Rollei Close-up Lenses +2 and +4

The easiest way to get into close-up photography is through the use of close-up supplementary lenses. A multitude of manufacturers produce close-up lenses in strengths from +1 to +10 in a broad range of filter sizes.

Rollei elected to offer two close-up lenses in 49mm size in strengths of +2 (205 700) and +4 (205 710), that could be used individually or in combination. They were mainly designed for use with the normal 50mm f1.4 or 50mm f1.8 Planar lenses, although they can be used with any of the lenses having a 49mm filter thread size.

Using them, close-ups in the range of 19" down to 4" with a 50mm lens are possible. Remember that when using close-up lenses, the strongest (if using more than one) should be closest to the lens and the aperture stopped down to between f/8 and f/16 for maximum sharpness.

Rollei Extension Ring Set

The next easiest way to get into close-up photography is through the use of close-up extension rings (205 500). The Rollei set (also produced with the Voigtländer badge) consists of four rings in 7.8mm, 15mm, 30mm and 50mm that can be used singly or in combination. Metering must be done using the lenses at the stepped down aperture.

Rollei 30mm Auto Extension Tube for the Carl Zeiss 60mm F2.8 Makro-Planar Lens

Along with the Carl Zeiss 60mm f2.8 Makro-Planar lens, Rollei supplied a 30mm auto extension tube. I am not certain if Rollei supplied this accessory separately.

Rollei Automatic Extension Bellows

Manufactured for Rollei by Novoflex, the Automatic Extension Bellows (979 630) is the most versatile of the close-up devices discussed thus far. Lens extensions from 50mm to 120mm are possible. Exposure measurement must again, be made with the lens stopped down to the working aperture.

A slide copying device (205 530) and a macro stand (205 520) were offered as accessories.

I particularly like using this bellows with a short mount 105mm Novoflex Macro lens enabling focusing from infinity to down to greater than 1:1.

Rollei Retro-Adapters E49 & E55

For maximum critical sharpness using extension rings or bellows, it is advisable to reverse mount the lens. The Rollei Retro-Adapters were designed in two pieces to facilitate this. One ring is used to reverse mount the lens while the other ring is used to bayonet onto the lens flange to hold the automatic diaphragm pin in so as to step down the lens to the desired aperture.

Two versions exist, one for lenses with 49mm filter threads (205 545) and the other less common one, for 55mm threads (205 590).

Rollei Microscope Lens Mount for 16-63mm Carl Zeiss Luminar Lenses

For maximum sharpness at reproduction ratios of 1:1 and greater, Carl Zeiss designed the Luminar lenses. Offered in 4 focal lengths (actually 5) but for use with this adapter, only the 16, 25, 40 and 63mm Luminars will fit. (A 100mm Luminar also exists). Having a thread size (known as RMS Microscope Thread) of WO 8"x1/36", these Luminars are costly investments.

To use this mount (205 570), the Luminar objective is screwed in and then the rear of the mount is screwed into the Rollei Intermediate Adapter M42-1 (See Lens Accessories section) and then the assembly is mounted onto the Extension Bellows (or Extension Rings). Exposure measurement must be done at the working stopped down aperture

I have the 25, 40 & 63mm Luminars and can say from experience that they are the way to go for critical ultra-closeup work.

Rollei Microscope Adapter

In order to facilitate photography through a microscope, Rollei manufactured a Microscope Adapter (205 580). The adapter is mounted to the camera in place of a lens and then the adapter with the camera mounted to it is secured to the microscope tube.

Rollei Attachable Accessory Shoe for SL35 Cameras

Designed solely for the Rollei SL35, the Attachable Accessory Shoe (205 620) provides a shoe mount on the camera onto which a small flash or other shoe mount accessory can be fit. Later cameras had built in "hot" shoes.

Rollei Viewfinder Eyecups

Designed to fit over the camera eyepiece, the Rollei Eyecups (205 610 - SL35) (205 611- SL35M/ME/E) prevent extraneous light from entering the viewfinder when composing a photograph.

Rollei Right Angle Finder

One of the rarer Rollei accessories, the right angle finder (206 630) mounts to the camera eyepiece. Its a great accessory when photographing at or near ground level or when the camera is mounted on a macro stand or copy stand.

Rollei Lens Hoods

Rollei provided three different lens shades for their 35mm lenses. A special hood was manufactured solely for the Carl Zeiss 25mm Distagon (205 310). A rubber collapsible hood was manufactured for the 35 and 50mm lenses (205 320) and a hard rubber rigid hood for the 85-135mm lenses with 49mm filter threads (205 330).

The 135/2.8 Sonnar, 135/3.5 SL-Tele-Xenar and 200/4.0 Tele-Tessar have built-in collapsible lens hoods.

Rollei E49 Color and Black & White Filters

A multitude of manufacturers sell filters of every type and filter size imaginable (IMHO, the best are from Schneider, Heliopan & B+W). In the 49mm size, Rollei furnished the following filters - medium yellow (205 360), green (205 370), orange (205 380), light red (205 390), infrared (205 400), UV (205 410), R1.5 skylight (205 420) and two Softars, 1 & 2 (205 430 & 205 440).

