Distagon 50mm f/4 FLE (Rollei 6000)
Carl Zeiss · Rollei 6000 · 2003
Also known as: Rollei Distagon 50mm f/4 FLE HFT PQ · Rollei 50mm f4 Zeiss Distagon FLE PQ · Carl Zeiss Distagon 50mm f/4 FLE Rolleiflex 6000 · Distagon 4/50 FLE HFT PQ Rollei · Rollei 50mm F4 Distagon FLE · Rolleiflex 6008 Distagon 50mm FLE · Zeiss Distagon 50mm f/4 FLE PQ Rollei 6008 · ローライ ディスタゴン 50mm F4 FLE PQ · ディスタゴン PQ 50mm F4 FLE ローライ · ローライフレックス 6008 ディスタゴン 50mm FLE
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distagon 4/50 FLE HFT PQ (cat. no. 86 705) | Rollei 6000 | 2003 | — | — |
- Elements and groups (9/8), f/4–32, 75° diagonal and 57° horizontal field, closest focus 0.5 m, 82 mm diameter, 95 mm length, 880 g and the bayonet VI mount are from the System-6000 lens table in Rollei's 'Lenses and Dedicated Accessories' brochure (05.03), repeated by Rolleigraphy and the Wikipedia lens list; Japanese Wikipedia gives 8 groups, 9 elements, close-range correction, 0.5 m and a series VI attachment.
- Year. No source dates the lens. The January 1993 Rolleiflex 6008 brochure's only 50 mm Distagon is the seven-element PQ lens; the 2003 brochure (05.03) lists the FLE as the PQ 50, so it appeared between those dates. The year given is the earliest dated document, not a launch date. Greenspun's remark of the mid-1990s that the Rollei Zeiss 50 'does not incorporate a floating element' fits the same window.
- Against the seven-element lens. Same focal length, aperture, bayonet VI mount and closest focus; the FLE is 40 g heavier and a millimetre shorter, with two more elements and a third ring. Rollei's brochure claims 'outstanding performance right up to close-up' and 'unusually uniform illumination of the field' for the FLE, against 'remarkably good correction' for the older lens; no independent comparison was found.
- Hasselblad relative. Zeiss's Distagon CF 4/50 FLE for Hasselblad (1989) is a nine-element, eight-group lens with a floating front group; whether the Rollei lens is the same computation is not stated by any source consulted.
How to tell them apart
- Three rings on a compact Rollei-bayonet 50: the third sets the floating elements — the seven-element Distagon 50 and the Rolleigon 50 have two rings, and the Schneider 50 f/2.8 moves its floating group with the focusing ring
- 'FLE' in the engraving and 'PQ lens' beside the aperture figures; bayonet VI filter mount; about 880 g
- Not the Hasselblad Distagon CF/CFi 4/50 FLE, which has a Prontor shutter, a bayonet 60 filter mount and no electrical contacts
Distagon 4/50 FLE HFT PQ (cat. no. 86 705):
- Three rings: aperture, focus, and a floating-element ring set to the subject distance (Rolleigraphy's photograph of the lens)
- 'PQ lens' beside the aperture figures with an 'A' position; 'FLE' in the engraving; bayonet VI filters, 82 × 95 mm, 880 g (Rollei 2003 lens table)
- Distagon 4/50 FLE HFT PQ (cat. no. 86 705): The only version: Rolleigraphy lists the FLE as PQ alone, catalogue number 86 705, and Rollei's 2003 brochure carries it as the system's PQ 50 beside the seven-element EL lens. No PQS, EL or autofocus FLE 50 is recorded, and no FLE 50 was made for the SL66. Full exposure modes on the 6008, 6003 and 6001; limited modes on the SLX, 6006 and 6002; manual focus on the Hy6; top speed 1/500 s.
Specifications
- Formula
- Distagon (retrofocus) with manually set floating elements, 9 elements in 8 groups
- Construction
- 9 elements / 8 groups
- Aperture range
- f/4–f/32
- Shutter
- Electronic leaf shutter in the lens, 30 s–1/500 s, diaphragm and shutter driven by two linear motors (PQ)
- Min. focus
- 0.5 m
- Dimensions
- 82 × 95 mm
- Weight
- 880 g
- Filter
- Rollei bayonet VI; bayonet VI hood
- Years manufactured
- 2003
- Country
- Germany
- Coating
- HFT multicoating
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 Distagon 4/50 FLE is the second 50 mm Zeiss design for the Rolleiflex 6000 bayonet, a nine-element, eight-group lens with a floating group set by a third ring on the barrel, replacing the seven-element Distagon 50 that had served since the SLX of 1976. The counts match Zeiss’s Distagon CF 4/50 FLE for Hasselblad of 1989. Rollei’s lens table gives f/4–32, a 75° field, closest focus 0.5 m, 82 mm across, 95 mm long and 880 g, with the same bayonet VI filter mount as the older lens; the brochure promises ‘outstanding performance right up to close-up’ and an ‘unusually uniform illumination of the field’ that it recommends for landscapes with a critical blue sky. Like every lens of the system it carries its own leaf shutter and diaphragm driven by linear motors through ten gold-plated contacts, and as a PQ lens its top speed is 1/500 s.
When it arrived is bracketed rather than known. The January 1993 Rolleiflex 6008 brochure lists one 50 mm Distagon, the seven-element PQ, and Greenspun’s mid-1990s complaint that the Rollei Zeiss 50 lacked a floating element while the Hasselblad lens had one fits that picture; by Rollei’s ‘Lenses and Dedicated Accessories’ brochure of 2003 the FLE, catalogue number 86 705, was the PQ 50, with the seven-element optic continuing as the cheaper EL lens with a 67 mm filter thread. Rolleigraphy lists the FLE in the PQ generation only; no PQS, EL or autofocus version followed, and the SL66 never had an FLE 50. It gives all four exposure modes on the 6008, 6003 and 6001, limited modes on the SLX, 6006 and 6002, and manual focus on the Hy6.
No published review of the Rollei-mount FLE 50 was found; Rolleigraphy’s photograph of it, with its three rings and a chrome Rollei R1.5 skylight filter in bayonet VI, is the clearest picture of the lens on record. The practical point for a buyer is telling it from the older lens: a ‘Distagon 50 PQ’ with two rings is the seven-element optic, and the third ring is the FLE. Left open: the launch year, a list price, production and serial data, and whether the Rollei and Hasselblad FLE computations are the same.
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 Distagon 50mm f/4 FLE (Rollei 6000)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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