![]() ![]() So, we still require more data on current available cameras to better assess the evolution and sort out with certainty which are manipulated cameras and which are not. In my rough guess we would be in 1937, the year the Rolleiflex Automat made its appearance. Thus I can only conclude that the camera was assigned its number (247427) when model 423 was already in the batch that started on 522,000. If we try to get into the strange minds of F&H, in term of camera numbering, there would be no way in which a new but out-dated camera could be numbered above the superior model. Claus Prochnow (Rollei Report 1) is of course the major source of factory data, John Phillips (The Classic Rollei) gives a comprehensive account on the cameras’ evolution, and Ian Parker (Collectors’ Guide) is the best reference for serial number ranges of individual models. ![]() The development of a camera by F&H in the 4x4 format was also pushed by the competition in 127 format, as other brands (such as Zeiss-Ikon) were putting in the market 127 cameras in the early 30s (for example the Kolibri or the Baby Ikonta). This in spite that Leitz had been developing a 35mm (cine film) camera since 1925 (called Leica), which was gaining quite a success. So up to a point, regardless of the serious effort to manufacture the 4x4 Rolleiflex cameras with top quality, it was somewhat seen as a small replica of the ‘’real’’ Rolleiflex, the 6圆. At that time photographs were often not enlarged, but usually only contact prints were made. Back in the 1930s, 127 film format was considered as a small format not delivering the quality that professionals were used to. ![]()
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