )
with HFT, lenses marked "Made by Rollei" with HFT. The more commonly used
version were changed to "Made by Rollei" at the later stage of SL66 production,
however the more exotic focal lengths, like 30mm fisheye, 40mm Distagon and some
really long lens 500mm and the two reflex lenses remained made by Carl Zeiss
throughout the life of the product line. The two shuttered lenses ( 150 and 80 )
did not seem to have gone through the changes and remained a Carl Zeiss product
and without HTF coating. For detailed information, check Claus Prochnow's Rollei
Report 2, Lindemanns Verlag,
ISBN 3-89506-118-2.


Cheers.

"Q.G. de Bakker" wrote:

> sai chan wrote:
>
> > 4. Do not look for HFT version of this lens, it does not exist, the same
> is true
> > for the 80mm f4 Distagon with shutter, only Carl Zeiss version and no HFT.
>
> HFT is multicoating Rollei style, isn't it?
> Don't these Carl Zeiss versions have T* coating? Same thing.


From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Zeiss S-Planar 120 f5.6 info
To: [email protected]
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 

> Anybody out there could please explain me what the "S-Planar" means
> in the name of Zeiss S-Planar 120 f5.6 and what are the qualities of
> this lens for SL66 ? Thanks Roberto Aita Italy

Hi Roberto

In short : a great lens for macro work and portrait.

Now in detail ;-)

The S-planar 120mm f/5.6 was a Macro Zeiss lens supplied also in
Hasselblad mount. The current version has been improved to f/4 and is
named "Makro-Planar 120 f/4". "S" probably means "Spezial" in a sense
that this lens family is intended for a specific application, namely
high quality close-up, as opposed to a general purpose lens like the
standard planar 80. According to the current Zeiss data sheet for the
120 Makro planar, Zeiss now reserves the "S-planar" name to "really
special" photo-reduction lenses used by the semiconductor industry. I
am happy to be able to use for photomask fabrication here at the
University such Zeiss lenses, a 10X pattern generator lens and a true
marvel, a 10X photo-repeater lens with a 4"x4" object field, final
resolution 0.8 micron (~600 lp/mm) on a 1x1cm field... this is 25
year-old optical technology, unfortunately if you may find one as a
second hand item, they are useless for regular photographic work since
they are optimized for a single .4 micron wavelength *and* a 10:1
ratio, only.

Using a 80 with the maximum extension of the SL66 built-in bellows (or
with an additional bellows) does not necessarily mean that the 80 will
deliver poor images in close-up work ; it simply means that the 80
planar being optimised for infinity-focus, if you want the top of
Zeiss image quality in close-up you have to switch to another lens
optimised differently or close down the 80 to a small aperture.
Consider Zeiss MTF charts on www.zeiss.de for the 120 Makro planar,
you'll understand why it is better at 5:1 than infinity-focus. I think
I may have at home a paper copy of previous MTF charts for the
S-planar 120-5.6, I have to check.

Quoting the current Zeiss documentation about the 120 Makro planar,
this kind of lens is at their top image quality at ratios 1:1 (object
= 6x6cm) -> 5:1 (object : 30x30cm) and not infinity-focus ; they
should be excellent to reproduce artwork, paintings, etc... from an
smaller than an A4 page to 1 square meter. Beware however that like in
all close-up photography the depth of field is small. So do not blame
the S-planar for not being able to render sharp a complete volume of
30x30x30cm ;-). However combined with the unique (at least, built-in a
MF SLR camera) tilt capability of your SL66, you can rely on Herr
Scheimpflug to to increase the depth of field for a slanted object.

A last note : you can of course use this lens at infinity and for
portrait work. I am sure that many people using the f/5.6 f/4 maacro
planar use it as a "normal" lens. Now if you want the results at
infinity to be of the best quality you'll have to stop down the lens.

I hope this response is not too long...
-- 
Emmanuel BIGLER         
[email protected]



Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2001 
From: Edward Meyers [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] lens adapter for SL66

Maybe he's using only the lens "head" without the focusing
part, as the SL66 has its own focusing-bellow arrangement. Ed

Robert Monaghan wrote:

> from http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/mounts.htm Lens Mount Regist. Dist:
>
> Rolleiflex SL66         bayonet                         102.80mm
> Pentax 6x7              bayonet                          84.95 (74.10?)mm
>
> this means the adapters must have an optical element to focus at
> infinity, if you are using pentax 6x7 lenses on the rollei SL66 mount, right?
> Except for the Bronica S2A lenses, there aren't many 6x6 or 6x7 lenses
> which will work on rollei SL66 without an optical adapter due to distances.
>
> I'd be interested in any actual experience with such an adapter, to learn
> more about these options too ;-) regards bobm





Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 
From: David Seifert [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66E and SE on eBay

Rolleiclub is the "nom de commerce" of Dr. Mark Meier.  It is my
understanding that Dr. Meier is a (perhaps retired) dentist from Germany
with not only a passion for things Rollei but good connections in Germany
for new and NOS (new old stock) Rollei goods.  I have dealt with him on
several occasions and have found him to be both professional and
knowledgeable.  If you have a desire for some odd bit of Rollei gear, drop
Mark a line and ask.  His goods are mostly new, in box and so the prices
aren't garage sale cheap but the quality is definitely there.

BTW, his website is a treasure trove of details about the SL66.  I think he
is also interested in SL2000/300x cameras as well and is developing a site
for them as well.

David




From: "eMeL" [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Rollei SL66 [was: Re: Another silly "which camera?" thread: Bronica SQ-B]
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2002


Robert Monaghan [email protected] wrote 
> see http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/rolleisl66.html
>
> lens are hard to find, not leaf shutter, and prices in USA are much higher
> than you are seeing - often $1k per lens and up for rarer lenses etc. ;-)


The original poster is in Austria, where SL66 (and other second-hand
Rolleiflexes) are *much* cheaper and abundant than in the US...

True, the SL 66 is focal-plane shutter camera (a blessing or a curse,
depending on your needs/wants/religious beliefs, etc) but there are at least
two leaf-shutter lenses for SL 66 :  Distagon 4/80 Leaf Shutter and Sonnar
4/180 Leaf Shutter.

Michael



From: "David Haardt" [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Rollei SL66 [was: Re: Another silly "which camera?" thread: Bronica SQ-B]
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2002


"eMeL" [email protected] wrote:
> The original poster is in Austria, where SL66 (and other second-hand
> Rolleiflexes) are *much* cheaper and abundant than in the US...
>
> True, the SL 66 is focal-plane shutter camera (a blessing or a curse,
> depending on your needs/wants/religious beliefs, etc) but there are at
least
> two leaf-shutter lenses for SL 66 :  Distagon 4/80 Leaf Shutter and Sonnar
> 4/180 Leaf Shutter.

