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Rollei... 6008 AF or Hy6

Stuart Richardson

Active member
I still have to disagree. The body of the 6008AF alone is pretty heavy, and it is an awkward shape...it generally does not fit camera bags well as it is too tall or bulky in the wrong dimensions. When you add digital backs and their batteries add more weight, especially if you will take along a film back and film as well. Certain lenses like the 40mm Schneider, 60mm, 80mm and 150mm f/4 lenses are small and not too heavy, but I was mostly using the 110/2, 180/2.8 and so on...these lenses are of course not light or small by anyone's criteria. The body with small lenses is not heavier than a big pro SLR and 2 or 3 zoom kit, but that does not mean it is fun to carry around all day. At least, it wasn't for me...

Everyone has their metrics and comparisons, but personally I am very happy that I got rid of the Hy6 and 6008 system and got the S2...my experience has improved, and so to has my work. Using that, along with something like a Mamiya 7 is a far more pleasant kit for me. If I were to travel or hike with a medium format film kit, it would be a Mamiya 7, 6 or Plaubel Makina. The SLR's are just too big and bulky to make them worth lugging around unless it is for an actual planned shoot. For most travel, I actually just use a M9 and a 35mm lens. Maybe I will bring along a 75mm too if I will be gone for a long time. Bringing more than that means dragging a lead weight around your shoulder through the endless march of airports, trains and cars that constitute travel in the 21st century. The cameras are already so good today as to print very large from even something like the 18mp M9...I know I got better image quality from the 18mp M9 than I did from the 22mp Sinar back, despite its megapixel and sensor size advantages.
But everyone's different! I know Eric is a great photographer and loves the Rollei kit (he even has some of mine!!), but while I know the Rollei is superb, my own experience led me away from it.

P.S. I am not saying to buy the S2 either! But it seems to me that spending a lot of money on a defunct or semi-defunct MFDB is a bad choice. I know I lost a huge amount of money on the Sinar back in only two years or so. I think it is best to stick to something newer, as long as it fits your budget...a 645D, S2, IQ140, H4D etc. The Hasselblad CF backs were really expensive last time I checked (many years ago!)...
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Stuart, prices of old backs are rather low now. A 22MP Sinar can be had for little over $2,000 and I've seen 39MP Hasselblad as low as 7,000. With the next generation of high end DSLR cameras, they will only go lower.

I would actually love to have an S2 or an S, but it's a lot of money for a camera that doesn't solve my primary challenge: a digital back for the big Fuji. The Pentax is obviously in the same category. I do have many cameras that are much more suitable for travel than any MF gear, but I've come to like MF, and being able to change between film and digital is excellent. The Mamiya 7, as nice as it is, doesn't offer any digital option, and the selection of good lenses is limited to say the least.

As for weight: The GX680 is between 4 and 4.5 kilograms with lens, film holder and viewfinder. Each extra lens is 0.5 to 1.0 kilograms. The Rollei 6008 AF is 1.5 kilograms plus lens and the lenses are considerably smaller and also lighter than the Fuji equivalents. Still, I have been travelling with the Fuji and 3 lenses in a backpack, on a motorbike. It's doable and rather rewarding when I reach my destination, but smaller would be more convenient, and most of the time, I don't need tilt/shift for travel, although that's fun to have also :)
 

Geoff

Well-known member
As much as I love the Rollei gear, Stuart is not totally wrong. The weight adds up - I tend to use the 60 and 80 lenses, carrying a 150 Telexenar, and the 1.5 TX only. if you pick the wrong lenses, the weight can get out of control - so the 110, 180 don't cut it. That's also why the slim and trim 6003 (when shooting film) was better.

The S2 is a neat camera, but SLR's aren't the same as WLF. If you commit to film, the TLR's are pretty cool too. Overall, the use of the 6008/Hy6 system is a bit of a strain on the older body for walk around and travel.
 

gogopix

Subscriber
Stuart, prices of old backs are rather low now. A 22MP Sinar can be had for little over $2,000 and I've seen 39MP Hasselblad as low as 7,000. With the next generation of high end DSLR cameras, they will only go lower.

I would actually love to have an S2 or an S, but it's a lot of money for a camera that doesn't solve my primary challenge: a digital back for the big Fuji. The Pentax is obviously in the same category. I do have many cameras that are much more suitable for travel than any MF gear, but I've come to like MF, and being able to change between film and digital is excellent. The Mamiya 7, as nice as it is, doesn't offer any digital option, and the selection of good lenses is limited to say the least.

As for weight: The GX680 is between 4 and 4.5 kilograms with lens, film holder and viewfinder. Each extra lens is 0.5 to 1.0 kilograms. The Rollei 6008 AF is 1.5 kilograms plus lens and the lenses are considerably smaller and also lighter than the Fuji equivalents. Still, I have been travelling with the Fuji and 3 lenses in a backpack, on a motorbike. It's doable and rather rewarding when I reach my destination, but smaller would be more convenient, and most of the time, I don't need tilt/shift for travel, although that's fun to have also :)


if you are going to back off 6x6, why go S2? Smaller format than 645. I had sold all my Contax 645, looked at EVERYTHING MF ( and tested S2 three times for 5 weeks total) and wound up with the contax again. It is one of the best 'fit in your hand MF systems, and the lenses are balanced to the back. The S2 is WAY out of balance, and the Hasse camera's are just monsters of plastic (at least they feel that way.

