One Roll Review - Rollei Retro 400s in 35mm

A quick review of Rollei Retro 400s -

Spring (strong) light, central London

process - 7 min in Ilfosol 3 (1+9); scanned with a Noritsu

Strong and contrasty

negatives, like pushed Tri X-

pleasing character

Olympus RC

Olympus RC

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Tech Specs

• E. Zuiko 42mm f/2.8 (to f/22) lens

• shutter speeds - 1/15 to 1/500 and B

• automatic shutter priority mode (A)

• hotshoe, cable release, tripod mount

• Flashmatic mode

• meter reads from ISO 25 to 800

• mechanical - can be used without a battery

• minimum focus distance: 0.9m

• 11cm x 7cm x 5cm - so small!

Pros

• sharp lens / useful focal length

• small and discreet

• simple operation

Cons

• ‘interesting’ bokeh

• no meter in manual mode

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Operation

Set a shutter speed, focus with the rangefinder patch and shoot.

The camera’s battery assisted A mode is a shutter priority mode: choose one of the six shutter speeds and the camera picks an aperture and fires. If it is too dark or too light, the camera won’t fire. You can also set the aperture/shutter manually.

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Flashmatic Mode

The best old-school flash mode!

First, get your vintage flash unit. Look for the GN (guide number) located somewhere on the back. A GN can be expressed in ft or m. Once you’ve found out the flash unit’s GN, line it up on the GN lever on the Olympus RC’s lens barrel (see below).

What is a GN?

The GN is the intensity of the flash unit, measured in distance (ft/m). Essentially the range of the flash at full power. The Olympus RC needs to know the intensity of the flash unit to give the correct exposure.

Now set the aperture dial to the ⚡ icon.

Now you’re in flashmatic mode. Focus and use the camera as normal. The camera will use your focus distance to control the aperture, nailing the flash exposure. Neat!

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• Something to remember about setting the guide number in Flashmatic mode: the GN is relevant to shooting IS0100 film. If you are shooting faster or slower film, you will need to adjust your GN accordingly. For example, if you shoot with IS0400 film (two additional stops of sensitivity) you need to move the GN lever two spaces up to adjust. Technically speaking, the GN increases by x1.4 with each stop. All you need to remember is that for each extra stop of film sensitivity, you move the lever one space.

• The camera uses defunct mercury 1.35v batteries. However you can use a replacement zinc/air battery with a 1.35v output. You’ll want the WeinCell MRB 625. It is also possible to use other batteries with voltage adaptors.

• The camera body is small enough that you can get up to 40 exposures on a roll of 36!

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