Rolling, Rolling, Rollei!!!

Back in November my father gave me a Polaroid Pathfinder and a Rolleiflex TLR.  Fortunately they still make 120 film for the Rolleiflex, but I also managed to find some 3000 ASA Polaroid film for the Pathfinder, too.  Anyway, I decided I would give the Rollei a try and see if I had the patience to work with a Twin-Lens Reflex camera and Film.  I've been playing with my Nikon FE2, but it was pretty similar to a dSLR, except for the ability to "chimp."  However, the top-down view of the Rollei is confusing and somewhat disorienting, I mean you have to move left to have the image appear more to the right, etc...


I first loaded a roll of B&W 400 ISO 120 film in the Rollei and was able to advance the film, but it never stopped at each numbered frame for me to take a picture.  I ended up advancing the film to the take-up reel thinking that the camera was broken.   I took the camera to a local camera store, Henley's, and asked the elderly gentleman behind the counter for some assistance.  He informed me that we would most likely expose the film, but  we really had no alternatives if he were to troubleshoot the problem.  So the clerk opened the Rollei, rolled up the exposed film on the empty spool,  loaded the film and verified that it didn't work.  He also mentioned that the camera wasn't worth repairing and would at least make a decent prop.  Too bad, because I really wanted to see what this camera would do and it was in such stellar condition.

I went home and pulled out the Rollei manual, my Dad is really good about keeping Users Guides, and realized I incorrectly loaded the film.  What is even funnier is that the gentleman at Henley's, who stated he had a similar camera, also loaded the film wrong.  Nothing like having "local" experts.

This time I loaded a roll of Kodak Portra 160 NC 120 film in the Rollei, grabbed my Sekonic Flash meter and headed out to take some pictures around 8:00 am.  I shot about eight frames and then set the camera aside for my photoshoot.

On the day of the shoot I brought out my Rollei and connected my Pocket Wizard to the sync port.  It worked like a charm.  I already knew the exposure settings since I was shooting at ISO 200 with my D700.  I had to turn on some additional lights because the viewfinder needs a decent source of light to make the subject visible enough to focus on.   I finished the remainder of the roll and then dropped it off for developing at Henleys.

The total cost for the film, developing and burning to CD-Rom was about $12, or basically a dollar an image.  It was fun shooting with a TLR and the camera itself was easy to operate.

So what did I learn?
Read the Flippin' Manual - Yeah, I've said that before in this blog and even at work RTFM is our mantra.

Once I saw the results I decided I would always keep the Rollei loaded with film and close at hand for shoots.  I checked eBay and found some Rolleis for sale and at a good price.

I've got a shoot on April 24, with Jenna in a Saloon, so I'll be bringing my Rollei, and That's A Wrap!!!