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

Rolleiflex 2.8F

Franke & Heidecke · Fixed lens · 1960

single source, unconfirmed

Known as “white face (Type 4)”

Also known as: Rolleiflex 2.8F · Rollei 2.8F · Rolleiflex 2.8 F · Rolleiflex 2,8F · Rolleiflex 2.8F Planar · Rolleiflex 2.8F Xenotar · Rolleiflex 2.8F white face · Rolleiflex 2.8F 12/24 · Rolleiflex Planar 80mm F2.8 2.8F · Rolleiflex 2.8F Aurum · Rolleiflex 2.8F Platin · Rolleiflex K7F · ローライフレックス 2.8F · ローライフレックス 2.8F プラナー · ローライフレックス 2.8F クセノター · ローライフレックス 2.8F ホワイトフェイス · ローライフレックス2.8F

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
2.8F Type 1 (K7F) Rolleiflex TLR 1960–1965 2400000–2451850² (secondhand)
2,400,000–c.2,441,999² (dealer) 		Not published for any type; the serial block spans about 52,000 numbers if the secondhand table is right.
2.8F Type 2 (K7F2, 12/24) Rolleiflex TLR 1966–1966 — Not published.
2.8F Type 3 (K7F3) Rolleiflex TLR 1967–1973 2600000–2799999² (secondhand) Not published.
2.8F Type 4 (K7F4, 'white face') Rolleiflex TLR 1973–1981 — Not published.
2.8F Aurum Rolleiflex TLR 1982–1984 — 450 (ja.wikipedia); not confirmed elsewhere
2.8F Platin Rolleiflex TLR 1984–1990 — 500 (ja.wikipedia); not confirmed elsewhere
  1. Serial ranges are secondhand: a Douban compilation and a Catawiki listing, both surfaced by search and neither fetched. ja.wikipedia, the source of the other 2.8 blocks, gives none for the F in the packet. Treat the figures as orientation only.
  2. No production total for the 2.8F was found in any source; antiquecameras.net gives figures for the A through E only.
  3. Lens element count: antiquecameras.net says the F's Planar and Xenotar are five-element lenses and ties the six-element switch (Planar after serial 2753002, Xenotar after 2299547, about 1962) to the 3.5E and 3.5F alone; Dusty Grain also gives the F's Planar as 5 elements in 4 groups. Dealer listings describing a 'six-element Planar' on late 2.8Fs (Flashback Camera, search result) contradict this, and no document supporting them was found.
  4. Weight 1.25 kg and 147 × 109 × 108 mm are Dusty Grain's figures with no stated source. Closest focus is 0.9 m by Dusty Grain and 1 m by Foale; both agree the Rolleinar close-up lenses are needed below that.
  5. The five-bladed aperture is stated by Simon Foale for his Planar camera.
  6. The 220 capability from 1966 is ja.wikipedia's; en.wikipedia's table splits the F into K7F, K7F2, K7F3 and K7F4 by date but does not say what changed at each step.
  7. Edition counts of 450 Aurum and 500 Platin are ja.wikipedia's only; en.wikipedia lists the editions with single years, 1983 and 1987.
  8. Current prices quoted by the reviewers: $2,000–5,000 by condition and accessories (Dusty Grain, 2022); $2,500–3,000 for a good example and at least $700 for a full service by Harry Fleenor (Takeuchi, 2021); AUD 4,000–5,000 (Foale, 2023).
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Coupled meter: the needle on the focusing knob moves with the light-value dials and the cell is in the nameplate; on an E the needle is read and the dials set separately, and an unmetered F does not exist (en.wikipedia)
  • Removable hood with magnifier and fold-out sports finder; a prism can replace it
  • 12/24 selector on the counter from 1966 (ja.wikipedia) — an F without one is a Type 1
  • 'White face': silver nameplate and lens rings from 1973, usually with a Xenotar (en.wikipedia; Takeuchi)
  • Synchro-Compur MXV, 1–1/500 s, with self-timer; Bay III filter bayonet
  • Planar or Xenotar 80mm f/2.8, five elements in four groups (antiquecameras.net; Dusty Grain)
  • Listing trap: the 2.8GX of 1987 and the 2.8FX of 2001 copy the F's face and are sold with 'F' in the title; they have a battery-powered TTL meter and HFT-coated Planar and no selenium cell. The Aurum and Platin editions carry the 2.8F name but were built after regular production ended

2.8F Type 1 (K7F):

  • Coupled selenium meter in the nameplate, needle on the focusing knob following the light-value dials; Synchro-Compur MXV 1–1/500 s + B; self-timer; removable hood (en.wikipedia)
  • Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm f/2.8 taking lens in en.wikipedia's table; Xenotar cameras also exist throughout the run (antiquecameras.net)
  • 120 only: no 12/24 selector on the counter

