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

Rolleicord Vb

Franke & Heidecke · Fixed lens · 6×6 cm on 120 film, 12 exposures; a 16-exposure accessory kit was catalogued (reader comments on the Emulsive review, and Rollei's Rolleikin for 35mm) · 1962

Also known as: Rolleicord Vb · Rollei Rolleicord Vb · Rolleicord Vb Xenar 75mm f/3.5 · Rolleicord Vb Xenar 75mm F3.5 · Rolleicord Vb Type 1 · Rolleicord Vb Type 2 · Rolleicord 5b · ローライコード Vb · ローライコードVb クセナー · Rollei Rolleicord Vb TLR

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Rolleicord Vb Type 1 (K3Vb) Rolleiflex TLR 1962–1966 — —
Rolleicord Vb Type 2 (K3Vb) · [object Object] Rolleiflex TLR 1966–1977 — —
  1. Dates: English Wikipedia model table (Type 1 April 1962–1966, Type 2 1966–January 1977); its lead text says 1976, and camera-wiki.org gives 1962–66 / 1966–70 / 1970–77 for three types.
  2. Weight 940 g (2.07 lb) is from the Emulsive review of a single camera; no manufacturer figure was fetched.
  3. Shutter, lens and sync from the English Wikipedia table; the Type 2 row lists 'Synchro Compur MX' where the Type 1 row lists MXV, and the table gives no lens for the Type 2 row.
  4. Brand: Franke & Heidecke became Rollei-Werke Franke & Heidecke in 1962, so Vb nameplates and paperwork carry the Rollei-Werke name.
  5. Self-timer: the V in Synchro-Compur MXV denotes the built-in delay (Vorlaufwerk); no fetched review describes using it.
  6. 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, so the size is not stated as fact.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Rolleicord nameplate with removable focusing hood — the only Rolleicord whose hood lifts off (Japanese Wikipedia)
  • Xenar 75mm f/3.5 taking lens and Heidosmat f/3.2 viewing lens, both with the small Rollei bayonet
  • Synchro-Compur MXV shutter with coupled aperture and speed levers that can be decoupled by pressing one in while moving it (35mmc)
  • Knob wind on the right, focus knob on the left (moved to the left on the Va and kept here — Japanese Wikipedia), one cock-and-fire lever under the taking lens
  • Listing trap: Rolleicord V, Va and Vb all carry a Xenar and look alike at thumbnail size; the removable hood and the MXV shutter mark a Vb, and sellers often omit the letter

Rolleicord Vb Type 1 (K3Vb):

  • Schneider-Kreuznach Xenar 75mm f/3.5 taking lens over a Schneider Heidosmat 75mm f/3.2 viewing lens (English Wikipedia model table)
  • Synchro-Compur MXV shutter, 1–1/500 s plus B, X sync (English Wikipedia)
  • Removable focusing hood — the feature that separates a Vb from a Va (Japanese Wikipedia)

Serial-range notes

about 2.6 million
Dealer listings surfaced by search cluster Vb bodies around 2.6 million. This is a secondhand observation from listing snippets, not a published serial table; no fetched source gives the Vb serial block.

Specifications

Format
6×6 cm on 120 film, 12 exposures; a 16-exposure accessory kit was catalogued (reader comments on the Emulsive review, and Rollei's Rolleikin for 35mm) · 12 exposures
Finder
Waist-level folding hood over a ground-glass screen, with built-in magnifier; the hood is removable on the Vb and a Rollei prism finder fits in its place · automatic — a moving frame on the screen (Japanese Wikipedia credits the Rolleicord II with the automatic parallax frame, carried through the line) parallax correction
Shutter
Synchro-Compur MXV leaf shutter in the taking lens; cocked and fired by one lever below the taking lens — slide it to the right to cock, to the left to fire (Emulsive, 35mmc) · 1–1/500 s, B · flash sync X sync at all speeds, M available (Synchro-Compur MXV); PC socket · self-timer
Film advance
Knob on the right side with automatic frame stop and a 1–12 counter (Emulsive); the shutter is cocked separately at the lens
Back
Hinged, with a loading start mark; no interchangeable back
Meter
None — an exposure table is printed on the back (Emulsive)
Motor drive
Not compatible
Weight
940 g
Country
West Germany (Braunschweig)
Accessories
Rollei prism finder in place of the removable hood · 16-exposure kit (mentioned by readers of the Emulsive review) and the Rolleikin 35mm adapter (English Wikipedia) · Rolleinar close-up lens pairs in the small bayonet · Bayonet lens hood and filters · Ever-ready case

The viewing lens is a Schneider Heidosmat 75mm f/3.2 (English Wikipedia table). The Emulsive review describes a hard plastic screen with a built-in magnifier under the folding hood.

Where sources disagree

Last
  • January 1977 — English Wikipedia model table (Vb Type 2)
  • 1976 — English Wikipedia lead text; the packet's camera-wiki/Wikipedia list
  • 1977 — camera-wiki.org (Vb Type 3, 1970–77)

Better supported: 1977

The month-level table is the more specific source; 1976 is a rounded form of the same date.

Variants
  • Two types: Type 1 1962–66, Type 2 1966–77 — English Wikipedia table
  • Three types: 1962–66, 1966–70, 1970–77 — camera-wiki.org model list

No fetched source says what distinguishes the camera-wiki Type 2 from its Type 3.

What reviewers say

History

The Rolleicord Vb is the last of the Rolleicords, the budget twin-lens reflex that Franke & Heidecke had sold beside the Rolleiflex since 1933. The English Wikipedia model table has it introduced in April 1962 and discontinued in January 1977, in two types split at 1966; camera-wiki.org counts three. What it added over the Va, according to Japanese Wikipedia, was a removable focusing hood, which let the camera take Rollei’s prism finder. Everything else is the Va’s specification carried on: a Schneider-Kreuznach Xenar 75mm f/3.5 taking lens over a Heidosmat f/3.2 viewing lens, a Synchro-Compur MXV shutter with 1–1/500 s, B and X sync, knob wind with an automatic frame stop, and no meter.

By 1962 the company had become Rollei-Werke Franke & Heidecke, and the Vb sold through the years of the 3.5F and the Rolleiflex T. It never got a crank or a self-cocking shutter: the Rolleicord’s defining economy, kept to the end, is that the film is wound by a knob and the shutter is cocked by a separate lever under the taking lens, slid one way to tension and the other to fire. The Emulsive reviewer weighed one at 940 g, lighter than an f/2.8 Rolleiflex.

In use the reviews agree on the shape of the experience. Shawn Mozmode on Emulsive gives it a plain “thumbs up” as a way into medium format without Rolleiflex prices, and lists the trade-offs honestly: twelve frames a roll, a 1/500 top speed, no meter and an exposure table on the back that he found confusing. Geoff Chaplin’s year-long TLR Challenge on 35mmc, shot on a late Vb, found that the camera’s shape and controls, not the reversed image, were what took about ten rolls to learn, and that the coupled aperture and shutter-speed levers remained an annoyance even after that.

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 Vb? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

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 IV · Rolleicord V · Rolleicord Va · Rolleiflex T · Rolleimagic

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

Sources (5)

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.