Chris's camera pages

Rolleicord Va

Manufactured between 1957 and 1961 by Franke & Heidecke.

Rolleicordva1

This very nice TLR, that I have only recently been given, is fitted with a Schneider Xenar 75mm f/3.5 taking lens and a Synchro-Compur 1 to 1/500 MXV shutter. The viewing lens is a Heidosmat 75mm f/3.2, which gives a nice, bright image on the ground-glass screen.

The Rolleicord line was Franke & Heidecke's lower-priced option to their Rolleiflexes, and they typically found homes with well-heeled amateur photographers. Probably the most immediately obvious difference between the Rolleicords and the flagship Rolleiflex cameras was that the 'flexes had a lever operated film advance that also cocked the shutter automatically, whereas the Rolleicords used a knob to advance the film, and the shutter-cocking was done manually for each exposure.

With this Rolleicord I also was lucky enough to get the original instruction book, the 'Accessories Guide', and some very interesting accessories. One was this plate-back kit, which allows the use of 6x9cm glass plates.

Rolleicord2

Another was this Rolleicord 16 kit. This is used to take 4x4cm (Superslides) or 4x5.5cm exposures. The kit consists of a 16-exposure frame counter, and two viewfinder masks.

Rolleicord3

I also received a Rolleinar 2 close-up lens set. The lens intended for the viewing lens has prism built-in to shift the view closer to that of the taking lens.

Rolleicord Va instruction manual on Mike Butkus' excellent website.

Back to Camera List