My error, the interesting part about this I neglected to report is that while Rollei credit was in decline, Hasselblad was not on the rise. If the Pop Photo picture issues were not entirely representative of what dedicated photographers were using, it was at least an indicator. Rolleis were used by commercial photographers, but was mostly regarded a portable camera for most of the uses 35 mm later replaced as film technology improved. I believe it was the trend to 35 mm that ended Rollei's dominance. I was casually following this process as it happened. For me, the finale for the era was symbolized by the last page in a splendid book of Rollei photographs by Algimantas Kezys, a Jesuit priest and one of my favorite photographers. It depicted Fr. Kezys holding his new Nikon. Verily, a sign.
Allen Zak
On Mar 25, 2010, at 6:14 PM, Austin Franklin wrote:
<x-tad-smaller>Hi Alan,</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>I don't doubt that it reflected the inroads made by Japanese competitors, but how about the inroads made by Hasselblad into the MF market? I mean, for every Hasselblad purchased, it displaced the sale of some other camera, more than likely, another MF camera, and more than likely a high end MF camera, like the Rollei. It would be interesting to see the actual figures of cameras used during the 50's and 60's.</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>Regards,</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>Austin</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>-----Original Message-----</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>From:</x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller> rollei_list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:rollei_list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]</x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller>On Behalf Of </x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller>Allen Zak</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>Sent:</x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller> Thursday, March 25, 2010 3:57 PM</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>To:</x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller> rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>Subject:</x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller> [rollei_list] Re: Decline of Rollieflex/Film</x-tad-smaller>
I remember very well the Popular Photography magazine "contest" issues which published technical data along with pix. Entrants were a mix of advanced amateur and professional photographers. Rollei was credited more than all other makes combined, dating from the '50s. Rollei used to advertise that fact, but year by year the numbers declined until early '60s, when the Rollei had to drop the ad. This reflected the inroads made by Japanese competitors on a year by year basis, neatly illustrating the decline of Rollei in the general market.
Allen Zak
On Mar 25, 2010, at 4:01 PM, Newhouse230@xxxxxxx wrote:
Yes, there were a lot of photojournalists who used them, but their numbers were dwarfed by the number of 'advanced amateurs'!
charlie silverman
In a message dated 3/25/2010 2:11:50 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, peterk727@xxxxxxxxx writes:
On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 10:40 AM, Elias_Roustom <elroustom@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
mainlyNow that I didn't know. That's really interesting. Old news for you, news to me.
Adds to the mystique. Thanks.
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