Rollei

Rollei () was a German manufacturer of optical instruments founded in 1920 by and in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, and maker of the Rolleiflex and Rolleicord series of cameras. Later products included specialty and nostalgic type films for the photo hobbyist market.
Originally named "Werkstatt für Feinmechanik und Optik, Franke & Heidecke", the company renamed into "Rollei-Werke Franke & Heidecke GmbH" in 1972, "Rollei-Werke Franke & Heidecke GmbH & Co. KG", in 1979, and "Rollei Fototechnic GmbH & Co. KG" in 1981.
After being purchased in 1995 by Samsung Techwin, part of the South Korean Samsung Group, it was sold back to its internal management in 1999. In 2002, it was bought by a Danish investment group, and renamed "Rollei GmbH" in 2004.
In 2005/2006, the company headquarters moved to Berlin and the company was split into two different companies: "Rollei GmbH" in Berlin, owner of the Rollei brand and selling various OEM equipment, and "Rollei Produktion GmbH" in Braunschweig, an equipment factory which became "Franke & Heidecke GmbH, Feinmechanik und Optik".
Following another restructuring in 2007, Rollei was split into three companies. "Franke & Heidecke GmbH, Feinmechanik und Optik" focused on the production of professional medium format cameras and slide projectors, while "RCP-Technik GmbH & Co. KG" in Hamburg was responsible for Rollei consumer products like re-branded compact digital cameras in the European market, and with the "RCP Technik Verwaltungs GmbH" owning the rights to the "Rollei" and "Rolleiflex" brands. Finally, "Rollei Metric GmbH" took over the photogrammetry business.
In early 2009, "Franke & Heidecke GmbH, Feinmechanik und Optik" declared itself insolvent. Since 2009 Rolleiflex medium format cameras, Rollei 35 and Rolleivision slide projectors were being produced by the "DHW Fototechnik GmbH"—a company founded by Rolf Daus, Hans Hartje and Frank Will, former Franke & Heidecke employees. DHW Fototechnik presented two new Rolleiflex cameras and a new electronic shutter at photokina 2012. DHW itself filed for insolvency on 2014-08-15 and was dissolved in April 2015, thereby temporarily ending any further production of cameras, lenses and accessories. A new, smaller company called DW Photo was formed with reduced staffing, and more or less the same people leading the business; the manufacturing and sale of projectors and twin-lens reflex cameras, as well as that of the series 6000, was stopped, to concentrate on the Hy6 and accessories. A new battery and charger for owners of the 6000 series were however released to the market in 2019, as the original NiCd batteries could age prematurely.
As of 2015 the brands "Rollei" and "Rolleiflex" continue to be owned by the "RCP Technik Verwaltungs GmbH". On 2015-01-01, the "RCP-Technik GmbH & Co. KG" refirmed as "Rollei GmbH & Co. KG" to market digital consumer cameras and accessories under the "Rollei" label in Europe.
Overview.
Rollei was a German company that established a worldwide reputation with the Rolleiflex, a twin-lens reflex camera.
Rollei was founded in 1920 as the "Werkstatt für Feinmechanik und Optik, Franke & Heidecke" in order to make a twin-lens reflex camera. The company changed its name and legal form many times: to "Rollei-Werke Franke & Heidecke" in 1962, to "Rollei-Werke Franke & Heidecke GmbH & Co. KG" in 1979, to "Rollei Fototechnic GmbH & Co. KG" in 1981, and finally to "Rollei GmbH" in 2004. In 2006, the headquarters of "Rollei GmbH" were moved to Berlin while production was transferred to "Rollei Produktion GmbH", currently "Franke & Heidecke GmbH", in Braunschweig. The company underwent more radical restructuring in 2007/08.
The frequent name-changes are an indication of a turbulent history: After the popularity of the twin lens reflex cameras declined, the "Rolleiflex" was supplemented with a variety of models. The company expanded its production facilities and product range at the end of the 1960s beyond what a small company like Rollei could manage. Rollei's decision to start manufacturing in Singapore in 1970 was regarded as a pioneering achievement by the photographic industry. Unfortunately, it also damaged the companies reputation as a German precision manufacturer. In 1982, after many failed attempts at restructuring, the company finally achieved success by focusing on medium format cameras along with a few other products. Surveying systems were added to the product range in 1986, and modern digital and compact cameras were included from 1991.
Over the years, many great photographers have used Rollei cameras: David Bailey and Diane Arbus (Rolleiflex 3.5F TLR with 75 mm f/3.5 Planar), Brett Weston (Rolleiflex SL66 and SL66E SLR), and Helmut Newton (Rolleiflex 2.8GX), amongst others.
Rollei cameras typically used Carl Zeiss or Schneider Kreuznach lenses, as well as lenses manufactured by Rollei based on designs by Zeiss, and occasionally lenses made by Japanese manufacturers.
Historical development.
1920 to 1928.
Company foundation.
While Reinhold Heidecke was working as a production manager at Voigtländer in Braunschweig around 1916, he got the idea to manufacture a new type of roll-film camera. However, the company rejected his proposal because they thought there would be problems keeping the film perfectly flat. Besides, their current camera range, which used conventional photographic plates, was selling well. Heidecke tried unsuccessfully to secure financing to start his own company, so, at the insistence of his wife, he presented his concept to , a salesman and former colleague at Voigtländer. Franke was so enthusiastic he put up 75,000 M of his own money and went looking for more capital. After he secured additional funding of 200,000 M, they resolved to go into business together. In November 1919, they filed an application to register the company "Franke & Heidecke", which was entered into the German Trade Register on 1 February 1920.
In need of factory space, they rented several rooms in a house at Viewegstraße 32, which became the companies first headquarters. The house survived World War II intact and stands to this day. Other rooms in the house were used by a dancing school, who had to abandon their dancing lessons because of noise from the factory. Within a year, Franke and Heidecke had taken over the entire building. By 1922, business was so good that they were able to take out a loan to purchase the property outright.
Stereo Heidoscop.
To get the company going, Franke and Heidecke decided to manufacture a stereo camera in the short term. Cameras of this type were popular, and Reinhold Heidecke was very familiar with them. As they were also in Voigtländer's product range, however, Franke and Heidecke did not want to look as if they were simply copying theirs. They purchased several Voigtländer units, and from what they learned by dismantling these, constructed the "Stereo Heidoscop". It included two Carl Zeiss "Tessar" lenses (f/4.5, 55 mm) and, mounted between them, a Carl Zeiss "Super Triplet" (f/3.2) viewfinder. At that time, "Tessar" lenses were widely regarded as the best available; they were often used in the United States, even though locally produced alternatives were available. Zeiss had an excellent reputation world-wide, which Franke & Heidecke leveraged for their own products. More importantly, they differentiated themselves from cheaper alternatives. The camera projected an image onto glass plates of dimensions 45 mm x 107 mm. The name "Heidoscop" was chosen in part to remind the management at Voigtländer that they had restricted Heidecke in his work there.
The Heidoscop was a great success, exceeding all expectations. In 1923, the company introduced a "Heidoscop" for 117 format (B1) roll-film. It was from this product, the "'Roll-film Heidoscop"', that the name "Rollei" was derived, which later became the name of company.
Hyperinflation in Germany.
Between 1914 and 1923, the period of hyperinflation in Germany, Paul Franke lived up to his reputation as a savvy financier: he invested the income from exports (in foreign currency) so astutely that the company came through this difficult period unscathed – a rather unlikely outcome if Heidecke, alone, had made these decisions.
During this period the company acquired new premises. The City Council in Braunschweig did not really want a noisy factory operating within a residential area and pressured the company to move its factory elsewhere. Accordingly, on 10 January 1923 the company purchased a 60,000 m² (15 acre) plot of land on Salzdahlumer Straße, which at that time lay just beyond the city limits. Hyperinflation had devalued the currency so much that the land purchase cost practically nothing. Once the new factory had been built, much was expected of the new camera. However, Paul Franke proposed a temporary suspension of further development work because of the catastrophic economic situation. Heidecke concurred, believing that better times lay ahead.
