Rolleiflext

Andreas1 · 2009-12-27T13:14:43+00:00

Guten Tag, habe meine Rolleiflex t von einer namhaften Werkstatt grundüberholen lassen. Eigentlich alles wunderbar. Habe auch schon 3 Filme belichtet, musst...

Andreas1

Good afternoon, I’ve had my Rolleiflex T thoroughly serviced by a reputable workshop. Everything’s actually going swimmingly. I’ve already undergone three exposures with film, but I’ve noticed that every now and then (about 1–2 negatives per roll) there’s a border at the bottom edge of the negative that stands out from the rest of the negative. The edge is about 5 mm wide and runs across the entire negative. It looks as though the negative is overlapping with another one at that point. However, the spacing between the negatives is all correct. What could be causing this? Or is this normal with old cameras? I have uploaded a test negative. Best regards, Andreas

Xenar

Hello Andreas, I believe you’ve already described this problem in another forum (I only skimmed through the post there). As for the specific streak, I can’t think of anything off the top of my head that hasn’t already been mentioned there. But what does strike me as odd is that the negative is sitting completely askew on the film. I’ve never seen that happen with any of my Rolleis. Did you perhaps not pull the film tight enough when loading it? Did you perhaps pull the film under the rollers instead of over the top? Otherwise: the ‘T’ doesn’t have a film feed mechanism, so it’s hard to go wrong. Regards, Volker

Andreas1

Hello Andreas, I believe you’ve already described the problem in another forum (I only skimmed through the post there). As for the streak in question, I can’t think of anything off the top of my head that hasn’t already been mentioned there. What does strike me as odd, though, is that the negative is completely askew on the film. I’ve never seen that happen with any of my Rolleis. Did you perhaps not pull the film tight enough when loading it? Did you perhaps pull the film under the rollers instead of over the top? Otherwise: the ‘T’ doesn’t have a film feed mechanism, so it’s hard to go wrong. Regards Volker

Hi, no, I wound the film over the rollers as normal and pulled it tight too! I don’t know either. I’m at my wits’ end! Regards Andreas

Xenar

Hi Andreas, If you’ve done everything right and the negatives were fine before the major overhaul, then there’s only one thing to do: send the camera back to the reputable repair firm as a complaint. The issue with the warped negatives is certainly suspicious! Best regards, Volker

Klaus_H

Hello Andreas, It might be a problem with the film. Three years ago, I had a batch of HP5+ that warped in my Rolleiflex 3.5 F. The negatives were just as crooked on the film as yours are. Try using film from a different manufacturer. If the problem persists, then Volker is probably right. Best regards, Klaus

Andreas1

Hi Andreas, It might be a problem with the film. Three years ago, I had a batch of HP5+ that warped in my Rolleiflex 3.5 F. The negatives were just as crooked on the film as yours are. Try using film from a different manufacturer. If the problem persists, then Volker is probably right. Best regards, Klaus

Hello Klaus, Thanks for your tip. I’ll give it a go! That would be a plausible explanation for me! Best regards, Andreas

Andreas1

Hello, I tried a different film today (Fp4+) and noticed that there aren’t any streaks on any of the negatives. That said, the negatives aren’t 100% straight here either. But I always thought that was normal. Are yours 100% straight? Happy New Year Andreas

MarcS

Hello, I tried a different film today (FP4+) and noticed that there isn’t a single streak on any of the negatives. However, the negatives aren’t 100% straight here either. But I always thought that was normal. Are yours 100% straight? Happy New Year Andreas

Hello Andreas, I don’t have a Rolleiflex, but I do have a few older medium-format cameras (P-Six, Hasselblad) and with almost every camera/magazine, this slight -skew- of the negative occurs more or less frequently. It depends on transport, the film pressure plate and how tightly the film is wound. Even in cold temperatures, the negatives tend to sit a bit crooked. So if the negatives aren’t exactly the same angle on every roll of film, but always slightly different, I’d consider it ‘normal’. Regards Marc P.S.... I’m not familiar with the Rolleiflex mechanism, but it could also be that the spool insert has a bit of play relative to the image mask, as is the case with some magazine cameras.