Rollei made a few mistakes.The first Rollei Magic TLR might be considered a mistake by some, although those who know how to use it, have found it a great great camera. Tthe Some consider antoehr to have beena mistake--Rolleiflex SL26, from the mid-sixties, now long forgotten, except for any surviving Rollei designers and marketers--a few Kodak insiders, and perhaps a few users from the era. It is misunderstood if considered at all.
When the Camera came out, I recall discussing it with my older multi-talented friend John Reno, my sometimes photographer mentor back in the day. It created quite a stir in the photographic world, the film format wars waged. Kodak's proven 126 cassettes format success had moved Rollie to build a fine camera, a rather sexy little Single Lens Reflex, with lens interchangeability, for the Kodak cartridge film system then so well-known as Instamatic. Kodak brought out the Instamatic Camera, cartridge, and flash system in 1963. Had Rollei read the tea leaves earlier and acted, the story might have been different.
You can probably go through any box of junk from the mid sixties until the end of the eighties and find an instamatic camera. According to Kodak, there were some 75 million Instamatic cameras sold. Who would have known that they wouldn't just go on for ever? Rollie's timing with this amazing little Rollieflex SL 26 was just too late and it didn't fly long enough--so not very well.
The majority of that incredible total 75 million Instamatic cameras sold by Kodak, had already been sold by the time the cool little Rollieflex SL26 came out in 1968.
The following Wikipedia stub succinctly tells about the Rollie SL26. It just takes a moment to hop over and read this link when you finish here. Rollei SL26 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
What a beatuiful piece of work this Rollei kit is--in every good way. It might have become the flagship Rolle product, had the long-fought battle between Kodak and the makers of 35mm cameras and films. It was an old style production warKodak and Rollei were fighting; similar strategies had worked before. But this time Kodak eventually lost--and by default so did Rollei. Or did they. Well, they lost the war, but certainly not this battle. The sales for the Rollei SL 26 were significant. But this time Rollei read it right. They stopped producing the ill-fated format camera at precisely the correct time. 35mm had won. 126 Instamatic cassettes would soon be camera history.
Consider these facts: The SL 26 was the smallest automatic SLR, with the fastest lens interchangeablility ever--a totally new lens change concept. The Zeiss lenses were among the best optics ever made. With the 126 instamatic cassette system, changing film couldn't be faster. The camera arrived on the scene at a crucial time of film technology, bringing forth new film emulsions that could be blown up like never before, with outstanding color.
The lenses are interchangeable in an odd way. The lens mount and base remain in place while the top part of the lens changes out in about on eheartbeat. Three lenses standard, wide, and telephoto make it a very usable system. It is small, light, well-balance, and runs on one flat battery cell. When cassettes were widely available, I found this camera the one to take on a non-photographic vacation (is there really such a thing), for some undercover or expose work, and sometimes just to go out shooting. There are a hundred tricks of optics and flash and filters and homeade attachments that a creative photographer can use to expand the capabilities of this camera.I have evne used it up against the right telescope successfully.
John Reno and I actually discussed the wisdom of bringing out such a camera at this stage in 1969. From all indications the SL26, using 126 cartridges, was at the right place, and who would know that it wouldn't be a huge success. I didn't even know much about it other than seeing the advertisements in a few Photography Mags. But John, a marketer himself, questioned the wisdom of bring the little camera to market. I guess because of that, I have always followed the little camera. I have at least one left in my collection. It a very nice little camera. It is small and easily-carried. Has everything you could ask for in a compact camera. I like it still.
It came with a 40 mm lens as standard. And a case, and all the quality trimmings and hoop-la associated with other fine Rollie Cameras. When I get my collection upstairs, I will take some pictures of mine to post here, and I'll take a few pix with it to compare to other cameras to post here. You'll be impressed. I have been a marketer for a lot of my adult life--in one shape or another. I find it incredibly interesting how the success of a product can rise and fall by the timing of its announcement.
Rollie could not have guessed that the Instamatic product life-cycle was just then going flat. When any product comes out fresh, it has a slightly inclined beginning until people learn about it. If it is going to take off, it usually does fairly quickly, then the curve goes almost vertical for a while. It may take months, it may take years, but it will eventually begin to flatten out. In lay terms, the flat top of the bell-curve is that their is basically just replacement sales from initial buyers. There may still be a lot being sold, but no new sales, and as the bell curve starts to go down, it represents a decrease in sales.
Instamatic cameras and film actually had a full twenty-five year run. Not bad. So why didn't the Rolliefles SL26 fly. Maybe Rollie considers that it did. I just don't know. It is a fairly rare camera If you are a collector or jsut like neat little cameras, it is worth what you will pay for it on eBay right now. The price will surely increase steadily over the years. A good investment
The SL26 was and is a great camera design and Rollei made hay while the sun still shone. All-considered, the SL26 was among the most innovative and veratile cameras ever made. I LOVE this gem of a camera. The engineering is awesome. The optics are superb, and contrary to what some believe there are both sources through which to buy good 126 film in cassettes as well as options for hand-loading.
You can still find SL 26's on the used camera market for less than $200. Sometimes yhou have to watch and pick up the lenses and cases seperately. Each auxilary lens comes in a hard leather case. There are filters and other items to be had, but these are bedoming very sparce. My system includes two cameras with the base stardard 40mm lens. One can be outfitted with the 28mm wide angle lens or the 80mm Tele. These are each small enough to cary one in each vest pocket, or two in one pocket. The remaining lens and a handful of cassettes easily ride in a balancing pocket. I have traveled discretely just so outfitted many times. Long before the age of zoom and digital technologies--this was my ticket, and it still ain't that shabby.
BTW, you can get 126 cartridge after-market film from specialty suppliers. I'll put a link here to a couple, but any search for "Instamatic 126 film" should yeild plenty of sources.