Rolleiflex.
The first prototype of the new camera, named the "Rolleiflex", was finally completed in 1927; it was built for absolute reliability and featured a rigid, injection-moulded housing made of aluminium. Heidecke wanted to avoid conventional leather bellows for focusing the lens because of an earlier, bad experience: around 1916, he conducted an experiment with a Kodak camera; he left it in a cellar, and when he later retrieved it, he found that rats had eaten the bellows. This convinced him that a camera designed for photojournalism and operation in the tropics had to work perfectly, which excluded components that might rot. He ruled out a cloth shutter curtain for the same reason, choosing instead a Compur mechanical shutter.
Focusing in the "Rolleiflex" was achieved by moving the carriage that held both the viewfinder and the imaging lens, i.e. the camera had so-called "metallic bellows"; that is, the plate enclosed the sides of the case. It was crucial that the plate remained parallel as it moved during focusing; to achieve this, Heidecke developed an ingenious design which proved to be highly successful. Behind the imaging lens and surrounding the opening for the optical path was a large cogwheel which drove four smaller cogs located top left and right, and bottom left and right. Each of the four small cogs drove rack and pinions (toothed rails) attached to the lens assembly. This system functioned perfectly, and, thanks to high-quality components, also for many years of service. Only the viewfinder and back of the camera, both made of aluminium, had to be handled with care, which remained the case until the camera went into production.
One more prototype was produced in 1928, and then the big moment finally arrived: on August 10, the first camera went into series production. Altogether, 14 units were made that year. Then, at 11am on Monday, 11 December, selected journalists were invited to a press conference in the festively decorated production area. Paul Franke put together press packs for the occasion, which led one magazine to publish a test report without ever actually handling the camera. Although Franke had forgotten to prepare sample photographs to distribute to the press, he neatly avoided this oversight by distributing empty, labelled cartons around the building, just for show.
1929 to 1950.
New premises.
Demand for the new camera exceeded production capacity by a wide margin. Even though it was quite an expensive product, orders for 800 cameras were received in the first month alone. A "Rolleiflex" fitted with a f/4.5 lens cost 198 Reichmarks (RM), with a f/3.8 lens it cost 225 RM. This success made it possible to obtain credit to buy a new factory and thrive in the midst of the Great Depression. In the old factory, a further 23,720 cameras were produced up until 1932. In 1930, the company moved into the new factory on Salzdahlumer Straße. It comprised two floors with a total area of 2,000 m² (½ acre), sufficient space to manufacture 20,000 cameras annually. Although the site was well served by public transport, it lay some distance from the city centre, so the company built a canteen and shop for its workforce, which now numbered 309 employees.
Babyflex.
Wilhelmine Heidecke, Reinhold Heidecke's wife, suggested building a "ladies camera" – a "Rolleiflex" that used 35 mm film. This was the first "Rolleiflex" to come on the market that used a crank handle to advance the film, a popular feature that emerged on the 6×6 model shortly thereafter. The "Rolleiflex 4×4" – known as the "Babyflex" outside of Germany – used 127 format film and came in two versions with either a f/3.5 and a f/2.8 Tessar lens with a focal length of 60 mm. Unfortunately, sales were disappointing, so production never resumed after the war. The company management believed that many Rollei photographers only made contact prints from their negatives because they had no access to enlargers. However, this was not practical in the case of the "Babyflex" as the negatives were simply too small. As a result, it was not until 1957 that a new version came onto the market priced at 355 Deutschmarks (DM), firstly in grey, and later (from 1963) in black. By the time production ceased in 1968, over 67,000 units had been made. By this time few amateur photographers made contact prints any more, preferring instead to take 35 mm transparencies (slides), which could be viewed on a slide projector.
Studio camera.
In 1932, Salomon Kahn, the owner of the renowned "Fotostudios Kardas" in Berlin, approached Rollei, asking if they could build him a large "Rolleiflex" for the 9 cm x 9 cm film format. Kahn explained as a pretext, that his customers liked to keep the negatives because they had doubts about the durability of prints. Moreover, roll film was much easier to archive than glass plates.
In fact, Kahn had concealed the real rationale behind his request because Franke & Heidecke supported the Nazi Party in order to get the workers they needed. Fearing the consequences of leasing to a Jew, the owner of his studio had already shut off his water supply. This meant that Kahn had to develop his negatives at home, whereby roll film was easier to transport than plates. A roll film camera would also facilitate house calls.
Having built a small "Rolleiflex", the obvious next step was to make a larger version. Indeed, the slogan "you see what you get" had already been envisaged for it. Such a camera would make studio work more straightforward; at that time, the photographer had to stoop under a black cloth to adjust the camera, and then address the subject from this awkward position. Nevertheless, after the failure of the "Babyflex", the company proceeded with caution by initially building some prototypes. One was delivered to Kahn, and the others were shipped abroad in pairs – one to be retained by the importer as a demonstration unit, the other to be delivered to a reputable studio. The project was eventually abandoned after Soloman Kahn was arrested and nobody else showed any interest in the studio camera. Of the 14 prototypes that were built, one still exists: it currently belongs to the Municipal Museum of Braunschweig.
Rolleicord.
In 1933, the "Rolleicord", a cheaper version of the "Rolleiflex", came onto the market. It had simpler Zeiss Triotar Lens, a steel back-plate, and a knob instead of a handle for winding on the film. The "Rolleicord 1" cost 105 Reichsmarks (RM); altogether 2,699,505 "Rolleicords" were manufactured until production ceased in 1976. The later models (III - VB) uses "Schneider" Xenar lenses that have better optics.
Rolleiflex Automat.
The release of the "Rolleiflex Automat" in the middle of June 1937 marked another significant milestone for Franke & Heidecke. Prior to this, after taking a picture, two separate steps were required to advance the film and cock the shutter. The "Rolleiflex Automat" combined the two, whereby advancing the film automatically cocked the shutter. Not only did this innovation speed up the whole process, it also eliminated accidental double exposures resulting from inadvertently forgetting to wind on the film. It also had a film-feeler mechanism that automatically started the counter, so no red window was needed.
The "Rolleiflex Automat" won the Grand Prix award at the Paris World's Fair in 1937, which generated a lot of interest. The company founders we so taken with their new creation that they immediately commissioned the construction of a second factory. The new factory, comprising three floors with a combined production area of 3,000 m² (¾ acre), provided sufficient space to house a further 700 workers. It was completed in 1938, and by the end of that year the 300,000th camera had come off the production line. In retrospect, Reinhold Heidecke regarded the "Rolleiflex Automat" as his favourite camera.
World War II.
During World War II, the company was required by the Nazis to support the war economy. As a result, Rollei was unable to develop any new models from 1940, and production of its stereo camera finally came to an end. Rollei also suffered massive losses resulting from its inability to collect monies owed by debtors from "enemy states". Furthermore, bureaucratic formalities and controls hindered exports to neutral countries. This situation, combined with the collapse in overseas trade, forced Paul Franke to reduce the workforce to 600 people.
Armaments production.
Alongside its renowned cameras, Rollei – like its neighbour Voigtländer – was now engaged in the manufacture of equipment deemed important to the German war effort: precision optics for binoculars, periscopes, telescopic sights (for sniper rifles, for example), and theodolites for directing artillery. Although these products consumed the bulk of the companies resources, some regular product development was still possible, and work on tempered glass lenses as well as flash synchronization continued, albeit on a small scale. The cameras were used inter alia in military reconnaissance.
