Rolleiflex Original (1929)
Franke & Heidecke · Fixed lens · 6×6 cm. The launch camera (models 611 and 612) took 117 film for six exposures; English Wikipedia's model table lists the 613 and 614 as 120-film versions, while Japanese Wikipedia says the Original took 117 and that some cameras were later converted to 120 — see disputed. · 1929
Known as “Original Rolleiflex”
Also known as: Rolleiflex Original · Rolleiflex Original 1929 · Rolleiflex 1929 · Rolleiflex 6x6 Original · Rolleiflex Urmodell · Rolleiflex K1 · Rolleiflex 611 · Rolleiflex 613 · Rolleiflex Tessar 4.5 · Rolleiflex Tessar 3.8 · Rolleiflex 117 · ローライフレックス オリジナル · ローライフレックス 1929 · ローライフレックス 初代
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original, Tessar f/4.5, 117 film (model 611) | Rolleiflex TLR | 1929–1929 | 1–199999 (Japanese Wikipedia's block for the whole Original run; no split by model) | — |
| Original, Tessar f/3.8, 117 film (model 612) | Rolleiflex TLR | 1929–1929 | — | — |
| Original, Tessar f/4.5 (model 613) | Rolleiflex TLR | 1929–1932 | — | — |
| Original, Tessar f/3.8 (model 614) | Rolleiflex TLR | — | — | — |
- Model numbers 611–614, months and lens apertures are English Wikipedia's model table, which follows Prochnow's numbering; camera-wiki.org gives only 1928–32 for the Original as a whole.
- The bare shutter and lever operation, the knob wind, the ruby window and the 117 film are Japanese Wikipedia's description.
- No weight, dimensions or list price were found in the sources consulted.
How to tell them apart
- The only Rolleiflex with the Compur shutter standing exposed in front of the body and worked by levers on the shutter rim; every later model hides it behind a cast lens board
- Winding knob on the right side with a ruby window on the back — no crank, no automatic counter
- Tessar 7.5cm f/4.5 or f/3.8 (the f/3.5 arrived with the Standard of 1932) behind a Heidoscop Anastigmat f/3.1
- Body serial below 200000
- Built for 117 film: an unconverted camera and a 120 spool do not go together, and converted examples exist (Japanese Wikipedia)
Original, Tessar f/4.5, 117 film (model 611):
- Zeiss Tessar 7.5cm f/4.5 taking lens, Heidoscop Anastigmat f/3.1 viewing lens
- Bare Compur shutter standing proud of the front, cocked and released by levers on the shutter itself — no cast lens-board housing
- Winding knob and ruby window; no automatic frame counter
Original, Tessar f/3.8, 117 film (model 612):
- Tessar 7.5cm f/3.8 taking lens — the dearer option at launch
- Original, Tessar f/4.5, 117 film (model 611): January to July 1929 by English Wikipedia's model table; Compur 1–1/300 s plus B and T. Six exposures on 117 film.
- Original, Tessar f/3.8, 117 film (model 612): April to July 1929 (English Wikipedia). Same body and shutter as the 611.
- Original, Tessar f/4.5 (model 613): August 1929 to February 1932 (English Wikipedia), which lists it as the 120-film version; Japanese Wikipedia does not make that distinction — see disputed.
- Original, Tessar f/3.8 (model 614): The f/3.8 companion of the 613; English Wikipedia gives no dates for it.
Serial-range notes
- 1–199999
- Japanese Wikipedia's block for the Original, 1929–32. It is a reserved block rather than a count: the Standard that followed begins at 200000. No source consulted splits the block between the four models or gives a production figure.
Specifications
- Format
- 6×6 cm. The launch camera (models 611 and 612) took 117 film for six exposures; English Wikipedia's model table lists the 613 and 614 as 120-film versions, while Japanese Wikipedia says the Original took 117 and that some cameras were later converted to 120 — see disputed. · 6 on 117 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 leaf shutter (Deckel), exposed in front of the body and worked by its own levers · 1–1/300 s, B, T · flash sync none
- Film advance
- Winding knob; frames located by the ruby window, no automatic counter
- Back
- Hinged
- Meter
- None
- Country
- Germany
The f/3.1 viewing lens is the same aperture on every Rolleiflex until the Automat of 1937 brought an f/2.8 Heidoscop. No source consulted describes a sports-finder frame on the Original's hood.
Where sources disagree
- First
- 1929 — English Wikipedia (model 611 from January 1929, after a prototype in 1928); Japanese Wikipedia (1929, prototype 1928)
- 1928 — camera-wiki.org, which dates the Original 1928–32
Better supported: 1929
The 1928 date is the prototype showing; the sources with month-level dates put the first production cameras in January 1929.
- Notes (film)
- 120-film version from August 1929 — English Wikipedia's model table, which lists the 613 and 614 for 120 film
- 117 film throughout, with some cameras later converted to 120 — Japanese Wikipedia; Casual Photophile's Old Standard review calls the Standard of 1932 the first Rolleiflex to take 120
Not resolved here. The two readings are compatible if the later sources describe the launch camera only; the English Wikipedia table itself should be re-read before the 613 is described as a 120 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 Original Rolleiflex of 1929 is the camera that gave Franke & Heidecke of Braunschweig the product that defined the company. It grew out of the firm’s Heidoscop and Rolleidoscop stereo cameras, and it kept their reflex finder: a ground-glass screen under a folding hood, viewed through a Heidoscop Anastigmat f/3.1 that moves with the taking lens. camera-wiki’s point about the early Rolleiflex is that the finder was bright because the viewing lens had a large aperture, and that is the feature the whole line kept. English Wikipedia dates the introduction to 1929 after three years of development; Japanese Wikipedia and camera-wiki both mention a 1928 prototype, which is where the 1928 date in some references comes from.
The taking lens was a Zeiss Tessar 7.5cm, at f/4.5 on the models 611 and 613 and f/3.8 on the 612 and 614, in a Compur shutter running from 1 to 1/300 s with B and T. What marks the Original out from every later Rolleiflex is the shutter itself: Japanese Wikipedia describes it as a bare lens shutter projecting from the body, cocked and fired by levers on its rim, with no cast lens board around it. Film is wound by a knob and located by a ruby window, six exposures to a roll of 117. The 117 film is the practical problem today: it is long gone, an unconverted body does not take a 120 spool, and converted examples exist. Whether the models 613 and 614 of August 1929 onward were built for 120 is the one point on which the sources read here disagree: English Wikipedia’s table lists them for 120, Japanese Wikipedia has the Original on 117 with later conversions.
Production ran from January 1929 to February 1932 by English Wikipedia’s model table, within the serial block 1–199999 that Japanese Wikipedia assigns to the Original; the Standard that replaced it begins at 200000. No production total, weight or list price was found, and no published shooting review of an Original turned up, which is consistent with its standing as a collector’s camera rather than a user’s. The Standard of 1932 put the shutter behind a lens board, added a crank with a frame counter, and took 120 film, and from that point the Original was obsolete.
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 Original (1929)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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