the initial SL66 entered the marketplace in the autumn of 1966 within the Photokina in Cologne. This digital camera was an instant hit and has become the one Rollei product ever to stay in generation for more than 25 several years: evidence of the ingenuous and timeless design and style of this digicam.

The lens mount has precisely the same check here Bay VI bayonet as being the filter mount. by doing this the lens is usually retro mounted for shut-up and macro photography with out equipment.

various later cameras based on the SL66 had been built, such as the SL66E, SL66X, and SL66SE. essentially the most outstanding adjustments in these more recent styles included improved use of electronics in metering and flash synchronization. The SL66SE remained in generation right until 1992.

There are no options to get started on the creation of the SL66SE yet again. A significant precision mechanical digital camera like It might be so costly to manufacture currently, that there will be no market for it.

The SL66's most original function: lens tilting up and down eight degrees. This causes it to be feasible to enlarge depth of field drastically without the need of using a lesser diaphragm.

The digital camera was large and weighty, but Superb for near target use. The close-focus potential was Improved by the possibility of reverse mounting the lenses, and tilt, beneficial to adjust the main focus plane in shut-up images using the Scheimpflug basic principle.

I’ve invested a good part of the calendar year shooting the Rolleiflex SL66, and though it’s not the easiest digital camera to work with it is in truth amongst my favorites. The first medium structure SLR camera that Rollei created, the SL66 is frequently as compared to Hasselblad’s 500 series cameras.

pretty exciting! I have a Rolleiflex 6002 with a single lens that I've nevertheless for getting to learn, in addition a heap of Mamiya RB67 RZ67 equipment which is a bit more similar to the SL66. the lean change ability sounds wonderful! a lot of options…..

I had the enjoyment of utilizing certainly one of these excellent cameras, but was postpone by The dearth of interchangeable movie backs. Ended up going While using the Hasselblad and couldn’t happen to be happier. The Blad is much lighter and easier to use…but the SL-66 has that amazing tilt-lens capacity!

I haven’t nevertheless pointed out the lens airplane. in case you visualize it in this instance, It will be A different vertical airplane, parallel into the movie airplane, but it would intersect the ground airplane in a different spot in comparison to the movie/ground intersection. that's exactly where the tilt operate comes in.

Camera overall body, front bayonet deal with, film back again, waistline amount finder and a number of other knobs are Titanium coated, showing up like the middle Portion of the Rollei 35 Royal Urushi & comparable to the very best and bottom handles of Rollei 35 typical Titanium cameras.

Mechanically it’s a joy to feel above a Hassy albeit I admit it’s all up to non-public desire. Its emotion is exact but clunky; to put it in cycling phrases, a Hassy feels like Shimano and the Rollei feels like Campagnolo.

I do think Richard was extra probable referring to the lack of availability of interchangeable backs with the SL66. They are not just popular.

This gentlemen’s arrangement meant that Hasselblad wouldn't develop a TLR digicam and Rollei would not develop an SLR. This is a fascinating second in photographic heritage, for any couple explanations. 1st, I’ve in no way found any proof that Hasselblad was interested in making a TLR, so it seems that Hasselblad stood to get rid of almost nothing by putting this deal. Conversely, Rollei experienced spent fairly a lot of money in the event in their nascent SLR, which in accordance Along with the new settlement they’d be pressured to abandon (or more accurately, “mothball,” as we’ll see). Rollei’s cameras in 1957 were providing incredibly perfectly, it’s genuine, so during the short term at the very least Rollei might not have perceived this agreement as one which would hobble their company. But most observers might have predicted even in 1957 (two years just before Nikon introduced their very first SLR) that SLRs had been destined to be the camera of the long run. It’s also intriguing that mere months later on Hasselblad would release their most thriving digicam ever – An additional medium format SLR.