Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Rolleicord V

Franke & Heidecke · Fixed lens · 6×6 cm on 120 film, 12 exposures; the Rolleikin adapter takes 35mm (English Wikipedia) · 1954

Also known as: Rolleicord V · Rollei Rolleicord V · Rolleicord V Xenar 75mm f/3.5 · Rolleicord V Xenar 75mm F3.5 · Rolleicord 5 · Rolleicord V K3C · ローライコード V · ローライコードV クセナー · Rollei Rolleicord V TLR

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Rolleicord V (K3C) Rolleiflex TLR 1954–1957 — —
  1. Dates: English Wikipedia table (K3C, October 1954–March 1957); Japanese Wikipedia and camera-wiki.org agree on 1954–57.
  2. Light-value coupling: Japanese Wikipedia names it as the V's new feature; the 50mmf2.com review describes the behaviour — changing the shutter speed moves the aperture to hold the same exposure.
  3. Closest focus 0.9 m is from the 50mmf2.com review.
  4. No weight was found in a fetched source; the 50mmf2.com reviewer describes the camera only as very light.
  5. Filter mount: the small Rollei bayonet (Bay I) is the collector consensus for the Xenar Rolleicords, but the page documenting the bayonet sizes could not be fetched.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Xenar 75mm f/3.5 taking lens, Heidosmat f/3.2 viewing lens, small Rollei bayonet on both
  • Synchro-Compur MX with EV (light-value) scale and coupled aperture and speed levers — the IV has the same shutter without the coupling (Japanese Wikipedia)
  • Focus knob on the right side; a left-hand focus knob means a Va or Vb
  • Fixed focusing hood
  • Listing trap: 'Rolleicord V' in a title covers V, Va and Vb; the right-hand focus knob is the tell for a plain V

Rolleicord V (K3C):

  • Xenar 75mm f/3.5 over a Schneider or Zeiss Heidosmat f/3.2 (English Wikipedia table)
  • Synchro-Compur MX, 1–1/500 s plus B, X sync, with light-value (EV) coupling of aperture and speed (English and Japanese Wikipedia)
  • Focus knob still on the right side — the Va moved it to the left (Japanese Wikipedia)

Serial-range notes

about 1.55 million (one example)
A single dealer listing surfaced by search, not a published block; no fetched source gives the V serial range.

Specifications

Format
6×6 cm on 120 film, 12 exposures; the Rolleikin adapter takes 35mm (English Wikipedia) · 12 exposures
Finder
Waist-level folding hood over a ground-glass screen with magnifier; fixed hood · automatic — moving frame on the screen (Japanese Wikipedia credits the Rolleicord II with it) parallax correction
Shutter
Synchro-Compur MX leaf shutter in the taking lens; cocked by turning a lever under the lens clockwise, fired by turning it back (50mmf2.com) · 1–1/500 s, B · flash sync M and X sync (Synchro-Compur MX) · self-timer
Film advance
Knob, stopping with a click at each frame (50mmf2.com); the shutter is cocked separately at the lens
Back
Hinged; no interchangeable back
Meter
None
Motor drive
Not compatible
Country
West Germany (Braunschweig)
Accessories
Rolleikin 35mm adapter (English Wikipedia) · Rolleinar close-up lens pairs in the small bayonet · Bayonet lens hood and filters · Ever-ready case

Viewing lens: Heidosmat 75mm f/3.2, by Schneider or Zeiss per the English Wikipedia table. The 50mmf2.com reviewer found the finder dimmer than some TLRs but usable.

What reviewers say

History

The Rolleicord V (Franke & Heidecke’s K3C) was made from October 1954 to March 1957 by the English Wikipedia model table. It kept the IV’s Schneider-Kreuznach Xenar 75mm f/3.5 and Synchro-Compur MX shutter and added, per Japanese Wikipedia, light-value coupling: the aperture and shutter-speed levers lock together on an EV scale, so that moving one moves the other to hold the exposure. The 50mmf2.com review describes exactly that behaviour and advises setting the exposure first whenever the light changes.

As a Rolleicord it is wound by a knob that clicks to a stop at each frame, and the shutter is tensioned by a separate lever under the taking lens, turned one way to cock and back to fire. The focus knob is still on the right side; the Va of 1957 moved it to the left, which is the quickest way to tell the two apart in a listing that only says “Rolleicord V”. There is no meter, and the Xenar is a four-element Tessar type.

The 50mmf2.com reviewer calls it a “fabulous camera” and recommends it to anyone who likes TLRs — solid, light enough for a full day, sharp once stopped down and neutral in rendering — while listing the quirks honestly: controls that rattle, third-stop apertures with no markings, corners that smudge wide open and an advance knob that occasionally fails to unlock after a shot.

Expand Collapse

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.

Example photos

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Rolleicord V? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, DKK: a median of DKK 3,000 across 3 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-02 (middle half DKK 2,900–DKK 3,000). First day tracked.

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Rolleicord III · Rolleicord IV · Rolleicord Va · Rolleicord Vb

Lenses for this body: Xenar 75mm f/3.5 (Rollei)

Sources (4)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this camera, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.