Rollei TLR

I recently acquired an old Rollie Twin Lens Reflex. It was in storage
for some time -- my uncle got inherited it when my grandfather (his
father) died in the late seventies. It was stored in a basement, but
it's a finished climate-controlled environment, and it's reasonably
dry. From visual inspection, the glass looks pretty good, although
the camera was used fairly often before it was put in storage (I was
probably the last person to use it, actually -- my grandfather showed
me how to operate it when I was twelve or thirteen.)

I have no plans to sell it; I'll keep it even if I can't really use it
as a camera. However, I'd like to get it in fully operational
condition. I'd get a kick out of using my grandfather's camera, for
sentimental reasons if nothing else. Plus, it's got the planar lens,
which I am given to believe is pretty good.

I ran a roll of film through it, and it generally seemed to operate
well, with one exception. (Note: I haven't developed the film yet;
I'll know more when I do.) Here's the problem: the controls for the
aperture and shutter speed appear to be linked together, so that when
I move one it moves the other, maintaining reciprocity. Kind of a
cool function, actually. Unfortunately, the tiny little button which
is supposed to disengage the two dials appears to be partially jammed.
It works a little, but not fully. Which means that I can't change the
exposure, or can't change it much. This rather limits the camera.

Does anybody know of a good place to have a Rollie TLR worked on? I'd
like to get the problem with the interlock switch fixed, have it
generally cleaned up as much as possible, light seals and such checked
and replaced if necessary and, if possible, I'd like to have the
shutter speeds checked to make sure they're accurate. I'd like to
have this done reasonably well, and, hopefully, for a reasonable fee.
Note that I'm willing to pay a little more for better quality work,
but I'm not willing to pay a fortune. Suggestions?
--

Pete McCutchen

One person who has been doing that for many years ... and often advertises
in magazines such as Shutterbug ... is Harry Fleenor at Oceanside Camera
Repair in Manhattan Beach, California. On his web site his bio says
"...Harry Fleenor has over 36 years experience on Rollei camera repair
including 15 years working in the factory service centers of Honeywell and
Rollei of America...."

No personal experience, but he *has* been around a long time.

www.rolleirepairs.com




"Pete McCutchen" wrote in message
news

I recently acquired an old Rollie Twin Lens Reflex. It was in storage
for some time -- my uncle got inherited it when my grandfather (his
father) died in the late seventies. It was stored in a basement, but
it's a finished climate-controlled environment, and it's reasonably
dry. From visual inspection, the glass looks pretty good, although
the camera was used fairly often before it was put in storage (I was
probably the last person to use it, actually -- my grandfather showed
me how to operate it when I was twelve or thirteen.)

I have no plans to sell it; I'll keep it even if I can't really use it
as a camera. However, I'd like to get it in fully operational
condition. I'd get a kick out of using my grandfather's camera, for
sentimental reasons if nothing else. Plus, it's got the planar lens,
which I am given to believe is pretty good.

I ran a roll of film through it, and it generally seemed to operate
well, with one exception. (Note: I haven't developed the film yet;
I'll know more when I do.) Here's the problem: the controls for the
aperture and shutter speed appear to be linked together, so that when
I move one it moves the other, maintaining reciprocity. Kind of a
cool function, actually. Unfortunately, the tiny little button which
is supposed to disengage the two dials appears to be partially jammed.
It works a little, but not fully. Which means that I can't change the
exposure, or can't change it much. This rather limits the camera.

Does anybody know of a good place to have a Rollie TLR worked on? I'd
like to get the problem with the interlock switch fixed, have it
generally cleaned up as much as possible, light seals and such checked
and replaced if necessary and, if possible, I'd like to have the
shutter speeds checked to make sure they're accurate. I'd like to
have this done reasonably well, and, hopefully, for a reasonable fee.
Note that I'm willing to pay a little more for better quality work,
but I'm not willing to pay a fortune. Suggestions?
--

Pete McCutchen

Pete,
A consideration is

http://www.rolleiman.com/

I have the RolleiFlex 3.5 Planar myself--among the other 7 Rollei (Flex,
Cord, and 4x4's) models I have!! Terrific camera!!
Note that I'm a Hasselblad user as well and find the Rollei to be fantastic
and rather silent compared to the mirror swinging ka-slap of the
Hasselblad--I would consider the above source but wait for other answers
here too. Only the Planar version I have has the feature that causes you
problems and no problems on my camera.
My RolleiFlex sure likes the new Tri-X!!
Joseph Burke

"Pete McCutchen" wrote in message
news

I recently acquired an old Rollie Twin Lens Reflex. It was in storage
for some time -- my uncle got inherited it when my grandfather (his
father) died in the late seventies. It was stored in a basement, but
it's a finished climate-controlled environment, and it's reasonably
dry. From visual inspection, the glass looks pretty good, although
the camera was used fairly often before it was put in storage (I was
probably the last person to use it, actually -- my grandfather showed
me how to operate it when I was twelve or thirteen.)

