[LRflex] Re: Red-brick Gothic

Some 20 odd years ago I did contemplate the purchase of a 200/3003
system. Two of the smaller dealers I visited advised against purchase
back then on grounds of unreliability. At the time the 3003 had just
been announced and the 2000 had severely tarnished Rollei's
reputation..  I ended up with a fairly complete Contax-Yashica system
with CZ lenses, most of which I still have.

On 19/03/2008, Douglas Sharp <douglas.sharp@xxxxxx> wrote:
> The reliability issue was sorted out in the later production runs of the
>  SL2000F, so if you're thinking of buying one (if you find one) you have
>  to look at the baseplate and see if the serial number has an asterisk
>  next to it But the best bet is a 3003 (again, if you can find one). This
>  means it has the upgraded electronics without the bugs. Unfortunately,
>  bad marketing and the reliability issue combined with bad press (and a
>  very high price) doomed this fascinating 35 mm Rollei concept before it
>  could really get on to the market.
>  The camera itself has quite amazing ergonomics, and it's absolutely
>  irrelevant whether you're left- or right-handed - your fingers (or
>  thumbs!) are always positioned next to a release button however you hold
>  it, though some find it a little awkard when shooting in portrait format
>  - possible Rollei engineers didn't think about that, being used to
>  square formats.
>
>  Rollei had all sorts of plans for the camera in the proverbial drawer,
>  including a digital back recording on a floppy disk. There were two
>  series of lenses, the top-bracket Zeiss offerings which cost an arm and
>  a leg even second-hand, and the Rolleinar (also sold as Voigtländer)
>  lenses which were target more at semi-pros or consumer-level
>  photographers. It's probably also the only 35 mm SLR with three shutter
>  release buttons, one on top and one on each side and two different
>  viewing options, a telescope-like VF and a pop-up gadget with a
>  magnifier that let's you view from above, just like a 'real' Rollei, an
>  option which is extremely useful when working with bellows or extension
>  rings for macro subjects. The range of accessories was immense too, for
>  instance,: electronic interval timers, a night-vision lens, any number
>  of wierd brackets for attaching things to it, etc. and of course
>  interchangeable backs, once you get the hang of it, you can change in
>  mid-roll from BW to neg to slide film in seconds without losing a frame.
>  Cheers
>
> Douglas
>
>
>  a aa wrote:
>  > The Rollei 2000/3003s  are  35mm cameras.
>  >
>  > They were designed by ZI to replace the Contarex.  Rollei took over
>  > the designs when they bought Voigtlander and produced them as the
>  > 2000/3000 series of cameras.  TTBOMK reliability was always a problem.
>  > CZ lenses for this series are hard to find and very expensive, more
>  > expensive than the equivalent Contax RTS lenses.
>  >
>  >
>  >
>
>
> ------
>  Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at:
>    http://www.lrflex.furnfeather.net/
>  Archives are at:
>     http://www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/
>
------
Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at:
   http://www.lrflex.furnfeather.net/
Archives are at:
    http://www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/

Other related posts: