Tag Archives: Rollei

fit for a Queen …

Posted on September 21, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. We were all sorry to learn of the death of Queen Elizabeth II recently. Television offered numerous programs about the Queen, her history, and her state funeral. In one program we learned of her favourite past times. I found … Continue reading →

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eye of the storm

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. It was ‘the best of times and the worst of times‘ between the world wars. After the first war, pent-up demand blossomed into unprecedented wealth in the first decade, followed by the worst depression ever in the next (world … Continue reading →

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the eye of the beholder

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Robert

Toronto.  The very first issue of the Graflex Journal for 2021 shows a photograph of the news photographers up in Sudbury back in 1953 when cameras and flash were both big and bulky. One brave soul flaunts his Rollei and … Continue reading →

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have camera, will travel

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. A collector down in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Mcheconi, wrote about his find some eight or so years ago – a giant baby Rollei.  The oversize camera served as a promotional object and advertisement for the famous Rollei brand. Mcheconi’s … Continue reading →

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… the sincerest form ….

Posted on December 13, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. A very common expression is, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery“. And all the makers of high end cameras had it in spades! Manufactures in Russia, Japan, and even fellow German firms aped the design of the Leica, … Continue reading →

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photography for squares

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. From the beginning of photography prints were either landscape or portrait (i.e. rectangular). A full-plate was 8.5 x 6.5 inches. Then in the 1930s along came the famous Rollei twin lens reflex (TLR) with one viewing lens and one … Continue reading →

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points of view

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. Cameras of the last century tended to make a particular point of view easier. Cameras with rangefinders usually took an eye level view. Those with vertical viewfinders like some Kodaks and the famous TLRs took waist level shots – … Continue reading →

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belly-button school of photography

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. Camera makers tried to categorize their products as having a better way to make photos. Using a waist level finder was one way – introducing the “belly-button school of photography” – a term of which I had never heard … Continue reading →

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focussing on specific fields of interest

Posted on May 24, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. These two books by Alfred A Blaker are related to a 1965 book he wrote titled Photography for Scientific Publication. 1977’s Handbook for Scientific Photography is a complete rewrite of the original and covers the use of photography in … Continue reading →

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Bye-bye little Rollei

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Robert

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 … Continue reading →

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