Rollei E67 Color and Black & White Filters

In the 67mm size, Rollei furnished the following filters - medium yellow (205 040), green (205 060), orange (205 070), light red (205 080), infrared (205 100), UV (205 110) and R1.5 skylight (205 150).

Rollei also sold filters in E55 and E52 sizes.

Rollei Rolleipol (Polarizing) Filters

Rollei also supplied two different Rolleipol (polarizing) filters, one specifically manufactured for the Carl Zeiss 25mm f2.8 Distagon with a lens shade attached (205 340) and another for all of the other lenses from 35 to 135mm with E49 filter threads (205 350).

Rollei Intermediate Lens Adapters M39x1 and M42x1

The Rollei Intermediate Lens Adapters were designed to facilitate the mounting of screw mount lenses onto the Rolleiflex SL35 series of cameras.

Adapter M39x1 (205 550) enables Leica screw mount or any other M39 thread pitch (enlarging lenses) to be used (manual mode with stopdown metering).

Two different M42x1 adapters(205 590 & 205 591) were manufactured, a fully manual one and one which provided for diaphragm automation, however, for both, exposure metering naturally, has to be done with the lens stopped down to the desired working aperture. M42 mount lenses include Pentax screw mount and the countless other manufacturers who used this thread pitch on their lenses over the years.

Rollei Lens Cases

Rollei sold, as optional equipment, fitted lens cases for most of their lenses. On the left, I display two of them, one for the 25 Distagon (972 300) and the other for the 200mm Tele-Tessar (972 900).

Rollei Body Caps

Rollei Body Caps (205 640) were manufactured to protect the lens flange and mirror box when the camera is stored or transported without a lens mounted.

Rollei Autowinder E for SL35E Cameras

The Rolleiflex SL35E was the first camera in the Rollei lineup that was designed to take an optional winding attachment. The Autowinder E (790 160) was the less expensive of two attachments offered and enabled photographs to be taken at up to 2 frames per second. It fit directly to the base of the SL35E and was secured via the tripod mount connection.

An identical Autowinder was also manufactured by Rollei and sold with the Voigtländer badge, shown in the second photo, for the VS3E cameras (710 670).

Rollei Motor Drive for SL35E Cameras

The Rolleiflex SL35E Motor Drive (790 161) is the single rarest item in the Rollei SL35 system. Produced in very small quantities, by Rollei Singapore, photographs as fast as 3 frames per second are possible. Like the Autowinder, it fit directly to the base of the SL35E and was secured via the tripod mount connection. It also provides a comfortable side grip which the Autowinder lacked.

The motor drive gets its power from 6 "AA" Batteries.

Rollei Remote Cable for Motor Drive

Probably rarer than the Motor Drive itself, is the Motor Drive's Remote Cable. The one displayed is the only one I've ever encountered. It plugs into the side of the motor drive.

Rollei E36RE Flash

When one thinks of some of the best "Potato Masher" high output electronic flash units of all time, the venerable Rollei E36RE flash (400 110) gets one of my votes.

Three choices of f/stops at any ASA setting are possible , plus an external sensor for indirect lighting technique when the flash is moved off-camera. The flash range possible was from 18" to 45', with a flash duration varying from 1/800 to 1/40,000 sec. The recycling interval was from 0,1 to 4 seconds at full power, enabling 80-1,000 flashes per load. It uses a 12 volt nicad rechargeable battery rated at 500 mAh.

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Rollei E36RE Flash (with Barebulb Attachment)

Essentially, the same flash as the one detailed above except that the lens head was modified to take a plug-in barebulb attachment for soft lighting effects (400 100). The barebulb facility did not operate via the flashes built in automatic exposure sensors. For exposure determination, I use a flash meter. Produced in very limited quantities.

Rollei Standard Bracket for E36RE Flash

In order to secure the E36RE flashes to any of the Rollei Sl35 or Voigtländer VSL cameras, the Rollei Standard Bracket (104 300) was manufactured.

Rollei E36RE Accessory Battery Holder for External Charging

Although the nicad battery for the E36RE can be easily charged inside the flash unit, Rollei offered an Accessory Battery Holder for External Charging (301 710). It uses the same charger as the flash unit itself.

Rollei Everready Cases

For each of their cameras, Rollei sold fitted Everready Cases which I naturally like to call "Never Ready Cases". On the left is the soft case for the SL35/SL350 camera (970 630) and on the right is a more rigid case sold for the SL35E camera (970 871). Only redeeming feature is that they can both be quickly removed.

Rollei Gadget Case

Rollei also manufactured a nice black fitted "Gadget" case (970 190) which could hold on SL35 series camera with normal lens as well as one or two interchangeable lenses, several filters and small accessories.

Nicely done, they are infrequently encountered.

Rollei Soft Release Button for SL35 & SL350 Cameras

The Rollei Soft Release (205 660) threads into the shutter button cable release socket on the SL35 or SL350 cameras to provide a larger position for the photographer's shooting finger.