2.8F Type 2 (K7F2, 12/24):

  • 12/24 selector for 220 film, from 1966 (ja.wikipedia)

2.8F Type 3 (K7F3):

  • 12/24 counter; black-face nameplate as on the Types 1 and 2

2.8F Type 4 (K7F4, 'white face'):

  • Light-coloured (silver) nameplate and lens-ring faces where earlier types are black — the collectors' 'white face'
  • Schneider Xenotar listed as the taking lens for this type in en.wikipedia's table; Floyd Takeuchi's late-1970s white-face camera has a Xenotar (35mmc). Planar white-face cameras are offered by dealers (KEH listing, search result)

2.8F Aurum:

  • Gold-plated metalwork and lizard-skin covering; serial on its own plate

2.8F Platin:

  • Platinum-plated metalwork; en.wikipedia spells the edition 'Platinum'

Serial-range notes

2400000–2451850
Type 1 block from a Douban compilation surfaced by search and not fetched (the page redirects); a Catawiki dealer listing, also unfetched, gives 2,400,000 to about 2,441,999 for the K7F. Secondhand in both cases. Owners on Photrio report cameras a few hundred numbers outside their type's published block, so a serial near a boundary does not settle the type by itself.
2600000–2799999
Type 3 block from the same Douban compilation, which dates the type 1969–76 against en.wikipedia's January 1967 to January 1973. Secondhand and unconfirmed; no block was found for the Type 2 or Type 4.

Specifications

Format
12 on 120; 12 or 24 (220) on the Type 2 of 1966 and later (ja.wikipedia) exposures
Finder (main)
removable folding waist-level hood over a ground glass with flip-up magnifier; Heidosmat 80mm f/2.8 viewing lens
Finder (sports finder)
eye-level frame finder formed by folding the front panel of the hood
Finder (prism)
optional eye-level pentaprism in place of the hood
Shutter
Synchro-Compur MXV leaf shutter in the taking lens; cocked by the winding crank · 1–1/500 s, B · flash sync M and X at all speeds, selector on the shutter (en.wikipedia; Dusty Grain); the 1/500 ceiling is the limitation Takeuchi names, flash at any speed the compensation · self-timer
Film advance
folding crank; winding cocks the shutter; 12/24 counter for 120 or 220 from 1966
Meter
Selenium cell in the nameplate, coupled: the needle on the focusing knob follows the light-value dials and is matched by setting them (en.wikipedia). No battery; a red band marks underexposure (Dusty Grain). Accuracy depends on the cell's history, and reviewers who relied on one found it dead (Foale) or recommend a hand-held meter (Dusty Grain)
Weight
1250 g
Dimensions
147 × 109 × 108 (Dusty Grain) mm
Country
West Germany

The removable hood is the F generation's feature (en.wikipedia). Many screens are dim (Takeuchi), and both Takeuchi and the Dusty Grain review mention replacement bright screens; Simon Foale calls the left-right reversal a quirk quickly got used to.

Full coverage, at a cost in weight and bulk (Dusty Grain).

Where sources disagree

Years
  • January 1973 – October 1981 — en.wikipedia's K-code table
  • 1976–80 — camera-wiki

Better supported: January 1973 – October 1981

Takeuchi's late-1970s camera fits either; the table carries month-level dates.

Years
  • January 1967 – January 1973 — en.wikipedia
  • 1969–76 — the Douban serial compilation (search result, not fetched)

Better supported: January 1967 – January 1973

Serial ranges
  • 2400000–2451850 — Douban compilation (secondhand)
  • 2,400,000–c.2,441,999 — Catawiki dealer listing (secondhand)

Neither fetched; the two agree on the start and differ by about 10,000 at the end.

Related lenses
  • Five elements in four groups for the F's Planar and Xenotar — antiquecameras.net (six elements only on the 3.5E/F), Dusty Grain
  • Six-element Planar on late cameras — Flashback Camera dealer listings (search result)

Better supported: five elements

antiquecameras.net says explicitly that the six-element 3.5 models are the only Rolleiflex TLRs with a six-element normal lens.

Years
  • 1982–84, 450 made — ja.wikipedia
  • 1983 — en.wikipedia's table, no count

Better supported: 1982–84

Years
  • 1984–90, 500 made — ja.wikipedia; camera-wiki also 1984–90
  • 1987 — en.wikipedia's table, no count

Better supported: 1984–90

Weight (grams)
  • 1,250 g — Dusty Grain, source unstated
  • About 2.5 lb (roughly 1,130 g) for the 2.8C, which shares the body — Camera Legend

The F carries a meter the C lacks; neither figure is a factory weight.

