Interview Rollei: Medium Format and digital photography

Written by Editors CI Wednesday, 04 February 2004 11:49

17.12.2003

The very first interview on the internet with a camera-producer: Camera-info.com speaks with Rollei Germany about Medium Format and digital photography.

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This interview is the first out of a series with Rollei Fototechnic GmbH and Camera-info.com. We visited Rollei several times for the interviews in Braunschweig/ Germany. Each Interview out of this series deals about another subject and will be published on an unregular basis at Camera-info.com in the interview section.

 

This interview was held with Mr. Dietmar Kanzer, head of marketing Rollei Fototechnik GmbH in Braunschweig (Germany).

Subject of this interview is Medium Format and digital photography in general. In the following Interviews we will look closer at the Rollei Medium Format System and Rollei digital cameras.

Camera-info.com: Mr. Kanzer, Rollei has for decades been well-known for its innovative medium-format and 35mm cameras. The twin-lens Rollei and the Series 6000 MF systems were milestones in medium-format history. In our opinion, the Rollei 35 Series was a trendsetter for today's 35mm compact cameras and even after so many years is still extremely popular among photographers. Even at today's standards, all these old Rollei cameras still take great pictures. What is your personal assessment of developments in the digital field? Has the medium-format era come to an end?

Rollei: It is certainly true that over decades Rollei products have gained an outstanding reputation. And since the "digital fever" has spread only in the course of the last two years, this in the past was logically limited to the field of analog cameras.

By no means do we intend to say good-bye to the medium format. Its time is anything but over. The reasons speaking for the medium format, and particularly 6x6, remain unchanged even in the digital era. The format bonus remains fully applicable. Handling and quality craftsmanship are quite clearly on a different level in medium format than they will ever be in 35mm photography. Last but not least, the medium format is a far better teacher for good pictures. It teaches you to see differently. Others might call it "Concentration on basics". With a medium-format camera you take different pictures than with a 35mm camera. After all, many Rollei customers – the pros – need much higher quality and greater flexibility than is possible with 35mm.

Camera-info.com: What are the special requirements of professionals as compared to amateur photographers?

Rollei: This, of course, depends on the field of application. There are pros for whom speed is more important than image quality. In this case, 35mm undoubtedly is the system of choice (for sports, action, etc.). But there are also many professionals who need a maximum of quality, reliability, flexibility and future orientation. These will rely on the medium format even today. Wherever you need high-quality images for printing, you won't be able to do without the medium format. And this not only in analog photography. A digital back on a 6x6 camera produces pictures of clearly higher quality than on a 35mm camera. And this not only applies to possible enlargement.

A pro has to rely on his equipment. This is where quality craftsmanship comes in. Helfried Weyer, the well-known travel photographer, has even taken his Rollei equipment to the Arctic. Although the 6000 System is battery-driven, his Rollei never let him down. The breath-taking pictures in his books speak for themselves.

However, pros also have to consider technical orientation of a camera system to determine how open it is to future developments and how safe their investment is. In the case of Rollei, you can use all your old lenses, even if these were built for the SLX Series of the ninety seventies. There is hardly another manufacturer who can make the same claim. Digital photography has made the benefits of the Rollei 5x6 System even clearer. Professionals will use the same body, the same lenses as in the past. They need not look for new-formula lenses, since most of the existing interchangeable lenses are suitable for digital photography. Nor need they keep buying new bodies. They are independent of specific brands. Within 30 seconds they can exchange an analog back for a digital one. With no other 6x6 medium-format system is this as easy as in the Rollei 6000 System.

Camera-info.com: But digital backs for medium-format cameras are quite expensive. A digital 35mm SLR camera costs much less. You almost feel "out of touch" if you don't use a digital 35mm camera.

Rollei: As I had mentioned before, Rollei medium-format cameras are ideally equipped for the digital future. But you also have to take into account who is buying most of the digital cameras and for what purpose. We are not at all against digital. We too offer digital compact cameras. And this is good so. For even a medium-format photographer will occasionally take advantage of a small "go-everywhere" camera in cases where he would never have used medium format. But these applications are not as critical. Most digital compact cameras, however, are sold to less dedicated amateur photographers, people who even in the past would never have bought a medium-format camera.

The situation is different in the case of the high-end digital SLR cameras. If you look at the top-notch digital SLRs with 10 megapixels and more, you will find that these, too, have their price. The prices of digital backs will certainly go down in the future. This is a foregone conclusion. But you should not forget that the larger format has its benefits even with digital, as was mentioned before. The higher price is due to the fact that these backs are made in smaller numbers. But even in the past, medium format was slightly more expensive than 35mm. And still, there were and are many photographers who treasure the 6x6 medium format. A more budget-priced intermediate solution may be a medium-format scanner that gives the benefits of both worlds at a reasonable price and is open to future developments.

Another advantage of 6x6 over 35mm – overlooked by many at present – is the easy exchange of a 6x6 back. You do not need several cameras to shoot both on film and digital. With a Rollei camera, you simply change the back. There are many uses where the chip cannot match the quality of film. A flexible modular system, such as is offered by Rollei, is then of great advantage. Digital technology cannot yet do everything, nor has it reached the zenith of its development. Film, on the contrary, has been on the market much longer and is highly developed. Our emulsions have never been better, and we know how long they can be stored – something we still ignore when it comes to digital data. The belief in CD-ROMs can almost be frightening. A system built for both worlds may here be a very reasonable approach.

As you can see, the medium format has actually more pros than cons – even in the digital era.

Camera-info.com: So Rollei's inclusion of digital cameras in its product lineup should not be interpreted as a withdrawal from the 6x6 field?

Rollei: No, certainly not. We simply offer different products for different uses. This was our policy in the past, and it will be our policy in the future. In the 6000 medium-format system we certainly have reached the limits of what is technically possible with 6x6. There will hardly be another 6x6 manufacturer who offers such high technology and so much shooting comfort in a 6x6 body without the need for accessories. Discerning amateurs and professional photographers are clearly our most important customers in this area.

The field of digital compact cameras should rather be seen as a complement, both for present Rollei customers and for new customers who appreciate the pros of the Rollei brand and who wish to buy a good "go-everywhere" digital camera.

Camera-info.com: Thank you very much for the interview, Mr. Kanzer.

If you want to read user experiences with Rollei cameras, check out our Rollei community forum.