FYI: Prices for the 4/80 Distagon leaf shutter lens seem to be around EUR
500 in A/B condition, for the 4/150 Sonnar leaf shutter lens around EUR 800
also in A/B condition. Lenses in B or B/C condition seem to be quite a lot
less expensive sometimes.

The 50, 80, 120, 150 and 250 focal lengths are obviously really common over
here. Also accessories of any kind are available - I even saw a sheet film
holder a few minutes ago on ebay.de although I do not know which film format
it takes. The other lenses however (30, 40, 60, 500, 1000 focal lengths)
seem to be rarer - the 40 would be by far the most interesting of that
bunch. I also saw one 75 shift lens with the original tilt adapter, but it
costed almost 3000 dollars (U.S.) - and I didn't yet see the 2x
teleconverter (hope that will be findable).

Well - it seems as if I will go for the SL66. I hope that I will be able to
post something on it in a few weeks ;-)

Cheers,

--
David Haardt




Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66E and SL66 hand held

> I'm considering a purchase of a medium format SLR. Does anyone have
> any experience with this camera? Somewhere I saw a comment that the
> Rollei SL66 was awkward to hold and really meant for use on a
> tripod. If this is so, it won't work for me since most of my
> pictures are travel photo. Comments and comparisons to either the
> newer Rollei 6000 series or the Hasselblad 500 series are also
> appreciated.

I had the privilege to know a French professional photographer using a
SL66 in the 1970's-1980's. He had chosen it on purpose instead of a
Hasselblad. But he still used a R-TLR and might have been a
Rolleiphile. He had his SL66, almost same weight and same size as the
SL66E, X and SE, around his neck when outdoors and he did many
hand-held pictures. "SL66 awkward to hold" ? I would not say that,
although there is something incredibly smart and compact in the
original design of the Hasselblad and layout of the controls. "SL66
meant for use on a tripod", definitely not if you think of a Mamiya
RB/RZ 67. However the SL66 with its built-in bellows with front tilt
capability, is heavier than the Hassy when both are fitted with the
same Zeiss glass.

If you refer to Prochnow's Rollei report volume 2 (see the FAQ for
reference) where the SL66 series is documented (in German) you'll see
that actually very few SL66, E, X and SE bodies were actually made if
compared to the Hasselblad. About 50,000 SL66, a few thousands for
each of his improved successors E, X, and SE. So any comparison
w/respect to the Hasselblad is biased as far as availability of used
bodies, lenses and film magazines or accessories is concerned. The
SL66 is apparently Claus Prochnow's favourite camera, due to the
built-in macro and "Scheimpflug" capability for repro and close-up
work. On the other extreme a 1000 mm Zeiss ins SL66 mount telephoto is
mentioned, but it migh have been as rare as the Yeti of the Himalayas
;-);-) although the number of authenticated pictures of this 1000mm
for SL66 actually exceeds by far the number of authenticated yeti
pictures !!!

As far as the optics is concerned, they are the same as C-series
Zeiss-Hasselblad lenses except of course for the built-in Compur
shutter. The SL66 series has a focal plane shutter. The max flash
synch speed is, thus, somewhat limited (I think 1/30s or 1/60s) on the
SL66 series except if you find one of the two special lenses with
built-in leaf shutter that were offered : a strange 80mm "retrofocud"
distagon and a 150mm sonnar, offering only fast leaf shutter speeds
for flash use. Who did manufacture this simplified leaf shutter is a
question for expert RUG-ers.


There are many people on this list who will be glad to tell you more
about his camera from their own experience.

--
Emmanuel BIGLER
[email protected]



Date: Fri, 08 Mar 2002 
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66E and SL66 hand held

[email protected] at [email protected] wrote:

> As far as the optics is concerned, they are the same as C-series
> Zeiss-Hasselblad lenses except of course for the built-in Compur
> shutter. The SL66 series has a focal plane shutter. The max flash
> synch speed is, thus, somewhat limited (I think 1/30s or 1/60s) on the
> SL66 series except if you find one of the two special lenses with
> built-in leaf shutter that were offered : a strange 80mm "retrofocud"
> distagon and a 150mm sonnar, offering only fast leaf shutter speeds
> for flash use. Who did manufacture this simplified leaf shutter is a
> question for expert RUG-ers.


Flash synch is 1/30 on all SL66, but drifts to 1/15 with use.

I owned both leaf shutter lenses when I used SL66.  You must manually
cock the shutter for each exposure and set the camera body to B
(instructions say 1/15, but doesn't actually work on most bodies).

The leaf shutters are standard Compur 0 just like in Hasselblad lenses.
They lack the slow speed escapement since it was not needed.  I still have
a couple brand new replacement shutters left over from my repair shop days.

BTW, the SL66 is great for hand holding if you have the hand grip made
for it.  Without the grip it is awkward to hand hold.

Bob



From: "eMeL" [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Rolleiflex SL66 advice
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002


Xosni [email protected] wrote 
> I'm thinking about buying a second-hand Rolleiflex SL66 but I have
> some questions regarding this camera:
>
> 1-Is it a leaf shutter camera? What is the flash-synchro speed?

No, it's a focal-plane shutter camera with the flash sync speed of 1/30s.
There are two leaf-shutter lenses made for SLX Distagon 80/4 LF and Sonnar
180/4 LF, which can synchronize with flash from 1/30 to 1/500s.

> 2- Rollei adopts the bayonet system, how can I use filters or a ring
> flash?
>  Is there any adaptors to make it fit to the screw system or should I
> get a designated special filter holder. I know that Rollei peoducts
> are very expensive.

Rollei used to market a macro flash system for this camera, not a ring light
but two flash heads mounted on a connecting rod which was attached to the
system.  For other accessories, there are adapters from B mounts to screw-in
mounts - not too expensive.  B+W makes them and they are also available on
the used market.  Besides, Rollei used to make lots of filters and
accessories for the SL, some of which are available on the used market.

> 3. I read on a Rollei page that many lenses by different manufacturers
> are made to fit with this sexy body; what are they? DO they mean
> different lenses made specifically for Rollei or just different lenses
> for other systems?

