Really
next time you are in Villars let me know, I usally have dinner with other photographers and you are welcome to join.
The lake is beautiful, very inspiring, at least half a dozen photographers per mile :-), but my roots are in the hilly Swissgerman part of Switzerland.
Just one more followup on the Rollei and the digital back:
first, the Imacon was available, and you can still get the adapters to put it on the Rollei back. It will go on later 6008 and 6003 Pro's, I believe, altho I have not seen it. But the literature tells that it will work. I think there is some cord connection, but there is a plug on the Rollei for this.
Then Rollei goes and comes out with the 6008 Auto Focus, and then adds the DP20 back from Phase One. Interestingly enough, in light of the discussion about critical nature of focus on digital backs (on the Leica DMR bible), Rollei sells their digital back with auto focus, and with matched backs to the cameras. In talking with a Phase One rep, he indicated that they were concerned about exact lineup of back to camera.
One more thing - the Rollei AF will take the manual lenses, and gives a focus confirmation light when in focus. Pretty nifty. Its not bulletproof, and not like Canon stuff, but its pretty advanced for MF. Of course the Hassy H1 is also, but those Schneider and Zeiss lenses are to die for. I just went and added the 40 mm Schneider to the stable, to keep the 60 mm warm while I wait for the digital back prices to come down. There is something about focusing on the glass which is just plain old nice. And you get a magnifier too. Good for those over 50 eyes.
I use the 40mm in my Hassleblad with the Sinar 22mp and it's not very impressive to be honest - my old 50mm ( non floating element) is better. I also use a Rodenstock 35mm on the ARC body - this is way better in resolution than the 40mm but as it's a non retrofocus lens like the 38mm on the SW you can run into corner shading problems ( this is correctable in the Sinar software but only at the point of capture)
Geoffrey...I've been thinking about the 6008 Auto Focus with DP20 back myself. The problem I have is the fear that this camera will be around in the next 2-3 years and if it's not there goes any value in the camera, lenses, and back.
Bill. I have a rollei X act -2 and have been talking to a number of dealers. There are a couple of folks in CA who do a bit of used sales and I can look those up if you like. Robertwhite.com in England is the biggest Rollei dealer I have found. I have the email of a directdistributor in the US. However, his prices are higher or the same than the dealers. B$H also sells the 6008.
Mark. I look at Robertwhite.com quite a bit. ffordes in Scotland also has a good stock of used lenses. I guess I'm just concerned about the Rollei 6008 future. If you don't mind looking up the California dealers I would appreciate it. Just talking with a few folks might give me a little more assurance of Rollei staying around.
To be truthful, the issue of Rollei future is a problem. No doubt about it. And we haven't reallyheard much from the F&H reorganization to get a sense of what they will do. Its pretty hard to update the lineup - maybe they will make an integral back for the 6008, but that seems a bit unlikely. They can't (in all likelyhood) have the funds to re-engineer a new camera... and the AF on the 6008, while decent enough, isn't going to set the world on fire.
So its not clear where they will go. Not that its all that different from the rest of the industry either, but it seems like Hassy bet the house on the H1 and future integration, and chose to move some aspects of production to the far east to make that happen. Not only a pretty good move, but their timing was excellent.
Rollei tried this move too, but they were too early. And the money they spent on scanning backs must have been huge, but unfortunately, now they have little to show for it. So its not easy to see where they might go.
My own favorite dream is something a bit goofy (OK - don't laugh too hard!) - a digital TLR. It would be compact, big sensor, and not have a floppy mirror. Give you all the virtues of the old TLR with new capture ability? Is this nuts - I don't know. But I'd like one!
As to the investment - well, there is the old adage - if you like it and you use it, who cares what the market thinks? There willb e service for a long time, and the product is a good one, but it is beginning to look a bit long in the tooth. But it is a great product. So go with what you like, if you can afford to not worry about the resale.
I read through about the first 45 pages, and then kind of gave up... Nowhere did I see anyone mention the digital backs from Megavision. The current E series range from 6mp color and monochrome (E3) to 16MP square in color and monochrome (E4) to the 22mp (E5) and soon (found one reference on the news page) 39mp (E6) back. Just kind of surprised that there was no mention of them anywhere is this thread. Most if not all of these backs are based on the Kodak sensors. As far as the software goes, I can't offer much yet, though in a couple of weeks when I get my lowly "antique" S3 working with the new software.
