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I am a very happy camper. I just won a 110/2 Rollei on ebay

Stuart Richardson

Active member
I am very happy. I won the 110/2 on ebay. It has a bit of fungus, but I can have Rollei take it out of there for 200 dollars or so. The winning bid was 1613, so even with the cost of cleaning it out, it is a great deal. Yes, it is expensive, but this lens retails for over 5000, and other than the minor fungus, this one is in great shape. I use the 110/2 on the Hasselblad system, and it is my favorite lens. Period. In fact, it is the biggest reason I still even have a hasselblad system. Perhaps I can now sell that off...Hmm. We'll see. Anyway, I just wanted to share my excitement. I hope I did not steal it away from another member....

These are shots with the 110/2 on the Hasselblad:






 

EH21

Member
So that was you? I wasn't bidding but watched it as I was thinking bout getting the hood for mine from the same seller. Congrats! Looks like I don't need to tell you how great this lens is!
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
Yes. The funny thing is that the guy used to live only a few blocks away from me. Too bad he moved, otherwise I could have just picked it up.

Anyway, I guess I live a bit dangerously given the fungus, but I have found that these minor defects rarely have any impact on the image quality. I have had Rollei take fungus out of another lens and it was pretty painless. I imagine this will be the same. If not, well, then it just became a softer portrait lens!
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Congrats Stuart. Even though these are tools they are still toys . I just don't tell my wife that .:ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL:
 

PSon

Active member
Congratulation Stuart! I remember our conversation where you wanted to have the chance to use this lens in the Rollei mount. Dreams might come true if we keep them alive. When you get this lens you will see that it is much superior built than the Hasselblad version. However, the Hasselblad is very unique in that it does not show chromatic aberration. I love both lens and own both versions.

Best Regards,
-Son
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
Thanks guys.

Yes Son, I have been looking for a good deal on this lens for more than 2 years. It is still not as good as the deal I got on the Hasselblad one (1100 dollars for the FE in great shape in Japan! It was a steal. He wanted to sell me the 250/4 as well, but I just didn't think I would use it. I think he wanted 700 dollars for it. I should have bought it anyway...). But anyway, it is nice in a way to have both. The 1/500th flash sync in the Rollei version is very nice to have, while the much lighter hasselblad version can go to 1/2000th in daylight.
It's interesting to hear that one shows chromatic aberration and the other doesn't...is there a difference in the optical formula?
 

David K

Workshop Member
Stuart,
What a small world it is. You beat my snipe bid by quite a large margin but I think you still got a heck of a deal. I mentioned to Jack that I was bidding on this and he cautioned me that fungus spores can and will spread to other lenses so keep this in mind. I had planned on sending it in to Rollei and was allowing myself a substantial repair bill. If you decide to do this I'm happy to provide shipping and contact info for you there. BTW, I got the hood :)
 

PSon

Active member
Congratulation on the hood David!

Stuart like David I myself love the Carl Zeiss Planar T*/HFT 2.0/110. I used this lens primarily since I love portrait the most. The formula is the same but the image circle on the Rollei is bigger in order to put the leaf shutter in it. Thus, creating a greater challenge for a fast lens at F2 with big image circle. However, I this is the one lens where I forgive imperfection and perhaps the imperfection is what I love about this lens. When you stop down to F5.6 well you know what I mean. I am so excited for you. Like David K mentioned if you need our help to get your lens fix completely we can send you to the right direction.

Best Wishes,
-Son
 

EH21

Member
Stuart,
I haven't seen any CA in my Rollei 110/2. None.

Also I picked up a 120/4 PQ macro, 80/2.8 PQ, and 2x converter that all had some fungus - actually a lot more than what I saw in the 110/2 you bought. Because the seller thought they were toast I got them all shipped for less than $400. Because I didn't want to spend a lot of money having someone else clean it only to find out the elements were etched I decided to play. I removed the front element on the 80 and discovered that the fungus simply wiped away. So I ended up cleaning all 3 pieces myself. I wasn't sure I had all the fungus eliminated so I sent in the two lenses for a more thorough cleaning and adjustment but I ended up with a deal. And I think you did too. I sure hope yours cleans out as easily. If you do have fungus that progressed to the point of etching the coatings you can send it to focalpoint lens and have John polish off the old coating and re-coat the effected elements - if you are worried about it.

There are many rumors about fungus spreading but most are simply not true. The conditions required for fungus to grow is humidity greater than 70% for more than 72 hrs. Fungus spores are literally everywhere. So if the storage is damp or humidity high then all the lenses are going to get fungus especially if its dark. The best thing you can do to protect your gear is to use it all and to keep it where the air can circulate when not in use or in a sealed case with desiccant. Avoid storing your camera gear in your wine cellar or other dank environments.
 
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Stuart Richardson

Active member
Thanks Eric -- my experience meshes pretty well with yours. I have never had fungus develop in any of my lenses, only those I have bought that had it already. The fungus in the 110/2 looked like the typical early stages -- a bit around the edges of the element. As long as you get someone to go in there and clean it up, it should be fine. I mostly store my gear in bags out in the open, so they still get a decent amount of circulation. Of course, I also am always using it, so it does not really stew for too long.

The fungus that was on the 150/4 tele-xenar just came away very easily according to Onick. It had the fungus on it when I made those comparison photos for you. Even with the slight fungus, it was better than the spotless 150/4 sonnar, so I am not too worried.
 
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