Zeiss (Oberkochen, i.e. West German Zeiss) and Rollei (Rolleigon lenses.)
Also Rodnestock Imagon is available for SL 66 and so are two or three lenses
made by Novoflex.  Moreover, there are several lenses from Carl Zeiss Jena
(i.e. East German Zeiss) that fit the SL.  For macro photography, there was
an adapter allowing the use of Schneider Componon enlarging lenses.  There
are (might be..?)  after-market Russian/Ukrainian lenses in SL 66 mount, and
Rollei itself used to make (market..?) an universal adapter which allows
(with some limitations, but still...) mounting of third-party lenses on the
SL.

Visit
http://www.sl66.com/welcome.htm
for more info.

Good shooting!
Michael


From hasselblad mailing list:
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 
From: Per  [email protected]
Subject: Re: large format lenses on 501cm

No problem; the Rollei Sl66 did exactly that!  Back + body w/mirror and
focussing screen was one rigid unit, the bellows with the lens mount did
tilt up to 8 degrees (a lot for landscape, really).  the point was that the
pivot of the lens tilt was placed only a few millimetres in front of the
film plane, so it WAS really "back tilt", but the mirror and screen tilted
with the back.  I had a SL66, and you could even use the tilt free-hand (a
favorite stunt was getting everyone around a dinner table sharp with the
lens fully open: faces sharp, but table and hands fuzzy).  Possibly a fuji
680 might work, but it looks far bulkier than the SL66...  In any case,
neither a Flexbody, an Arcbody, or a Holmasen body (independent precursor of
the Flexbody) works the same way.
....
> Fr�n: "Frank Filippone" [email protected]
> Datum: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 
> Till: [email protected]
> �mne: RE: large format lenses on 501cm
>
> Jim.. how could you see a back tilt, through the mirror, in a SLR camera?
> The mirror is in front of the tilt...OTOH, it is possible to use the tilt
> with a film plane mounted ground glass focusing screen......
>
> But I have to agree with Andrew that the quest for a tilting Hasselblad with
> SLR viewing is frustrating
>
> TO Andrew.... Yes this is a working idea... in fact, if you could adapt a
> front standard from a VC to the front of the Hassy bellows, this job gets
> easier and less costly.....LF lenses will work fine, but remember the
> sequence of exposure is rather specialized.
>
> Frank Filippone




From Rollei Mailing List
Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2002 
From: Bob Parsons [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] ? SL66 Lenses

Mark,

You can have the older lenses adapted for use on the E series.
Lenses for the E cameras have a ring attached to the rotating aperture
scale on the lens. The rear of the ring has a protruding screw head
which actuates a cam on the front of the camera's lens mount, thereby
transmitting the aperture value to the exposure meter.

Service agencies can add the ring or you can do it yourself if you are
able to obtain them. All lenses from 40mm (also maybe the fish-eye) to
250mm (except the 75mm PC Rolleion) can be adapted.The rings are
held in place by 4 small screws.  Those for the longer focal length lenses
are more like sleeves than rings.

The 1/2 stop aperture values end up being effectively digitized so there
can be some, but not much,  error in alignment of the ring before you
tighten the retaining screws. You either need a lens that has already
been converted or an external exposure meter and a grey card to get
the ring in the aproximate correct position before making the final
adjustments. It pays to check that the screws are carefully tightened
so there is uniform clearance between the ring and lens barrel all round,
otherwise the barrel gets scratched. If you need more information on
how to do all of this then ask me.

I found the rings obscured the red dot used to line up the lens-camera
bayonet mount and had to paint a dot on the ring. (I drilled a small
depression and filled with red paint)


You will generally find that lenses with factory fitted rings are recent
enough to be HFT coated versions.

Bob Parsons.  [email protected] or [email protected]

----- Original Message -----
From: "mdelman" [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2002 
Subject: [Rollei] ? SL66 Lenses

> Does the SL66E require special lenses to use the metering function in the
> camera, or will the metering work with lenses developed for the previous
> (meterless) model SL66?


From Rollei Mailing List:
Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2002 
From: Edward Meyers [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 from H.E. Chamberlain

My suggestion is to check out what a complete overhaul will cost
you and figure the cheapest to require the most work. But then
there must be a reason for the price range. My gut feeling pushes
me to the most expensive combo. Make sure the film magazine is
included. ALSO. My SL66 bodies are from 1968. In the 1970s Rollei
improved on the shutter escapement (or whatever) and my two
bodies were upgraded. Which are these? Ed

Dan Kalish wrote:

> H.E. Chamberlain has listed the following kits:
>
> SL66/80 Zeiss Planar Mint  $ 1,250
> SL66/80 Zeiss Planar Mint - $ 1,195
> SL66/80 Zeiss Planar Ex+++ $ 1.050
> SL66/80 Zeiss Planar EX++ $ 895
> SL66/80 Zeiss Planar Ex+ $ 750
>
> These prices, especially the last two, are much less than I've ever seen
> anywhere else.  Is this too good to be true?  Has anyone had dealings with
> them?
>
> Dan Kalish


From: "David Haardt" [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Rollei SL66 [was: Re: Another silly "which camera?" thread: Bronica SQ-B]
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2002


Dear group members, Dear Bob,

Today I made an exciting discovering. Well, it probably itsn't exciting any
more to _you_, but to me it is ;-)

Until today I never spent any time informing myself about the Rollei SL66
camera series (because I thought it was old and expensive). But somehow
today I was googled to several nice Rollei links. I see some big advantages
it this camera system for myself:

1) I can buy it used, so I may resell it without much of a loss
(unfortunately, I'm also a notorious reseller)
2) it seems to be available in plenty numbers in Austria (where I live) and
Germany
3) it offers nice Zeiss lenses - I'm sure their image quality is fine
4) it is fully mechanical (that's really pleasing to me!)
5) I could adapt other lenses due to the focal place shutter
6) it is not even that expensive! I looked around at several local dealers'
offerings - you can get a set with body, back and 80 lens for 1000 dollars
(or a bit more) with a dealer's warranty, and "affordable" lenses (50, 150)
cost about 500-1000 dollars each from dealers - everything in A or B
condition

So my question now is: Am I overlooking something? This system costs the
same or less than a Bronica SQ-B system, and it seems to be quite fine. The
shift lens is extremely expensive, but with reference to point 5 in my above
list I could maybe adapt a Kiev shift.......?! It doesn't offer fast synch
times, which is fully ok for me. Does it have any disadvantages I'm not
aware of?! This system really seems to be wide spread over here, and most
dealers seem to have rather huge stocks of bodies and lenses which gives me
a comfortable feeling.

As far as I found out, the SL66E seems to offer additional TTL metering -
but as I love waist level finders and my Weston Master V it seems as if I
could go with the SL66 which is quite a bit more attractively priced than
the newer ones like the SL66E.


