Rolleiflex Hy6...One of the last medium format cameras in production

[MattKing]

Aren't they the same in most instances?

All lenders are creditors.
Not all creditors are lenders.
Lenders tend to be in a position to impose more conditions.

 

[Anaxagore]

100% . Unless they find someone other than Rolf to repair and deal with customers, stay away. The company is effectively dead.

I may sell this entire system, including the 6060 back I have, if you are interested still...

I would not bet that they service those soon, my Hy6 was with them from March until July. Maybe you'll have more luck than I did though.

I would not say it’s completely dead, just in a deep coma with brief moments of awareness..

A 6060 back may be indeed welcome. I may fall into a coma myself before DW wakes up out of theirs.

March until July is slow but I don’t mind waiting a bit for the work to be done, given that they are the only ones working on Hy6 (i’m located in Europe and don’t want to ship anything overseas). Even if I have to wait, I always hope the money I pay for the repairs they do can help keeping them alive..

 

[Anaxagore]

Both the dw-photo.eu and dhw-fototechnik.de websites now give me the same error:

“Locked
The requested resource is currently locked. The lock must be released or proper identification given before the method can be applied.”

I hope they have not officially gone under once more…

 

[buildbot]

Both the dw-photo.eu and dhw-fototechnik.de websites now give me the same error:

“Locked
The requested resource is currently locked. The lock must be released or proper identification given before the method can be applied.”

I hope they have not officially gone under once more…

Is it bad I kind of hope they have?I know you have gear with them, hopefully you get it back!!! Any updates from our dear friend Mr. Rolf?

The current owners in my opinion, are operating in a nearly fraudulent manner and I’m not particularity surprised that they might have closed for good.

Dave at key camera has my hy6 and 6060 back now, I have not heard anything in a bit so I assume it’s still broken and needs a good bit of investigation and work - which was clearly not done by DW, even though they said they did twice. They seem to lie a lot…

 

[Anaxagore]

No updates at the moment, but communication is certainly has never been their strength… when Dave at Key Camera had a 3003 of mine to repair, I also did not get news for months while he was waiting to get spare parts (and in the end I had him return the camera without repairs as I was moving, and had Paepke do the fixing).
Rolf is the technician so probably not the one who would take care of the website. What Ms Dykierek is doing though, I do not know… I suppose also that they kept the dhw website up even after that company went bankrupt, just to keep pages with the Rolleiflex name, which they cannot do anymore at DW.
How much I regret the Mandelmann era, when Rollei and Schneider were under the same hood…

 

[albireo_double]

Is Hans no longer there? I bought a new Hy6 Mod2 and had another Hy6 modded to version 2 in 2020/2021. He also supplied me some "last to be ever made" lenses, like a new 80 AF (with the aperture ring). I knew he was ill and undergoing treatment...but he usually returned calls within the same day or next. Used to call him on his cellphone number. I haven't been in contact since. I did have some issues with uneven film plane in the 6060 back / misadjusted focusing screen in one of the Hy6 bodies. But at that time, I would ship to Braunschweig and get the equipment back within a week or two. I hope I am wrong but I have a bad feeling that they might be gone again.

 

[Anaxagore]

Rolf still does the work, I got some news from him (using his own email, given that the de domain does not work anymore) regarding my lenses and Hy6 body last week. His answer felt like he wanted to offload some work to Paepke though, and that is not a good sign.. as for Hans, I wouldn’t know, I rarely communicated with him..

 

[ic-racer]

new 80 AF (with the aperture ring).

Yes, those AF lenses with the aperture ring are hard to come by. My 6008AF came to me without a lens, so I had some trouble finding an AF lens with aperture ring for that camera.

 

[albireo_double]

I want to ask fellow Hy6 users if anybody has encountered the following "glitch". I have a Hy6 mod2 body, with the 6060 back. When shooting in the A exposure mode, the camera occasionally sets an illogically long exposure time of 8 minutes and 2 seconds (always the same). Switching the camera off and on terminates the long exposure (as expected, with the loss of a frame) but I sometimes need to switch it on and off several times, before it comes to its senses again and starts offering normal exposure times. Shooting with 80 AFD lens.

