The "Rolleiflex" name is most commonly used to refer to Rollei's premier line of
medium format twin lens reflex (TLR) cameras. (A companion line intended for amateur photographers,
Rolleicord, existed for several decades.) A variety of TLRs and
SLRs in medium format, zone focus and SLR
35 mm, as well as
digital formats have also been produced under the Rolleiflex label. The
120 roll film Rolleiflex series is marketed primarily to professional photographers. Rolleiflex cameras have used film formats
117 (Original Rolleiflex), 120 (Standard, Automat, Letter Models, Rollei-Magic, and T model), and
127 (Baby Rolleiflex). The Rolleiflex TLR film cameras were known for their exceptional quality, compact size, modest weight, superior optics, durability, simplicity, reliable mechanics and bright viewfinders. The high-quality 7.5 cm focal length lenses, manufactured by
Zeiss and
Schneider, allowed for a smaller, lighter, more compact camera than their imitators. The highly regarded Zeiss Planar f2.8 and Schneider Xenotar lenses, both 80mm focal length and fast in comparison, are both state of the art optics. Unique to the Rolleiflex Automat and letter model cameras, the mechanical wind mechanism was robust and clever, making film loading semi-automatic and quick. This mechanism started the exposure counter automatically, auto-spaced the 12 or (on the later model F cameras) 24 exposures, and tensioned the shutter; all with less than one full turn of the film advance crank. This makes the Rolleiflex Automat/Letter model cameras very sought after for shooting fast-paced action, such as
street photography. A range of
accessories made this camera a system: panorama head, sun shade, parallax-corrected close-ups lenses, color correction, contrast enhancing, and special effect filters, all mounted with a quick release bayonet, as well as a quick-change tripod attachment. Some professional, amateur, and fine-art photographers still shoot Rolleiflex TLR film cameras with color transparency, color negative, or black-and-white film. The later f2.8 and f3.5 letter models (Planar or Xenotar lens) are highly sought after in the used market, and command the greatest price. Historically there were five focal length cameras available including 5.5 cm Rollei-Wide, 6.0 cm Baby Rollei, 7.5 cm (f:3.5), 8.0 cm (f2.8), and 13.5 cm (f:4 Zeiss Sonnar) Tele-Rolleiflex. Although all Rolleiflex cameras can be fine user cameras, there is also an active market for many Rolleiflex models as collectables, and this adds (greatly in some models) to the end price paid, particularly in
Japan. Rolleiflex medium format cameras continued to be produced by
DHW Fototechnik up to 2014—a company founded by former Franke & Heidecke employees. DHW Fototechnik announced two new Rolleiflex cameras and a new electronic shutter for
photokina 2012. The company filed for insolvency in 2014 and was dissolved in April 2015, ending any further production. The factory production equipment and remaining stocks of parts were auctioned off in late April 2015. A smaller company was created again with former DHW Fototechnik employees, under the name
DW Photo at the same location. DW Photo focuses on producing the Rolleiflex Hy6 mod2 medium format SLR camera (digital & film), servicing existing cameras, including providing firmware and hardware upgrades. ==Notable models==