As Braunschweig was one of the centres of the German armaments industry, it was subjected to frequent, sometimes heavy aerial bombardment, which seriously damaged the city. On 1 and 15 January 1944, and again on 13 August, Rollei too suffered air raid damage to its factories. By the time the war ended on 12 April 1945, almost 65% of its plant and machinery had been destroyed.
The post-war period.
After the war, Braunschweig ended up in the British occupation zone. The allied occupying forces wanted Rollei to survive as a company, even helping it procure lenses from Zeiss, which had ended up in the Soviet occupation zone. Franke & Heidecke started over with 72 workers, and by Christmas 1945 the workforce had grown to 172 employees. Everything the company made in 1945 was delivered to the British Ministry of Defence. The difficult supply situation forced Rollei into using lenses from the West German manufacturer Schneider as well. However, this was not a problem as Schneider's quality control was equal to that of Zeiss.
Paul Franke's untimely death in the spring of 1950 had serious consequences for the company though. Not only did his passing mark the end of an era for Rollei, the loss of his business acumen also led the company to the edge of ruin on more than one occasion.
1950 to 1963 - Horst Franke era.
The golden era.
After Paul Franke's death, his son Horst Franke succeeded him. Overall, he proved to be less effective as a manager than his father. In particular, he lacked the flexibility required to adapt to changing circumstances; for example, he failed to reduce the workforce in difficult times, whereas Paul Franke had done so immediately at the onset of the war.
To begin with, Rollei had no real competition, which yielded ever increasing sales of its cameras. In the 1950s, almost every press photographer owned a "Rolleiflex", and quite a few amateurs did as well. The camera was so popular that it bred over 500 imitations, more than half of them from Japan. The factory grew rapidly; by 1956 – the year the millionth camera was sold – the workforce numbered 1600, and by 1957 the workforce had grown to 2000 employees.
Development of the Rolleiflex.
Hans Hass, the underwater diving pioneer, approached Franke & Heidecke to see if they could make him a special housing suitable for underwater photography. As a result, Rollei developed the "Rolleimarin", an ingenious underwater camera housing rated for depths up to 100 m. It was made from two cast metal parts. The top part contained a glass prism that was attached to the camera's focusing screen. There were also knobs on top of the housing for adjusting the exposure and aperture settings. On the bottom, left-hand side of the housing was the focusing knob, and on the right-hand side, the winding handle and a frame counter. There was also a filter turret. A special flash bulb could be attached for flash photography, in which case a battery pack had to be installed inside the housing. Of course, a viewfinder frame could also be screwed onto the housing.
Although there were many imitators, none could match the quality of the original "Rolleiflex" – that is, until the "Mamiya C-Series" from Japan appeared in 1956. Mamiya initially offered three sets of interchangeable double lenses for it: normal, telephoto and wide-angle. Later on, additional double lenses with focal lengths of 55 mm and 250 mm were introduced; one even had a dimmable viewfinder lens, which enabled depth of field adjustment through the viewfinder. By comparison, the "Rolleiflex" only had a single, fixed normal lens, although the Rollei "Magnar" tele-converter lens with 4x magnification was available as an accessory. This could be attached to the front of the primary lens while a mask (which did not magnify the image) was placed over the focusing screen. In addition, Zeiss offered two double lens converters which attached to the viewfinder filter bayonet and the primary lens bayonet. The 5-element "Mutar" tele-converter magnified 1.5×, weighed 327 g and could render an image accurately in the viewfinder up to a distance of 4m from the object. The 4-element "Mutar" wide-angle converter magnified 0.7×, weighed 437 g and could render an object accurately from a distance of 1 meter. In all cases, for the best image quality, closing down the aperture two stops was recommended. This explains why conversion lenses of this type were only regarded as a makeshift solution in comparison to fully interchangeable lenses.
In response to the challenge from Mamiya, Rollei created a camera comparable to the "C Series" and gave it to photojournalists to test. Although they were enthusiastic, Rollei did not believe – much to the astonishment of industry experts – that it could manufacture removable lenses with the required precision. Instead, as a compromise, the company introduced in 1959 the "Tele-Rolleiflex" with a Zeiss "Sonnar" f/4, 135 mm lens. This camera was particularly well-suited to portrait photography. Meanwhile, plans for another model with a 150 mm lens were abandoned. The "Wide Angle Rolleiflex" (also known as the "Rolleiwide") with an f/4, 55 mm lens followed in 1961. It only remained in production until 1967, which today makes it one of the rarest "Rolleiflex" cameras – excluding special editions. Its main advantage lay in its ability to photograph large crowds at heavily attended events.
Reinhold Heidecke kept on making new cameras right up until his death in 1960, although no one bothered to admonish him over the development costs any more. One of his projects was the "Magic", which required several expensive machine tools to be built – expenditure that could not be justified relative to the small number that were produced. In contrast, Agfa preferred the opposite approach, of always developing as many models as possible from an existing camera housing.
The "Magic", although intended for amateur photographers, was relatively expensive at 435 DM. It featured an automatic exposure control system driven by a coupled selenium light meter which could select shutter speeds from 1/30 sec to 1/300 sec and apertures from f/3.5 to f/22. There were only two manual controls: one for focusing, the other for selecting either a shutter speed of 1/30 sec (for flash photography), or Bulb (for long-exposure night photography). Its successor, the "Magic II", cost 498 DM and also featured manual exposure control.
TLR accessories.
Some accessories manufactured for Rollei TLRs:
The situation around 1960.
By the end of 1950s, the market for twin-lens medium format cameras had gradually become saturated. More and more amateur photographers and photojournalists were using 35 mm format cameras, while studio photographers preferred single-lens medium format cameras. Although they were more expensive, single-lens cameras offered film holders, which could quickly be swapped (an assistant loaded the film), as well as interchangeable lenses.
Hasselblad was the market leader in this segment. The Swedish company introduced their first camera, the "Hasselblad 1600F", in 1948. However, this model was regarded as being technically inferior because its shutter was unreliable. To solve this problem, the "1000F" was released in 1952 with a reduced shutter speed range, but the focal-plane shutter was still prone to failure. While it was no threat to the fully developed "Rolleiflex" to begin with, that situation changed when the legendary "Hasselblad 500C" featuring a Compur leaf shutter appeared in 1957. The management of Rollei under Horst Franke were caught napping, having failed to produce a camera that could match the latest Hasselblad. As a consequence, sales plummeted and the company got into financial difficulties. In the end, Horst Franke relinquished his position as general manager.
New products.
In 1960, Rollei introduced its first slide projector, the "P11". It included two slide trays: the left-hand tray was for 35 mm (5 cm×5 cm) slides, the right-hand tray was for medium format (7 cm×7 cm) slides. The "Rollei Universal Projector" sold for 398.60 DM, plus 97.50 DM for a standard lens. The "P11" remained in production until 1978; many more projectors were subsequently added to the range, providing a major boost to Rollei's turnover.
In 1963, Rollei introduced the "Rollei 16", its first all-new camera design since the war. It was a 16 mm camera in the format 12 mm x 17 mm with a Tessar f/2.8, 25 mm lens and cost 425 DM. In retrospect, it seems unlikely that such an unusual format might return Rollei to profitability. However, the German camera industry believed that this was the way forward, and both Leica and Wirgin (through their "Edixa" brand) produced similar designs.
The "Rollei 16" used special "Super 16" film cartridges with a capacity of 18 frames. As no film manufacturer was interested in making this film format, Rollei had to manufacture the film itself. A roll of B/W film cost 5 DM, while slide film (available until 1981) cost 12.50 DM, including development. Loading the film simply required inserting the leader into the appropriate slot in the camera. Since there was no take-up spool, the film coiled up loosely on itself. Without a doubt, limited film choice and availability adversely affected camera sales, consequently only 25,000 units were produced. As Rollei also spent a lot on advertising, this camera did little to alleviate its dire financial situation. Reliance on a film format that Kodak, the market leader, did not support was foolhardy. Needless to say, the quality of the engineering in the "Rollei 16" matched its high price; it had a push-pull viewfinder with automatic parallax correction up to 40 cm, whereby extending the viewfinder also wound on the film and cocked the shutter. In addition, "Mutar" wide-angle (0.5×) and telephoto (1.7×) conversion lenses were available as accessories. An improved successor, the "Rollei 16S", was released in 1965.