What reviewers say

History

The 2.8F is the Rolleiflex that the word usually means. It went into production in June 1960 by en.wikipedia’s K-code table and stayed there until October 1981, twenty-one years that no other classic Rolleiflex approached, and it is the model the 2.8GX of 1987 and the 2.8FX of 2001 were built to resemble. Mechanically it is the 2.8E with the meter finished: the selenium cell in the nameplate now drives a needle on the focusing knob that follows the light-value dials, so exposure is set by matching rather than by reading and transferring, and the focusing hood comes off for a prism. The shutter is the Synchro-Compur MXV, 1–1/500 s with M and X synchronisation at every speed and a self-timer; the lens is Carl Zeiss’s Planar 80mm f/2.8 or Schneider’s Xenotar, five elements in four groups by antiquecameras.net and by the Dusty Grain review, with a five-bladed diaphragm (Foale) and a closest focus of 0.9 or 1 m depending on who measures. The Xenotar camera was listed a little below the Planar on the E, and dealers still price them apart; the ausgeknipst buying guide, as surfaced by search, calls the two practically equivalent, and Camera Legend’s author, who owned one of each on the C and F, preferred his Xenotar and said so as a matter of taste.

Four types are distinguished by date in en.wikipedia’s table — K7F to December 1965, K7F2 through 1966, K7F3 to January 1973, K7F4 to October 1981 — and by two visible changes. From 1966 the counter gained a 12/24 selector for 220 film (ja.wikipedia), and from 1973 the nameplate and lens rings went from black to a light finish, the ‘white face’ that collectors pay a premium for and that en.wikipedia’s table pairs with the Xenotar, as Floyd Takeuchi’s late-1970s camera bears out, though Planar white-face cameras are offered by dealers too. Serial numbers are the weak point of the record. ja.wikipedia, which gives blocks for every other 2.8, gives none for the F in the packet; a Douban compilation and a Catawiki listing, both surfaced by search and neither fetched, put the Type 1 at 2400000–2451850 or to about 2441999 and the Type 3 at 2600000–2799999, and Photrio owners report cameras a few hundred numbers outside the published blocks. No production total was found. After regular production ended came two plated editions: the Aurum, gold with lizard skin, 450 cameras in 1982–84 by ja.wikipedia, and the Platin, 500 cameras in 1984–90, which en.wikipedia dates 1983 and 1987 and calls Platinum.

The reviews agree on the camera and disagree on whether it is worth what it now costs. Jorge Ferrufino on Dusty Grain calls it the TLR everyone wants and a luxury for the advanced: smoother and quieter than a Rolleicord or Yashica Mat, a Planar of excellent contrast and “exceptional sharpness” with no edge vignetting, a prism that gives full coverage at a cost in bulk, and a meter whose accuracy depends on the camera’s history, so that a hand-held meter is the safer choice. He puts a good example at $2,000–5,000 by condition, case and accessories, and warns that repair is costly, slow and rare. Floyd Takeuchi’s white-face Xenotar, overhauled by Harry Fleenor and fitted with a Maxwell screen because so many Rolleiflex screens are dim, gives him prints that are sharp but not clinical, “a more organic look” than his digital work; he names the 1/500 top speed as the one limitation and flash sync at every speed as the compensation, prices a good camera at $2,500–3,000 and a full Fleenor service at $700 or more, and calls it the one camera he will never sell. Simon Foale, who had his father’s Planar camera for two and a half years before a burglary took it, found the lens “fabulous” and the left-right reversal a quirk quickly learned, replaced the dead meter with a Sekonic, and concludes that “a lovely camera” though it is, its image quality is not special enough to justify the AUD 4–5k a good example now costs.

Two cautions for the buyer. The 2.8GX and 2.8FX copy the F’s face and are listed with ‘F’ in the title, but carry a battery-powered TTL meter and an HFT-coated Planar and no selenium cell; and dealers describing a six-element Planar on late 2.8Fs are contradicted by antiquecameras.net, which confines the six-element lenses to the 3.5E and 3.5F and says they are the only Rolleiflex TLRs ever made with one. The selenium meter, coupled or not, is sixty years old on the youngest camera, and every reviewer here either found it dead or stopped trusting it.

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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

More sample photos elsewhere

These photographers keep all rights to their work — enjoy it at the source.

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Rolleiflex 2.8F? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, EUR: a median of €2,500 across 3 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-02 (middle half €1,700–€2,500). First day tracked.

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

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

Related: Rolleiflex 2.8E / E2 / E3 · Rolleiflex 2.8FX / 2.8FX-N · Rolleiflex 2.8GX · Rolleiflex 3.5F

Lenses for this body: Planar 80mm f/2.8 (Rolleiflex) · Xenotar 80mm f/2.8 (Rolleiflex)

Sources (12)

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.