Meter on a Rolleiflex 3.5F TLR

[Charles Pezeshki]

Hi folks,

I'm an LF shooter moving down to MF. I just bought a cute little Rolleiflex
3.5F with the Zeiss Planar lens. While it's plenty cute, I thought this
sucker had a meter attached. But I'll be danged if I can find one on the
camera!

I bought it from a reputable dealer who I have bought LF lenses from in the
past. The condition was described as a '9' and the speeds seem to be right
on. One more question might be 'should a 3.5F be described as a 9 with no
meter?' There are lots of dials on the side to do things like set film ASA,
but I'll be danged if I can find that there match needle configuration.
Should I even care about a meter on a camera that's probably 40 years old?
The serial # is 229xxxx

I did go to Henry Mathes' manual page and I don't have the 'bubble level'
meter sticking out from the ASA dial. Anyone wanting to send jpegs could
also do this to my e-mail address.

Any help would be appreciated!

Chuck
Chuck Pezeshki
http://users.moscow.com/pezeshki

[Ron Kligman]

The condition of the camera was described as a "9". That has to do with its
operation, and it's cosmetic's and has nothing to do with whether the camera
has a built in meter or not. This was up to you to question before
purchasing. Many of those types of camera's came without meters. Some are
even rated "10".

Charles Pezeshki wrote:

--
"A picture is worth a 1000 words"

Ron Kligman in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

[Roland]

Charles Pezeshki wrote:
>
> Hi folks,
>
> I'm an LF shooter moving down to MF. I just bought a cute little Rolleiflex
> 3.5F with the Zeiss Planar lens. While it's plenty cute, I thought this
> sucker had a meter attached. But I'll be danged if I can find one on the
> camera!
>
> I bought it from a reputable dealer who I have bought LF lenses from in the
> past. The condition was described as a '9' and the speeds seem to be right
> on. One more question might be 'should a 3.5F be described as a 9 with no
> meter?' There are lots of dials on the side to do things like set film ASA,
> but I'll be danged if I can find that there match needle configuration.
> Should I even care about a meter on a camera that's probably 40 years old?
> The serial # is 229xxxx
>
> I did go to Henry Mathes' manual page and I don't have the 'bubble level'
> meter sticking out from the ASA dial. Anyone wanting to send jpegs could
> also do this to my e-mail address.
>
> Any help would be appreciated!
>
> Chuck
> Chuck Pezeshki
> http://users.moscow.com/pezeshki

Only some of those 3.5F's had meters. Mine has got a meter. It is
accurate too. But you have to make sure the sun is not shining into it
and if so you have to shade it. It's a selenium cell type of meter and
it is nice to have one.

If it makes you happy, you have a "type 3" model with a good lens
suitable for color work and they are worth a lot of money. About $500.

Roland

[Mark Bergman]

If it doesn't have a meter it's not an F (as in 3.5F). It's probably an E2
which is the same camera less meter. However the meter could be retrofitted
very easily to the E2 so sometimes they do. While the meter is handy it's
not the greatest meter in the world and many people just use a separate hand
held meter anyway. Look at the serial number engraved on top of the camera
in front of the waist level finder. It will have E or F next to the serial
number designated which model it is.

"Charles Pezeshki" <peze...@moscow.com> wrote in message
news:B61CDA96.6BF0%peze...@moscow.com...

[Mark Bergman]

All F models had meters, it's the only difference between the E and F
models.

"Roland" <roland.rash...@virgin.net> wrote in message >

[Bob Hickey]

According to Evans that's an F type 3 and should have a meter,
as should all the 3.5Fs.
Bob Hickey

[R. Peters]

Expecting someone to ask if a 3.5F has a meter is like expecting them
to ask if it has a back, a viewing lens, a tripod socket, a focusing
knob, etc. etc.

[Tom Rittenhouse]

If I recall correctly the F was available on special order
without a meter, sort of the opposite or the E2.

[Cassandra]

As far as I can tell, the "T" types don't.

