Rolleiflex film sensitivity setting

[ericp]

I'm reviving my uncle's old Rolleiflex 2.8E (just got it CLA'ed, it was in such a derelict state that it cost the equivalent of a decent digital P&S to fix :cry.

And as cameras should not belong in a display case, I'm going to dip my toes into MF photography ... first thing I'm going to do is to read the manual, and then to get me some 120 film to experiment on.

I'd like to ask the Rolleiflex old hands here ... the film sensitivity switch has settings for Ortho, Pan, Indoor Color and Outdoor Color. If I just used a regular 100 or 400 film like T400CN, what should the setting be ? I'm guessing Outdoor Color, but the manual's not very clear on this point and perhaps you guys have used a particular setting with better results than what I read to be the obvious.

 

[sabrewolf]

You realize that the film setting on the knob is just for information only, so that you remember what kind of film you have loaded in the camera. It has no bearing on the photography result at all as I believe your Rolleiflex does not have a built in light meter.

 

[ericp]

Hi Sabrewolf, thanks for that, the camera does have a light meter from what I can see, you can calibrate several settings to achieve the recommended results from what can see (and read off the manual), but I haven't put it to the test yet.

My guess is that the film sensitivity knob may affect the calibration, but I can't be sure ... there are other settings like film speed, etc, which do affect what settings you should set for aperture, shutter speed, etc.

What setting do you have on yours ?

 

[sabrewolf]

The film sensitivity knob has no relations in taking pictures because you have to manually set the shutter speed and aperture. Be forewarned though, the lightmeter in Rolleiflex tend to be fairly inaccurate, so you are better off using another light meter or another digicam to know what shutter speed and aperture you should use.

 

[ericp]

I mucked around with the knob, and it really doesn't seem to change anything, but I'm surprised why it's there, very unlike the engineers of old to design something in that's non-functional.

The light meter idea is sound ... I used to have a Sekonic 508 that I sold away, I wish I had that now, maybe time to buy another one, perhaps a smaller, more portable unit.

 

[ricohflex]

I mucked around with the knob, and it really doesn't seem to change anything, but I'm surprised why it's there, very unlike the engineers of old to design something in that's non-functional.

The knob is the control on the left hand side of the camera (when you are pointing the camera lens at something).
To meter cell is on the front of the camera at the top.
Check if your camera has a white piece of plastic covering the meter cell.
That white plastic is for incident reading of the meter. (more of that later)
For now just remove it.
Point the meter to the sky and see if the meter needle moves.
If old model, it is a selenium cell.
That means no need to put in batteries.
Also means the cell may not work anymore after 20 or 30 years.

 

[ericp]

Yes, I did do that ... check one setting on the meter, then change the film setting on the knob, then point the camera at the same source again to see if the meter changes ... doesn't seem to.

Maybe it's just a "reminder" kind of gizmo, on what type of film you use, rather than something that directly affects the metered readings.

 

[pipo999]

It is, on the older camera no function to remind yourself what film you are using. You see it on many brands.