[rollei_list] Re: Decline of Rollieflex/Film
- From: "Peter K." <peterk727@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:09:03 -0700
Your dreaming. I know/have known many who moved to Hasselblad from Rollei to
gain an SLR. Rollei became the GM of medium format. You should talk with
some of the old timers who lived during that period. I remember a
conversation with Ernst Wildi about the debut of the Hassy in 1947. He said
he and others bought it because of what it offered in a smaller package with
interchangeable lenses. It was the beginning of the end of Rollei, a company
that eventually went bankrupt.
Rollei did have a Medium Format SLR prototype ready in 1955 and a nice
looking camera at that, but it never came out because the idiot managers
convinced Heidecke it was not a good decision. They did come up with the
SL66 whose design originated in 1962, but it was big, bulky and not nearly
as practical as the Hassy.
Peter K
On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 7:24 AM, CarlosMFreaza <cmfreaza@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi Austin:
> It's clear that from 1948 to 1960 Hasselblad did not
> affect the Rollei TLR production and sales, this decade was the
> postwar TLR "Golden age" , it was the time for Rollei TLR top
> production and top sales. The Japanese TLR cameras were the direct
> competition for Rollei. Rollei noticed they could not compete with the
> Japanese TLRs about price and then they thought about the MF SLR
> camera and 35mm cameras, it was Rollei that started to compete against
> Hasselblad in 1966 and not Hasselblad against Rollei, however it was
> an error for Rollei the decision about its own MF SLR no production in
> 1955 with the prototype ready to do it, that decision had to do with
> the excellent moment for the TLR,but RH did not think Rollei would
> need MF SL and 35mm cameras to survive after his death.
>
> Carlos
>
>
> 2010/3/25 Austin Franklin <austin.franklin@xxxxxxxxxxx>:
> > Hi Carlos,
> >
> > Soooo...you don't think Hasselblad had anything to do with the Rolleiflex
> > TLR decline?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Austin
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: rollei_list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> [mailto:rollei_list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of CarlosMFreaza
> >> Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 8:27 AM
> >> To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> Subject: [rollei_list] Re: Decline of Rollieflex/Film
> >>
> >>
> >> If you are talking about the Rolleiflex TLR, its decline had nothing
> >> to do with the digital era, German photographic industry started to
> >> lose markets and to close factories from about 1955/56 due to the
> >> Japanese photographic industry competition; F&H had a continous growth
> >> up to about 1958; in 1959 the growth stopped and while Reinhold
> >> Heidecke felt the Japanese TLR cameras were like a homage to his work,
> >> they slowly were reducing the Rollei TLR market. RH died in 1960 and
> >> Rollei management decided to develop the MF SLR that RH did not want
> >> to manufacture in 1955. About 1965 Rollei TLR cameras production was
> >> reduced and R&D work abandoned due to the Rollei SL 66 and Rollei 35
> >> launching in 1966. The number of Rollei TLR cameras produced from 1973
> >> to 1981 was very, very small in comparison with the TLR golden age
> >> production. The TLR did not integrate the Rollei models to produce
> >> after the bankruptcy process, it was a risky decison of the new Rollei
> >> management to produce the F Aurum and Platin and due to these
> >> expensive models little success within their limited edition they
> >> decided to produce the GX for little batches. 1966 and 1973 are two
> >> significant years to consider the Rollei TLR decline.-
> >>
> >> Carlos
> >>
> >
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--
Peter K
Ó¿Õ¬
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