Last year, I sent my Rolleiflex SL66 in for a clean, lubrication, and repair service. It came back a few months later working much more smoothly, but still not perfectly. I mean, it's a 60 year old camera that has been used extensively; there's only so much that can be done. I can't help feeling that our time together is limited, and that at some point, the camera will freeze up and become a display piece. That being said, I don't mind working with broken cameras just so long as they are not too broken. I have an old Japanese rangefinder camera that needs to have its lens twisted hard to the right before shooting with it. You just have to be aware of the quirks. So, I'm pretty sure I'll be using the Rollei for many years to come. Still, I've been making a point to enjoy the process every time I go out to shoot. This weekend, I exposed a roll of Ilford Pan F+ and got several decent negatives. The image above was an 8 second exposure at f/32. I've been observing this tree for a number of years. The ivy is a new arrival on the scene. In the woodland, drama unfolds at a much slower pace. The old Rollei was more than up for the task.
