Distagon 55mm f/4 (Wide-Angle Rolleiflex)
Carl Zeiss · Rolleiflex TLR · 1961
Known as “Rolleiwide”, “Rollei-Wide”
Also known as: Wide-Angle Rolleiflex Distagon 55mm f/4 · Rolleiflex Wide Distagon 55mm F4 · Rollei Wide Angle Rolleiflex Distagon · Rolleiwide Distagon 4/55 · Rolleiflex Wide Angle Carl Zeiss Distagon 55 · Rollei-Wide · ワイドローライ ディスタゴン 55mm F4 · ワイドアングルローライフレックス ディスタゴン · ローライフレックス ワイド ディスタゴン 55mm
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distagon 55/4 on the Wide-Angle Rolleiflex (1961–1967) | Rolleiflex TLR | 1961–1967 | — | — |
- Formula: a Distagon by name, so a retrofocus wide-angle; no source read for this page gives the element or group count. A Blue Moon Camera museum listing surfaced by search describes the taking lens as 'a seven-element reverse telephoto', a single dealer statement, so `elements` is left empty.
- Production: 3,600 (en.wikipedia, from the Prochnow-style model table) against about 4,000 by serial-number reckoning (Leon Van Kemenade, 35mmc). The Wikipedia figure is the better sourced. Either makes the Wide the scarcest classic Rolleiflex and the lens the reason for its price.
- Filter: Bay IV, which Japanese Wikipedia assigns to the Wide-Angle Rolleiflex and the later 4.0FW. The field of view is roughly that of a 28 mm lens on 35 mm film (Blue Moon Camera, via search).
- Years: 1961 (ja.wikipedia; en.wikipedia K7W) to 1967, with a second version adding 220 film partway through (dealer listings via search). Shutter: Synchro-Compur MXV, 1s–1/500 and B, from the body page. No minimum focus, blade count or weight was found for the lens, and no review of the lens's optics was found within the search done for this page.
How to tell them apart
- A fixed taking lens on the Wide-Angle Rolleiflex only: Carl Zeiss Distagon 1:4 f=55mm on the front ring, Bay IV bayonet, under a matching Heidosmat 55 viewing lens; the camera's front standard is wider and squatter than a 2.8F's
- Not the Schneider Super-Angulon 50mm f/4 HFT of the Rolleiflex 4.0FW (2002 on), the modern wide TLR, nor the Hasselblad, SL66 or 6000-series Distagons, which are removable
Distagon 55/4 on the Wide-Angle Rolleiflex (1961–1967):
- Front ring reads Carl Zeiss Distagon 1:4 f=55mm with a Zeiss serial, inside the Bay IV bayonet, below a Heidosmat 4/55 viewing lens, on the only classic Rolleiflex with a 55 mm lens
- The second body version (from mid-production) takes 220 film; the lens is the same on both
- Distagon 55/4 on the Wide-Angle Rolleiflex (1961–1967): The one lens of the Wide-Angle Rolleiflex ('Rolleiwide', ワイドローライ in Japan), Franke & Heidecke's wide twin-lens reflex of 1961–1967, Prochnow's K7W. English Wikipedia gives 3,600 built; 35mmc's reviewer of the Tele, from serial data, puts the Wides at about 4,000. A seven-element retrofocus construction is stated by a dealer listing only.
Specifications
- Formula
- Distagon retrofocus wide-angle; the element and group count is not given by any source read for this page (a dealer listing surfaced by search calls it a seven-element reverse-telephoto design)
- Aperture range
- f/4
- Shutter
- Synchro-Compur MXV, 1s–1/500, B
- Filter
- Bay IV
- Years manufactured
- 1961–1967
- Country
- West Germany
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 55mm f/4 is the taking lens of the Wide-Angle Rolleiflex, the wide twin-lens reflex Franke & Heidecke made from 1961 to 1967 (Prochnow’s K7W; “Rolleiwide” to collectors, ワイドローライ in Japan). It is the only wide-angle lens on any classic Rolleiflex and the only lens the Wide was offered with: a Carl Zeiss Distagon, the retrofocus design Zeiss had developed for single-lens reflexes, here fitted behind a Synchro-Compur MXV, 1 s to 1/500 with B, inside the Bay IV bayonet, with a matching Heidosmat 55 viewing lens above it. On the 6×6 frame it covers roughly what a 28mm lens does on 35mm film. The camera was Rollei’s answer, with the Tele-Rolleiflex of 1959, to the interchangeable-lens Mamiya TLRs: a whole camera per focal length rather than a removable lens pair.
Very few were made. English Wikipedia’s model table gives 3,600; Leon Van Kemenade, writing about the Tele for 35mmc, reckons about 4,000 Wides from serial data, against some 8,500 Teles. A second version partway through production added the 12/24 switch for 220 film; the lens is the same on both. That scarcity, and the fact that the lens cannot be had any other way, is why the Wide has long been the most expensive of the classic Rolleiflexes, and why its surviving examples are mostly in collections rather than in use. No source read for this page gives the lens’s construction; a dealer’s museum listing calls it a seven-element reverse-telephoto design, which is plausible for a Distagon of 1961 but stands alone, so the element count is left open here.
Nothing found within the search done for this page tests the lens on film, so there is no review to report; dealers describe it as sharp and well corrected, which is dealers’ language. What applies to any Rolleiflex applies here, with more at stake: the taking lens is checked for separation and haze, the Compur for slow speeds, and the whole camera for originality, since a Wide is bought as much for what it is as for what it does. Its modern successor is the Rolleiflex 4.0FW of 2002, with a Schneider Super-Angulon 50mm f/4 HFT, a different lens with a wider view and multicoating, on the body of the 2.8GX.
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 55mm f/4 (Wide-Angle Rolleiflex)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
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