Episode 64 of the Camerosity Podcast turns its full attention to Rollei, the brand so influential that Franke & Heidecke's most famous product eventually became synonymous with the company name itself. The episode traces the origins of the marque back to founders Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke, two former Voigtländer employees who set out to build a better vest pocket-style camera, leading to early products like the Heidoscop/Rolleidoscop before the first Rolleiflex launched in 1929. Hosts Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike are joined by a large group of returning and first-time callers to work through the brand's sprawling history, from early Rolleiflex and Rolleicord TLRs shot on 117 and later 620 film, through the company's move into medium format and 35mm SLRs, compact cameras like the Rollei 35, and the Cosina-made Rollei 35 RF (based on the Bessa R2).
Much of the discussion is hands-on and comparative in nature: the panel debates the practical differences between Rolleiflex and Rolleicord models, complains about notoriously dim viewfinders on some units, and questions whether triplet lenses are really inferior to Tessars, concluding triplets can sometimes be surprisingly sharp. They discuss the so-called "golden era" of Rollei in the 1950s, interchangeable-lens TLRs like the Rolleiflex T and Rolleimagic with their bay filter mounts, and oddities like the Japanese Rollei copy known as the Rollekonter and the Meopta Flexaret. Mike shares his own experience attempting to repair a Rolleiflex Old Standard, reinforcing the group's broader point that these are precision instruments requiring regular servicing. The conversation also covers corporate history, including Honeywell's distribution of Rolleiflexes in the US, Heinrich Peesel's role, later SLR models like the SL66 and SL26, the Instamatic-style A110/E110, and the tangled corporate lineage connecting Voigtländer, Zeiss-Ikon, and Rollei. Debate also touches on quality differences between German- and Singapore-made Rolleis.
Beyond specs and history, the group reflects on the cultural side of the format, noting that TLRs' waist-level finders make photographers less conspicuous and well-suited to street photography, cropping 6x6 square images, and the experience of being confronted while shooting strangers—leading to a discussion of Vivian Maier, whose work Mike admires while suspecting she may have been "a little creepy." Overall, the episode serves as a broad, conversational deep dive into Rollei's legacy rather than a single hands-on product review, with the consensus being that Rollei cameras remain beloved, mechanically demanding classics with a rich and occasionally confusing corporate history.
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For this, the 64th episode of the Camerosity Podcast, the gang finally devotes our full attention to one of the most popular brands of cameras ever made. A camera brand that was so popular, they named the entire company after it, the Rolleiflex!
Originally founded by two ex Voigtländer employees who had an idea on how to build a better soldier’s camera, a new company called Franke & Heidecke was created, and from there, a whole legacy of twin lens, and eventual single lens reflexes was born.
Joining Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike are returning callers Bill Smith, John Roberts, Marc Gordon, Patrick Casey, Rafael Espinosa, Tim Peters, and first time callers Dean Robinson and Steve “Johnny Appleseed” Lederman.
In this episode, we will cover the early history of the company, how Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke first got started, the early and later Rolleiflex and Rolleicord TLRs. We also cover their transition into both medium format and 35mm SLRs, the compact Rollei 35, the Cosina made Rollei 35 RF, and a few other Rollei models.
We ask the tough questions like what is the difference between a Rolleiflex and Rolleicord, are the triplet lenses really that much worse than the Tessars, are German Rolleis better than Singapore Rolleis, and what are everyone’s favorite models. In addition to Rollei GAS, we briefly discuss a strange Japanese Rollei copy, why people tend to blend in better using cameras with waist level vs eye level viewfinders, the confusing transition from Voigtländer, Zeiss-Ikon to Rollei, and whether or not Vivian Maier was creepy.
As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining!
The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.
For our next episode, we are finally going across the pond for another European time zone friendly episode. If you are a fan of the show but are asleep or otherwise unable to join us for our regular recordings, this is the episode for you! We will record Episode 65 on Monday, February 12th at Noon Central Standard Time (-6 UTC), 1pm Eastern Standard Time (-5 UTC), 6pm Greenwich Mean Time (+0 UTC), 7pm Central European Time (+1 UTC), and 5am Tuesday morning Australian Eastern Daylight Time (+11 UTC). We look forward to hearing from you!
In This Episode
- Rollei Almost Didn’t Exist / Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke Originally Worked for Voigtländer
- The Original Idea for the Rolleiflex Was to Be an Improved Vest Pocket Camera
- Franke & Heidecke Heidscop / Rolleidoscop
- The Rolleiflex First Went on Sale in 1929 / It Is Difficult to Tell Every Rollei Apart
- Early Rolleiflexes Were Designed for 117 Film / Some Were Modified to Use 620 Film
- Differences Between Rolleiflex and Rolleicords / Dim Viewfinders
Was the 1950s the “Golden Era of Rollei”? / Triplet Lenses Can Sometimes Be Very Sharp- Mike’s First Attempt at Repairing a Rolleiflex Old Standard
- Rolleiflex T and Rolleimagic / TLRs with Interchangeable Lenses / Bay Filter Mounts
- Japanese Rollei Copy, the Rollekonter / Meopta Flexaret TLRs
- Rolleiflexes Are Precision Machines That Require Regular Service and Cleaning
- Honeywell Distributed Rolleiflexes in the US For a While
- Heinrich Peesel / Rollei 35 / Rolleiflex SLRs / Ifbaflex SLR
- Rolleiflex SL66 Medium Format SLR / Rolleiflex SL26 Instamatic / Rollei A110 and E110
- The Confusing Transition from Voigtländer to Zeiss-Ikon to Rollei
- German Made Rolleis vs Singapore Made Rolleis / Triplets vs Better Lenses
- Cropping 6×6 Images / TLRs Are Great for Street Photography
- Vivian Maier / Being Confronted While Out Photographing People
- Mike Loves Vivian Maier’s Work But Thinks She Was Probably a Little Creepy
- Cosina Made Rollei 35 RF is Based off the Bessa R2
Links
The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm.
If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server.
The Official Camerosity Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast
Camerosity Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/
Theo Panagopoulos – https://www.photothinking.com/
Paul Rybolt – https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris and https://www.etsy.com/shop/Camerasandpictures
Anthony Rue – https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/
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Regarding “creepy” Vivian Meier: even if you’ve seen the movie “Finding Vivian Meier” the biography “Vivian Meier Developed” by Ann Mark’s is worth a read. The movie is primarily the story of the photos, the book is the story of Vivian Meier, the person. As for creepy, yeah, a bit… Hoarding and Vaseline.