When Rollei announced the world’s first autofocus 6x6cm SLR at the 2002 Photokina, the photographic world was a different place. The idea of a medium format D-SLR was very much in the future and rollfilm was still widely used. The high-end capture backs of the day were cumbersome, slow and pretty well studio-bound. In the history of the medium format SLR, Rollei has made some significant (but largely unsung) contributions to the development of the modern camera… particularly in the pioneering of automatic functions. The Rolleiflex SLX (1976) was the first model with a motorised film transport, electronicallycontrolled shutter and built-in TTL metering. It evolved into the 6000-series of cameras (commenced in 1984) which introduced multiple metering modes, TTL auto flash metering, programmed exposure control and modern conveniences such as auto bracketing. A clever film magazine design incorporates a ‘roller blind’ type darkslide, eliminating the separate device which had annoyed photographers for decades. Based on the 6000-series alone, Rollei should now be a market leader, matching it blow-for-blow with Hasselblad and Mamiya. However, a decade of financial difficulties and muddled marketing strategies (especially in terms of digital capture) has seen the Rolleiflex marque slip further and further into obscurity. With all due respect to those that have tried to revive its fortunes in Australia during this time, problems with supply and uncertainty over the future have thwarted any attempts to give Rollei a meaningful presence locally. It’s unlikely that there’s more than a handful of 6008 AFs in use in this country, but then the total production run is probably very low too (maybe less than 500 units). |