[rollei_list] Re: The Tragedy of the SL66
- From: Mike Kovacs <mskovacs@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 15:20:27 -0400
A very nice post Marc.
The SL66 is a first-class professional tool. I feel the biggest
disadvantage the camera has for my line of work is its size and bulk.
Beyond that, it is absolutely indispensible. The lenses are first rate
(I own 50-80-150-250). The tilt feature, while limited compared to a
view camera, is extremely useful (much more than you might be led to
think). The macro capabilities (long bellows extension and lens
reversal) are superb.
I put a Maxwell focusing screen in mine which was a big improvement
IMO. I never got along well with the microprism focusing when trying to
see DoF in my macro compositions.
I found the prices on SL66 gear to be reasonable. I have acquired it
within the past two years and paid what I thought was a lot less than I
would for Hasselblad objectives.
Let me help Charlie Barringer with his teeth gnashing and turn that into
some positive action :)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/64/327250648_95fd88e71d_o.jpg (yours
truly with his beloved toy)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/141/327194399_eb0527306b_o.jpg (HFT 50/4
reversed, Efke 25)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/327194400_13bfeb921d_o.jpg (CZ
Planar 80/2.8, HP5+)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/125/338534606_b0e2bfa003_o.jpg (CZ
Planar 80/2.8, Efke 25)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/139/327194393_700331e334_o.jpg (CZ Planar
80/2.8, Velvia 50)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/133/338534612_7f33928f95_o.jpg (CZ Planar
80/2.8, Velvia 50)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/338553125_c0ce077076_o.jpg (CZ Planar
80/2.8, Velvia 50)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/160/338526569_7dcd726af7_o.jpg (CZ Planar
80/2.8, Velvia 50)
Marc James Small wrote:
At 02:43 PM 4/16/2007, Mark Rabiner wrote:
>
>All and all a far cooler camera than anything to come out of Sweden the
>SL66.
>I'm not dead yet. Maybe I'll get into it.
>Its just that the Hassy stuff in camera stores now are for free or so
close
>to it as to not make any difference.
>This SL66 stuff you proably have to pull out some real green for they
just
>won't give it to you for two rolls of film as you walk out the door. But
>exquisite enough in every way. Form - function to be worth real money.
>Noticing again the rail on the left side with all the number on it.
>Magnification and exposure factors.
The great Zeiss maven, Charlie Barringer, has been gnashing his teeth
for a decade as he wants an SL66 and has been surprised to note the
same thing, Mark: Hasselblad gear is no longer, "Ha$$elblad" gear,
but SL66 stuff has managed to hold its price.
The progenitor of the MF SLR was the first Exakta 66 and the Bentzin
Primarflex. Hasselblad got into the program shortly before Franke &
Heidecke began working on it, but not by many years. In the later
1940's, Hasselblad was a lean company without many fiscal resources
and leaned hard on both Kodak and Zeiss for lenses. Still, they never
made a deep penetration either in the professional or advanced amatuer
community with the 1600F/1000F line, and it was only with the 500C
that things changed, though, even so, the 500C only became a
significant factor in the pro market in the middle 1960's.
At that time, Franke & Heidecke had bounced back rapidly from the
horrors of World War II and was selling every TLR they could produce
by the late 1940's. They were relatively flush with money (Zeiss
loved F&H as they were a cash customer, unlike other customers of
theirs such as Zeiss Ikon, which often paid its bills years in
arrears). Franke and Heidecke and the middle management (which then
included a number of the Voigtländer family, by the by) failed to see
the way the market was moving and thus felt no pressure to push
forward with a medium-format SLR so long as TLR sales held steady.
By 1960, they were starting to flounder: F&H had pretty well worked
out all the bells and whistles possible with the technology of the
time, from the 2.8F and 3.5F to the Rolleiflex T and the Rolleicord
and the Rolleimagic. They just had gone as far as the accessible
technology allowed. And then came Ha$$elblad and a number of pros
starting shifting especially wedding and portrait photographers, a
market Viktor Hasselblad sought. And all that F&H could think up were
the Weitwinkel and Tele Mutars and the Weitwinkel and Tele Rolleflex
cameras, and these just failed to staunch the flow of red ink which
started in the early 1960's. In the end, F&H DID push the SL66 into
the marketplace but they were years too late and the marketing was
inept. I will not go as far as Mark does in suggesting that the SL66
is a better camera than Göttenburg ever produced, but it certainly is
a competitive product.
The Leitz family in Wetzlar and the Franke and Heidecke families in
Braunschweig enjoyed making a LOT of money for decades from their
camera companies. By the middle 1960's, both families were pouring
their personal fortunes to support their companies, and these families
eventually sold out after most of their fortunes were gone. The
Hasselblad clan were smarter and sold out after they had come to own
the top-end MF SLR market but before sales started to slump.
