Rolleiflex 6003
Rollei · Rollei 6000 mount · 6×6 on 120 or 220 through interchangeable film inserts in the standard back; 6×4.5 with the 6008 4560 magazine once the back is detached (Wikipedia) · 1994
Also known as: Rolleiflex 6003 · Rollei 6003 · Rolleiflex 6003 SRC 1000 · Rolleiflex 6003 SRC1000 · Rollei 6003 SRC 1000 · Rolleiflex 6003 professional · Rolleiflex 6003 Professional · Rollei 6003 Pro · Rolleiflex 6003 Planar 80mm · ローライフレックス 6003 · ローライフレックス 6003 プロフェッショナル · ローライフレックス 6003 SRC1000 · ローライ 6003
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6003 SRC 1000 | Rollei 6000 | 1994–1996 | — | Not published |
| 6003 professional | Rollei 6000 | 1996–2004 | — | Not published. The English Wikipedia table ends it in 2003; Japanese Wikipedia around February 2004 |
- Dates: SRC 1000 1994–96 in both Wikipedias; professional 1996–2003 (English model table) or 1996 to about February 2004 (Japanese Wikipedia).
- Greenspun's $3,600 is a dealer price he quotes, not a published Rollei list price, so no numeric launch price is carried.
- No weight or dimensions were found in a source read for this entry.
How to tell them apart
- A 6008-sized body without the cable-release socket or self-timer, with a standard back that opens to take a film insert rather than a full magazine
- SRC 1000 or professional on the body tells the two versions apart; the professional adds multi-spot metering
- Takes PQ, EL and PQS lenses and times PQS to 1/1000 s; the AF lenses of the 6008 AF mount as manual-focus lenses
- Listing trap: a 6003 offered with a 6008 magazine has had its standard back removed, which is a legitimate configuration, not a 6008
6003 SRC 1000:
- SRC 1000 on the body: SRC for the scan-pack (digital back) interface, 1000 for the 1/1000 s top speed with PQS lenses (Japanese Wikipedia)
- No mechanical cable-release socket and no self-timer, unlike a 6008 (Wikipedia)
- Standard back with a removable film insert of the 6002 pattern rather than a complete magazine
6003 professional:
- professional on the body in place of SRC 1000
- Adds multi-spot metering to the centre-weighted and spot patterns (Wikipedia model table)
- 6003 SRC 1000: The launch model, with a Rollei brochure dated March 1994 (Pacific Rim Camera reference library); the action grip was an extra. Rolleigraphy lists it among the bodies that time PQS lenses to 1/1000 s ("all 6008, both 6003 and 6001").
- 6003 professional: Succeeded the SRC 1000 in 1996 with multi-spot metering and, by Japanese Wikipedia's account, a faster motor. Philip Greenspun's late-1990s page calls a 6003 with the 80/2.8 "a bargain" at $3,600, action grip not included, and he bought his own, used, with a Zeiss 80/2.8 for about $2,000.
Specifications
- Format
- 6×6 on 120 or 220 through interchangeable film inserts in the standard back; 6×4.5 with the 6008 4560 magazine once the back is detached (Wikipedia)
- Finder
- Interchangeable: folding waist-level hood as standard, with the 45° and 90° prism finders of the 6000 line; focusing screen interchangeable
- Shutter
- Electronically timed leaf shutter in every lens, driven by linear motors through the bayonet contacts · 30 s–1/500 s in whole steps with PQ and EL lenses; 1/1000 s with PQS lenses (Wikipedia; rolleigraphy.eu) · flash sync Leaf shutter: all speeds; TTL off-the-film flash metering · no self-timer
- Film advance
- Built-in motor, single frame or continuous to a maximum of 2 frames per second (Wikipedia model table); Japanese Wikipedia says the professional's motor is faster than the SRC 1000's
- Back
- Detachable standard back taking interchangeable 120/220 film inserts; with the back removed the body accepts 6008 magazines (Wikipedia)
- Meter
- TTL ambient and flash metering; centre-weighted multi-zone and spot on the SRC 1000, multi-spot added on the professional; aperture-priority, shutter-priority, program and manual exposure (Wikipedia)
- Motor drive
- Compatible — Motor built in; rechargeable NiCd pack. Wikipedia advertises 500–600 exposures per charge; Greenspun got about 300 from a 9.6 V pack with a warning some 20 exposures before it died, and found it reliable below freezing
- Country
- Germany
- Original price
- About $3,600 with the 80mm f/2.8, action grip extra, in the late 1990s (Greenspun, page created 1997 and updated through 1999); he paid about $2,000 for a used body with Zeiss 80/2.8
- Accessories
- 120 and 220 film inserts for the standard back; 6008 magazines once the back is detached · Action grip (sold separately), rechargeable NiCd pack and charger · 45° and 90° prism finders, interchangeable focusing screens · Scan-pack (SRC) interface for digital backs
Where sources disagree
- Last
- 2003 — English Wikipedia model table
- 2004 (about February) — Japanese Wikipedia
Better supported: 2004
The Japanese entry gives a month, which suggests a dated announcement behind it.
What reviewers say
- Philip Greenspun (photo.net) (blog) — Written around a used 6003 with the Zeiss 80/2.8: with the action grip "you can hold the camera all day with one hand", the motor is "surprisingly useful", the body "rugged enough for any professional application", but "don't plan to point and shoot in center-weighted mode" and "expect to get reamed on the price" of lenses.
History
The 6003 is the 6008 with the expensive parts left out. Wikipedia describes it as a simplified companion: the mechanical cable-release socket and the self-timer are gone, and instead of a full interchangeable magazine the body carries a standard back that takes 120 or 220 film inserts of the 6002 pattern. The back can be detached, and then the body accepts 6008 magazines, so an owner can move up to 6×4.5 or a second loaded back later. What stays is the whole 6000 System architecture: every lens carries its own electronically timed leaf shutter and diaphragm, the body times it from 30 s to 1/500 s, or 1/1000 s with PQS lenses, and a built-in motor winds at up to 2 frames per second.
The first version, the 6003 SRC 1000 of 1994, wore its two selling points in its name: SRC for the scan-pack interface that let it drive a digital back, 1000 for the top speed it could reach with PQS glass, which the older SLX, 6006 and 6002 could not. Wikipedia’s model table gives it centre-weighted multi-zone and spot TTL metering, and both Wikipedias end it in 1996, when the 6003 professional took over with multi-spot metering and a faster motor. The English model table ends the professional in 2003, the Japanese entry around February 2004.
Philip Greenspun ran a used 6003 for a two-year calendar project at the end of the 1990s and wrote the only substantial first-hand account found. He called a new 6003 with the 80/2.8 “a bargain” at $3,600, noted the action grip was not included, and said the grip “changes the way you use this camera” because one hand can carry it all day. The motor earned its keep for expressions and against double exposures; the centre-weighted meter did not earn his trust, and the 9.6 V NiCd pack gave him about 300 frames with a warning some twenty frames before it quit, though it kept working below freezing. His complaint was never the body but the lens prices, which is where the 6000 System has always been expensive.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Live listings
The listings collector hasn't run for this family yet — check back soon, or search the marketplaces directly meanwhile.