[rollei_list] Re: Another question about recent Rollei TLRs
- From: CarlosMFreaza <cmfreaza@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 7 Jan 2012 09:31:55 -0300
2012/1/6 Kirk Thompson <thompsonkirk@xxxxxxxxxxx>:
> My FW arrived...
...
> Further info happily accepted,
Congratulations for your new camera Kirk. The camera has a circle
around the taking lens and you'll find there the manufacturer name,
they only could be Rollei Fototechnic or Franke & Heidecke GmbH or DHW
Fototechnik, anyway I don't think DHW made it, they were selling F&H
GmbH stock and started to manufacture new TLR cameras last year, I
have seen the "regulars" FW, FX and FT made by DHW and they returned
to the classic black leather cover, except for those units called "a
la carte" or special editions like the FX "F 50th anniversary", your
camera has the brown cover, it's typical for the FW made by Rollei
Fototechnik or F&H GmbH.
The FW and FT prototypes were shown in Japan in 2001, it was commented
at the time Japanese collectors were strongly asking for both models
from several years ago, the FW was based on the GX body and then the
major investment was for a new dedicated WA lens designed by
Schneider, the Super Angulon 4/50; the FW production prototype was
introduced in the Photokina 2002 and the production started in 2003;
in the other hand Rollei Fototechnic suspended the FT development due
to the changes for the focusing mechanism required a major investment
for new tooling, I still have in my files the RF press release about
the FT production suspension, afterwards F&H launched the FT in 2006
and manufactured it from 2007.
There was a recent thread about the GX/FX, the FX is a GX with the E/F
strap holders and the FW is a GX/FX with wide angle lens, the FW had
no changes during the production, except for the cover. Rollei
Fototechnic web site had a "Q&A" section where they said perhaps the
FW could receive a Newton glass for the sprotsfinder in the future
like the RolleiWide, but it never happened.
This is a copy in part from my previous post on the GX, it's 100%
applicable to the FW except for the lens:
" The GX was a new model, the F lightmeter coupled mechanism was
replaced with electrical resistances, a circuit board was added for
the lightmeter and the flash with TTL metering, the circuit board was
the same used for the SLX second model with improved electronics and
adapted for the SL 66 E and 6000 cameras afterward, the Flash TTL
metering was adapted from the SL 2000F, the focusing screens were
taken from the 6000 cameras focusing screens (they are compatible),
the Planar 2.8/80 was made with the new tooling CZ produced to
manufacture the 2.8F Platin Planar, the film transport mechanism was
the same used by the TLR from 1937 except that the automatic film
sensors to advance the film up to the number one was eliminated, the
focusing mechanism was the same used for the TLR (first the
Rolleicord) from the '30s, the shutter was a Compur. The GX was
manufactured with three SI cells, two in the viewfinder for the
lightmeter and one in the taking lens chamber for the TTL flash
metering. The crank side lateral panel is from the F, perhaps it got
some minor pieces from the T and Rolleicord like the back lock and the
red dots in the film window, but the T had several dedicated internal
pieces only shared with the Rolleimagic I and II, f.e. the T and
Rolleimagic film advance has special pieces without double exposure
capability, the GX/FX have double exposure capability. Rollei needed
expensive new tooling to manufacture the GX.- Somewhere Prochnow also
wrote most GX mechanical parts were taken from the F, but these parts
are also common for several historical Rollei TLR models."
About serial numbers: " I registered a new Rolleiflex FW (wide angle)
serial number 0015555, this seems to be a new type of serial number or
a coded number with new code. I also registered a FX sn 9012930, this
number seems to follow Rollei historical production sn blocks since I
also registered an older FX sn 7015852 and an even older GX sn
4013411, but I also registered a FX sn 2000001 and then it's better
to ask to the factory."
Carlos
---
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
- Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org
- Online, searchable archives are available at
//www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list
Other related posts:
