Rolleiflex New Standard
Franke & Heidecke · Fixed lens · 6×6 cm, 12 exposures on 120 · 1939
Known as “New Standard”, “Standard Neu”
Also known as: Rolleiflex New Standard · Rolleiflex Standard Neu · Rolleiflex Standard New · Rolleiflex Standard 1939 · Rolleiflex 640 · Rolleiflex K4 640 · Rolleiflex New Standard Tessar 3.5 · ローライフレックス ニュースタンダード · ローライフレックス スタンダードノイ · ローライフレックス 新スタンダード
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Standard (Standard Neu), K4 640 | Rolleiflex TLR | 1939–1941 | 805000–927999 (Japanese Wikipedia) | — |
- Dates, lens, viewing lens and shutter are English Wikipedia's model table (K4 640, May 1939–Jul 1941); camera-wiki.org agrees on 1939–41.
- The body description — Automat styling without the automatic film start, red window for frame 1 then auto-stop, bayonets on both lenses — is Japanese Wikipedia's.
- No weight, dimensions, production figure or list price was found in the sources consulted.
How to tell them apart
- Looks like a pre-war Automat — bayonet rims on both lenses, cast lens board, crank — but has a red window on the back, which no Automat has
- Heidoscop f/3.1 viewing lens engraved on the upper lens, where an Automat reads f/2.8
- Tessar 75mm f/3.5 in a Compur-Rapid to 1/500 s, no flash contact
- Body serial between 805000 and 927999
New Standard (Standard Neu), K4 640:
- Zeiss Tessar 75mm f/3.5 in a Compur-Rapid 1–1/500 s, Heidoscop Anastigmat f/3.1 viewing lens
- Automat-style body with bayonet rims on both lenses, but frame 1 is still found in the red window before the counter takes over (Japanese Wikipedia)
- New Standard (Standard Neu), K4 640: May 1939 to July 1941 by English Wikipedia's model table; the only model. Sold beside the Automat as the cheaper camera.
Serial-range notes
- 805000–927999
- Japanese Wikipedia's block for the Standard Neu, 1939–41. It begins at the number where the same source ends the pre-war Automat block (568516–805000), so the two lines were numbered in one sequence and the boundary is a block edge, not a date.
Specifications
- Format
- 6×6 cm, 12 exposures on 120 · 12 exposures
- Finder
- Folding waist-level hood over a ground-glass screen, viewed through a Heidoscop Anastigmat f/3.1 lens coupled to the taking lens
- Shutter
- Compur-Rapid leaf shutter · 1–1/500 s, B, T · flash sync none
- Film advance
- Folding crank with a frame counter; the first frame is located in the red window, after which the counter stops the film automatically (Japanese Wikipedia)
- Back
- Hinged
- Meter
- None
- Country
- Germany
The f/3.1 viewing lens of the Standard rather than the Automat's f/2.8 — one of the savings that made it the cheaper camera.
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
History
The New Standard, or Standard Neu, was Franke & Heidecke’s cheaper 6×6 camera of May 1939 to July 1941, sold alongside the Automat that had been on the market since 1937. English Wikipedia’s model table gives it one number, K4 640, and one specification: Zeiss Tessar 75mm f/3.5 in a Compur-Rapid running 1 to 1/500 s with B and T, behind a Heidoscop Anastigmat f/3.1 viewing lens. Its appearance gave the older Standard of 1932 the “Old Standard” name by which it has been known since. Japanese Wikipedia places it in the serial block 805000–927999, which starts at the number where the same source ends the pre-war Automat block, so the two lines shared a sequence.
What separates it from the Automat is the film transport. Japanese Wikipedia describes the New Standard as an Automat-style body without automatic loading: the first frame is found through a red window on the back, after which the counter stops the film at each frame. The Automat’s feeler rollers sense the film and need no window at all. The viewing lens is the f/3.1 of the Standards rather than the Automat’s f/2.8 Heidoscop. Both lenses carry bayonet rims, as on the Automat, so hoods and filters interchange with it. In the hand it is a pre-war Automat with a red window and a slightly dimmer screen; that window is the quickest way to tell the two apart.
The war ended its run after a little over two years, and no production figure, weight or list price was found in the sources consulted. No published shooting review turned up either. It is the least documented of the pre-war Rolleiflexes, and for a user the Automat of the same years offers the same lens and shutter with the better finder and the automatic film start.
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 Rolleiflex New Standard? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.