1964 to 1974 - Peesel era.
Reorganisation of the product line.
To help return the company to profitability, Rollei's management sought advice from a number of experts. One of them, Heinrich Peesel, a physicist from Hamburg, produced a concise, 5-page report that so impressed Rollei management that they offered him the chairmanship of the board, thereby accepting that far-reaching changes were necessary.
Peesel, then 38 years old, thus succeeded Horst Franke as chairman of the board on 1 January 1964. He promptly set Rollei onto an extremely risky course, which, despite some early successes, ultimately ended in a complete fiasco. His basic philosophy was to explore all possible avenues in photography rather than concentrate on a single product line.
His approach was diametrically opposite to the company's previous management policy, as illustrated by the following example; when the British occupation forces queried Rollei as to the secret of their success, the response was: "there was no secret – it was the result of 25 years experience and concentrating on a single camera type".
Peesel asked to see all the plans for new products so that he could evaluate them. But in reality, few were actually built:
The "Rolleiscop" was a compact, upright slide projector that transported slides via a gravity-fed, conveyor belt system. The slides were stacked one behind the other into proprietary, slotless magazines. Each had a capacity of 32 slides (with glass frames), or 72 slides (with cardboard frames). Different sized slides could be mixed together as long as their frames were of uniform thickness and not warped.
Peesel also increased the advertising budget significantly and reorganised production to improve efficiency. In addition, he laid off 110 out of 120 supervisors and instigated a company-wide employee suggestion scheme. Rollei's new products found favour with its customers, which helped to boost its annual turnover by 30% in comparison to 1963 – the year that the company posted losses in the midst of the first economic downturn since the war. Turnover increased from 24 million DM in 1964 to 85 million DM in 1970. Others products that followed were less successful, yet the company kept on building new factories that were inappropriate to the size of their business.
Rolleiflex SL66.
Although there had been speculation in the trade press over a future "Super Rolleiflex" for some time, it was not until 1966 that the "SL66" finally appeared, "SL" being an abbreviation for "single lens". It was a sophisticated system camera, a camera at the heart of an extensive range of interchangeable components. The "SL66" had built-in bellows, as well as a pivoting front (lens) standard that could be tilted back and forth by 8°, thus allowing the region of sharpness to be manipulated according to the Scheimpflug principle. In addition, the lens could be mounted in reverse, thereby enabling macrophotography without additional equipment. With the normal lens reversed and the bellows extended by 50 mm, close-up photography with a magnification ratio of 1.5× was possible. An "SL66" fitted with a normal lens (f/2.8, 80mm) cost 2,778 DM, and several interchangeable lenses were available:
At long last, Rollei had a camera that could match the "Hasselbad 500C". Indeed, had it been released earlier, around 1960 say, it could have been enormously successful. On top of that, despite declining profit margins and tough competition from the Japanese, Rollei continued to target its advertising at the amateur market. In contrast, other companies such as Leitz and Hasselblad had better understood how to promote their expensive cameras in photographic magazines – not just through paid advertising, but also through feature articles in the editorial pages. As a result, the "SL66" never sold in the numbers that the company had hoped for or needed. Nevertheless, Rollei owes its survival as a company to the "SL66" camera system, along with its enduring reputation for quality. Its successor, the "SL66E", was released in 1984; externally the camera was largely unchanged, but it now had a built-in light meter. Additional lenses were released, such as the "Fisheye-Distagon" (f/3.5, 30 mm), the "Distagon" (f/4, 40 mm), and the "Sonnar" (f/4, 150 mm) with a between-the-lens shutter along with more accessories including close-up lenses, extension bellows, a Polaroid film cassette, a sheet film cassette, an underwater housing, and a ring flash unit. Its successor, the "SL66-X", released in 1968 only had TTL flash metering, while the "SL66-SE" (Special Edition) also included a standard light meter. Prior to this, TTL metering required a special prism viewfinder with a built-in light meter. The release in 1992 of the "SE Exclusive Professional" incorporating selective gold-plating on the housing marked the end of the "SL66" series.
Rollei 35.
For its time, the "Rollei 35" was the smallest camera that used standard 35 mm film cartridges, which made it an ideal second camera for amateur photographers. Initially, it came with a Zeiss "Tessar" lens with an aperture of f/3.5 and focal length of 40 mm. In contrast to 16 mm cameras (especially pocket cameras that came along later), there was no need to work with two different film formats, which was especially convenient for showing slides. Equally important, image quality was not compromised, despite the pocket camera format. Over time, several "Rollei 35" models were released; especially notable was the "35S" which had a 5-element Zeiss "Sonnar" f/2.8, 40 mm lens.
Rolleiflex SL26.
Rollei also produced the "Rolleiflex SL26", an Instamatic camera with interchangeable lenses. It was widely regarded as the best camera that used 126 film cartridges, even though this film format was only ever intended for beginners. Although Kodak, too, made an Instamatic SLR camera, their primary objective was to draw attention to their brand of film rather than make money from the camera. Despite the high cost of tooling up to manufacture the "SL26", only around 28,000 were ever made. The "SL26" cost 628.23 DM, and two accessory lenses were available for it: the wide-angle "Pro-Tessar" (f/3.2, 28 mm) costing 232.43 DM, and the "Pro-Tessar" (f/3.2, 28 mm) costing 282.88 DM.
Rolleiflex SL35.
After 35 mm SLR cameras became popular, Rollei began to develop its own 35 mm product line in 1966; but it was already too late – just as the "SL66" project had been. Rollei now faced competition – not from a small company like Hasselblad, but from large, well-financed Japanese companies who could afford to advertise heavily in glossy magazines and trade journals. What is more, they invited photographic dealers to Japan to view their factories.
The "Rolleiflex SL35" was introduced in 1970; it was quite compact and comparable in price (675 DM) and quality with Japanese cameras. Rollei had modelled its design on the top-selling 35 mm SLR camera of the time, the Pentax Spotmatic, although it did not surpass it in quality.
Rollei introduced a new bayonet lens mount for the "SL35", the QBM (Quick Bayonet Mount). Besides a choice of two standard f/1.8, 50 mm lenses (either a Zeiss "Planar" or a Schneider "SL-Xenon"), the initial lens range included:
At this point Rollei still lagged behind the large Japanese companies who already offered fish-eye lenses, super-telephoto lenses and zoom lenses. Although few amateur photographers purchased lenses such as these in the early 1970s, from a marketing perspective, statements published in camera reviews like "lenses available with focal lengths from 7.5 mm to 800 mm" sounded more impressive than "... from 25 to 200 mm". Consequently, Rollei soon expanded their range; by 1973 a total of 16 lenses (all with fixed focal-lengths) were available for the Rolleiflex SL35: 13 from Carl Zeiss (Oberkochen), and 3 from Schneider-Kreuznach.
In 1974 Rollei introduced the "SL350", the successor to the "SL35". Despite state-of-the-art open-aperture metering, which was promoted with the catch-phrase "concentration on the essentials", sales of the camera were rather poor. In 1976 Rollei unexpectedly withdrew the "SL350" (the last 35 mm camera "Made in Germany" until Rollei went bankrupt) from sale in favour of the "SL35 M" – a camera derived from obsolete technology acquired through Rollei's purchase of Zeiss Ikon. In comparison to the elegant design of the "SL35", the "SL35 M" was clumsy and unreliable. Next, Rollei went on to develop the "SL35 ME", its first SLR with aperture priority metering – some four years after the Japanese. Low-cost mass production in Singapore allowed Rollei to offer the "SL35 ME" at a very attractive price. In spite of this, sales were well below expectations. Rollei's research and development department continued to follow the basic philosophy it had established for its medium format cameras: adding more electronics. In 1978, Rollei introduced a new, electronically controlled camera, the "SL35 E". However, it lacked the reliability that was now expected of consumer products. One weak point, for example, was the mirror mechanism.
