The Rolleiflex Instant camera Kickstarter

May 03, 2018

The love for classics we saw in 2017, continues this year with another jaw dropping camera! Believe it or not the Classic Rolleiflex camera goes Instant.

What you need to know?

The project was announced on 26.04.2018 and just in 22 miutes the company reached its goal of just $25,483USD and as of today 01.05.2018 its at a 292,520USD mark with 675 backers.
The makers of Rolleiflex had put a lot of trust into their backers and fans, because the project is all or nothing. But seeing that in just 22 minutes they reached their goal, i can say that it was the right decision. Rollei blew away Lomography who collected their pledge in 5 hours. If you want to support Rollei you have 27 more days keep in mind that the pledge is in HK (Hong Kong) dollars which shows "crazy" price list for backers. The truth is that the pledges are not that crazy:
1. The lowest pledge of 70$(hk) is just 8$(US)

2. The second pledge is 3,229$(hk) or 420$(US)
You can support the campaing and follow for updates at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rolleiinstantcamera/rolleiflextm-instant-kamera/

About the brand

Rollei, is well-known German brand, and has close to a hundred years of history in the camera field. Rolleiflex is their premier and most popular line dedicated to medium format twin lens cameras. The first Rolleiflex came out in 1927 and the last one in 1958.Twin Lens Design: Reinhold Heidecke was inspired to make the Rollei TLRs while photographing soldiers in the German trenches in 1916 – the twin lens design provided a periscope approach to focusing and taking photos which radically reduced the risk of the photographer being hit by sniper fire.

About the camera 📷

Instant Films: The camera is supposed to produce high quality images optimized for use with Fujifilm Instax Mini and its specifications are pretty impressive:

Aperture: f/5.6, f/8, f/16, f/22, Bokeh - This allows you to experience shallow depth of field and get the most out of the instant film and help your subjects stand out. You can shoot from the waist level, eye level, or knee level depending on your subject.
Lens: Aspherical lens with 3 elements, Takes sharp images bursting with detail, and has a focal length of 61mm.
Focal Range: 48cm ~ infinity
Shutter Speed: 1/500 - 1 second (Mode A) | max. 10 seconds (Mode B = slow shutter)
Accurate Focusing: Adjust the focus manually to eliminate excess noise
Ambient Light Meter: Green/orange shows if the exposure is correct.
Viewfinder: Twin lens reflex viewfinder with Fresnel anti-glare coated viewfinder that is operated at waist-level allows you to shoot photos any time just by looking down.

What you might be able to see through the viewfinder courtesy of DIYPhotography

Magnifier: As with traditional Rolleiflex cameras, the new instant TLR camera includes an eyepiece magnifier to lift up so you can take a closer look.

Exposure Control: EV+/-1 - Lighten or darken your frame with EV+/- so you can have control of your photos.
Multiple Exposure Mode: Create beautifully layered images by exposing a frame as many times as you like.
Long Exposure Mode: Keeps your shutter open with B mode so that you can unleash your creativity in light paintings or anything you could imagine.
Flash: Integrated, electronic flash with automatic light emission control - Built-In Flash & Flash Off Mode: Lets you decide how much light you want to shine on your film.
Power Supply: 3AA Batteries (1.5V)

Keep in mind that due to the double lens and sturdy build the Rolleiflex falls on the heavy side of the instant camera world weighting around 525g.

What is unique about this is the cimematic viewfinder and built-in electric flash as well as the automatic light emission. The 1:1 view offers an insight on what your photo will look like and this is a great advantage. Knowing how some of us, instant lovers have problems with exposure and lighting and we often ruin our expensive film.

Another great advantage is that you can turn off flash and the biggest feature focus. Yes you can focus where you want to!
The first batch of Rolleiflex instant cameras is supposed to star shipping out in October 2018.

And from the press kit you can see a well focused (and quiet annoyed) cat: