5 Frames with a Rolleicord IV

My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic 50, which I had won in a photography competition as a teenager. The competition was organized by Kodak to promote their new 126 film cartridges. The format was square, so I didn´t have to decide between portrait and landscape mode. My interest in photography grew, my cameras became better and my first SLR was one with a waist level finder. Portrait mode now was possible, but with a waist level finder absolutely no fun!

After many years with digital cameras I rediscovered photography on film, now mainly black and white. I do not process the films on my own but use the german lab ‘meinfilmlab’ to get the films processed and scanned. Some years ago my wife gave me a second-hand Rolleicord IV as a present. After it had sat on the shelf for a while, I decided to give the camera a CLA because the slow times were too slow.

When it came back, the shutter sounded good and I tried the first roll of Ilford XP2. What a shock, when after exposure no. 5 the film advance jammed. Had I missed to release the shutter correctly? I tried again and again the advance knob did not move. That´s how I got my first double exposure and the camera its second trip to the repair shop, where a broken spring was replaced.

The handling of the camera and the square format reminded me of my first cameras and I decided to take some photos of my hometown of Wolfenbüttel in Lower Saxony (close to Braunschweig, home of Voigtländer and Rollei) that you wouldn´t be able to tell when they were taken.

That turned out to be more difficult than expected. There were disturbing details in every motif – traffic signs, traffic lights, new street lights and, unfortunately, especially graffiti.

Neverheless it was fun, and I hope you will enjoy the photos.

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