After Canon introduced the "AE-1" (the first 35 mm SLR to include a micro-processor), and Minolta introduced the "XD-7" (the first SLR to feature multiple automatic exposure modes – shutter priority and aperture priority), camera buyers lost interest in Rollei and its products; on the other hand, very few noticed the flaws either. As a result, Rollei was relegated to the fringe, its sales lagging well behind Minolta, Pentax, Canon, Nikon and Contax-Yashica.
In the mid-1970s, third-party lenses increased in popularity. This trend made it difficult for Rollei to maintain its declining market share because third-party lens makers were reluctant to produce Rollei-compatible lenses; low sales of Rollei cameras made it uneconomic for them to do so.
As a result, Rollei's customer base, which formerly consisted of enthusiastic amateurs, was now dominated by casual photographers. Although they generally preferred German-made products, they were much less inclined to buy expensive camera accessories. Nevertheless, Rollei sold 333,000 units of the "SL35" and 120,000 units of its successor, the "SL35 E", including sales of virtually identical models from Voigtländer.
Rollei 35RF.
The "Rollei 35RF" was a compact camera with a fixed f/2.8, 38 mm lens. Despite the similarity in names, this camera should not be confused with its modern (2002) namesake, the "Rollei 35 RF" – a rangefinder camera with a Leica M bayonet lens mount manufactured by Cosina Voigtländer and marketed by "Rollei Fototechnic".
Flash units.
In 1967, Rollei started to sell flash units, but without much success as this market was already crowded with offerings from other manufacturers – not just other camera makers, but also consumer electronics companies such as Metz.
The Rollei "Strobomatic E66" costing 548 DM was the first electronic flash on the market, but not for long. The "Strobofix", a similar model without a brightness control, sold for 357 DM. Rollei subsequently released many more variants. In 1968, Rollei introduced flash units for studio photography; there were three models (E250, E1250 and E5000), each with a different flash head. A special feature of Rollei's studio flash units was a modeling light – a halogen lamp integrated into the flash head. This helped the photographer to adjust the lighting and select the most appropriate aperture.
Super 8.
The advent of Super 8 film created a booming home movie market. This development had not gone unnoticed by Peesel, who decided that Rollei, too, should offer products for this new and expanding segment of the market. As Rollei lacked the resources in Braunschweig to develop or manufacture such products itself, it decided instead to resell (under the Rollei brand) products made by (a Bosch subsidiary in Germany) and (in Italy).
Uelzen.
In the meanwhile, Rollei's product range had expanded considerably and it had outgrown the factory in Salzdahlumer Straße. Furthermore, recruiting new employees locally in the Braunschweig area had become increasingly difficult as around half of the local workforce was now employed by Volkswagen. Consequently, Peesel embarked on a search for a suitable location for a branch factory, preferably in an underdeveloped area within reach of Braunschweig. He selected Uelzen, a town some 80 km (50 miles) distant from Braunschweig; it was within 1 hours drive from Hamburg, Hannover, Braunschweig and Salzgitter, and well-situated on a branch of the Elbe Canal. What is more, as Uelzen lay within the economically depressed East/West border zone, Rollei would qualify for government subsidies.
After purchasing a 3 hectare (7½ acre) plot of land, Rollei began construction of new buildings that would provide 6,000 m² (1½ acres) of factory space, with plans for two future building projects. The first stage, completed in 1970, was used to manufacture slide projectors, studio flash systems and, later on, the "Rolleimat Universal" enlarger. However, the factory at Uelzen became redundant after Rollei transferred most of its production to Singapore. The site was put up for sale, but no buyer was found and the factory finally closed on 1 October 1977. The buildings stood empty until 1981.
Viewfinder cameras.

Rollei made other viewfinder cameras besides the "Rollei 16" and the "Rollei 35", the best-known of which were the "A26" and the "A110 / E110". The "A26" was the smallest camera that used Instamatic film. It was cleverly designed, folding together to protect the lens and the viewfinder. The "A110", a successor to the "Rollei 16", was a pocket-sized camera that used 110 film cartridges; it was compact, stylish and highly regarded. Later on, Rollei released a cheaper alternative in silver, the "E110". Both models sold extremely well – the "A26" achieved sales of almost 140,000 units, while over 240,000 pocket cameras were sold.
Between 1977 and 1979, Rollei commissioned a little known Japanese company to manufacture a range of three, basic pocket cameras. These were sold under the brand name "Pocketline by Rollei". However, sales were poor, although precise sales figures are unavailable.
From 1974 onwards, Rollei introduced various 35 mm cameras of conventional design, including the "Rolleimat" and the "Rollei 35XF". Some were sold under the Voigtländer brand with different model names, while others were made in Japan.
Singapore.
Although wages in Germany were low to begin with, they increased steadily, which prompted Peesel to negotiate an exclusive agreement with the government of Singapore in 1970 to manufacture photographic equipment there. In return, he promised to create 10,000 new jobs by the year 1980.
Clearly, Rollei would not be able to finance an expansion on this scale itself, so it approached two regional German banks – the "Norddeutsche Landesbank" and the "Hessische Landesbank" – who subsequently became shareholders in the company. In those days, risky investments such as this were not that uncommon; Peesel's imperious demeanor within Rollei had so impressed the bankers that they were confident of their investment. Only after the collapse of the "Herstatt Bank" did financial institutions become more prudent in their lending.
Rollei's factory in Singapore astounded everyone, especially those outside of Germany; at that time not even the Japanese had successfully managed to carry out precision manufacturing on the Asian continent. Although "Rollei Singapore" was fully autonomous, it did not do any product development.
In 1974, Rollei's workforce was distributed as follows: 1,648 in Braunschweig, 314 in Uelzen, and 5,696 in Singapore. Although the "Rollei 35" was selling well and all of the production of amateur cameras had been transferred to Singapore, there was insufficient work to keep the enormous workforce busy. Consequently, after a long and draw-out start-up phase, contracts to manufacture on behalf of third-parties were accepted from 1979.
When "Rollei Deutschland" filed for bankruptcy in 1981, Rollei camera products still accounted for 97% of the production capacity in Singapore, which meant that the factory had to close. "USH" ("United Scientific Holdings" – see New owners) established a new company called "Rolloptik Ltd." in order to purchase and store the plant and machinery. This would make it possible to restart production in Asia later on should this be necessary.
Voigtländer.
The Braunschweig-based camera manufacturer Voigtländer closed down on 23 August 1971, whereupon the German mail-order firm Quelle GmbH "(Foto-Quelle)" entered into take-over negotiations, but no agreement could be reached. In the end, Voigtländer's assets were divided according to a scheme devised by Peesel: Rollei, Carl Zeiss and the state of Niedersachsen would each receive one third shares with Rollei retaining exclusive rights to its brand names. As a result, a new company called "Optische Werke Voigtländer" was established on 1 March 1972 with 320 employees to manufacture lenses for both Rollei and Zeiss Ikon cameras. In addition, Rollei took on 300 former Voigtländer employees.
After Zeiss Ikon stopped making cameras in 1972, the company "Voigtländer Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH" was established in 1974 purely to sell cameras. There was, however, no clear distinction between Voigtländer and Rollei cameras, and many models were sold under both brand names. This even applied to 35 mm SLR cameras, whereby their common lens mount was now referred to as the "Rollei/Voigtländer bayonet". Although the trade press regarded the takeover as a long overdue consolidation of the camera industry in Braunschweig, the merger made no sense from a business perspective; from it Rollei gained neither new products nor new customers, nor did it have any use for the additional production capacity and employees it acquired – all the more because the factory in Singapore was under-utilised.
