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Old 2nd October 2018, 01:52 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Default I can see again! ...or: I replaced my Rolleiflex ground glass

A follow-up to discussion on Rolleiflex ground glass screens in the latter part of this older thread:
http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.or...t=10851&page=3

I recently picked up a used Mamiya RZ67 focus screen on the recommendation of my local Rolleiflex repair guru, in order to replace the very dim ground glass in my 3.5C (aka 3.5E). What a difference! I had recently taken this camera on a holiday trip to the east coast, and was incredibly frustrated by not being able to see anything of the image in the ground glass except the centre area -- about 1/2 to 2/3rds of the image was just not visible at all, making the camera barely usable. The Mamiya screen, on the other hand is bright, evenly illuminated from edge to edge, and snaps nicely into focus. Wonderful! Well worth the effort to find one and cut it down to size. Highly recommended for anyone with an old Rolleiflex/cord with dim ground glass screen.

Best,
Svend
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Old 2nd October 2018, 03:54 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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I have a Rolleiflex automat, and while not as bright as the Oleson screen on my Microcord, is perfectly usable, much brighter than the screen on my Microcord 11/2, which in anything other than bright sun is diffucult in the extreme to use, also the 2 Rolleicord's I have, one a 4 from 1963, the other a IV A2, are bright and easy to use, the 4 is the standard, but I suspect that the other has a replacement screen, so the only one I have problems with is the Microcord, I also have a Rolleiflex 3.5T from the early 60's and I must admit that has the brigitest screen of the lot, but in general I find they snap into focus fairly easily, but the T is the easiest to focus, together with the Microcord 2, I tend to use these whem I know I will need to focus fast

Richard
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Old 2nd October 2018, 04:04 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Richard, I suppose I should clarify a bit: on the old ground glass screen the centre part was satisfactorily bright, but that would fall off sharply toward the edges such that about half or more of the image was obscured. So the part of the image that I could actually see was quite OK. Note that the original screen was actual glass, not plastic. I also have a later 3.5F with a different screen (plastic I assume) that is perfectly fine and gives me no problems. Those early Rolleiflex ground glass screens are notorious for poor visibility.

In any case, I'm more than happy with the results, and glad I didn't spend more on a fancy aftermarket screen, or waste money on a cheap Asian one.

Also, forgot to mention: I replaced the mirror in the 3.5C as well. I did this before swapping out the screen, and it helped somewhat....I was hoping it would be the fix, but not to be. But it was still a good thing to do, as it turned out, as the old mirror was a rear-surface one (not good) and was also the wrong size. Obviously someone bought a cheapo aftermarket one. I bought the replacement from this fellow: https://www.ebay.com/usr/marty1107?_...p2047675.l2559. Great service, very fair prices, and most helpful. And he sells only front-surface mirrors, as they should be. I broke the first one (clumsy move) and he offered to send another for free if I covered shipping -- first class guy! (I didn't take his offer, BTW, as it was my fault, not his, and paid full price).

Svend

Last edited by Svend; 2nd October 2018 at 04:16 PM.
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Old 2nd October 2018, 05:56 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Maybe I was lucky, all my TLR's are from the 50's execpt the T, and that, with the Microcord which came with the Oleson screen fitted are very bright indeed,I had wondered about getting the Automat as I had heard of earlier Rollei's bad reputation for dim screens, and was pleasently surprised with the Flex and the 2 cords, or maybe I was spoilt with them as previously I had used, or tried to use both a Weltaflex and an early Microcord, the Microcord was just about usable, if you focused then used the sports finder in the hood, tje weltaflex was so bad that even focusing was almost imposible with the ground glass screen, so much so I sold it on, that the Rollei's were that bit brighter than the others,I will admit that my later T is a doddle to use in any light, as is the Microcord 2 with the oleson screen, so much so that I tend to use them when I need to focus fast, they just snap into focus, the other microcord with the standard screen and the rolleis you need to take your time, and over the years I have just got used to using them,
Richard
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Old 2nd October 2018, 06:19 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Good one, Richard. Sounds like you've got all those TLRs sorted . Personally I'm delighted that this little fix worked so well, as the lens on the 3.5C is just fantastic -- a Xenotar -- and I was really not wanting to part with it just because of a crappy screen. I think I actually prefer the Xenotar over the Planar in my 3.5F -- it has a softer, more organic look to it, but is easily as sharp. With the new screen, the camera actually becomes quite usable now.
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Old 2nd October 2018, 06:47 PM
Lostlabours Lostlabours is offline
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I have a Rolleiflex 3.5 E2 and the original screen is excellent, the screen in my Automat is also nice and bright.

I bought a Chinese (Seagull ?) screen for my Yashicamat 124 a decade ago but it sat in the UK while the camera lives in Turkey, eventually I stuck it in my Microcord 2. It's now as bright as my Rolleiflexes.

Maybe the screen in my Automat isn't the original, I bought it a Flea market, however the seller was very genuine, he was selling his own surplus equipment, probably after going digital and I bought a mint boxed Metz CT-1 off him either at the same market at a previous r later date.

Ian
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Old 2nd October 2018, 07:39 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Hi Ian,

As far as I know Rollei changed screen types not long after the model I have (3.5C, or 3.5E depending on source). The s/n puts it at 1957 to 1959. Your E2 would be 1959 to 1962, so could well have benefitted from this change. As mentioned, I also have a 3.5F which was made some time after 1965, and this has the original screen, which is excellent - very bright and with even illumination.

Svend
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