At the beginning of this year I found myself in one of Japan’s second hand camera shops. Wherein I fell in love with a Rolleicord II. It seemed as if it was meant to be for I have never owned a medium format camera before. Being in a foreign country, this seemed like a faultless opportunity for me to try new things.
The Rolleicord IIA sports a (three element 75mm f3.5 Carl Zeiss Triotar as it’s taking lens. I found this lens to produce a more soft/dreamy like feel to the photos. However when stopped down the lens almost competes in sharpness neck to neck with its contender the (four element) 75mm 3.5 Schneider Xenar which is flaunted on the later model Rolleicords.
Being manufactured in 1937 the shutter speeds aren’t anything such as ground breaking. However, they are sufficient enough ranging from 1-1/300th sec, which also includes a bulb setting. I found shooting street photography on the Rollei TLR to be challenging but unfathomably stealthy. Shooting from near waist height with a flipped mirror image isn’t easy to get used to by any means. Although once I got the hang of it I felt almost invisible to any subject as people didn’t seem to notice me taking a shot.
Even though the Rolleicord doesn’t look and feel as aesthetically pleasing as its successor the Rolleiflex, it still holds its own and is a worthy medium format TLR. Here’s a few shots using Fuji Pro 400H.
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Steve on 5 Frames with a Rolleicord IIA – by Tom O’Neill
Comment posted: 31/03/2018
Lilianna Elrod on 5 Frames with a Rolleicord IIA – by Tom O’Neill
Comment posted: 01/09/2018
Christian M. on 5 Frames with a Rolleicord IIA – by Tom O’Neill
Comment posted: 10/09/2018
StephenJ on 5 Frames with a Rolleicord IIA – by Tom O’Neill
Comment posted: 16/09/2018
Just a bit of info to add to your article, the Flex is the professional version of the Rollei camera, the Cord was aimed at the amateur/hobbyist. It has a different set of facilities and is slightly better turned out, but the lenses are with the exception of the Rolleiflex's with f2.8 Planar, the same for both models. the two types were made concurrently until 1977, when Cord was ended.
Something that I have read a number of times is that the Cord's are often much better than the Flex's because the latter have had a much harder life being worked hard by their owners, compared with Cord owners who kept them in their leather cases and dragged them out for weddings, funerals and Bah-mitzvahs etc..
Excellent snaps by the way.
Nathalie Porter on 5 Frames with a Rolleicord IIA – by Tom O’Neill
Comment posted: 30/09/2018