Again many thanks for all your postings, folks, they have really helped me.
It's nice to have such a community on the Internet.

Best regards,

--
David Haardt


From rollei mailing list:
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 
From: David Seifert [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66

Dan,
Welcome the the SL66 family.   I am sure you will find your new camera
quite interesting.  I know I love mine.  I would recommend a visit to Mark
Meier's site www.sl66.com  He sells a CD-ROM with all the SL66 manuals and
literature for a reasonable price.  He also has a link to another site

http://www.mediakyoto.com/camerashopper/cla_came_e/sl66_e/index_e.html

which covers most of the basics of the camera.

Of course, if you want an original manual, you could probably get one from
John Craig: http://www.craigcamera.com/


or perhaps Pacific Rim Camera: http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/

I am sure you will have lots of questions.  Several members of the list use
SL66s so ask away, you will get lots of answers.  The most important rule
is to never remove the back from the camera without cocking the shutter
first.  (Just like a Hasselblad).

Enjoy
David
...



Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 
From: David Seifert [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] SL66 Do's and Don'ts

Dan,

The SL66 is the king of the interlocks!  You will find that you will be
unable to remove the back if the darkslide is not in place.  You will find
that you can't release the shutter with the darkslide in place.  Sometimes
people use specially modified darkslides to get the camera and back
separated when thing go seriously bad.  I took my "locked" SL66 to Harry
Fleenor and in a matter of seconds he had it made right by using the
special darkslide and some special knowledge.  Too many people have the
special darkslide but not the knowledge.  Where things get bad is if you
remove the back then dry fire the camera and then try to reattach the back.

Whether you wind immediately after exposure is your choice.  I tend to do
so in order for the camera to be at the ready when it is time for the next
shot.  It is only critical that shutter be cocked  prior to removing the
back.  Since rear body caps are all but unavailable it seems unlikely that
any prudent person would store their SL66 body without a back
attached.  This being the case the admonition about having the shutter
cocked prior to removing the back probably only applies to changing backs.
It has often been discussed whether shutters should be stored in a cocked
or uncocked state.  It seems that Synchro-Compur leaf shutters are designed
to be stored in the cocked state, as counter intuitive as that seems.  My
understanding is that the only exception to this is that perhaps the older
Compur-Rapid shutters should not be stored with the shutter speed set to
the highest speed which tensions a second spring.  Apparently the springs
in these things a incredibly strong and aren't weakened by just being
tensioned.  I suspect the same is true for the SL66  FP shutter.  I had an
SL66   with shutter curtains so badly decayed that the shutter would hang
in the course of traversing the film aperture.  The camera needed new
shutter curtains but no new springs or other parts were needed.


Does this answer the question?

Best Regards,
David Seifert


 you wrote:
>Thanks for the links, David.
>
>As to shutter winding, let's see if I've got this right.  On my Rolleiflex
>Automat, its best to avoid winding the film and cocking the shutter until
>I'm ready for the next picture.  Same with my Nikon F, by the way: the extra
>large shutter release (AR-1?) tends to release when I put the case back on.
>On the SL66, its critical to wind it after snapping the picture.  Is that
>right?  What about the darkslide?



Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 
From: Philippe Tempel [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Rollei?

It does have some advantages over my SLX/6000 series
camera.  The built in bellows, lens tilt and ability
to reverse mount the lens are all very nice.  I you
think you would use any of these features, then your
choice is clear.  Biggest drawback is no built-in
meter.  But like the Hassy, you can buy a prism finder
that has a meter.  There are the other models that
have a meter (SL66E and SL66SE) but they can be a
little expensive and more difficult to find.  I don't
even use the built in center weight meter in the 6006
much, so not having a meter wouldn't be a big deal for
me.  Last I saw the lens prices are really not much
cheaper.  Not sure about the other accessories.
...





Date: Thu, 04 Apr 2002 
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Rollei?

[email protected] at [email protected] wrote:
> Larry,
> Is the tilting lens of use in keeping verticals parallel in architectural
> shots?
>
> Bob

No.  It is only for altering the plane of focus.

Bob



Date: Thu, 04 Apr 2002
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Rollei?

 Philippe Tempel at [email protected] wrote:
> But like the Hassy, you can buy a prism finder
> that has a meter.

Minor correction.  There is no prism with built in meter.  There
is, however, a chimney finder with meter.  I used to own one when
I had SL66.

Bob




Date: Sat, 06 Apr 2002 
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] ? SL66 Lenses

Rich Lahrson at [email protected] wrote:
> Hi Marc and Todd!
>
> Aren't there some super speed long lenses made for the SL66,
> perhaps from Eastern Europe?  Like f/2 and 2.8 300mm or more?
> A recall seeing something on the eBay awhile back.  Rich


It is possible to modify the Carl Zeiss Jena medium format lenses for
SL66.  I used to have one of the 180mm f/2.8 Sonnar lenses which had
been modified for my SL66.


Zeiss in West Germany made a 120mm f/2 for SL66, but only a few were
ever made.  If you find one it will be amazingly expensive.

There were lenses from Kinoptik in Paris which were long, fast, and
very expensive, but could be modified for SL66.

Zoomar and Komura made adapters for some of their lenses on SL66.

There were also some very fast German lenses which could be adapted,
but I don't recall the company name at the moment.

Rollei sold blank lens boards for SL66 which allowed easy adaptation
of many view camera lenses.

Bob


from rollei mailing list:
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 
From: David Seifert [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66

Hi Dan,

The 50/4 Distagon , 80.2.8 Planar, 120/5,6 S-Planar, 120/4 Makro-Planar,
150/4 Sonnar and 250/5.6 Sonnar all use Rollei Bayonet VI filters and
hoods.  A popular item is the Heliopan Bay VI to 67mm step ring for those
with an existing collection of 67mm filters.

Best Regards,
David

 you wrote:
>What size filter/hood, etc. does the Rollei SL66 take?  Bay VI?



From Rollei mailing list:
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 
From: Philippe Tempel [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66

--- Dan Kalish [email protected] wrote:
> What size filter/hood, etc. does the Rollei SL66
> take?  Bay VI?

Many do.  The wide angle ones have a bay VIII hood:

http://www.sl66.com/sl66_accessories/

I don't know if those are difficult to get.  For
filters, I'm using the Bay VI to 67mm adaptor.  Bay VI
filters are expensive and not as plentiful as the
threaded types.  IMO, the bayonet design is better--
easier to put on and remove and no threads to bugger
up.  Where there any Schneider lenses available for
the SL66?  I didn't see any on the site above.  I
guess you could always use a large format lens with an adaptor.


