Rolleiflex SL66 Camera Manual For reference use on many Chinon manual focus and metering cameras This camera manual library is for reference and historical purposes, all rights reserved. This page is copyright by mike@butkus.org, M. Butkus, N.J. This page may not be sold or distributed without the expressed permission of the producer I have no connection with Chinon Co., Japan If you find this manual useful, how about a donation of $3 to: M. Butkus, 29 Lake Ave., High Bridge, NJ 08829-1701 and send your E-mail address too so I can thank you. Most other places would charge you $7.50 for a electronic copy or $18.00 for a hard to read xerox copy. This will allow me to continue to buy new manuals and maintain these pages. It'll make you feel better, won't it? If you use Pay Pal, use the link below. Use the above address for a check, M.O. or cash. To main Chinon/Ricoh manual site www.orphancameras.com , Rolleiflex SL 66 www.orphancameras.com A camera for experts, designed for you: we congratulate you on your choice4 www.butkus.org We take it for granted that as an owner of the SL 66 you know all about the basic technicalities of photography. So we have kept the instructions concise. Taking, the extended scope of the camera and interchangeable components are covered in three chapters. The tabular sections sum up all important data to show you at a glance the facts about the range of focal lengths and camera extensions. We are sure of your photographic success with the Rolleiflex SL 66. If you have any further photographic or technical queries, your Rollei Dealer - you can recognize him by the blue/grey Rollei service placard - or our own technical service is fully at your disposal. Page 1 5. Your First Rule 12. Extended Depth Shooting Practice 12. Pre-releasing the Mirror 6. Loading the Magazine 13. Multiple Exposures 7. Checking for Readiness to Shoot 13. Flash Shots 8. Shooting 14. Exposures with Filters 9. Film Transport and Shutter Tensioning 14. Exposures with the Lens Hood 9. Unloading the Magazine4 Further Scope 14. Accessory Shoe 10. Distance Scale 15. Neck Strap 11. Scale of Reproduction 15. Film Type indicator 11. Depth of Field www.butkus.org 14. Tripod Quick Coupling Interchangeable Components 16. Lens Changing 16. Changing the Focusing Hood 17. Changing the Magnifier 17. Changing the Focusing Screen 18. Changing the Magazine 19. Loading the Spare Magazine Tables and Data Summaries 20. Interchangeable Lenses 21. Scales of Reproduction, Lens Extensions, Exposure Factors 22. Subject Distances, Subject Fields and Scales of Reproduction 22. Normal or Reversed Lens Mounting? 23. Focusing Correction for Infra-red 24. Focusing Ranges Summed up4 26. The Depth Tilt Indicator 30 .Care of the Camera 30. The Rolleiflex SL 66 and Accessories 31. Handling Faults and Remedies www.butkus.org Your First Rule Before you load or unload a film, before you remove or fit the magazine, before you press the release--always cheek that the crank is unfolded and blocked. www.orphancameras.com For this purpose swing the crank fully forward as far as it will go (1) and back again to its stop (2). This tensions the shutter. It also sets up the automatic safety interlocks to prevent film waste during film changing or magazine changing. Accidental double exposures, blank frames and overlapping pictures are impossible.4 www.butkus.org Once the crank locks, you know immediately c that the camera is ready for correct operation. Shooting Practice You will find everything on the next four pages: from loading the fresh film to unloading the exposed film. You can also practice the individual steps a a camera without film. For this the came' must be in its standard shooting state - with the magazine attached and the slide pulled out (push it into the storage compartment I the back). Loading the Magazine The procedure for loading the magazine is the same whether it is on the camera or off the camera. When only one magazine is in use, there is no need to remove it from the camera. In this case the magazine slide remains permanently in the storage compartment in the rear of the magazine. Basic rule: Unfold the crank (1) and turn it forward and backward until it locks.4 www.butkus.org To open the magazine: Unlock the back (2) and swing open (3). This also makes the magazine knob (4) jump out; the exposure counter (5) now indicates No. 1. Grip the film insert by the central bar (6) and swing it out of the magazine. Setting the film counter to 12 or 24 exposures: Switch over the setting lever (7). The film counter (5) shows by its number - 12 or 24 - whether the magazine is set for No. 120 or 220 roll film. You can switch over even when the magazine is closed, as long as the film counter still shows No. 1. Loading a roll film: Swing open the spool holder (8). Remove the seal of the roll film (9) and fit the spool between the fixed and the hinged shaft pins so that the black inside surface of the backing paper (10) faces outwards. Run the backing paper round the film insert and thread it into the slot (11) of the empty spool. With one or two turns of the gear wheel (12) tighten the paper leader firmly well. This will keep the distances between the exposures sufficiently small to avoid a possible loss of the 12th or 24th exposure (film transport control may be interfered by film windings being too loose). Checking for Readiness to Shoot www.orphancameras.com Grip the film insert by its centre bar and slide it into the magazine with the take-up spool first, so that the gear wheels on the insert and inside the magazine engage (13). Check the film advance by a short turn of the magazine knob (14). Then swing the magazine back closed (15) and check that it locks. Advancing the film to exposure No. 1: Turn the magazine knob until it locks and then push in (16). The backing paper is now spooled up and the film feeler mechanism has locked any further film transport: the film is ready for the first exposure. For subsequent exposures the crank advances the film.4 www.butkus.org Releasing the magazine knob. On depressing the release (17) with a pointed object the magazine knob springs out. Thus the film can be wound off and unloaded after any shot-- even with the magazine removed from the camera. The loading indicator (18) in the underside of the magazine shows a dot and a dash in line like an exclamation mark: "The magazine is loaded!'