God bless 'em all. Leica and Rolleiflex have survived, in various
permutation, and Hasselblad is now effectively dead.
But, had either Franke or Heidecke been less pleased with the market
in, say, 1950, then the SL66 would have dominated the upper end of the
market, and the company would possibly still be "Franke & Heidecke".
Marc
msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir!
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- References:
- [rollei_list] Interesting SL 66 website
- From: Carlos Manuel Freaza
- [rollei_list] Re: Interesting SL 66 website
- From: Mark Rabiner
- [rollei_list] The Tragedy of the SL66
- From: Marc James Small
Other related posts:
- » [rollei_list] The Tragedy of the SL66
- » [rollei_list] Re: The Tragedy of the SL66
- » [rollei_list] Re: The Tragedy of the SL66
- » [rollei_list] Re: The Tragedy of the SL66
- » [rollei_list] Re: The Tragedy of the SL66
At 02:43 PM 4/16/2007, Mark Rabiner wrote: > >All and all a far cooler camera than anything to come out of Sweden the >SL66. >I'm not dead yet. Maybe I'll get into it.>Its just that the Hassy stuff in camera stores now are for free or so close
>to it as to not make any difference.>This SL66 stuff you proably have to pull out some real green for they just
>won't give it to you for two rolls of film as you walk out the door. But >exquisite enough in every way. Form - function to be worth real money. >Noticing again the rail on the left side with all the number on it. >Magnification and exposure factors.The great Zeiss maven, Charlie Barringer, has been gnashing his teeth for a decade as he wants an SL66 and has been surprised to note the same thing, Mark: Hasselblad gear is no longer, "Ha$$elblad" gear, but SL66 stuff has managed to hold its price.
The progenitor of the MF SLR was the first Exakta 66 and the Bentzin Primarflex. Hasselblad got into the program shortly before Franke & Heidecke began working on it, but not by many years. In the later 1940's, Hasselblad was a lean company without many fiscal resources and leaned hard on both Kodak and Zeiss for lenses. Still, they never made a deep penetration either in the professional or advanced amatuer community with the 1600F/1000F line, and it was only with the 500C that things changed, though, even so, the 500C only became a significant factor in the pro market in the middle 1960's.
At that time, Franke & Heidecke had bounced back rapidly from the horrors of World War II and was selling every TLR they could produce by the late 1940's. They were relatively flush with money (Zeiss loved F&H as they were a cash customer, unlike other customers of theirs such as Zeiss Ikon, which often paid its bills years in arrears). Franke and Heidecke and the middle management (which then included a number of the Voigtländer family, by the by) failed to see the way the market was moving and thus felt no pressure to push forward with a medium-format SLR so long as TLR sales held steady.
By 1960, they were starting to flounder: F&H had pretty well worked out all the bells and whistles possible with the technology of the time, from the 2.8F and 3.5F to the Rolleiflex T and the Rolleicord and the Rolleimagic. They just had gone as far as the accessible technology allowed. And then came Ha$$elblad and a number of pros starting shifting especially wedding and portrait photographers, a market Viktor Hasselblad sought. And all that F&H could think up were the Weitwinkel and Tele Mutars and the Weitwinkel and Tele Rolleflex cameras, and these just failed to staunch the flow of red ink which started in the early 1960's. In the end, F&H DID push the SL66 into the marketplace but they were years too late and the marketing was inept. I will not go as far as Mark does in suggesting that the SL66 is a better camera than Göttenburg ever produced, but it certainly is a competitive product.
The Leitz family in Wetzlar and the Franke and Heidecke families in Braunschweig enjoyed making a LOT of money for decades from their camera companies. By the middle 1960's, both families were pouring their personal fortunes to support their companies, and these families eventually sold out after most of their fortunes were gone. The Hasselblad clan were smarter and sold out after they had come to own the top-end MF SLR market but before sales started to slump.
God bless 'em all. Leica and Rolleiflex have survived, in various permutation, and Hasselblad is now effectively dead.
But, had either Franke or Heidecke been less pleased with the market in, say, 1950, then the SL66 would have dominated the upper end of the market, and the company would possibly still be "Franke & Heidecke".
Marc msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir! --- Rollei List - Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx- Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org
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- Online, searchable archives are available at http://www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list
- [rollei_list] Interesting SL 66 website
- From: Carlos Manuel Freaza
- [rollei_list] Re: Interesting SL 66 website
- From: Mark Rabiner
- [rollei_list] The Tragedy of the SL66
- From: Marc James Small