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digital conversion for rollei TLR?

faneuil

Member
I've asked about this awhile back but thought I'd give it another try.

Has anyone grafted a digital back onto a rollei TLR?
I would love to try this combination out for available light portraiture.

Some modified film back replacement to engage a phaseone back would be very very cool. Anyone there got a CNC machine to carve one out? :)

Eric
 

faneuil

Member
thanks -- I was just wondering if there were any updated ideas. It is so tempting when you have a magnificent sensor you want to try so many different things.
 

jlm

Workshop Member
oddly, I have a nice rollei TLR and a CFV 39 back AND a cnc machine shop, but my time is pretty scarce right now.
 
C

canon5dshooter

Guest
This is something I have always wanted to see just because I love TLRs.
 

bensonga

Well-known member
oddly, I have a nice rollei TLR and a CFV 39 back AND a cnc machine shop, but my time is pretty scarce right now.
Hi Jim,

When you find time to make a Hasselblad V adapter for the Rollei TLR.....how about one for the Mamiya TLR too? :D

Gary
CFV-16 and Mamiya C220 TLR
 

yongfei

New member
It is a matter of putting things together in a precision manner. Phase, Hasselblad or Leaf should all work well. Recently I've made some Alpa style prototype with wood and just uploaded another prototype which uses Nikon lenses here. TLR could be my next for-fun project.

So if anyone wants to donate or fund me with a TLR, I can put things together and prove the concept. Money is now just too tight to throw another few hundred dollars away for nothing. By the way, I am not an engineer, just a camera hobbiest. So I can make this camera as a proof of concept, but it won't be precise :)
 
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yongfei

New member
I exchanged some ideas with a photo forum member in China. He is able to make one "TLR digital back" within 10 minutes. http://forum.xitek.com/showthread.php?threadid=688945

But there are two issues: the infinite focus can not be achived, and only some special backs that has adapter plate (Imacon, Sinar) can be "attached" by duct tape. Normal digital backs (as the interface size is too large) would need physical modification to the camera.

 
K

K3N

Guest
How much would you guys be willing to pay for a dedicated TLR digital?
Just wondering...maybe Rollei will build us one.
 

Geoff

Well-known member
How much? Now that's the tough question - called "putting your money where... ". Not easy to answer, at all.
 

yongfei

New member
I think it is more fun for a company to offer Rolleiflex modification service, to attach a Hasselblad V mount interface to the camera, with infinite focus. But again, we are still waiting for a >= 48x48mm square CCD digital back.

Rollei F&H has already gone out of business by offering us the HY6. So almost impossible for now.
 
W

wilsonlaidlaw

Guest
The Hy6 was profitable for F&H, not a drain. It was previous debts which caused the company's troubles.

And F&H's business has been continued through a new company structure (a bit like Leaf): http://www.worldofphoto.com/meldung/meldung2.php?NID=30112274
I did not know that the business was continuing - that's very good news. I am slightly kicking myself that I did not buy a new Rollei TLR 80 years model last year, when I was offered one for around £1800, in its wooden presentation case but I do already have an old 3.5E Planar which still works perfectly and I was saving for my M9.

The thing that amazes me is how cheap Rollei's were, when new in the 1950's and 1960's. A 3.5E in the mid 50's cost around $300. At a similar point in time, my Leica IIF with f2/50 Summitar would have cost around $700 and my Contax IIa with f1.5/50 Opton Sonnar, an eye-watering $1200. That was enough to buy a mid range Chevvy. Looking at the roughly equivalent workmanship and complexity, either Rollei was losing money on these or Zeiss was making an enormous profit - a bit of both I suspect.

Wilson
 
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