#Rolleiflex 2.8 d trial#
This was also a trial and error mission, but eventually everything was done. I also had to adjust the viewing lens to match focus with the taking lens. There were a few shims in there for me to start working with, and eventually, after many re-assemblies and test images, I got the lens board aligned to the point where the focus plane was about as perfectly symmetrical as I could possibly get it. I went ahead and removed the face plate and soon found that the exercise wasn’t nearly as complicated as I initially thought. I just thought, if I wasn’t going to use her, I may as well try and fix it. So after that incredibly defeating experience, I decided to simply have a go at my Rolleiflex. That idea fell flat, hard, since after purchasing and exchanging four MM cameras, I realised that modern Leica is not what everyone thinks it is. I got to a point of frustration, where I didn’t own a single camera I was completely happy with, so I decided I wanted to sell everything and get one camera, the Leica M Monochrom. I knew what the issue was, but I wasn’t really up to the job of fixing it, so she was put in the cupboard and forgotten for several months. This wasn’t as obvious when the lens assembly was incorrect. With this, it became quite obvious the lens board was skew, resulting in a skew plane of focus. This seemed to have cured much of the filed curvature. I carefully put everything together making absolutely sure the lenses were as centred as I could possibly get them. For the lens design, this seemed abnormal, so I carefully disassembled the front group, cleaned, checked if the cementing was still in tact and check if the elements were in the correct order. It had a front focus issue that would even shame Nikon by their current standards.Īs the years moved on, there were always little things that bugged me, and the camera was showing a considerable amount of field curvature towards the edges.
The focus screen wasn’t the original, and the dingbat who installed it (previous owner) clearly cocked it up good.
The shutter was lazy, and at times would simply stay open. My Rolleiflex 2.8D has had a troubled past, and I’ve had to spend a good amount of time and money getting her repaired (somewhat).Īt the time of purchase, the shutter wasn’t working properly.