C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Rolleicord I (1933) is the founding model of Rollei's affordable TLR line, introduced to complement -- and undercut -- the already-successful Rolleiflex. Where the Rolleiflex targeted professionals with a crank-wind film advance and faster lenses, the Rolleicord I used a simpler knob advance and paired an **Zeiss Triotar 75mm f/4.5** three-element taking lens with a Compur leaf shutter. The result was a capable medium-format camera at a meaningfully lower price. The Rolleicord I is visually distinctive among later Rolleicords for its art-deco styling -- diagonal ribbed panels on the body -- which Rollei dropped in subsequent revisions. It produced 12 exposures of 6x6 cm on 120 roll film.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the — format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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About this camera
The original budget Rollei TLR: an art-deco 6x6 from 1933 that put the twin-lens reflex within reach of serious amateurs.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120 (6x6 cm) |
| Taking lens | Zeiss Triotar 75mm f/4.5 (3 elements / 3 groups) |
| Viewing lens | Heidoscop 75/3.2 ~ |
| Years | 1933-1936 |
| Shutter | 1s - 1/300s + B, Compur leaf |
| Flash sync | None (pre-flash era) |
| Meter | None |
| Film advance | Knob |
Rollei launched the Rolleicord I in 1933 at the Leipzig Spring Fair, the same venue where the Rolleiflex had debuted years earlier. The goal was straightforward: offer a waist-level TLR with the same 6x6 format and a twin-lens design -- but simplified enough to sell at a lower price point. The Triotar triplet was the key cost reduction; a three-element lens vs. the Rolleiflex's four-element Tessar. The art-deco body panels were a contemporary design choice, consistent with the industrial aesthetic common to German optical instruments of that period. Production ran until 1936, when the Rolleicord II superseded it with a faster f/3.5 lens option and a cleaner body style.
The Rolleicord I established the template that would persist through six decades of Rolleicord production: waist-level finder, knob advance, fixed lens, 120 film, no meter. As the first model in the line, it is the starting point for any serious Rolleicord collection. The art-deco ribbed panels make it the most visually interesting of all Rolleicords, and consequently the most recognized among collectors who prioritize aesthetics alongside function. Optically the Triotar f/4.5 is the weakest lens in the Rolleicord family -- it is a triplet, not a four-element design -- but it is fully capable for moderate enlargement on 6x6 negatives, and its rendering has a soft-edged character that some users prefer for portraiture.
The Rolleicord I was among the first mass-produced TLRs to bring the waist-level medium-format experience below the professional price tier, contributing to the widespread adoption of the 6x6 square format in European amateur photography through the late 1930s.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
View profile →Rollei Rolleicord I
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