 

[Pieter12]

I want to ask fellow Hy6 users if anybody has encountered the following "glitch". I have a Hy6 mod2 body, with the 6060 back. When shooting in the A exposure mode, the camera occasionally sets an illogically long exposure time of 8 minutes and 2 seconds (always the same). Switching the camera off and on terminates the long exposure (as expected, with the loss of a frame) but I sometimes need to switch it on and off several times, before it comes to its senses again and starts offering normal exposure times. Shooting with 80 AFD lens.

Never. What aperture are you shooting at?

 

[albireo_double]

Happens irrespective of aperture...

 

[Pieter12]

Happens irrespective of aperture...

Does this happen in P and M mode too? Do you have another lens and does It happen with that one, too? If you are in Europe, you will have to send it all to the factory for evaluation and repair unfortunately.
Here in the States, Key camera can check it and make repairs if the parts are avaliable.

 

[albireo_double]

Doesn't happen in M mode. I don't use the P mode. I have other lenses but did not have them with me on vacation when this glitch started to appear. I also have a second Hy6 mod2 body, so will need to check.

 

[MsLing]

Yes, and this has increased my interest in the Shanghai 220 thread.

No,never try new Shanghai.Its quality is not usable.Its company only buy Shanghai's brand instead of tech.So new Shanghai film is like a industrial X ray product.And why not trying Reflex Lab's 220 film,bases on Kodak Aerocolor2460.Some people in China also incise and distribute old big bulk aerial film to 120/220 roll film.I'm sure that fresh Lucky aerial film is 1000000 times better than Shanghai.Maybe you could get some to try from eBay or Aliexpress
P.S. Shanghai's brand is owned by Jian Cheng Co.Ltd and the company even use Shenguang's brand and Gold200 to produce 620 film.

 

[Anaxagore]

Doesn't happen in M mode. I don't use the P mode. I have other lenses but did not have them with me on vacation when this glitch started to appear. I also have a second Hy6 mod2 body, so will need to check.

In which conditions did that happen? If it was sunny, did you try closing the waistlevel finder, or using a prism?
I have noticed a few times that when the sun is high in the sky, the Hy6 sometimes seemed to overcompensate for the light coming in through the waistlevel finder. Hence no problem in M mode, but exposure time much too long in a or P mode.

 

[Pieter12]

In which conditions did that happen? If it was sunny, did you try closing the waistlevel finder, or using a prism?
I have noticed a few times that when the sun is high in the sky, the Hy6 sometimes seemed to overcompensate for the light coming in through the waistlevel finder. Hence no problem in M mode, but exposure time much too long in a or P mode.

It would seem the opposite. The camera would set a shorter exposure time due to the extra light.

 

[Anaxagore]

It would seem the opposite. The camera would set a shorter exposure time due to the extra light.

The way I see it is that there is a certain amount of light reaching the sensors through the lens, and if there is some coming from the viewfinder (reaching other sensors), the camera is setup to think that less light really comes from the lens that reach the first sensors, and increases exposure for that reason. This compensation may be adjusted apparently..

 

[Pieter12]

A new problem cropped up today. After attaching a 6060 film back to the body, it displayed "turn 01" and would fire but not advance the film. What seems odd is this is a 6x6 back, there would be no reason to turn it. Any suggestions beyond replacing the batteries?

 

[Pieter12]

A new problem cropped up today. After attaching a 6060 film back to the body, it displayed "turn 01" and would fire but not advance the film. What seems odd is this is a 6x6 back, there would be no reason to turn it. Any suggestions beyond replacing the batteries?

Well, fresh batteries have seemed to clear the "turn" message and looks like it is operating normally for now. The old batteries were not that weak but I replaced them with silver ones.

 

[GG12]

Great to hear you are still getting good use of your Hy6. Loved that camera, miss it dearly, but diminishing servicing was daunting.