From rollei mailing list:
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66

Philippe Tempel at [email protected] wrote:
> Where there any Schneider lenses available for
> the SL66?  I didn't see any on the site above.  I
> guess you could always use a large format lens with an adaptor.

I think one Schneider zoom was offered in SL66 mount.  Komura made a series
of lenses in SL66 mount.  I used to have the 300mm and it was decent.

Bob


From rollei mailing list:
Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2002 
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 back viability

Joe B. at [email protected] wrote:
> I'm beginning to wonder- is it possible that the SL66 system has a tendency to
> be unreliable in this way, with backs repeatedly going out of adjustment? Do I
> need to consider selling it and getting a different system? It bothers me that
> the main back which has had probably only half a dozen films put through it
> since it last had this problem, now has the problem back again. Maybe it is
> the lack of use of the intervening few years that is the problem- but I did
> get the camera out and fire it at all speeds every few months throughout,
> which is my standard procedure for keeping a camera functioning- although I
> suppose this doesn't do much for the film back if there is no film in it to
> keep the components moving around.

Joe,

It may be the film.  The SL66, like most of the TLRs, relies on sensing the
change in thickness when the tape holding the film to the backing paper
passes between two rollers.

Some modern films use thinner backing paper and different tape, and may be
throwing the system off.

Alternately, you may be forgetting that after you advance the film to the
first frame using the knob on the film magazine you must remember to push
the knob in.

Bob


From rollei mailing list:
Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 
From: David Seifert [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Rollei] Heresy: asking advice for a yashica TLR

Those familiar with the SL66 know that Rollei did solve the interchangeable
lens DOF scale problem very elegantly.  The SL66 focusing knob has a small
window on it's end which reveals a focal length of the currently displayed
focusing scale.  Simply pull the knob away from the body, rotate it and let
it go when the desired focal length is in the window and the appropriate
focusing scale is displayed.  They provide scales for 50, 80, 150 and 250
lenses.  It is done with nested focusing scales which pop to the top at the
right moment and are then displayed along side the fixed DOF marks.  Very
slick solution to the problem.

Best Regards,
David


From rollei mailing list:
Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 
From: "Kotsinadelis, Peter [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] Interchangeable lens Rollei TLR & SLR

...

From what I read that may have been one reason, the other was the management
at F&H somehow believed that it would be better to make a wide, tele Rollei.
They then convinced Reinhold Heidecke that this would be best. This lack of
forward looking management helped accelerate the demise of F&H.  Bear in
mind these were the same foolish managers that also were against the
original SLR. This SLR development was initiated in 1955 and abandoned in
1957.  It was restarted in 1962.  The SL66 along with the Rollei 35 made
their debut at Photokina in 1966.  Rollei Werke revenues rose 50% from 1966
to 1967.  In 1966, the Franke family took over the shares of the Heidecke
family. This was pushed by Dr. Peesel who was running the company at that
time.  Perhaps if this happened earlier and the interchangeable lens TLR
debuted or the Rollei SLR came out in the late 50s as it should have, we
would still be seeing the F&H on our cameras.

Peter K




From rollei mailing list:
Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 
From: mdelman [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] SSL66 Lens ?


Gents:

I have an SL66e that will accept an adapter plate for use of 3rd party
lenses.  The onely requirement is that the lens opening is equal to, or less
than, 58mm (see below description and attached jpg image) .  Does anyone
have recomendations for large format tele and wide angle lenses that would
meet the lens diameter requirement?  I'm looking for lenses above 250mm and
less than 50mm.  Hopefully, relatively recent lenses that are coated.
Thanks.

-Mark

Lens adapter without thread
To be custom adapted to third party lenses
Maximum diameter of lens opening: 58mm
In production from 1968-1995
Order #: 208 790
Price (1995) DM 256 ($ 130)




From: [email protected] (Joe B.)
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Rollei or Hassy
Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2002

Subhash Tiwari
 wrote:

>Thank you gentlemen for that illuminating discussion.
>My desire was to go to the "Best possible" quality-(build/optics but NOT
>added electronic features)- with  minimal investment so as to "dip my toes"
>in the format. Therefore, the "outdated" part did not bother me. Also fully
>mechanical cameras appeal to me ( I own an M3, an M6, a couple of Rollei
>35s, an NIkon FM, a Contax S2 and a Yashica 124G Mat) and absence of
>metering (like some of the above) is a non-issue ( I'll need to buy a meter
>soon anyway !). The Rollei/Hassy should (arguably) produce even better
>images than the Yashica. New/current/Electronically advanced systems would
>cost an arm and two legs.And, I did NOT want another TLR.
>And finally, all this agonizing began with a Rollei SL66 (with 80/2.8)that
>became available for about $1000.
>I am still confused. Much wiser, but still confused :)
>
>Subhash 

$1000 sounds too expensive unless it is in _seriously_ good condition.
I've got an SL66 system and I think it can be a sensible choice if you
don't need to be able to find the lenses and other bits you want
immediately. It is certainly a very nice system to use if you like top
quality mechanical cameras. I had a 6002 and a 6006 already when I got
the SL66 and I sold them both shortly afterwards- the SL66 can have
that effect on you! Once I got into the mechanical  feel of the thing,
the electronic system just didn't seem to much fun to use, and it was
a great deal louder. If you would be content with a body and the 80mm
Planar to start with and were likely to be content with a 50, 80 and
150 setup, then finding lenses is not going to be a huge problem.
Other lenses do pop up for sale every so often but this is not
something that one should rely on. If you want the 40mm or some other
less common lens then you might have to wait a while. I just recently
sold my 40mm, after deciding that the 50 would be a more useful lens
for me. This took some emotional fortitude because I have only ever  
seen that 40mm lens advertised twice in the last several years. That's
why I hung onto it for so long. But it really didn't suit me and I
expect my use of the SL66 system to increase now that I have a
wideangle that suits my needs better.

The good news if the SL66 appeals to you is that you can find a body
and lens for not a huge amount of cash; and even with just the
standard lens, it is an amazingly versatile camera. It is incredible
that you can reverse the standard lens and extend the bellows and do
macro photography with no additional accessories whatsoever. And it is
very nice to handhold- quite gentle shutter and mirror action. And
what noise it does make is a very nice noise...

