On the right is a series of pictures of what I consider to be one of the finest cameras ever made, the Rolleidoscop. Rolleidoscops were manufactured from 1927 to 1940 by Franke and Heidke of Braunschweig, Germany, who later created the Rolleiflex TLR. Rolleidoscops are designed to use 120 roll-film, also referred to as Medium Format.
The two outer lenses produce two images on a segment of roll film. The middle lens is a finder (i.e. it lets you see what you're shooting) and is viewed from above through a mirror)
Medium format film and processing is still available, although they are becoming harder to find. Rolleidoscops are still in use by contemporary stereo photographers.
Q: Why would anyone want to use an ancient worn-out camera like this for anything other than a prop or display piece?
A: No modern digital imaging system available for less than $25,000.00 can capture the detail and resolution that the Rolleidoscop's 3-element Tessar lenses can produce on 2 1/2" film.
Beyond that there is no digital image reproduction system capable of delivering the realism and detail of a 3D medium format slide when viewed in a stereo slide viewer.
Am I saying that a camera manufactured 80 years ago produces results superior to all those high-tech digital wonder-cameras currently being imported from Japan and China?
YES!
Now that you have a 3D World TL-120, has your opinion of the Rolleidoscop changed at all? Do you still shoot with the Rolleidoscop? In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of both cameras?
ReplyDeletePity this was never answered. I've used a Rolleidoscop and I've held a TL-120. My impression is that the Rolleidoscop is way more compact than the TL-120. Even with, say, the Hassy prism, I think the Rolleidoscop would still be a lot smaller and lighter.
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