Today I managed to 'Fang' a still nice looking Rolleiflex MX-EVS for a mere
HFL.100. This is only USD.40. For those unfamiliar with the 'flexes and 'cords:
this camera is worth at least seven times at much...
I saw it advertised on a Dutch electronic billboard, some sort of
<DreadedFourLetterWord> eBay </DreadedFourLetterWord> variant with bidding
options but without any closing time limit or need to s*ubscribe.
It had been advertised for one month as "Bid request on original Rolleiflex, ca
1950, 1:3,5 Tessar lens, no automatic exposure meter, leather case and hood. Has
always been used by myself as journalist. Good condition". There was no asking
price specified.
Highest bid was HFL.375, so I put up a bid of HFL.400 and sent an email to the
seller if this amount was approaching what he was expecting. Much to my surprise
he answered promptly (I did have some bad experience with email requests on this
board), telling me he was hoping to get HFL.500, and that I could have a look at
the camera. After further requests he told me the camera hadn't been used in the
last 15 years, and that the eveready case was broken...
I made an appointment, and meanwhile did an Internet research on the various
Rolleiflex & Rolleicord models, of their features, prices, etc. A 1950 model
would indicate an 'Automat Model X'; I visited several shops for price
indications and even had an opportunity to look into the McKeown's: USD.175-200
or HFL.400~500 seemed like a fair price; when he would sell it to a shop he
would not receive more than HFL.300 so I was going to try to get it for HFL.400,
HFL.450 at the most.
When I arrived at the address (*surprise #1*) it became clear to me that this
man would not depend on my money. He lives in a HFL. One Million+ residence one
would not expect from a former journalist...
When the camera was shown to me (*surprise #2*) I realized that this was not the
'Automat X' I was expecting. It had coupled aperture/shutter speed knobs with an
EV value scale on the shutter speed knob. The aperture knob needed to be
depressed to uncouple the aperture/shutter speed values. No provision to keep
these knobs permanently uncoupled. When I was at home I could identify the
camera as the more valuable MX-EVS model I from about 1955. It is only one year
older than I am...
The camera indeed looked quite decent; it was obvious that it had been mostly
carried in its eveready case, at least while it was used. It also looked like
since then it had been sitting on a shelf w/o its broken case, judging from the
layers of dust on the lenses. First I was afraid that I was looking at fungus,
but after carefully wiping on them it became clear that it was only dust.
When I wanted to test the shutter I was very confused. It just would not cock.
The film advance / shutter cock handle could be freely rotated in both
directions. This is not what I had expected; I had been playing with a
Rolleiflex T in a shop. I asked the owner if it needed film for the shutter to
be cocked. He thought that could be so, unfortunately he didn't have any more
film. Fortunately I had been clever enough to buy one roll and bring it along.
With film loaded, the shutter cocked alright, and film advance worked as
expected, but to my disappointment I could only see and hear one short shutter
speed, regardless of the setting of the shutter speed dial, even on 'B'. When
the film arrived at exposure 12 (the last on 120 roll film), the owner was also
convinced that there was something really wrong.
I told him I was afraid that repair & cleaning costs could easily become
something like HFL.200~300, so that the camera at his asking price was BER as
far as I was concerned. And here came the very pleasant (*surprise #3*): he told
me had been unaware of the camera problems and offered it suddenly for only
HFL.100. I could hardly believe it.
Of course I accepted. I was even offered a 6x6 enlarger for free, and a Polaroid
Land something camera, but I could not carry the enlarger and don't want to
start a darkroom anyway (at least not yet); Polaroid films are way too expensive
so it would only become a paperweight.
The best thing of all was when I came home. After cleaning the lenses it became
obvious that indeed it only had been dust; no fungus, no scratches, the lens is
in excellent condition. And then (*surprise #4*)!!! After fiddling a bit with
the double exposure knob and the EVS-coupling, all in a sudden by magic the
shutter came back to live! It gave audible differences for the various settings,
'B' worked, and only the 1/2 and 1 second settings are clearly too long (by a
factor of 1.5~2). The 1/4 s. setting is very similar from what I hear and see on
my OM-1. I also tested the X flash sync - the flash is fired. And the camera no
longer needs film for the shutter to be cocked.
To give it a final test I will run a roll of slide film through it, exposed at
various shutter speeds, and do a side-by-side test with an OM camera, making
identical exposures on 35mm film. This will give me an indication how urgent it
is for the shutter to be cleaned. After all the 1 s. and 1/2 s. settings aren't
exactly necessary. From what I've read this cleaning of the Synchro-Compur
shutter seems to be a simple job and can't be that expensive. Maybe even a
candidate for a home repair but I think I better not.
ObOM content [1]: the OM-3,4 makes a damn fine sophisticated multi-spot exposure
meter for the Rolleiflex!!!
ObOM content [2]: this is my second big catch this week. Earlier I grabbed a
(wooden!) boxed, 'like new' Trans-Illuminator Base X-DE for only HFL.250. I
don't know how much its normal price is (actually I've never seen one, not even
listed) but this price just sounded very good for a piece of Oly' Heavy Grey
Metal...
hnz
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