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FS or FT is my Rolleiflex 3.5 F Planar TLR

Irenaeus

Member
I’ve been having Harry Fleenor, one of the nation’s best, put it into tip top shape as a long term project for longer term personal use. What we were working toward was a classic TLR with a Zeiss Planar lens, nearly silent operation. unobtrusive handling, medium format’s subtle film tonalities and an image quality that would rival FF digital at a quarter the cost. He was doing a great job but, unfortunately, could not apply his expertise to my own vintage optics, which are no longer remotely reliable for precise manual focus.

So, after much denial, I’m finally letting this go.

Mr. Fleenor was a top technician for Rolleiflex and has had over 40 years of experience with their cameras. When they closed down heir operations in the USA he bought out all of their special calibrating equipment and so is better equipped than most, too. He did a full CLA, of course, and a full overhaul complete with all the subtle adjustments necessary to bring it up to full factory specifications. He then installed a Maxwell plain Hi-Lux screen with grid, which is a lot brighter than the original one, and replaced all the leather panels with new leather.
Though the lens has faint cleaning marks, he says that they do not affect the image quality and that the lens itself is particularly fine.

Possible Caveats: At the moment, the camera is fitted with a removable prism finder (which has a small, merely cosmetic dent.) A folding finder can, of course, be easily fitted and is not very expensive. (The last time I talked with Mr. Fkeenor he had a new one in stock and would, if one wanted, accept the prism finder in partial trade for it.)The metal surrounding the lens assemble is somewhat scarred so it is cosmetically imperfect. It would not come with either lens covers or leather straps, which I hadn’t yet gotten to. (Both are available through eBay (and new straps are MUCH safer than old, dried out ones.)

Extras: It would come with a leather case designed to protect the camera with the prism finder (or, for that matter, the smaller, folding finder) mounted. It has a new, collapsible rubber lens hood and and a nice, original Rolleiflex light yellow filter for B/W work.

Comparisons: I have four current sales or offerings to compare it with. These cameras vary in condition and might or might not require the further expense of CLAs. Some might come with lens covers and straps but none, I believe, would have come with the leather case or, most importantly, the Maxwell screen. (Details are available at MyeBay’s “Completed Sales.”) There’ve been three recent completed sales on eBay: one described as “Minty,” for $900; one as “condition B,” for $958; and a third as “AAA+++” for $1425. KEH’s latest catalog had one in “Bargain” condition last night for $1079 but it’s apparently been sold as of today. Even if one were to eliminate the highest and lowest figures from this list, the average of the remaining two would still be over $1000 and one of those would be KEH’s much lower quality sample.

My price: $800 net to me (or Better offer ;~) Shipping to be by buyer’s preferred method and cost. PayPal preferred, with their 3% fee to be paid by buyer. CONUS.

Trades I’d consider: good Olympus E1, mid-level lenses for it & NEX 5.

While not enormously active, I’ve been at GetDPI for 3 years, have bought and sold here to our mutual satisfaction and have 100% positive feedback on eBay as cqiona. Thanks for looking,

Irenaeus
 

Irenaeus

Member
LAST CHANCE BEFORE THIS GOES ON EBAY!

When it does, I'll sell the accessories separately and the BuyItNow price will be higher.

Incidentally, Mr. Fleenor says this is the third model 3.F, the first of that breed to have aperture and shutter speeds controllable independently of each other.

He also tells me the 3.5 Rollei is every bit as good as the 2.8 in every respect but that of the final f stop. He thinks what I'm asking is certainly a fair price and says the prism finder alone is worth $200 or $300 (though I'd think it's cosmetic dent might bring that down a bit.) In the 80's a Hasselblad rep told me this lens was sharper than the ones he was selling at the time (no shutter slap, either!)

In the here and now, if I could, I'd keep it. Since I can't, my loss will be someone else's real gain. I'd prefer that to be someone on this forum. And, as the pub keepers say as they're about to close:

"Hurry up. please ~ it's time!"

Irenaeus
 
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