15. February 2002
A TLR with TTL

[Update 19. January 2005] : Baier Fototechnik has greatly improved the adapter described here. Read on...

Yes, I am a Rolleiflex TLR fan.
I don't exactly know why I like these old cameras so much, but they do have a certain quality that seems very appealing to me.
But, I'm not especially a fan of the selenium light-meters that some of the later models are equipped with. It's not that they aren't accurate, but what exactly do they measure?
I have one TLR on which the meter works fine, and one on which it "dies" in strong sun-light.
So what to do about the meter problem? Use a hand-held meter - that is one solution. Another could be to buy a prism with build-in meter. In this way you would end up with a TLR with TTL - and this was exactly what I did.
Read on...

The Rollei prisms
Rollei originally made a 90° prism for the TLR's and both a 45° and a 90° prism is available for the Rolleiflex 2.8 GX (I assume the latter would also fit older models with interchangeable finders).
None of these are with light-meters (the GX wouldn't need any, since it already has a TTL light-meter) and all of them are pretty expensive.
The older model is perhaps a bit clumsy, while the never ones looks pretty good.

Kiev TTL Spot Prism
The Ukrainian camera manufacturer Kiev makes a very nice and cheap prism with a build-in light-meter.
It is produced to fit the Kiev 88 line of cameras. The prism I bought has an integral metering as well as spot metering and is the newest one produced. You can get prisms with only integral metering or without any meter at all.
The functions:



You select the film speed and the lens speed (by turning the Aperture dial to match the red arrow - 2.8 in the case of the Rolleiflex) and then you press the Exposure meter button, which will turn on the LEDs in the view-finder. Press it twice and you have spot metering indicated by a small round LED in the view-finder.
Turn the Shutter speed dial to find the correct exposure (that's when you see TWO arrows in the viewfinder).
(Finally, of course, you select a combination of speed and aperture for your exposure).


A view inside the finder. Notice the Spot meter area.

The integral metering is carried out on a elliptic (30x50mm) area in the middle of the field of view, while the spot meter uses a rectangular (5x10mm) area at the top of the field of view. This area can be seen in the viewfinder.




Specifications (taken from the manual):
Integral metering range, cd/m² : 2 - 16000
Spot metering range, cd/m² : 8 - 16000
Supply voltage, V : 4.5
Visible image field, mm : 53x53
Magnification : 3X
Overall dimensions, mm : 76x79x126
Weight, kg : 0,53 (my weight says : 0.477)

Fitting a Kiev prism to the Rolleiflex
Baier fototechnik in Germany are making adapters to this prism for a number of different cameras. They did a great job making an adapter for the Rolleiflex TLR. But guess what, two Rolleiflexes from two different decades are not 100% alike. So while the adapter fitted perfect for one of the TLR's it didn't fit another. However, after some adjustments of the adapter it will now fit both of my 3.5F's nicely.
I bought both the prism and the adapter from Baier fototechnik.
If I didn't knew better, I would think that the prism was made for the Rolleiflex:





In use
To be frank I haven't really tested the prism "in the field" yet - I will get back with updates!
But, my first impression is, that the camera does of course become somewhat "top heavy" - a complaint that some people has about the original prism also.
Balance is good though. The Kiev prism is sticking out at the back of the camera, but since the Rolleiflex is a bit more heavy at the front, the weight is nicely balanced with the prism on.
My guess is, that I will need a tripod to manage the camera now, but who knows? It might work in hand also.
The original prism is a 90° prism, and a "pistol grip" was made to be used together with the prism. This prism however is 45° so hand holding might be easier.



I think I see somewhere between 93-96% of the ground glass - depending a little bit upon the focus-distance (the illuminated area of the ground glass moves up and down while focusing).
The meter seems accurate compared to the Rolleiflex 2.8GX and a Nikon SLR.
When used on the Rolleiflex 2.8GX the LEDs in the prism covers the LED of the GX meter, so you can not see both. You can of course still use the meter in the prism.

Pro's and Con's

I bought the prism to try an alternative to the hand-held meter. With that in mind, here's my list of Pro's and Con's:

Pro's:
• Accurate and reliable metering on old Rolleiflexes
• Unreverted viewfinder image.

Con's:
• Top heavy - perhaps difficult to hand hold.
• You loose the ability to look down on the ground-glass to compose your image.


Links
Visit Baier fototechnik for details and prices.