. When the magazine is empty, the dash is at right angles to the dot. The Rolleiflex SL 66 is now ready to shoot.4 www.butkus.org If in doubt, it is possible to check with the crank lock even after loading the film whether the camera is correctly set: push the lever (19) in the direction of the crank handle and at the same time try to turn the crank. If the crank is not locked, swing it down, let 9 of the lever (19) and complete the crank movement forward and back again. The camera is now ready to shoot. If you notice that you forgot to wind the crank only when pressure on the release has no effect, the same procedure still avoids wasting a film frame. You can lose the first picture - and in fact wind the film through completely - only if the cranking movement was not complete an the crank is not pointing forward. While this in no way harms the camera, you can avoid it by making a habit of checking the locking of the crank before loading the camera. Shooting Turn the lens cap to the left and remove. Open the focusing hood (1). To close, push in the side panels. To raise the magnifier press the key (2). To fold it back again, press down the magnifier frame between magnifier and the front of the focusing hood (3) until it engages. 1. The Shutter Speed Turn the knob (4) to engage the appropriate shutter speed. The figures 1000 to 1 are fractions of a second, B is the setting for time exposures of any duration. Intermediate speeds cannot be set. Shutter speeds for flash: see page 13.4 www.butkus.org Exposure value correction: see pages21 and 25. 2. The Aperture Turn the aperture ring (5). It engages at full and half stop settings. The 40 mm, 50 mm, 80 mm, 120 mm, 150mm and 250 mm lenses have a fully automatic spring loaded iris diaphragm. The lens remains fully open until the moment of exposure. The aperture closes down to the pre-selected value only on pressing the release. For other lenses: see page 20 3. Focusing Turn the focusing knob (6) until the picture appears sharpest on the screen (7). With lenses of very long focal length and when using extreme depth tilt the mirror may cut off a strip near the top of the screen image. The film in every case still records the full picture area. Distance scale: see page 10. Depth of field: see page 11. Depth tilt: see page 12. 4. Releasing Unlock the release button (by turning) and press (8). When the red dot is visible from above, the release is locked. When the red dot is not visible from above, the release is free. Time exposures at the B setting: Press down the release button for the duration of the required exposure time or keep it in the depressed position by the locking collar. The shutter only closes on unlocking or letting go of the release. The release button incorporates a cable release thread. www.orphancameras.com Film Transport and Shutter Tensioning After every exposure unfold the crank and turn it fully forward and back again until it locks (9). The forward swing tensions the shutter while the return swing to its final position advances the film. The camera is then ready for the next exposure. During shooting the crank may remain unfolded for immediate operation. Unloading the Magazine After the last exposure the magazine knot springs out when you turn the crank - an audible and visible sign that the film is finished.First complete any started crank movement (10) swing fully forward and back. Then keep turning the magazine knob (11) until the remainder of the backing paper is spooler up and the knob turns freely without resistance.4 org www.butkus. Open the magazine (12) remove the insert Swing away the spool pin and take out the exposed roll. Transfer the now empty feed spool to the take-up end from which the exposed spool was removed. This now becomes the take-up spool for the next film. Film transport principles summed up: To advance the film from exposure to exposure always use the crank-- but wind up backing paper leaders and trailers always with the magazine knob. Further Scope Distance Scale At every subject distance the Rolleiclear focusing screen with central micro prism provides a direct and precise check on the image sharpness. The distance scale on the focusing knob is normally used only for depth of field estimation, for zone focus settings and when using flash. The figures on the distance scale apply only to the first complete turn of the focusing knob (with the lens mounted the right way round). The distances are measured from the film plane to the subject. To adapt the scale to the interchangeable 50, 80, 150 and 250 mm lenses the focusing knob contains stored in it four distance scales. The focal length corresponding to the scale in use is shown on the face of the knob. For changing the scale see page 16.4 www.butkus.org The bellows extension of 2 inches (50 mm) can be further increased by extension tubes of 40 and 80 mm used either singly or in combination. This yields still nearer focusing distances with all lenses. With the lens mounted in "retro" position subject distance can be further reduced for (reversed, front element facing the film) the I still larger scales of reproduction. Focusing ranges: see page 25. Scale of Reproduction www.orphancameras.com In close-up work the scale of reproduction is more important than the subject distance. With the aid of the scales (for three focal lengths) on the bellows rail you can set the camera directly to the required scale of reproduction. In this case the best way of getting the subject sharp is to bring the camera nearer to or farther away from it. Explanation of the scale (1): The four scales apply to the focal lengths of 80, 150 and 120 mm (normal mounting) and 80 mm fitted back-to-front ("retro" mounting). The triangular marks indicate the orientation of the aperture setting index on the lens when the latter is mounted normally (2) and back-to-front (3).4 www.butkus.org The magnification factor to the left of the horizontal setting mark indicates the scale of reproduction on the film (image size/subject size), e. 9. 0.4 = 0.4 :1. The required exposure correction is indicated above the bar (for instance = reduce the exposure value by 1 step). The figures are set and read off along the common scale limit (the degree scale). The centre line indicates the length of the bellows extension in millimeters. For the scales of reproduction with different bellows extensions for all focal lengths, including the use of extension tubes, see page 21. The contra line also acts as the index for the degree scale when tilti ...