New Camera

This past week I picked up a new-to-me camera, a Rolleicord V that was made in 1955. Lately I’ve renewed my interest in film photography and from way back these old TLR cameras have been on my “want” list. I ran across the kamerastore.com that was selling several restored Rolleicord and Rolleiflex cameras at decent prices (or at least I find them decent). Icing on the cake is, that most of them have a 12 month warranty. Considering the price and the warranty, I figured it was a good opportunity to buy. After submitting my order, three days later, this camera was in my grubby little paws.

As of today, I’ve put two rolls of film through it: a roll of 400Tx and an expired roll of Portra 400, neither of which have been processed, but I’m confident that they will turn out.

The camera is fun to use, much lighter than my Hasselblad 500cm and equally, if not more, charming to look at. It does have some quirks:

The focussing screen is very dim. Using the magnifier one can focus using the center of the screen, but the edges are so dim that composing your shot is difficult without a bright subject. This can be remedied, if read that Rick Oleson’s bright-screeen.com has replacement focussing screens at a reasonable prices.

The second, and more irritating is that now and again the film will refuse to advance. I ruined my first roll of film trying to fix it (it acted up after the first frame) but was able to “fix” it in subsequent rolls. When the film won’t advance, I pull the shutter release (small lever under the ‘E’ in Braunschweig) further to the left to fully disengage the film advance lock. It took a couple of attempts to figure out the process, but I think I’ve got it now. It may just be better to use the shutter cocking / trigger to take a photo instead of the cable release button.

Regardless, I’m quite taken with this camera and should be posting some photos taken with it soon.

My Rolleicord V circa 1955