Toronto. My friend Russ Forfar sent me this heads up today. Collectors the world over will be saddened at the demise of the familiar Rolleiflex line. When I was a kid, the twin lens reflex made by Rollei was a famous alternative to a Leica or Contax, and touted for its much larger 2 1/4 inch square negative.
Rollei designs were so popular that they were copied by many other companies including numerous Japanese factories. I once bought a Yashica knock off of the Rolleiflex 4×4 camera for my sister when she was in high school. The 4×4 used the smaller 127 film rather that 120 film so processing was a bit cheaper but you still ended up with a bigger negative than 35mm film offered.
The German auction house Proventura will conduct the liquidation of the factory used to manufacture the famous twin lens relax cameras beginning April 20th. Most of the lots relate to manufacturing with the odd camera and lens offered. This auction puts and end to another bit of photo history, but the name Rolleiflex may yet appear on other products. It is common practice these days to sell valuable trademarks and trade names to other (occasionally less savoury) businesses.
Bye-bye little Rollei, it was such fun to know you.