Lots of back, film options...

so yes, I've always been a Contax booster, but I REALLy looked for 2 years at an alternative, and found none.

Plus you get H V lenses

Victor
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
if you are going to back off 6x6, why go S2? Smaller format than 645. I had sold all my Contax 645, looked at EVERYTHING MF ( and tested S2 three times for 5 weeks total) and wound up with the contax again. It is one of the best 'fit in your hand MF systems, and the lenses are balanced to the back. The S2 is WAY out of balance, and the Hasse camera's are just monsters of plastic (at least they feel that way.

Lots of back, film options...

so yes, I've always been a Contax booster, but I REALLy looked for 2 years at an alternative, and found none.

Plus you get H V lenses

Victor
The advantage with the S2 (or indeed S) is that I would be able to get rid of all my Nikon gear, since it's a DSLR from a functional point of view. Apart from that, I agree. I also agree about the Contax, although it's 645. My worry is spare parts and repairs.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Pentax 645D with a Pentax 645 NII film body as a backup. They share the same lenses.
I know, I know... and that 25mm lens is actually a bargain compared to most of the competition. But again, it has the same problem as the S2: I can't mount the back on the Fuji, and the Fuji is the camera that will actually generate the most income, film or digital. Most of what the Pentax and the Leica can do can be done with a D800, at least as long as we talk commercial photography.

I have of course also considered buying a D800, since I'm a Nikon user anyway, and a set of PC-E lenses. Unfortunately, the investment would be in the same area as a 39MP Hasselblad back, and in my experience, the Fuji is much easier to use and focus with tilt and/or shift. If I use a back with V-mount, I also have the option of a stitching adapter, increasing the file size by around 90%.

Now I see that the Hy6 is actually much more lightweight than the 6008 at 1.8kg with film holder and 80mm lens. That's less than half the weight of the GX680 in a similar configuration. Even a D800 is 1.2kg with a 50mm.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
As it looks now, I'll probably go for 2 digital backs, one for tethered shooting with the GX680 and one for whatever "portable" solution I go for. Older Sinar backs are becoming cheap, so I can hopefully live with the extra cost.

When it comes to 6008 vs. Hy6 vs. the world... the Hy6 has been my favourite MF camera for years (except the GX680), and the last few days reading specs, reviews and responses on this fantastic forum haven't weakened its status. Rather the opposite, actually. It seems to me to be the optimal solution unless I want something with an integrated sensor (Leica/Pentax). There have of course been fears that it might be discontinued, but most of my cameras are, and they still work fine. If nobody buys it, it will be discontinued for sure :)
 

DeckardTrinity

New member
I'm not too concerned about the Hy6 being discontinued. DHW have solidified the licensing issues over the camera and have come out with the Mod 2 version, so things are alive and well for the time being. (and the Mod 2 upgrade, to me, is well worth it, if for no other reason than the grip feels even more firm and solidly attached to the camera now, very capable of supporting the weight of some of the heavyweights like the 110 f/2 or 180 f/2.8 AFD).
 

EH21

Member
Wow! There sure are some good choices out there for cameras these days.
Stuart, it's okay if we disagree on the camera - its a personal choice of course.

Regarding the weight - I'll bet a kit with a S and a couple lenses might be closer to the Hy6 and a couple lenses in weight than one might expect. I mean the S body weighs 1.4 kg and the Hy6 actually weighs less at 1.3kg. A normal lens on the S with central shutter like the Rollei is 890 grams or about 40 grams more than the Rollei AF 80mm PQS. So at least if you were going out with a Hy6 + standard lens and film back it would weight less than a Leica S + standard lens.

Just weighed my AFi-ii 12 back on the Hy6 body with WLF and its only 2170 grams all told so with the 80mm lens its just around 3kg compared to 2.3 Kg for the S+70mm. So .7 kg more for digital and .15kg less for film than the S2. Of course there are many lenses heavier than the 80 xenotar but the same is true for the Leica. Nothing Leica makes is going to be as heavy as the 60-140mm Schneider zoom for the rollei system - geez 2.5 kg! But its a beauty and one of the sharpest lenses I have ever used. Obviously you don't take that one on long hikes! But there are many many different choices for rollei lenses all with the leaf shutter.

The 6008AF is heavier than the Hy6 but not by as much. The db20p is a pretty light back. The prob with the 6000 series is that the back and camera need separate batteries so that adds more weight to what you hold. Same for Ixpress backs if you use those.

The surprise was the Fuji gx 680iii. It's 2.7kg without the digital back or lens. With the lens and digital back + adapter plate its over 5.4kg - Not quite but closer to twice the Rollei AFi kit.

The ixpress backs 128c, 384c, 96c, 528c, CF-22, CF-39 variants all will fit on any of the rollei 6000 cameras that have removable film gates - 6003, 6008 pro, integral, integral 2, and AF for sure and maybe others. I do not know the sinar backs well enough to say, but think the same is true since the adapter plates work the same way. I have seen Phase p20 and p25 and p45 backs on the 6008AF and also been told that they can be made to work on the integral and integral 2 bodies as well. The price being so low on these 6000 bodies, I wouldn't consider anything but an AF anyhow.

I tried the contax 645, but was not a fan of the viewfinder and the zeiss lenses while very good render differently than the schneider lenses of the rollei which I greatly prefer.

I've not tried the pentax 645d but am curious. Seems like a very usable camera with a great sensor.

I didn't consider the S or S2 for a variety of reasons but it seems like a nice camera.
 
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