1975 to 1981 - Peperzak / Wehling / Porst era.
Downsizing the company.
On 26 August 1974, after Rollei made a loss of 37 million DM on revenue of just 137 million DM, Peesel left the company "by mutual agreement". At this point Rollei's debts amounted to around 500 million DM, which meant that the banks effectively owned 97% of the company. The banks considered liquidating Rollei, but decided instead that restructuring the company would be more worthwhile, setting out the following requirements:
As a result, in the first half of 1975, the combined workforce (of both Rollei and Voigtländer) was reduced from 2,400 to 1,800 employees. On 1 April, Peter Canisius Josef Peperzak, the former head of Canon in Germany, took over the leadership of Rollei with the intention of fundamentally changing its pricing and marketing policy.
Rolleiflex SLX.
Rollei had already shown the "Rolleiflex SLX" to selected journalists in Singapore in 1973, and presented it at photokina in 1974, but this innovative camera did not go into production until September 1976. It was the first microprocessor-controlled medium format camera in the world, whereby the aperture and shutter speed were set electronically via two linear electric motors built into the lens. This technology was expensive and rather unreliable to begin with, but the advantages were compelling nonetheless. An updated model with improved electronics was subsequently released in 1978. Most importantly, these innovations allowed Rollei to distinguish itself from Hasselblad. Its Swedish rival promoted the extraordinary reliability of its cameras, as shown by the role Hasselblad cameras played in the missions to the Moon – publicity that was impossible to trump. Rollei, on the other hand, emphasised the advanced electronics and ease of use of its cameras. The "SLX" lacked an exchangeable film magazine, although a Polaroid back was available. When it was introduced, the "SLX" cost 5,998 DM.
Dissolve projectors.
At "photokina 1976", Rollei presented the "Rollei P3800", the first 35 mm dissolve projector in the world. This product generated renewed interest in the company, because, prior to this, dissolving required two projectors connected to a special controller. But the "P3800" made this effortless, like running a normal slide-show. Above all, there was no longer any need to alternately load the slides into two magazines. The "P3800" was made in Singapore from 1980 and cost 1,000 DM. Several successors followed; the current generation of "Rolleivision twin" projectors also includes a professional version
with 250 watt bulbs.
Rolleimatic.
The "Rolleimatic" was the last new camera to go into production before Rollei went bankrupt. It was conceived as a 35 mm viewfinder camera of new design that would be (almost) as easy to use as cameras that used Instamatic film cassettes, but delivering better image quality. Planning started in 1977 and the cameras were manufactured between June 1980 and September 1981.
The "Rolleimatic" was released onto the market without being subjected to the extensive testing that was usual, with the result that it suffered from unreliability, just like the "SL35E" had before it. Rollei's bankruptcy brought production to an early end.
Under Nord/LB management.
Perzak's behaviour became increasingly erratic; in an attempt to save the factory at Uelzen, he got Kaiser Fototechnik in Buchen to develop an enlarger, which Rollei sold as the "Rolleimat Universal". Although it was extremely popular, the market for amateur photo-laboratories was much too small to make any difference to Rollei. Furthermore, for some obscure reason, he purchased tripods and 35 mm lenses from Japanese companies, fixed focal length lenses from Mamiya, and zoom lenses from Tokina – even though Rollei had enough spare production capacity in Singapore to make them all itself. With the new "Rolleinar" 35 mm lenses, Rollei was finally able to match the range of focal lengths offered by its competitors. On top of that, Peperzak cancelled Rollei's appearance at photokina 1978. In the end, he left Rollei on 28 February.
The Norddeutsche Landesbank (Nord/LB) then appointed Heinz Wehling to manage the company on 1 March 1978. So, Rollei was able to exhibit at photokina after all, but not in its customary location – that had already been allocated. He negotiated a contract with IEC, the "Industria De Equipamentos Cinematograficos S. A." in São Leopoldo, Brazil to manufacture Rollei slide projectors and enlargers under license. Unfortunately, Wehling was no more successful than his predecessor; in particular, he remained committed to 35 mm SLR cameras, even developing a new camera for the range, and steadfastly refused to close the factory in Singapore. Rollei was now perilously close to bankruptcy, so the search began for a new owner.
Hannsheinz Porst.
Obviously, the new owner could not be a Japanese company. Since neither Agfa, Kodak nor Zeiss were interested, "Deutsche Fotoholding GmbH", a company founded by , took over 97% of "Rollei Germany" on 1 April 1981, with the option of purchasing 75% of Nord/LB's share of "Rollei Singapore" in 1982. The chairman of Nord/LB's board of directors greeted this event with the words, "Thank goodness, I am finally rid of Rollei...".
The takeover by Hannsheinz Porst was met with universal astonishment as his own company "" was already in trouble. Also, many wondered who, actually, was behind the holding company. Rumour had it that Agfa had taken a share in order to avoid restrictions from the German Federal Cartel Office. The management of Rollei was shared between Otto Stemmer, a former employee of Agfa who became the technical director, and Hannsheinz Porst, who became chairman of the board.
Porst announced his strategy for the company:
Yet nobody took much interest as all confidence in Porst, Rollei and Nord/LB had already been lost. Hannsheinz Porst was especially disappointed when he failed to gain the support of the photographic trade. As a result, Rollei's turnover declined by 20% from March 1981. In addition, the Yen and the Singapore Dollar had appreciated strongly in value, which significantly increased the cost of the products that Peperzak had earlier contracted to import from Asia. Mired in debt and close to bankruptcy, Porst finally filed an application on 3 July 1981 in the District Court of Braunschweig to put Rollei into voluntary administration. The court-appointed administrator announced that Rollei's professional products and services division would be retained, that production would continue until the end of September, and that some employees would be laid off in October. The estimated value of Rollei's unsold inventory was put at about 100 million DM. An advertising campaign was mounted to sell the remaining stock, and advertisements were placed in photographic magazines highlighting the fact that this would be the last opportunity to buy accessories for older Rollei cameras. The rights to the "Voigtländer" brand name were sold to the Plusfoto Group for 100,000 DM. Some 700 employees were still working for Rollei in 1981.
1982 to 2003 - Rollei Fototechnic / USH / Mandermann / Samsung / Dume / Capitellum era.
New owners.
On 1 January 1982, Rollei split into three separate companies: "Rollei Deutschland GmbH" assumed responsibility for disposing of the remaining stock and servicing its former products, while "Rollei Gebäude GmbH" together with Nord/LB, its largest creditor, took over its properties and the management of its former production facilities. A new company called "Rollei Fototechnic GmbH" employing 380 workers manufactured, sold and (until 1 July 1983) serviced a "rationalised" range of cameras, lenses and slide projectors. This company, which had nothing more to do with the former Rollei company up until the takeover of its "leading designs", was 100% owned by "USH" ("United Scientific Holdings"). The London-based "USH" was founded after the war to manufacture optoelectronic instruments. Rollei initially made contact with USH through its Singapore subsidiary, "Avimo Ltd."
The intention was to collaborate in the development of products for the German military. As a result, Rollei began to make 7×42 binoculars, otherwise "USH" exerted no influence over Rollei's camera product line. Rollei simply made the products and received test and measurement instruments from "USH" in return – equipment that it would otherwise have built itself. Consequently, collaboration with "USH" proved to be extremely beneficial to Rollei.