The E3 is 36x24, E4 is 36x36, and the E5 and E6 are the larger Kodak chips. If it wasn't for the crop factor, the E4 would be nice in a TLR.
carstenw wrote:
Is someone in a position to compare working with the Rolleis and the Hasselblad V-system? I know the Rollei is more advanced, but am curious anyway.
Hi Carsten
I was brought up on V series Hasselblads. I didn't really like the old ones with C lenses, they had many faults in the old film days. Dim viewfinder, 4 piece viewfinder hood, connected shutter and aperture on the lenses, overlapping frames on the film backs, cut off in the viewfinder with longer lenses. Over the years they improved and most of these little niggles were ironed out.
When I started my own business I didn't have much money so bought into a Bronica system (the least said the better). but when funds allowed, I moved to Rollei, first a 6006 and then added a 6008 and a bunch of lenses. I worked happily with them for about 5 or 6 years. Yes they were more sophisticated than the 'blads with built in meters, motors etc and of course they relied on batteries but worked very well, I had no complaints.
When digital came along, the back I decided on was the P1 Lightphase, which wouldn't fit the Rollei so I moved back to 'blad. I didn't really miss the Rollei features, on the contrary, I really enjoyed going back to the simplicity of a purely mechanical 500 series 'blad not to mention the lighter weight. The WLF viewfinders with an Acumatte screen is super bright (side by side brighter than an H1), the lenses are great, overlapping frames no longer an issue and the floating mirror has no cut off. One niggle is still there, accidentally tripping the shutter of a lens off camera by knocking the little pin but I have done this about twice in the last 6 years.
When I upgraded to a P25 last year I did think about moving to the H1 but after testing decided I preferred the old system. If I want predictive AF, multi meter modes, auto bracket and more custom functions than you can shake a stick it... well, I have a Canon system for that.
Thanks Paul, that is exactly what I was hoping to hear. I so far have only a 500C, but when I get the chance, will trade it in for a 500CM, most likely, and get rid of the C lens for a CF T*, probably 120 or 150. I am just looking to scratch my film itch with this camera, so I don't need fancy stuff, just a couple of good lenses (for film), and one or two backs.
In the wild event that an unknown relative dies and leaves me way more money than I could keep myself from spending, which CF lenses are also good with digital backs? I expect the 180 must be up there, and maybe the 120, but I don't know so much about it.
Carsten, Hasselblad CF lenses are all good, the Makro 120 has the badest rating by photodo but it is still a very good lens, very sharp, no ca, shows microcontrast and all this, like you would expect it to see on a Zeiss lens.
I have the 4/50, 80, 150mm lenses and had (or still have as I dont know if I will ever get paid for it) 40/60/120 lenses. I would say the 4/50FLE is the best of the lot, all those lenses can do great things.
There are different shooting styles, but for image quality I say, If not happy with this, not happy with anything
Edited by bathman on Jun 05, 2006 at 06:08 PM GMT (Reason: typo)
Carsten, if you can, go for the CW rather than a CM, they have the floating mirror so you won't get cut off with longer lenses. I have the 120 and the 180 both CF. The 120 is my favourite lens for a lot of work I do, editorial lifestyle, it's great for still life and close up, super sharp. For speed I often use Proxar close up lenses for getting close and they work very well with the 120 but not well with the 180 where you need to use ext tubes otherwise the image softens.
When I said overlapping frames were no longer an Issue, I meant because, professionally, I shoot digitally now. However, last year I did treat myself to a new film back for use with a SWC... just for fun (and to scratch my film itch). If you buy second hand backs, make sure the insert numbers (last 3) match the last 3 of the back numbers. Over time, film backs do tend to overlap or space out. From memory they would need looking at and servicing once a year with heavy professional use.
It sounds like I would be happy with the 80, 120 and either the 40 or the 50. As I recall, one of these two is quite inferior to the other, and does not do well with digital backs, but I don't recall which...
