Rolleiflex binocular attachment

[Eddie Vaughan]

The photo from a 1962 Foto Magazin shows the Steinheil binocular attachment for Rolleiflex TLR cameras. It is very rare and very expensive, and I have never seen one except in pictures. Does anybody know how the focusing works? I assume that the binocular and camera are focused independently at infinity because the focusing does not appear to be coupled.

Eddie Vaughan

[DPurdy]

That is interesting. Might have to play with some binoculars and my Rollei. I doubt it would be a very high quality image but it would give extreme tele. In fact you could do the same with a telescope but you would have to focus first with the viewing lens and then move it to the taking lens.
The focus isn't coupled in any way so you would have to focus the binocular while looking at the image on the Rollei viewing screen. Not sure how you would have the focus set on the camera. Maybe it would work at different focus settings. Something to play with.

[JanBoettcher]

Steinheil writes in the instructions to set the camera to the shortest focusing distance (to improve the (lit) image size on film), make sure both eyepieces of the bino are adjusted equally (adjustable eye piece set to "0") and focus with the bino's central focusing (observing the image on the ground glass).

[Eddie Vaughan]

I believe Steinheil lenses had quite a good reputation, and the binocular attachment would have been a cheaper (if clumsier) alternative to the Tele Rolleiflex introduced in 1959 -- several years before the Steinheil advertisement appeared in Foto Magazin. Still cheaper were the telephoto and wide-angle supplementary lenses for Rolleiflex TLR cameras produced by third-party manufacturers, such as the Sun Optical Company of Japan. Shown here is a 1959 advertisement for Sun telephoto and wide-angle lenses for Rolleiflex TLRs. Since the Rollei Wide did not appear until 1961, the Sun wide-angle lens would have given Rolleiflex users their only possibility for taking wide-angle photographs.

An earlier post on this forum ("Rolleiflex TLR links page", javabeen, July 27, 2007) made no mention of the Steinheil binocular attachment or the Sun supplementary lenses among Third-Party manufacturers of Rolleiflex TLR accessories. The reason for that, I am guessing, is that they had never proved popular and were made in small numbers for only a short time. Not only were the Tele Rolleiflex and Rollei Wide soon to be launched, but these third-party lenses would also not have matched the high standards of Zeiss or Schneider lenses. Buyers of Rolleiflex cameras would probably not have wanted to sacrifice one of the main advantages of their expensive cameras. The irony now is that these strange accessories have high rarity value and that this is reflected in their price.

[Linus]

You just missed an auction on ebay...
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Mint-Rare-Steinh ... 7675.l2557

They are not expensive.
There is also a different adapter for Baj. I too (scroll down) :
http://www.janboettcher.de/MuseumR2.html

[JanBoettcher]

[quote="Eddie Vaughan"]I believe Steinheil lenses had quite a good reputation, and the binocular attachment would have been a cheaper (if clumsier) alternative to the Tele Rolleiflex introduced in 1959 ...[/quote]
Well well ... with the bino, you'd have 6x oder 8x 75mm, with the Tele you get 135mm.

In case you go for the Steinheil solution, try to get a set with the bino or start hunting the proper bino before going for the adapter set (unless you come across a cheap set like the one mentioned above ) ...

[Eddie Vaughan]

I am not interested in a Steinheil bino set so much that I want to start on a hunt for one. That would likely take a long time and prove very expensive if it were successful. The only one I have seen for sale, and then only temporarily, was designed for a Rolleiflex 3.5F or a Rolleiflex T, It was listed on eBay in 2013, and the asking price was roughly USD $2,370. I presume the price reflected rarity more than optical quality, The item was withdrawn before the end of the auction and I don't think it was re-listed.

It would be great to read the opinions of Rolleiclub member who have used a binocular attachment or auxiliary lens on a Rolleiflex, and still greater to see some photos taken with either.