 

[Pieter12]

Great to hear you are still getting good use of your Hy6. Loved that camera, miss it dearly, but diminishing servicing was daunting.

It is my primary MF film camera. I will keep on using it until it develops a major problem. My issues to date have all been with the film backs. Fortunately, the more common problem with those is the dark slide channel developing a light leak, which can be temporarily fixed with gaffer tape and more durably fixed with shutter curtain material by an experienced tech--no OEM parts involved--the major sticking point with the Hy6. Most of my lenses have been serviced at some point, I hope they won't need it in the future.

As a back-up, I have a couple of 6008i bodies that use the same lenses.

 

[sergepole]

I also have this issue!!! I sent my Hy6 mod 2/1 into the factory, they could not replicate the issue and sent it back, it took from early March to yesterday to get back to me. It still won’t work with my 6060 and Sinar emotion backs

Hello --I am brand new to photrio.com. I am looking to buy a 6060 film back. I have a 6060 back with Dave Feely at Key Camera. Dave has been trying to find the light leaks in my back for some time. If you still have a 6060 back, I would make a very generous offer. If you know of someone who has a 6060 back, I'd appreciate the reference. Dave could use another 6060 back to do an "A" versus "B" to debug the. light leaks in my back. The factory has not been ANY help.
Best --
Serge
(sergepole)

 

[Pieter12]

Hello --I am brand new to photrio.com. I am looking to buy a 6060 film back. I have a 6060 back with Dave Feely at Key Camera. Dave has been trying to find the light leaks in my back for some time. If you still have a 6060 back, I would make a very generous offer. If you know of someone who has a 6060 back, I'd appreciate the reference. Dave could use another 6060 back to do an "A" versus "B" to debug the. light leaks in my back. The factory has not been ANY help.
Best --
Serge
(sergepole)

OK. Maybe I can help. How long ago did you correspond with the factory? I'm curious if they are even still in business. I can tell you a couple of stories about the incompetence and how misleading the factory has been in my experience. I know Dave, he has worked on my Hy6 gear a number of times. Mainly he has no support from the factory--they rarely have any parts, they won't send him a service manual.

But back to your film back. I experienced light leaks and transport issues with a brand new one from Eric at Rolleiflex USA. It went back to Germany under warranty, the issues were not completely fixed. Do you have any examples of your light leak? if it is not the same as what I had, I would be willing to send mine to Dave for a comparison. Here is what the light leaks from my back looked like:

The leaks were fixed by the folks in Germany, but the back is still suspect--I get unexplained spacing issues with some of the inserts, which have been to the factory, too. Sometimes I wonder if I should just give up and go back to the 6008i.

Feel free to contact my by PM if you'd prefer.

P.S. is Eric still in business as Rolleifex USA?

 

[sergepole]

Pieter -- so very good to hear from someone who is in the Rollei Hy6 tribe. I've sent e-mails to Rolf @ the factory (no response) and to Dieter at paepke-fototechnik@gmx.de (no response). Eric is kinda out of the Rollei business.

I don't have any spacing problems (knock on wood). Light leaks are as seen in the attached image I sent to Dave Feely @ Key Camera.
It seems that if you sent (& I would be willing to pay the shipping charges both ways) your 6060 to Dave, Dave might be able to solve
both of our problems. [You seem to have a spacing problem & I don't. I have a light leak problem & you don't].

I bought the back (which has red tabs) "new" from Eric & he has been "supportive," but he hasn't really owned up to the fact that the
back he sold me was defective from the start. Dave was going to see if Eric had a back -- or even an insert -- that Eric could lend Dave
to help Dave with Dave's debugging efforts.

BTW, the image is of Max, our house rabbit. Image was #12 of 12.

Any of this sound reasonable ?


Dave has my Rollei Hy6 mod 2 & 80mm f/2.8 lens, so Dave can do "end-to-end" checking.

Best --
Serge

 

[ic-racer]

There are a number of little pieces of foam than need to be in the right spot to keep it from leaking.