The Original Rolleiflex

Rolleiflex is a well known name among photographers, and for good reason. I look at them as the Rolls Royce of cameras, not just because of the their build quality and reliability, but because its name alone gives it widespread recognition. So when I received the Original Rolleiflex, you could imagine I was excited.

My wife bought me a Rolleiflex in 2013 as a Christmas gift when I first started shooting film again. She and I didn’t realize at the time that the camera was something special in that it was an original. She only knew I loved Rolleiflex cameras. It was in pretty rough shape, with dirt and rust caked in areas. It came with the leather case and lens cover, and for a while it just sat on my shelf as a decoration. It was years before I looked into which model I had and realized it was a piece of history.

Just a reminder as with all of my reviews, if you prefer, you can watch my video review instead located at the end of this article.

Making History Before the Crash

The Rolleiflex was Franke and Heidecke’s first twin lens reflex camera. They were already well known for their Rolleidoscope stereo cameras. Paul Franke was a photographic dealer who met Reinhold Hedecke at the Voigtlander factory where he worked for many years. They opened their own company making high end stereo cameras that were a little to pricey to take the business very far.

They decided to take a huge risk in 1929, right before the stock market crash that threw our country into the Great Depression, and started mass producing a more conventional camera. In came the roll-film reflex camera – the Rolleiflex. That risk paid off and made their company one of the most well known photographic companies ever.

At the time 35mm film was already the norm, that’s why they made the 35mm adapters (Rolleikins) for these TLR’s. That made it more adaptable to professionals and amateurs. The medium format sized films were being created and phased out in all sizes before the Rolleiflex came along, but the Rollei is really the camera that used 117 as something more than just a snapshot taken in a box camera, as it was with the Brownie cameras. They took the better parts of other cameras being made at the time to create something more refined, something that could use roll film, and focus, while still being lightweight.

The Original Rolleiflex

The Rolleiflex (Original) was only produced from January 1929- February 1932, when it was phased out by their next camera the Old Standard. Many prototypes were created before that, and many small variations can be found throughout those 3 years of production. It initially used 117 film that only gave 6 frames in square format because of the frame spacing. By 1932, 620 film was released, and the cameras were converted to take advantage of the 12 frames they could get from this film.

The viewing lens (on top) is a 75mm f3.1 uncoated Heidscop-Anastigmat produced by a company called Optische Anstalt Saalfeld owned by Carl Zeiss. There were two taking lens options available, the Tessar 75mm f4.5 or 3.8.

The Original Rolleiflex is very old, and therefore very delicate. This TLR weighs only 25oz and was hand made out of sheet metal, so it wasn’t made to withstand much to begin with. It is truly an original because it has just the basics needed for taking photos. Later models began to integrate advancements over time.

The shutter is a Compur and has speeds of one second up to 1/300th of a second set by turning the rim around the taking lens. It also includes B and T settings. The shutter must NOT be cocked before setting it to the highest speeds or B and T, otherwise you risk damaging it. In my experience, Compur shutters are so delicate and tend to stick over time.

My Experience with the Original Rolleiflex

When I first received my Rolleiflex, I cleaned the mirrors inside by removing the 4 tiny screws holding on the waist level viewfinder. So much dirt came off, and underneath revealed some rusting and de-silvering of the mirrors. I wasn’t sure the camera would work at all. I have had such bad experiences with Compur Shutters in the past, especially with sticking, that I totally expected the camera to sit on my shelf as a show piece forever.

Also, I didn’t even realize until looking at that website, that the leather case I have has a filter set attached inside of the lid. It is made to fit the 24mm yellow filter and a pair of Proxar close up lenses (24mm and 28.5) those last two are the ones I found, and they are apparently hard to find these days.

As with a lot of things that was created long before our time, the original Rolleiflex is shrouded in a lot of mystery and speculation making it difficult to specifically date. According to Rolleiclub.com, my camera is a K1 model 611 or 613, and made somewhere between January 1929 and February 1932. That makes this camera almost 100 years old! The placement of the body number makes mine an earlier production according to this informative website. It also does not have a hinged back like later variations, making me lean more to thinking my model is the later 611 variation after April of 1929 and before June of 1930. It is assumed that the internal number is the production number, mine being #11790 out of what is thought to be a total of somewhere around 35,000 Originals made. You can tell by the key in the film advance that it is the 117/620 key, leading me to believe my copy was right in the middle of that transition.

Taking Pics with the Original Rolleiflex

I didn’t shoot anything in the camera for years because of the obsolete 620 film. In 2020 I finally shot a roll of re-spooled 120 film purchased from the Film Photography Project, and was pleasantly surprised that it works.

I was also very surprised at how sharp the lens still is. No vignetting or anything major deforms the image. The colors come out very rich even though the lens is not coated.

I also found that the size of the frames are not square, but more like 1:1.5 or 8×9. I’m not sure why that is.

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In the two photos below, you can see the one on the left has what appear to be vertical streaks, while the photo on the right has blue lines ( you can also see the lines in the photo above). The streaks, I believe, are caused by an issue during processing. However, the lines I am not sure. If you read my Rolleicord article, I had this same issue on a test roll I shot with it, and it turned out to be that I loaded the film incorrectly by slipping it underneath the first roller. I am thinking that this is the same thing I did here. These photos were taken almost 2 years go so I honestly can’t remember.

Final Thoughts on the Original Rolleiflex

This camera will always be special to me because of the way I acquired it, and because of the history I’ve discovered behind it. However, I don’t think that I will be shooting with it much in the future. I want to preserve it for obvious reasons, and the re-spooled film is expensive. If I ever re-spool it myself, I may reconsider.

Either way, this has been such an exciting journey of discovery. Just imagine what this camera has seen in its lifetime. It has been through the Great Depression, World War 2, and depending on when it was put on the shelf before I got it, who knows what else it has witnessed. That is my favorite part about shooting with vintage cameras.

What’s the oldest camera you have taken photos with? Let me know in the comments. Until next time, stay motivated and keep shooting.

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