My TLRs Over the Years

Geoff Chaplin’s recent article about his newly acquired Rolleicord Va triggered a huge burst of nostalgia for my all-time favourite camera type. I have used a number of them over the last 50 years so I looked out my favourites in response to Geoff’s invitation to share results.

In an article on the Emulsive web site a while back I called the TLR a Goldilocks camera because it is just right for a great number of photographic tasks. The Mamiya C series in particular fits this description. I used a C33 for many years as my main camera with my XA back-up always in my pocket. A point I often make is that it was always recommended to look at an image in a mirror or upside down before deciding on a crop, so the laterally reversed screen image of the TLR could be said to improve your photography as a bonus.

My feature image above was made with my first TLR, an MPP Microflex, on the banks of the Nene in Peterborough, UK in the ‘70s. Taking long walks with it was easy, light and compact and near silent in operation so as not disturb the subject in this case.

So from oldest to most recent, here are a selection of images from the many TLRs I have owned.

This is another MPP Microflex image in Peterborough and my first to make me some money – 10/- or 50p in a Photo News Weekly competition – anyone remember that newspaper style publication?

Next came a Yashicamat that went everywhere with me. This is in the London tube, probably Holborn station.

Then came the Mamiya with interchangeable lens capability. I had the 55mm and 105mm, plus a loaned 250mm at one point. This is taken with the 55mm in Grimsby’s docks, the graving dock.

My musician daughter and her flute using the extremely sharp 105mm.

Again in Grimsby’s docks, the 250mm was perhaps the sharpest lens I have ever used.

I just had to try a Rolleiflex but good as the results were, the hand to hand shuffle between exposures to wind on made me lose interest, especially after having used the Mamiya, focus being possible with either hand.

The Flexaret Va that replaced the Rollei had the radial lever below the lens for focus which allowed the right hand to wind and press the shutter release, mounted high up alongside the viewing lens, and the left hand supporting the camera and focussing. The Belar lens was pretty good too.

Next was a very clean and fully operational Minolta Autocord with exposure meter with the same focus arrangement as the Flexaret. The shutter release was in the more usual position so the left hand had to operate that also but it fell nicely to hand.

After selling the Minolta I felt I needed a TLR again so bought another Flexaret, a model IV this time which had several failings. It only works on the marked speeds, many bits being absent from the shutter but still can produce some good images. A close up lens was used here, parallax corrected by raising the tripod after composing. Memories of the Mamiya’s red bar that came down from the top of the screen as focus came closer helps me visualise by how much.

At the end of the day, I should have kept the Mamiya I think, but all the examples after that came to me in the first and second decades of this century when film equipment prices took such a dip and I was so easily seduced. Kid in a candy store syndrome. But I do like to see my cameras used so I don’t really regret their passing on. I have enjoyed making their acquaintance and producing some images that give me a lot of pleasure along the way.

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