TLR Challenge – My Response

I’m Jeffery Luhn and I’m happy to respond to Geoff Chaplin’s TLR Challenge! Background: A week after beginning my career as a news photographer in 1969, I acquired a Rolleiflex TLR. How did that happen?

Here’s an article that describes my first 35mm camera, an EXA 1a, and how I got my first professional job. The camera was important to me, but it wasn’t up to the task, as the article describes.

After a week with the Oakland Tribune, the photo editor told me that I needed to get a couple of better cameras because my EXA 1a was ‘crap’ and I’d never be able to be a ‘real pro’ unless I had some ‘real equipment.’ He opened the largest drawer in his desk and pulled out two items: A half-filled bottle of Cabin Still whiskey (Yuk! Rot-gut stuff!) and a small metal cash box with a broken lock. He grabbed a handful of bills and counted out $250. “Here’s an advance on your pay, kid. Go to Oakland Camera Exchange and get yourself a Nikon with three lenses and a twin lens reflex. I’ll call ahead so they’ll be expecting you. They owe me favors.” He handed me the money and said, “This should cover everything.”

It did. I got a well used Nikon F, 28mm, 50mm, 135mm, and the big prize: a Rolleiflex!! What a happy day!! Of course the Nikon SLR was somewhat familiar to me, but the Rollei TLR was a mystery. I brought it back to the newsroom and another photographer gave me a 15-minute primer and a handful of film. His advice was, “Don’t take any important shots with this Rollei until you’ve figured out how to use it. Rolleis take great shots of relatively still subjects, but you’ll always miss any action stuff.”  This was very good advice! I took it out for a spin with Jane, the prettiest girl I knew. After processing the roll of Plus X ASA 125 I realized the camera was SHARP SHARP SHARP. I made my first 16×20 print ever and I could count her eyelashes! This scan of the negative tells the story! That sold me on the Rollei. It did not, however, get me the girl. Read on for details about that.

I don’t have that Rollei anymore, but I do have a couple of TLR cameras. The Rolleicord was a recent gift and it needs a shutter cleaning, but the Mamiya c33 has been a dependable friend for about a year. For my first posting in the TLR challenge, I decided to shoot a roll of Rollei IR film in the Mamiya using an 88 filter, which cuts out all wavelengths shorter than 710 nanometers. This is an opaque filter dark enough to view the sun. I rated the film at ISO 20 and processed it in HC-110 Dilution B for 7 minutes at 20C.

These were shot a week ago, Sept. 2, 2024, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California at about 6500 ft. IT WAS WINDY!!! Even with a tripod, there’s a bit of camera shake. You can see some blurring in the trees. These images are cell phone copies of 11×14 prints. Sorry! I have my copy stand and light box packed away right now. Take my word for it, the images are sharp. Generally speaking, any decent TLR yields good images. Even the YashicaMats are decent, but for my money, the Mamiya models are the best bang for your buck.

Here’s a trio of shots of three of my grandkids taken with the Mamiya and a 150mm lens. FP4 at ISO 125 processed in HC-110 dilution B. Again, a copy made from a cell phone. These were taken handheld with an off-camera battery powered strobe and umbrella. When you view these prints in person, you get a feel for the creamy gradations of tones that a good medium format camera with slow film can deliver.

In my opinion, portraits are one of the best uses for a TLR. The Mamiya models are especially good because they have a bellows that allows for very close focusing.

Of course there is the issue of parallax to deal with because the viewing/focusing lens is positioned above the taking lens, so if you don’t make an adjustment while composing, you’ll lose the top of your image. Mamiya models have two solutions for that. 1-A little red indicator in the frame that alerts you how much to compensate for a specific lens. 2-An accessory called a paramender that elevates the camera on the tripod so the taking lens rises to the height of the viewing lens. The paramender can be raised to a variety of heights to compensate for different lenses at different distances. I don’t have one, but if I was doing studio portraits or product shots, it would be essential.

I know some readers will want to know what happened between me and the elegant Jane, who graced my first first roll of 120 film. Well…nothing, really. (insert sad face emoji here!) Of course I adored her. Who wouldn’t? She was a couple years older than me and out of my league, but our friendship was solid. We played in a folk band and spent a lot of fun time together. I lost touch with her after she went away to college on the East Coast. I did see her once, however, in a chance meeting while I was on assignment in Europe. We spotted each other at the American Express office in Athens in 1971!! We hung out for a few days and had a great time. Then she went north towards Amsterdam and I went south to Crete. That was 53 years ago!!! Jane, if you’re out there, let’s get in touch and show photos of our grandchildren to each other!!

Let’s have one last look at Jane in her youth.

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