My Camera

Rolleiflex 3.5F
Taking lens: Carl Zeiss Planar 75mm F3.5
Viewing lens: Heidosmat 75mm F2.8
Shutter: Synchro Compur 1/500-1s/B (M)/X
serial number : 2 263 912

This camera was produced by Rollei between 1958 and 1978. The serial number may indicate that it dates from 1961 or 1962. The model I have is not equiped with the usual viewer showed on that picture, but with a penta prism which provides a better focussing.

It is still possible to find an operating manual on the web. However, the camera is fairly simple to use, compared to modern electronic, automatic, autofocus cameras.

This camera was previously owned by a retired scientist from Marseille. He used it for scientific photography with a microscope and infrared photography with a 24x36 adapter. There does not exist any infrared 120 fiml on the market. I have all the accessories but they are of litle use for me as I am mainly taking outdoor photographies. The original viewer was apparently lost.
When I got it, I had to do some repairs, because tiny scratches appeared on the film. Now it is OK. However, the incorporated light meter does not give proper results, so I bought a separate hand meter Lunasix Gossen which can also be used as a flash meter.

Film processing
The Lunasix Gossen is very convenient for praticing the zone system. My films are now correctly exposed, even in the dark zones. This type of result was not easy to obtain, because it is the result of a combination between an adequate exposure, a specified film and an adapted chemical processing. I am using all the time the same film Kodak TriX  in combination with the Neofin blue developper from Tetenal: temperature 24°, developping time 15 minutes, agitation 5 seconds every minutes. I always wet my film before with an "agent mouillant" (ordinary washing up liquid can be used). I stop the developping process with a special bath containing "Alum de Chrome" for hardening the gelatin. That prevent scratches when manipulating the film later. Finaly at the final stage of rincing, I add a few drops of my agent mouillant and get the fiml out of the tank for drying. With this last trick, I never get any stain on my film, because drops easily glide away.
I was not convinced by the Tmax which I found too difficult to process.

Some results

Marseille is a city that was founded by the greeks. This is not by chance. Some of the sceneries on the islands of the bay are strangely alike those that can be seen in Greece. Those pictures were taken on these islands.