[Siu Fai]

Accoording to the serial#, it is a F model. Still, accorrding to Ian
Parker's book "Rollei TLR User's Manual", it was possible to get it without
meter somewhere later surong it's productions. It's also possible that the
meter went dead and the previous owner has removed the meter and put a cap
on the focus knob instead. Check if the Selenium cell under the name
Rolleiflex is still there. If so, than it definately had a complete meter.

Some Dutch company still had a complete meter assembly for the F and if I
remmember correctly it was selling for 300 US$. Let me know if you want the
link, together with some pictures of some E and F models.

Siu Fai

[John Hicks]

On Wed, 25 Oct 2000 18:44:38 -0700, Charles Pezeshki
<peze...@moscow.com> wrote:

>Hi folks,
>
>I'm an LF shooter moving down to MF. I just bought a cute little Rolleiflex
>3.5F with the Zeiss Planar lens. While it's plenty cute, I thought this
>sucker had a meter attached. But I'll be danged if I can find one on the
>camera!

An old-time Rollei dealer told me that it was common at his shop to
to simply remove the meter from metered E models and replace the
center of the knob and meter grid with Rollei-supplied covering plates
for those customers who wanted a camera without the meter.
I _suspect_ that your camera's meter died somewhere along the line
and the owner just had cover plates installed rather than buying
expensive meter parts.
I believe Marflex has meter parts, but that the cell and
galvanometer come to a couple hundred dollars.
Anyway...if I was buying an F Rollei I'd certainly expect it to have
a meter unless told or seeing otherwise.

---
John Hicks

[richard evans]

Three or four years ago a lot of Rolleiflex Meter Kits came up
for auction at Christies' London. They are factory items for
retro-fitting to 2.8F and 3.5F models without meters. You could
try some of the known Rollei specialist dealers for one. They
should (AFAIK) have fitting instructions with them.

Charles Pezeshki wrote in message ...

>Hi folks,
>
>I'm an LF shooter moving down to MF. I just bought a cute little
Rolleiflex
>3.5F with the Zeiss Planar lens. While it's plenty cute, I
thought this
>sucker had a meter attached. But I'll be danged if I can find
one on the
>camera!
>

>I bought it from a reputable dealer who I have bought LF lenses
from in the
>past. The condition was described as a '9' and the speeds seem
to be right
>on. One more question might be 'should a 3.5F be described as a
9 with no
>meter?' There are lots of dials on the side to do things like
set film ASA,
>but I'll be danged if I can find that there match needle
configuration.
>Should I even care about a meter on a camera that's probably 40
years old?
>The serial # is 229xxxx

[snipped]

[Mark Bergman]

The meters where for the E and E2 models which came from the factory without
meters but where built to accept the meter quite easily. Even ten years or
so ago you could buy the meters for about $35. The British Rollei club use
to stock and sell them.

The F came with a built in meter, the factory installed meter was the only
difference between the F and E2. Note that installing the meter on the E2
didn't make it an F.

"richard evans" <ric...@katsika.clara.co.uk> wrote in message
news:SHuL5.8712$d4.9...@nnrp4.clara.net...

[Mark Bergman]

I would certainly check with Marflex as the meter used to be very
inexpensive.

"John Hicks" <j...@magicnet.net> wrote in message
news:39fe2b48...@fl.news.verio.net...

[WhoGoesThere]

I see many mentions of Marflex. Where are they located? Do they have a
site?

Thanks

On Tue, 31 Oct 2000 21:03:15 -0600, "Mark Bergman" <mb5...@navix.net>
wrote:

[John Hicks]

On Wed, 01 Nov 2000 03:56:39 -0600, WhoGoesThere <Why@> wrote:

>I see many mentions of Marflex.

Marflex Service Corp.
39 US 46
Pine Brook, NJ
07058

973-808-9626

---
John Hicks

[Mark Bergman]

Marflex is the official factory repair firm located in New Jersey.

"WhoGoesThere" <Why@> wrote in message
news:d5qvvs48s9thptauk...@4ax.com...