Valuation, help with purchase

Menschenfotografin · 2010-01-20T13:50:54+00:00

Hallo! Ich möchte mir eine Rolleiflex kaufen. Folgendes Angebot liegt mir vor: Verhandlungsbasis: 190 € Es handelt sich um eine Rolleiflex, Baujahr unbek...

Menschenfotografin

Hello! I’d like to buy a Rolleiflex. I’ve received the following offer: Asking price: €190 It is a Rolleiflex, year of manufacture unknown, lens: Carl Zeiss Tessar f 3.5/75 Visually, it is in very good condition; the lenses are clear, as is the mirror It has been sitting in a cupboard for 10 years, since my father-in-law could no longer use it. Until then, it had worked perfectly. I’ve just spoken to the owner on the phone, hence the details. What do you think? I’m considering a deal where he has it checked over, I pay for the check-up, and I’ll only take it if it works or can be repaired cheaply...

MarcS

It is a Rolleiflex, year of manufacture unknown, lens: Carl Zeiss Tessar f 3.5/75 Optically, it is in very good condition; the lenses are clear, as is the mirror It has been sitting in a cupboard for 10 years, ever since my father-in-law could no longer use it. Up until then, it had worked perfectly.

Hello, The serial number can be used to determine its age (which model?). If cameras haven’t been triggered or operated for a long time (10 years), the oiled parts – the focus and aperture rings on the lens, as well as mechanical parts (shutter release, film advance) on the body – tend to seize up. The camera should work now, not 10 years ago :rolleyes: I have no experience with Rolleiflex, but I do have a few old models from other brands. Checking it is a very good idea, but whether that should be included in the price, I can’t say. Regards Marc

Wolf_XL

...if the Rolleiflex is fitted with a Tessar lens, then it’s likely to be either a Rolleiflex T or a Rolleiflex Automat from the early 1950s... For a fully functional Rolleiflex T, €190 would be acceptable – but it would need to have a working light meter fitted. For a Rolleiflex A (K4A) or Rolleiflex B (K4B), however, €190 is too much. If you take your Rollei for a CLA (‘inspection’) at one of the well-known Rollei workshops, you should expect to pay €150–200. But then you’ll most likely have peace of mind for the next twenty years... Furthermore, a lens hood is absolutely essential – that should be included as well. Basically, as already mentioned, you must expect that after a ten-year hiatus, the lubricants will have gone sticky. You’ll notice this particularly with the long exposures – these will take considerably longer. Even if that wouldn’t necessarily bother you – after all, when do you ever need half a second or a full second? – a CLA would be advisable. Resin-bound mechanisms simply require more force to operate – which has a negative effect on reliability – and are also prone to jamming. The resulting repair costs are likely to exceed the value of the camera... If it doesn’t absolutely have to be a Rolleiflex – a Yashica Mat 124G is optically almost on a par and is considerably cheaper to buy... The Czech Flexaret isn’t half bad either – unfortunately, the focusing screen is rather dim – a problem that the first post-war Rolleiflexes also have (fortunately, with the Rolleiflexes you can change the focusing screen yourself – with the Flexaret, that’s a fair bit more difficult).