"Rollei Fototechnic GmbH" concentrated on system cameras, which were still made in Braunschweig, and slide projectors, which were made in Singapore until 1983. After that, production of slide projectors was transferred back to Germany so that they, too, could be marketed under the catch phrase "Made in Germany". The "P801" slide projector was initially made by in Italy, but its successor, as expected, was also made in Braunschweig. These products were manufactured in leased premises within Rollei's former factory. Only a quarter of the available space was required; the remainder was utilised by companies unconnected with the photography industry.
After "USH's" strategy to manufacture for the military market failed, Rollei was sold to on 10 June 1987 for the symbolic price of 1 DM together with 14 million DM in debts. Mandermann was a German photographic industrialist, who had owned Schneider Kreuznach since 1982.
Early in 1995, Rollei was purchased by "Samsung Techwin", a part of the South Korean conglomerate "Samsung Group". After the Asian financial crisis of 1997, Paul Dume and six former Rollei managers purchased Rollei in 1999 in a management buyout. In November 2002, Rollei was taken over by "Capitellum A/S", a Danish investment company based in Copenhagen.
Rolleiflex SL2000F.
In the summer of 1981, Rollei introduced the "Rolleiflex SL2000F", a sophisticated SLR camera. At that time it was the only 35 mm camera that offered interchangeable film backs and dual viewfinders. Development of this camera began in 1975 and a prototype was exhibited at photokina 1978. One year later, however, the project was suspended due to lack of funding, although it was eventually resumed and completed. The features that were borrowed from Rollei's medium format cameras certainly attracted interest, but the high price and limited range of accessories put off many potential buyers, even though a full range of lenses with focal lengths from 14 mm to 1000 mm was available. An improved version, the "Rolleiflex 3003", was introduced at photokina 1984. Rollei eventually withdrew from the SLR market in 1994. By this time, all 35 mm SLRs included autofocus as a standard feature and Rollei was simply no longer able to keep up. The high price of the "SL 2000F / 3003" range meant that it only ever appealed to serious amateurs, with the result that only 15,000 units were sold.
Rollei Metric.
In 1986, Rollei started making metric surveying systems. This project was instigated by , a research associate at Rollei who wanted a camera adapted for the purpose of photogrammetry. Accordingly, especially calibrated cameras were developed along with computer programmes to analyse the resultant images: the "35 metric", the "3003 metric" and the "6006 metric" cameras incorporated a glass plate in front of the back plane inscribed with grid lines which – as famously shown on the photographs taken during the Apollo moon missions – were visible on the photographic image. Rollei's system was substantially cheaper than other high-end systems of the time. There was close collaboration with the Braunschweig University of Technology on this project.
"Classic" project.
Interest in twin-lens Rollei cameras declined in the 1970s so much that the Rolleicord was discontinued in 1976, while the Rolleiflex was only available on special order from 1977. Although there was some revival in interest shortly thereafter, production ceased altogether after Rollei went into voluntary administration. Nonetheless, 1,250 gold-plated Rolleiflexes were assembled in 1982 from the remaining componentry and sold as the "2.8F Gold" for 4,000 DM. In 1987, a much-admired successor, the "Rolleiflex 2.8 GX", was released which naturally featured the latest in TTL and flash metering. The "2.8 GX" sold for 2,800 DM, which was not exactly cheap, but a reasonable price considering the low production volumes.
Rollei then introduced the "2.8 FX" in 2001, a modernised version featuring the "Rolleiflex" logo of the 1930s. In fact, a wide-angled version of this camera is available once more. So, the number of Rollei cameras produced increased yet further – albeit slowly – reaching a total of 3.2 million units. Similarly, a classic version of the "Rollei 35" was available for a period of time: the "Rollei 35 classic" was presented at photokina 1990 and sold for 2,200 DM with a flash unit. See Rollei 35.
Rollei 35 RF.
Following a trend towards rangefinder cameras, Rollei introduced the "Rollei 35 RF" in 2002. Yet the "35 RF" was neither developed by Rollei, nor was it based on any of the earlier variants of the "Rollei 35". Instead, it was derived from the Cosina "Bessa Rx", a rangefinder camera that was sold as the "Voigtländer Bessa R2". Like the Voigtländer Bessa Rx and Zeiss Ikon cameras from Cosina, it utilised a bayonet lens mount derived from the Leica M3. Rollei offered three lenses of its own design made by Zeiss. The "Rollei 35 RF" is no longer in production, and it appears that not many were sold.
Prego cameras.
Despite an earlier resolution to avoid the mass market, Rollei began to sell a range of viewfinder cameras for the amateur market. The cameras were made in Asia by Skanhex, Premier, Kyocera and Ricoh, among others, and sold under the brand name "Rollei Prego". The product line initially consisted solely of 35 mm cameras; digital cameras were added later on – Rollei even began to develop these itself.
Single-lens medium format systems.
Single-lens medium format cameras represented Rollei's most important market segment. Consequently, development of the "SLX" continued, resulting in the "6006" which was introduced in 1984. Significant improvements included a film magazine and TTL flash metering – superior technology that made it the leading medium format camera. The "6002" followed in 1986, an entry-level model without a film magazine along with three inexpensive lenses (f/4, 50 mm; f/2.8, 80 mm; f/4, 150 mm). For the first time Rollei offered low-cost lenses from Asia, although all of the other lenses were still made by Schneider and Zeiss. In 1988, Rollei introduced the "6008". In addition to improved electronics, this was the first medium format camera to include automatic exposure bracketing; demand for this feature was so great that it led to a five-month lead time. The "6008 SRC 1000" was introduced in 1992, which made exposures of 1/1000 second possible for the first time. The "6008 Integral" followed in 1995, then came the "6008 AF" with auto-focus, and finally the "6008i2" – a stripped-down version of the "AF". The introduction of the scan-back (an attachment that digitally scanned the image, line by line) launched Rollei into the professional digital imaging market as early as 1991, and with great success.
The latest camera from the company (named Franke & Heidecke since 2006) is the "Hy6", which was produced in collaboration with Sinar and Leaf. This camera is a completely new, hybrid design with both analogue and digital capability. Three different versions are available from Franke & Heidecke, Sinar and Leaf ("Afi") respectively. Older lenses from the "6000" series can still be used, although the viewfinder and magazine mounts are new. The motor drive within the film back eliminates the need for a mechanical link between the camera and the film magazine.
2004 to 2015 - New Franke & Heidecke / RCP-Technik / DHW era / DW Photo.
Break up.
In 2004, "Rollei Fototechnic GmbH" hived off its manufacturing to "Rollei Produktion GmbH". In September 2005, "Rollei Produktion GmbH" changed its name to "Franke & Heidecke GmbH"; among its shareholders were Kai Franke and Rainer Heidecke, both nephews of the original founders. Once again, Franke & Heidecke was manufacturing medium format cameras, projectors, photo-technical accessories and lenses on the old company site in Salzdahlumer Straße in Braunschweig. On 27 February 2009, Franke & Heidecke filed for bankruptcy, resulting in all 131 employees being made redundant on 30 June 2009. Some of the bankruptcy assets were purchased by "DHW Fototechnik GmbH" with a view to partially resuming production.
In the meantime, "Rollei Fototechnic GmbH" changed its name to "Rollei GmbH" and was selling Asian-made digital cameras and consumer electronics such as MP3 players and digital video recorders. In 2006, "Rollei GmbH" closed its consumer products division.
In 2007/2008, what remained of "Rollei GmbH" (the photogrammetry and custom products divisions) merged with the Danish company Phase One to form "RolleiMetrics". This company continued manufacturing from its original site in Braunschweig, but was incorporated into "Trimble Holdings GmbH" (Raunheim) as their Metric Imaging Department in 2009.
"Rollei GmbH" continued to manage Rollei's rights and licences from its headquarters in Berlin until early 2010.
One of the licensees of the Rollei brand is Hans O. Mahn & Co. KG (Maco Photo Products), who manufactures photographic film under the Rollei label.
New owners.
