rolleiflex

Rolleiflex, a brand that hasn't produced cameras since 2014, says it's back and will release a new "modern" digital twin-lens reflex (TLR) camera that will be announced on April 20.

Photographer Sails Chong has published an acoustically satisfying video that shares the sounds of 18 different camera shutters and certainly qualifies as photography ASMR.

Every Sunday, we bring together a collection of easy-reading articles from analytical to how-to to photo-features in no particular order that did not make our regular daily coverage. Enjoy!

Arizona-based journalist and photographer Jim Headley recently set out on a "mission" to shoot an ultra-rare Japanese twin lens reflex camera called the Taroflex. Only 10 of these cameras are thought to still exist, and Headley is the proud owner of a fully-functioning copy in "excellent condition."

In this fast-changing age of digital photography, one ingredient missing is a full frame square format camera or digital back. Yes, you can always crop off for a square, but this is not the same as looking through a dedicated square format camera with full resolution. So, what does a photographer preferring the square format do? My option has always been to shoot square format film cameras.

It's not every day that you receive free stuff from strangers on the Internet. (Much less, stuff you actually want). I figure that something like this should be commended...

The Rolleidoscop was made from 1926 to 1939 in Germany alongside the Heidoscop, the same camera but with a sheet film or glass plate back. It was actually the very first camera that renowned manufacturer Rollei made.

Those who have known me long enough are aware of my passion for Rolleiflex cameras. Back before I got deeper and deeper into alternative photography I used to shoot my TLRs all the time.

The factory that manufactures Rolleiflex cameras is being liquidated in a bankruptcy auction, so there's a chance we may never see new Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex cameras produced ever again. As the fate of the brand is in limbo, 21 original Rolleiflex camera prototypes have appeared in an auction on eBay. For a cool $178,000, collectors can own a unique piece of photographic history.

If you're a fan of both retro cameras and instant photos, you may be delighted to learn of a new camera called the InstantFlex TL70. It's designed to look like a Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera, but it's a fully functional instant camera that takes Fujifilm Instax film.

It's the end of the road for the company behind Rolleiflex cameras. Just two months after Fujifilm put up one of its major film factories at auction, DHW Fototechnik is doing a liquidation auction of its own, selling off the massive amounts of equipment used in manufacturing twin-lens reflex cameras.

The auction gives us an unprecedented glimpse into the tools and spaces that were once used to great cameras with the iconic Rollei brand.

The digital camera industry is dominated by eye-level viewfinders, but waist-level finders have their advantages. One main one is that it makes photographing strangers less threatening since the photographer is looking down instead of directly at the subjects.

Camera collectors, unfold your wallets... it's time for another installment of "cool rare things currently on eBay." Except in this case 'rare' can be replaced with 'unique,' as in these cameras are supposedly one-of-a-kind.

The title kind of says it all on this one, so we'll keep it brief. There is a coffee shop in South Korea that ought to make it onto every quirky photographer's bucket list... kind of like the bathroom in China we told you about a couple of weeks ago.

The bathroom was shaped like a rangefinder and this coffee shop lets you enjoy your favorite South Korean brew inside a beautifully designed Rolleiflex camera. However you prefer your coffee, there's little doubt in our minds that photo lovers would rather be drinking it from inside this cool and quirky café.

Here's an interesting photo trivia question: can you name any major world currencies that feature an image of a camera?

Answer: the old five hundred peso bill over in the Philippines. On the back of the original series is an image of a Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera!

Here's an interesting fusion of analog camera technologies: Kevin over at the Hong Kong-based photo site FilMe figured out how to make his Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera shoot Fujifilm Instax instant photos.

Did you know that Rolleiflex is still producing its high-end analog twin-lens reflex cameras? Apparently there's enough photographers out there buying them for there to be a small, niche market, because Rollei is planning to show off a new model at Photokina 2012 next week.

The FX-N is a 6x6 medium format TLR camera that is an updated version of the Rolleiflex FX, a camera that costs over $5,000. The only difference it has with its predecessor (or sibling) is that it features a new Heidosmat 80mm f/2.8 viewfinder lens and a Rollei S-Apogon 80mm f/2.8 main lens that offer a shorter minimum focusing distance of 55 centimeters.

After seeing the LEGO large format camera we featured last year, Norway-based photographer Carl-Frederic Salicath set out to create his own LEGO camera. Rather than go with large format, he decided to build a more complicated Rolleiflex-style twin-lens reflex camera that uses 120 film. Aside from LEGOs, he also used some matte ground glass, a mirror, and lenses taken from a binocular.

You don't need an instant film camera to shoot instant film photos: Flickr user Angex Lin shot the above photograph using an old-school Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera loaded with Fujifilm Instax Mini instant film.

The Rolleiflex MiniDigi AF 5.0 is a tiny 5-megapixel digital camera designed to look just like the Rolleiflex 2.8F …