Fringe benefits of being a SL66 user- you can use various odd lenses
on adapters. Sometimes I use a 135 Elmar M-mount rangefinder lens head
on an adapter. Older Leica lenses of the longer focal lengths were
based on LF lens designs so the coverage is enough. For my next   
project I'd quite like to get an adaptor made to use the lens head
from my 280 Telyt-V. It is quite a kick to get the Leica look in
medium format.

Joe B.


From rollei mailing list:
Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2002 
From: Sven Keller [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SL66 mag

Yes.
Any SL 66/E/X/SE magazine can be used on any SL66/E/X/SE
camera. The TTL meter of the E and SE will default to ISO 100
when a SL 66 magazine is attached.

Numbered inserts (from the SL 66 and SL66 E) should stay with
their magazine. Unnumbered inserts can be swapped between X
and SE magazines (the ones with the crank).

Sven Keller


From rollei mailing list:
Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2002 
From: Reg Ronaldson [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] The Rollei SL66 Way

Per Einar Forberg [email protected] wrote:

> May I then conclude that there is just one edition of L.A. Mannheims
> "The Rolleiflex SL66 Way"?
> Per Einar Forberg

I have a copy of L.A. Mannheim's "The Rolleiflex SL66 and SLX Way" c
1975 by Focal Press Limited ISBN 0 240 50788 6. This covers the first
model SLX in a small section at the back of the book.


From rollei mailing list:
Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2002 
From: Tim Ellestad [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Re: "The SL66 Way"

Hadley Chamberlain - www.hecphoto.com - was selling copies with publisher
approval.  He may still have some.

Tim Ellestad


-----Original Message-----
From: Olivia Hibel [email protected]
Date: Friday, August 02, 2002 
Subject: [Rollei] Re: "The SL66 Way"

>Right now,      there is only one copy listed for sale online, by an
>internet seller.  Price: $500.
>
>There must be  more copies out there, but not publically offered online.
>
>Olivia
>who is writing an article about buying books online and off.


From rollei mailing list:
Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2002 
From: Dan Kalish [email protected]
Subject: [Rollei] The Rollei SL66 Way

Rolleiclub.com often sells this book in CD-ROM/.adf format.

For the version I got in April, there is an error on page 251, which should
contain pages 496 and 497 of the book. Instead, it contains  a duplicate of
pages 486 and 487.

I pointed this error out to Mark and he corrected later copies.

The correct pages 496 and 497 can be downloaded from the web site at:
http://sl66.com/manual/496.jpg, but that format is not adequate for getting
the whole page.

Would some kind RUG soul send me those two pages in hardcopy?  I'll furnish
my address when I hear from you.

TIA


from rollei mailing list:
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 
From: Bob Shell [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SSL66 Lens ?

 [email protected] at [email protected] wrote:

> Jerry,
>
> What other SLR has a focal plane shutter and a bellows?
>
> Bob

Rittreck in Japan made some.

Bob


from rollei mailing list:
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 
From: Gene Johnson [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SSL66 Lens ?

This is a little short of 250mm, but Surplusshed.com has some copier lenses
by B&L that are about 210mm and go for the mighty sum of 10 bucks.  I have
one I used on my view camera with a shutter mounted behind it and the
Polaroids looked quite nice.  They don't have mounting rings. but for 20
bucks, you could get one from Steve Grimes.  I think these are 5 or 6
elements and have a lot of heavy glass in them in a very high quality barrel
with a nice iris.

Gene Johnson


From: Andras Toth [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Rollie 66E value
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002


Evan,

sorry to say I'm a simple user only. As one can see on the pages
www.sl66.com, these CZJ lenses are built especially for SL-66,
without focusing ring. But I saw somewhere else that any origianal
K-6 2.8/120 Biometar (not full open, however) and the two Sonnars
can be used on SL-66 with an adapter.

About the CZJ lenses on Blad, it is well known that there are
custom solutions for decads. Another way to buy a Hartblei body
1006 that is a donkey, using K-6 lenses _and_ HB backs, finder.
See www.hartblei.com

There is an intresting thread on photo.net as well, you know ;)

Regards,
Andras


from rollei mailing list:
Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 
From: Jerry Lehrer [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] SSL66 Lens ?

Mark

Why pay big bucks for an expensive adapter?  With that camera (SL66)
all you have to do is get a "body cap" and bore a hole in it for the lens.

You can do that for any SLR with a focal plane shutter and a bellows.

Jerry


mdelman wrote:

> Gents:
> I have an SL66e that will accept an adapter plate for use of 3rd party
> lenses.  The onely requirement is that the lens opening is equal to, or less
> than, 58mm (see below description and attached jpg image) .  Does anyone
> have recomendations for large format tele and wide angle lenses that would
> meet the lens diameter requirement?  I'm looking for lenses above 250mm and
> less than 50mm.  Hopefully, relatively recent lenses that are coated.
> Thanks.
>
> -Mark
>
> Lens adapter without thread
> To be custom adapted to third party lenses
> Maximum diameter of lens opening: 58mm
> In production from 1968-1995
> Order #: 208 790
> Price (1995) DM 256 ($ 130)


From rollei mailing list:
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 
From: David Seifert [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Rollei] Oberkochen

Lenses marked like this were manufactured for sale in the eastern bloc
countries where the western Zeiss trademarks were owned by East German
Zeiss companies.  These lenses were usually marked Opton XX where XX is an
abbreviation of the western lens type designation.  Such as Opton Di is a
Distagon and Opton Pl is a Planar.

David

 you wrote:
>Always looking for some more answers:
>
>I've just bought and brought home a lens for a friend of mine.
>It was for his SL66E camera.
>
>The lens was an Oberkochen Opton 150mm.
>
>I know the background of the name etc.
>(interesting reading for those who don't know of this:
>http://www.sl66.com/sl66_lens_details/oberkochen.htm)
>
>My friend wants to know a more precise manufacturing date.
>The lens' serial number is: 2584918
>
>And I have a question about the lens as well:
>This was the first time I ever saw an Oberkochen lens.
>I suppose it is not as seldom as I first thought, but even still:
>does the oberkochen lenses have a higher or lower value to collectors?
>
>Thanks!
>Per Einar Forberg
>Norway
>

Best Regards,
David Seifert
[email protected]


From Manual Nikon Mailing List:
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2002 
From: Allen R Murray [email protected]
Subject: Re: OT: Rollei SL66

Hi Greg,

I supplemented my Nikon system with a sl66 in 1983
and I have found myself using the sl66 most of the time.

I use it for B&W outdoor photography and
I think this is the best medium format outdoor camera and with it's lens
tilts and built in bellows

it's kind of like a mini view camera.

