Dante Stella

dante stella stories photographs technical guestbook

Rolleiflex 2.8F

Every technology has its flameout. That's when a product reaches a maximum level of sophistication and then arcs into one last simplification and then obsolescence. Think about typewriters after the Selectric era: word-processing functions, operability as printers, multiple print wheels, and several different ribbon types. Today, the only typewriters you can buy are flimsy Brother electronics that wheeze their way through multipart forms.

The 2.8F (ca. 1960-1981) is the flameout for Rollei: it was the best and most sophisticated possible for its day. This camera had eleven high points:

Had automatic film start
Had an automatic parallax-correction system in the viewfinder
Had the fastest lens ever put on a TLR
Had a depth-of-field scale that grew or shrunk according to aperture
Had a coupled meter that even had an incident attachment and a filter factor correction knob;
Could be used as a rangefinder camera with the Rolleimeter
Could be used as a 35mm camera with the Rolleikin
Could shoot on 120 or 220 film (the 12/24 variant)
Could be used with a waist-level finder, a chimney finder, or a 90 degree prism finder
Had interchangeable focusing screens
Could be used with a flat glass for ultra-flat film transport.

What followed the 1980 discontinuance of the 2.8F (after two decades of production) was dumbed down a bit. The 2.8GX and 2.8FX were Rolleicord bodies that received lever-wind treatment, TTL metering and flash (via a very basic three-diode readout), and 6006 focusing screens. Many old-timers hated the post-2.8F Rolleiflexes for their heavy shutter releases.

Handling: The Rollei 2.8F is a bit heavy compared to the 3.5MX (Automat 4), the Autocord, and the Yashica 124. The larger, heavier lenses no doubt contribute, but there's just a lot of metal in there. That's why Rolleiflexes last so long.

The viewing system of the 2.8F involves a detachable finder that can be exchanged for a prism or a chimney finder. The standard waist-level unit with popout magnifier and drop-down sport finder also has a secondary mirror that can be deployed for TTL focusing (well, through the top lens) while you use the sport finder. The standard focusing screen is a fresnel enhanced(?) grid with a split focusing screen in the middle. This dim, easily scratched viewing piece is the terrible middle ground between a true groundglass (like a 3.5MX) and a Maxwell bright screen. The one thing that is baffling about the Rolleiflex 2.8s is why the original viewing screen vignettes so badly - it almost seems worse than with the f/3.5 viewing lenses on Japanese TLRs.

Focusing is achieved with a largish knob on the right side of the camera. Focusing takes a remarkably heavy touch, in part because the front standard is heavy and in part because the knob is designed to be turned by two fingers of the average user's weak hand (the projecting meter -coaxial with the knob - prevents a more solid grip).

The shutter of a 2.8F is a Synchro-Compur, which is essentially the same shutter as you would see in a Hasselblad lens. The self-timer is not part of the shutter mechanism. The good news is that you can still get mainsprings and still hit something approaching 1/500 sec. The bad news is that it is a Synchro-Compur, which means more periodic servicing than a Seiko or a Copal. People got all up in a knot because the 2.8GX had a Copal shutter, and the speed dial turned the wrong way. That "wrong way" speed setting goes away with practice, but the long-term, maintenance-intensive nature of Compur shutters is there to stay.

The film transport in a Rolleiflex automat is a thing of beauty - or not. Because no mechanism is too complex for a German camera, Franke & Heidecke built in a roller-feeler that detects where the film - rather than the leader - starts. So you don't have to align arrows on the film to red dots. This mechanism is absent from most medium-format cameras - probably because it is prone to malfunction. It was certainly taken out of the 2.8GX and 2.8FX models (which are reputed to be Rolleicords with lever-winding). The downside of the automat film loading system is that the film bends before it hits the chamber, increasing the warpage (compare some of the Japanese SLRs that wind straight down from the top). The 2.8F has one of the smoothest advances of any classic 120 camera.

And the lenses - ah yes, the lenses. There are two variants, a Schneider Xenotar and a Zeiss Planar. Both are plasmats. Both have f/2.8 maximum apertures. Both have protroding front glass. Both will exceed the needs of any normal darkroom print, and either will fall short of the most modern medium-format glass. The top lens is a Heidosmat (Rollei house brand) 80mm f/2.8. Reportedly, the top and bottom lenses were matched by the lens supplier and supplied to Rollei mounted on the front standard.

Metering makes the difference between a 2.8F and a 2.8E. The E has an uncoupled meter; the F has a meter that is mechanically linked both to the shutter and aperture dials. The meter - powered by a selenium cell in the nameplate - is marginally more useful than the Sunny-16 rule, and its sensitivity can vary wildly from a CdS or silicon cell meter depending on the color of the light. The meter is equipped both with an ISO setting and with a filter-factor compensator (1 to 3 stops of additional exposure). The meter can be restored to "perfect" operating condition, but it's not nearly as useful as a good handheld, particularly in low light.

Looking for one? Things to look at:

Item	Rank	Notes
Taking lens	High	A couple of light marks in the front glass should not cause a problem; you get flare from in-frame light sources with these cameras long before getting it from mild cleaning marks. Separation should be cause for concern. Look for rainbow oil-like things in the lens. Fungus can be cleaned up most of the time (by people who understand the delicacy of the interior coatings), and it is unlikely to recur in the time that 120 film will be available.
Shutter/ Aperture	High	$175 is the going rate for a shutter overhaul. Contrary to Rollei-lore, there is nothing special about the Rollei shutter; however, reassembly of the rest of the camera is pretty important. Aperture blades should be clean and functional. There will be quite a bit of drag on both dials. This is due to linkages to the meter and to the depth-of-field scale.
Transport	High	Run a roll of scrap film through the camera. If it stops on frame 1 after closing the back, the automatic loading system is working. If not, you probably need a $175 transport overhaul.
Lens Cap	High	How does this rate a "high?" If the lens cap is missing from your camera, plan to spend $75 for a clean set of Bayonet III caps. The mirrored caps scratch extremely easily; the matte caps don't. Caps can be dented; watch that dings don't contact the front element.
Viewing lens	Medium	Not worth fixing unless something is very wrong. Don't worry about any but the most severe problems (i.e., ones you can see in the viewfinder, though the screen).
View Screen	Medium	This is your window on the world. Expect to see a lot of fine scratches on the top of any vintage screen. Most will have darkened due to pollution or ageing plexiglas. Replacing this with a Beattie is $200 and with a Maxwell is $175. I would recommend the Maxwell.
Meter	Compulsion	If it doesn't work, just get a quality handheld. It will be more accurate anyway!
Cosmetics	Annoyance	Common wear points involve the tripod socket area, the underside of the front black bezel (scratches from the Rollei pistol grip), and to a lesser degree, the top corners of the front of the camera. Watch out for dents on the back that go beyond the edge trim. Note that the bezel (black painted fascia on the front standard) is not directly connected to the lenses. Bezels often look off-center compared to the plain metal lens "barrel" that is visible when the lens is cranked toward close focusing distances. This does not mean front-standard misalignment. Leatherette is easy and economical to replace (even in colors that would upset the Teutonic sensibilities of the camera's inventors) at Cameraleather.com.
Mirror	Annoyance	Both the primary and secondary mirrors will get dark around the edges. Not a problem for the viewing lens, but it can be a mild irritation when using the secondary mirror with the sport finder. But the good news is that there is nothing you can do about it!
Meter cover	Annoyance	Meter covers often show up cracked - and this is no surprise, since they are made of very flimsy plastic. You might want to say "no" to the $50 old-stock replacement.

DAST