I have no plans to sell it; I'll keep it even if I can't really use it
as a camera. However, I'd like to get it in fully operational
condition. I'd get a kick out of using my grandfather's camera, for
sentimental reasons if nothing else. Plus, it's got the planar lens,
which I am given to believe is pretty good.

I ran a roll of film through it, and it generally seemed to operate
well, with one exception. (Note: I haven't developed the film yet;
I'll know more when I do.) Here's the problem: the controls for the
aperture and shutter speed appear to be linked together, so that when
I move one it moves the other, maintaining reciprocity. Kind of a
cool function, actually. Unfortunately, the tiny little button which
is supposed to disengage the two dials appears to be partially jammed.
It works a little, but not fully. Which means that I can't change the
exposure, or can't change it much. This rather limits the camera.

Does anybody know of a good place to have a Rollie TLR worked on? I'd
like to get the problem with the interlock switch fixed, have it
generally cleaned up as much as possible, light seals and such checked
and replaced if necessary and, if possible, I'd like to have the
shutter speeds checked to make sure they're accurate. I'd like to
have this done reasonably well, and, hopefully, for a reasonable fee.
Note that I'm willing to pay a little more for better quality work,
but I'm not willing to pay a fortune. Suggestions?
--

Pete McCutchen

I've used Jimmy Koh (Koh Camera) in NY for years for Rollei repairs, and
he's always done a first-class job at a reasonable price. You don't
always get it back quite as quickly as you'd like, but when it does come
back it's in good working condition.

Pete McCutchen wrote:

I recently acquired an old Rollie Twin Lens Reflex. It was in storage
for some time -- my uncle got inherited it when my grandfather (his
father) died in the late seventies. It was stored in a basement, but
it's a finished climate-controlled environment, and it's reasonably
dry. From visual inspection, the glass looks pretty good, although
the camera was used fairly often before it was put in storage (I was
probably the last person to use it, actually -- my grandfather showed
me how to operate it when I was twelve or thirteen.)

I have no plans to sell it; I'll keep it even if I can't really use it
as a camera. However, I'd like to get it in fully operational
condition. I'd get a kick out of using my grandfather's camera, for
sentimental reasons if nothing else. Plus, it's got the planar lens,
which I am given to believe is pretty good.

I ran a roll of film through it, and it generally seemed to operate
well, with one exception. (Note: I haven't developed the film yet;
I'll know more when I do.) Here's the problem: the controls for the
aperture and shutter speed appear to be linked together, so that when
I move one it moves the other, maintaining reciprocity. Kind of a
cool function, actually. Unfortunately, the tiny little button which
is supposed to disengage the two dials appears to be partially jammed.
It works a little, but not fully. Which means that I can't change the
exposure, or can't change it much. This rather limits the camera.

Does anybody know of a good place to have a Rollie TLR worked on? I'd
like to get the problem with the interlock switch fixed, have it
generally cleaned up as much as possible, light seals and such checked
and replaced if necessary and, if possible, I'd like to have the
shutter speeds checked to make sure they're accurate. I'd like to
have this done reasonably well, and, hopefully, for a reasonable fee.
Note that I'm willing to pay a little more for better quality work,
but I'm not willing to pay a fortune. Suggestions?

On 2005-03-06 14:45:14 -0500, Pete McCutchen
said:


I recently acquired an old Rollie Twin Lens Reflex. It was in storage
for some time -- my uncle got inherited it when my grandfather (his


....snip...



Does anybody know of a good place to have a Rollie TLR worked on? I'd
like to get the problem with the interlock switch fixed, have it
generally cleaned up as much as possible, light seals and such checked
and replaced if necessary and, if possible, I'd like to have the
shutter speeds checked to make sure they're accurate. I'd like to
have this done reasonably well, and, hopefully, for a reasonable fee.
Note that I'm willing to pay a little more for better quality work,
but I'm not willing to pay a fortune. Suggestions?

HERE IS THE INFO I PICKED UP ON THIS NEWSGROUP A FEW MONTHS AGO:


Mr Krikor Maralian
Krimar Photo Shop
105-B Broadway
Elmwood Park, NJ 07407
Telephone (201) 796-0554
Starting in January of 2005, Krimar Photo Shop of Elmwood Park, NJ
will be the official Rollei repair service for older models in the US
market. Krimar takes over from Marflex Camera Repair, which has
serviced the Classic Rollei over the past two decades. Krikor
Maralian, owner of Krimar and Head Technician at Marflex, has 42 years
of Rollei repair service experience, and a superb reputation in the
business. Besides 23 years at Marflex, Krikor trained at the
Rolleiflex factory for three years, with an 8 year stint at
Rollei/Africa, and eight years at Rollei/USA.

AND

Mr Harry Fleenor
Oceanside Camera Repair
909 Aviation Blvd, #4
Manhattan Beach, Ca 90266, U.S.A.
e-mail
37 years Rolleiflex repair experience including 15 years in the
Rolleiflex factory service center.
Repairing: Rolleiflex TLR, Rolleiflex SL66, Rollei 35, Rollei SL35,
Rollei A110, Rollei SL26, Rollei A26.
--
Michael | "You're going to need a bigger boat."