I have the 80mm Planar lens and the 150 Sonnar lens, both lenses are
extremely sharp lenses

I recommend getting the 45deg. prism, this prism rotates on its base
plate.

You should check out http://sl66.com/ they have a lot of info on camera
models, lenses and accessories.

Allen


From: [email protected] (Thom)
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Hasseblad or Mamiya??
Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002
...

I have had an RB-67 since 1979 and a Super-23 before that but I'm also
57 and getting old and weak and found I was 35ing it more and more.

Have you considered one of the Bronica 6x6's as a possible alternitive
or even a Kiev???

I also juts bought a like new Rollei SL66E kit with prism and a bunch
of other stuff at a Government Department Auction (I'm in Australia)
and was the only bidder (I got it for US$23) and even though its
heavier than a Kiev or Blad its much nicer to carry about as is the
Bronicas,

THOM


From: [email protected] (J.C. Helder)
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: SL66 compatability
Date: Mon, 04 Nov 2002 


The difference is in the exposure metering of  the SL66SE. However,
you can use all SL66 equipment on the SL66SE but you will miss for
SL66 lenses the commmunication of the diaphragma setting to the
exposure meter. Lenses can be adapted with a so-called E-ring. For
film backs the exposure  meter will not work when using a SL66 back on
a SL66SE. Adapting that is according to Rollei technicians as
expensive as buying a new SE back.

 Lourens Smak [email protected] wrote:

> [email protected] (Thom) wrote:
>
>> Anyone know if the hood, magazine and lenses are interchangable
>> between the Rollei SL66 and SL66E??
>
>bookmark this:
>http://www.sl66.com
>
>;-)
>Lourens


From: "John Hannon" [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Adapting Bronica lens to sl66
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 

I recently bought a Rolleiflex SL66 camera with 80mm Distagon lens. The
camera is great but it is hard to find lenses (150-180mm) and what is out
there is very expensive.

Is there any way to adapt Bronica S2A lenses using the Rollei lens adapter
plate from H.E. Chamberlain? I was thinking of using a 150 f3.5 Zenzanon
lens. I know the lens registration for the Bronica is close to the Rollei's,
but I am concerned that the lens may interfer with the mirror.

Has anyone tried this combination?

Thanks
John Hannon


From: "John Hannon" [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Adapting Bronica lens to sl66
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2003

Thanks for the information Bob, it is good to see so many lens possibilities
for the SL66. It looks like the Bronica would be the easiest to try.

Regards,
John


"Robert Monaghan" [email protected] wrote 
> the telephotos should work okay, even the Sun zoom for Bronica S2A/ECTL
> can be adapted to the Rollei SL66 series, per reports. The problem will
> come with the wide angle lenses, which often fit inside the lens mount
> projecting to the rear, too bad, as the nikkor wide angles are stellar ;-(
> Simply ask for a return privilege on any lenses until you can check them
> out in the adapter; IIRC, the 135mm doesn't project backwards at all, nor
> my 150mm or 200mm etc. the 80mm and 75mm do, so they're a bad choice due
> to the mirror clearance issues, and anyway, most kits have such lenses...
>
>
> the easiest bronica lenses to modify would be the various 57x1mm thread
> mount telephotos which would require only machining a matching thread of
> the right depth on the rollei plug.
>
> One related use is the M39 thread mount which opens up use of long tele
> Leica thread mount lenses with the Rollei SL66 - again this is available
> from Mr. Chamberlain at his rolleisl66 site. Some of the novoflex lens
> heads might be very useful with this adapter, if you have them already
>
> there is a lens mount with lens lock and release lever in the standard
> Bronica tube series which can be mated to the regular bronica extension
> tube set or used by itself (see http://medfmt.8k.com/bronica.html under
> macro links on tubes). This mates to the 57mmx1mm pitch thread mount
> tubes. I don't know if it can be recessed enough, with a machinist help,
> in the rollei plug mount to make it feasible to mount the bronica S2/EC
> lenses on the rollei while preserving infinity focus without running into
> the flipping mirror? (I doubt it, or it would be more widely known? ;-)
>
> note that some minolta older extension tubes are also reportedly 57x1mm
> mounts, so again, this raises some other options and lens choices too? ;-)
>
> see  and
>  on homebrew lens hacking ;-)
>
> lots of other telephotos will also work on the rollei, as long as they
> are more than 100mm from the lens to the film plane and have 6x6cm
> coverage, which includes a lot of lenses from LF and 6x9cm folders etc.
>
> ANy of the lens heads lenses should also work pretty well, even for 35mm
> are worth checking out, as they often cover 6x6cm if just the lens head is
> used (i.e., without the baffles that block full coverage for 35mm users)..
>
> ditto macro lenses, which are extra useful on the rollei sl66 thanks to
> the tilting bellows (7 degrees IIRC?)...
>
> hope this helps bobm


From: [email protected] (Thom)
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Hartblei and their likes
Date: Tue, 04 Mar 2003 

[email protected] wrote:
>Thom [email protected] wrote:
>
>> My experience with the Hassies is not good. They were constantly
>> breaking down
>
>The lad looking at MF options can ask about that; reliability
>is going to be an issue with many older cameras, of course.
>I haven't heard many people complain about Hassy reliability,
>but I'm no expert ..
>
>> Also my wedding was shot with a hassies and the WA shots were as sharp
>> as a marble.
>
>You're an Australian, aren't you? The photographer was
>probably drunk. ;-)

I should have also mentioned that I'm having the same problem with a
Rollie SL66E. I picked it up with a ton of accessories at an estate
auction for US$28 and it had been sitting in a closet for 10 years.
Its totally clogged up and when we took it apart found there are no
broken parts, just dirt and the fact the lube had dried up from
non-use.

THOM



From: Lourens Smak [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Rollie SL66e problem
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003

Martin Jangowski [email protected] wrote:

> Thom [email protected] wrote:
> > Several months ago I went to an auction where parts of a company were
> > being liquidated. I bought a large Rollie SL66e kit with tons of
> > goodies for $28 but the shutter is jammed. The camera is spotless but
> > the shutter won't cock. When I opened it I found nothing broken but
> > it seemed that the lube inside had dried up and everything was
> > sluggish.
>
> > Is this a common problem??? The guy said the camera had been sitting
> > on a shelf for several years. What would it cost to have it taken
> > apart and cleaned???
>
> Yes, a full mechanical camera that sits for years is prone to get sluggish.
> Send it in for a CLA, the SL66 is one of the best 6x6 SLRs ever made.
> The official SL66 repair-center is Paepke in Duesseldorf, Germany. They
> bought all spare parts from Rollei when Rollei stopped servicing the SL66.
> It won't be cheap, but the camera will be like new when you receive it
> back and it will be definitely worth the price. Don't try to make repairs
> on your own, the SL66 isn't for the faint of heart...

the site is:
http://www.paepke-fototechnik.de/

;-)
Lourens


From: Le Grande Raoul [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Rollei SL66
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 

Randall Ainsworth [email protected] wrote:
> This is one of the most poorly designed cameras I've ever seen. The
> placement of the controls require you to have 3 hands. Be a man and
> get a Hasselblad.

