The

Rolleiflex Rolleiflex is a long-running and diverse line of high-end cameras originally made by the German company Franke & Heidecke, and later Rollei-Werke. History The "Rolleiflex" name is most commonly used to refer to Rollei's premier line of med ...

SL2000F is a line of modular

135 film file:135film.jpg, 135 film. The film is wide. Each image is 24×36 mm in the most common "small film" format (sometimes called "double-frame" for its relationship to the "single-frame" 35 mm movie format or full frame after the introduc ...

single lens reflex camera In photography, a single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a type of camera that uses a mirror and prism system to allow photographers to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. SLRs became the dominant design for professional a ...

s (SLR) made by

Rollei Rollei () is a German manufacturer of optical instruments founded in 1920 by and in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, and maker of the Rolleiflex and Rolleicord series of cameras. Later products included specialty and nostalgic type films for the ...

which share the QBM lens mount with the earlier

Rolleiflex SL35 The Rolleiflex SL35 is a range of single-lens reflex, SLR cameras manufactured and sold by the German camera maker Rollei from 1970 to 1982. This range of cameras uses 35mm format, 35mm film. The camera bodies were initially made in Germany. Afte ...

line, adding interchangeable film backs, similar in concept to contemporary

medium format Medium format has traditionally referred to a film format in photography and the related cameras and equipment that use film. Nowadays, the term applies to film and digital cameras that record images on media larger than the used in 35&n ...

SLR systems including the Rolleiflex SL66 / SLX,

Hasselblad Victor Hasselblad AB is a Sweden, Swedish manufacturer of medium format (film), medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-for ...

V-System, and

Mamiya RB67 The Mamiya RB67 is a professional medium format single-lens reflex system camera manufactured by Mamiya. There are three successive models: the RB67 Professional (released in 1970), RB67 Pro-S (released in 1974) and RB67 Pro-SD (released in 1990) ...

. The SL2000F was first announced at

photokina Photokina is a trade fair held in Europe for the photographic and imaging industries. It is the world's largest such trade fair. The first Photokina was held in Cologne, Germany, in 1950, and since 1966 it has been held biennially in Septemb ...

in 1976, and released in 1981 after a prolonged development period. It was succeeded by the SL3003 (1984), which extended the fastest shutter speed from to sec., and SL3001 (1985), a simplified SL3003 which removed the waist-level finder and reverted to sec.

History

The prototype SL2000 was first exhibited at photokina '76, featuring both aperture- and shutter-priority autoexposure modes along with a top speed of sec. However, when it was released in February 1981 for Germany and selected other European countries, the shutter-priority mode had been dropped and the top speed reduced to sec. Rollei's bankruptcy later that year halted production temporarily. The SL3003 was shown at photokina '84, increasing the fastest shutter speed and adding a grip to the right side of the camera; it required the NiCd battery pack.

Design

The SL2000F body includes both eye- and waist-level finders. The SL2000F offers motorized film advance at up to an observed three frames per second, powered by a battery pack that attaches to the rear of the film magazine; either five AA batteries can be used, or a separate pack is available. Film must be rewound back into the cartridge manually. Manually selectable shutter speeds range from 16 to sec., with a "B"ulb mode. The vertically-traveling focal plane shutter has a maximum flash synchronization speed of sec. In aperture-priority automatic exposure mode, the camera can select a top speed of sec. under certain conditions. An accessory Sportsfinder Prism was released in 1983.

Lenses

The Rolleiflex SL2000F takes the same lenses as the Rollei SL35, which use the QBM (quick bayonet mount) interface. Some lenses were designed by

Carl Zeiss AG Zeiss ( ; ) is a German manufacturer of optical systems and optoelectronics, founded in Jena, Germany, in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe (joined 1866) and Otto Schott (joined 1884) he laid the foundation for today's ...

and manufactured by Rollei under license, while others were designed and manufactured by Zeiss. In addition, Rollei manufactured a lower-cost line of ''Rolleinar MC'' lenses for QBM.

Backs

The standard magazine back requires the photographer to set the film speed and roll length using two dials; film is carried in an interchangeable cassette insert which can be removed through the bottom of the magazine independently of the magazine itself. In 1983, Rollei introduced a 250-exposure magazine back. Also that year, a Polaroid film back was released. A 750-exposure magazine back was introduced in 1988.

References

External links

* * * {{Rollei SL2000