Well, here goes our dick-sizing boy, Randall, again...

I'm a Hassy user but there is nothing 'manly' about a Hasselblad.
Actually, there is nothing sexual about the camera at all. It is metal
and glass plus a little plastic. The use of a Hasselblad (or a Rollei
for that matter) will not change the length *or* girth of your penis or
any other gonadular dimentions. Futhurmore, a woman will not begin to
sprout a beard mearly by holding a 500C.

To answer the question:

When Rollei designed the SL66, they were looking to make it handle
somewhat like a Rolleiflex. The film advance was on one side and the
focus on the other mainly because that was thought to be what the
indended user (a person used to the Rolleiflex) was familiar with.

My major concern is with availablilty of parts, service and lenses.
While a Rollei SL66 can be serviced, it must be sent somewhere. If you
want to use a particular expensive but seldom used lens (say a 40 or a
350 or a 500 or, actually any lens you don't have and want to use) with
the Rollei 66, you will need to purchase it. With other brands,
particularly Hassy, it can be rented. I don't mind buying used
equiopment (almost everything I have was bought used) but I'm just not
comfortable buying throiugh Ebay. I know many of you have had good
luck and I'm happy for you but I would be hesitant to sent a thousand
or more dollars off to someone I don't know and who only has Ebay
feedback for a reputation. YMMV.

Jeff


From: Wim [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Rollei SL66
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003

"Daniel ROCHA" drocha(jeneveuxpasdepub)@magic.fr wrote:
>Hello all,
>
>I'm very interested by the SL66 range.
>
>Due to the camera bellows wich can be perfect for the close up
>photography that I would like to do with the square format.
>
>I really love to make close-up portraiture.
>
>What do you think about this camera for close-up portrait ?
>
>Do you use this gear ? Have you some comments to make ?
>And about reliability ?

I've used Hasselblad and large format a lot. Then I stumbled onto the
rollei SL66, bought it and... sold my Hasselblad !!

Sure it's heavy, that why I can shoot 1/15th without blurring. Buy a
good (Photec) neckstrap. The bellows and the reversable lens are just
ideal for close-ups and macros. And the curtain shutter enables me to
experiment with all kinds of (repro)lenses. There are some real gems
around there which can easily be adapted to the SL66 if you're a bit
of a handyman. They make for superb $ 100,- portrait or macro lenses.

The Rollei SL66 is the ONLY affordable MF camera to offer scheimpflug
adjustments. As a LF photographer I really appreciate this for macro
or landscapes.

It's true, you should have it rehauled, and that's not cheap. But my
fellow photographers who use Hasselblads just seem to visit he
Hasselblad repairmen a lot more often than I do. And Hasselblad
repairs arn't cheap either.

In short : I wouldn't trade my SL66 for any Hasselblad anymore. That's
just my very own personal choice. You should choose what seems right
for you. Just don't let your intuition be influenced by brand-addicts
one way or the other. What's right for you is right for you.

Wim


From: Martin Jangowski [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Re: Rollei SL66
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 

Daniel ROCHA drocha(jeneveuxpasdepub)@magic.fr wrote:
> But the question is it is easy to find this kind of gear (SL66)
> used ??
> What do you think about this camera for close-up portrait ?
> Do you use this gear ? Have you some comments to make ?
> And about reliability ?

I bought the 120 S-Planar, the 150 and 250 Sonnar and the
50 Distagon within six weeks via ebay. Since I wanted the
non-HFT versions (I have several Rollei TLR and know what
single coated lenses can do and what they can't), the
price was _very_ reasonable.

The 120 S-Planar is a dream lens. Ok, a soft-focus lens
it isn't... it's more for sharpness fanatics. It is of course
ideally suited for close-ups, being a macro lens. The main
problem with the SL66 for studio work is the slow 1/30 flash
sync. I have only artificial light in my studio, so this is
not a real problem. For fill-in flash outdoors it's more
of a problem.

I had my SL66 overhauled by Paepke in Duesseldorf, Germany.
That's not cheap, but I hope it will serve me for years to come. 

For non-tripod work the left hand grip is a must. Without it
the camera feels very uncomplete, the grip makes a perfect
fitting combination... left hand holds and focuses, the right
hand triggers and rewinds.

Martin



From: [email protected] (Avion33)
Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.medium-format
Subject: Rollei SL66 Repairs.
Date: 16 Sep 2003 

Few months ago my Rolleiflex SL66 camera jammed. At the beginning I
thought I had damaged it myself, because I had not used it in a long
time, so I thought I had made a mistake when loading the film magazine
that accidentally caused the shutter mechanism to jam.

I went to Photo.net to ask for advise, and everybody suggested to send
the camera to either Mr. Harry Fleenor in California, or Marflex in
New Jersey. I contacted them both, but the turnaround time they gave
me to fix the camera was too long.

I ended up contacting Mr. Jurgen Kuschnik through an ad he has in the
Repair Classifieds section of Shutterbug magazine. He gave me a
reasonable turnaround time, so I shipped the camera, back and lens to
him, and asked him to fix the camera and do a complete overhaul on the
whole kit, including the lens and film back.

Well, few months ago I received the camera back from Mr. Kuschnik. He
did a great job, the camera looks and works like a brand new camera.
He told me, by the way, that I didn't damage the camera, it was a
piece on the shutter mechanism that broke due to fatigue. He replaced
that piece, and did an excellent jod not only fixing and overhauling
the camera, but also with the film back and lens.

Regarding the cost of the repair, I can't say it was cheap, but it
wasn't expensive either, more or less between the same range of the
other estimates I got through emails, but again, the quality of Mr.
Kuschnik's work was absolutely outstanding, I highly recommend his
repair services specially for the Rolleiflex SL66 camera, lenses and
accessories.

Here is his contact information in case you want to contact him:

Jurgen Kuschnik 654 Shadow Lake Drive Thousand Oaks CA 91360 Phone:
805-427-3929 Fax: 805-496-1874 email: [email protected]





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