Hamburg-based "RCP-Technik GmbH & Co. KG", which has been selling Rollei-branded consumer products since 2007 under the terms of a Europe-wide licensing agreement, purchased the Rollei brand on 1 January 2010, thereby extending its rights to the brand world-wide.
Rollei's product portfolio within RCP-Technik included compact digital cameras (Compactline, Flexline, Powerflex, Sportsline), camcorders (Movieline), digital picture frames, slide and photo scanners, as well as tripods (FotoPro).
Rollei's latest products are currently available in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Portugal, Great Britain, Greece, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. RCP-Technik GmbH established its first subsidiary in Budapest, Hungary on 1 March 2010. Soon thereafter, it opened its second subsidiary in Istanbul, Turkey on 1 April 2010.
On 1 January 2015, "RCP-Technik GmbH" refirmed as "Rollei GmbH & Co. KG".
DHW.
DHW Fototechnik (founded in 2009 by Rolf Daus, Katherina and Hans Hartje and Frank Will) in Braunschweig was an exhibitor at photokina 2010 where it showed the "Rolleiflex Hy6", a hybrid digital back-compatible and 4.5×6 / 6×6 film medium format camera, with integrated TTL-metering and an HFT PQS AF-Xenotar f/2.8, 80 mm standard lens, the twin-lens TLR and the "Rollei 35".
At photokina 2012, DHW exhibited the revised Rolleiflex Hy6 mod2, a revised Rolleiflex FX-N TLR, and the "DHW Electronic Shutter No. 0 HS1000", which was based on the former "Rollei Electronic Shutter". The "Rolleiflex 6008 AF" and "Rolleiflex 6008 integral 2", the "X-Act2" camera, the "Rollei 35", and the "Rolleivision" projectors were continued to be sold as well.
In 2014, DHW filed for insolvency and was dissolved in April 2015.
DW Photo.
After DHW's insolvency and asset sales, the same management team started the business again with a further reduced number of employees under the name DW Photo. The manufacturing of TLRs and projectors has been dropped to concentrate on the Hy6 system.


Urban Sketchers

Urban Sketchers (USk) is a global community of artists that practice drawing on location in cities, towns and villages they live in or travel to.
The Urban Sketchers movement was started on Flickr in 2007 by journalist Gabriel Campanario. In 2009 Campanario established Urban Sketchers as a nonprofit organization (501 (c) (3) tax-exempt). The Urban Sketchers Manifesto has been translated into several languages.
The USk motto is “We show the world, one drawing at a time!”
History.
Urban Sketchers started as a group on image sharing site, [Flickr], in 2007. The Urban Sketchers founder Gabriel (Gabi) Campanario is a Spanish journalist and illustrator living in Seattle. He is a journalist for The Seattle Times where he contributes as an artist and a writer to both the printed edition as well as blogs. As more and more artists began to submit and share their drawings online, Campanario started a group to support and promote journalistic drawing depicting real life as it happens in front of the artist.
A year later in 2008 Campanario created the Urban Sketchers blog. Participation in the Urban Sketchers blog is by invitation and is limited to a hundred artists. The term Urban Sketchers Correspondent was created. Correspondents are invited by Campanario and commit to contribute journalistic sketches on a regular basis. The sketches are accompanied by stories providing a background for the sketch: when and where the sketch was created and some details about content – words and narrative that go with pictures. The Urban Sketchers blog gained popularity between 2008 and the present, attracting hundreds and soon thousands of visitors daily.
In December 2009, Campanario established Urban Sketchers as a nonprofit organization (501 (c) (3) tax-exempt). A board of directors was elected. The organization's task is to raise the artistic, storytelling and educational value of location drawing, promoting its practice and connecting people around the world who draw on location where they live and travel.
Activities.
Urban Sketchers has a manifesto which reads:
Sketching.
Urban Sketchers is a diverse group of people united by a passion for sketching. Discussions, for example about supplies and materials, take place when sketchers meet in real life or virtually.
Sketching in public creates opportunities for interaction. The majority of these interactions are positive and good-natured. In some instances, sketching in a café has produced a free coffee from a proprietor, and on a rare occasion sketching produced an invitation to sketch a cultural event that otherwise would be closed to an outsider. For example, a group of aspiring musicians, Flon Flon en Musette, were performing a street concert that was documented by an Urban Sketcher who happened to be on site. The sketch then made it onto the face of the group's compilation CD and the sketcher was invited to a private concert.
In 2011 Campanario published a book, "The Art of Urban Sketching", highlighting hundreds of the best Urban Sketchers members' work.
Symposiums.
Urban Sketchers organization organizes Urban Sketchers Symposiums. These are festive gatherings of artists, where for 3 days sketchers draw on location, attend numerous workshops, panel discussions, lectures, meet each other in person and draw.
Workshops.
Artists who contribute to Urban Sketchers can host workshops for sketching enthusiasts around the world. The workshops aim to teach skills useful to the practice of urban sketching. Workshops can cover a variety of topics, such as perspective, panoramas, and people, and take place in the urban environment appropriate for the topic.
Communities.
Urban Sketchers created many regional communities. Correspondents of the original Urban Sketchers blog and Flickr group organized local sketchers and number of local sketching groups were started. Other grass roots leaders started groups and brought them under Urban Sketchers umbrella.
Regional Urban Sketchers groups function similar to the main global group. All embrace the vision of the Urban Sketchers Manifesto as leading guidelines, while each group maintains its local and cultural individuality. Many groups have their own blogs where correspondents are invited based on local criteria, Facebook and Flickr groups where all are welcome.
Urban Sketchers communities are active in many countries of Europe, in North and South America and Asia.


Advanced Boolean Expression Language

The Advanced Boolean Expression Language (ABEL) is an obsolete hardware description language (HDL) and an associated set of design tools for programming programmable logic devices (PLDs). It was created in 1983 by Data I/O Corporation, in Redmond, Washington.
ABEL includes both concurrent equation and truth table logic formats as well as a sequential state machine description format. A preprocessor with syntax loosely based on Digital Equipment Corporation's Macro-11 assembly language is also included.
In addition to being used for describing digital logic, ABEL may also be used to describe test vectors (patterns of inputs and expected outputs) that may be downloaded to a hardware PLD programmer along with the compiled and fuse-mapped PLD programming data.
Other PLD design languages originating in the same era include CUPL and PALASM. Since the advent of larger field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), PLD-specific HDLs have fallen out of favor as standard HDLs such as Verilog and VHDL gained adoption.
The ABEL concept and original compiler were created by Russell de Pina of Data I/O's Applied Research Group in 1981. The work was continued by ABEL product development team (led by Dr. Kyu Y. Lee) and included Mary Bailey, Bjorn Benson, Walter Bright, Michael Holley, Charles Olivier, and David Pellerin.
After a series of acquisitions, the ABEL toolchain and intellectual property were bought by Xilinx. Xilinx discontinued support for ABEL in its ISE Design Suite starting with version 11 (released in 2010).


Doc Watson

Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's fingerstyle and flatpicking skills, as well as his knowledge of traditional American music, were highly regarded. Blind from a young age, he performed with his son, guitarist Merle Watson, for over 15 years until Merle's death in 1985 in an accident on the family farm.
Biography.
Early life.
Watson was born in Deep Gap, North Carolina, United States. According to Watson on his three-CD biographical recording "Legacy", he got the nickname "Doc" during a live radio broadcast when the announcer remarked that his given name Arthel was odd and he needed an easy nickname. A fan in the crowd shouted "Call him Doc!" presumably in reference to the literary character Sherlock Holmes's sidekick Doctor Watson. The name stuck.
An eye infection caused Doc Watson to lose his vision before his second birthday. He attended North Carolina's school for the visually impaired, the Governor Morehead School, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
In a 1989 radio interview with Terry Gross on the Fresh Air show on National Public Radio, Watson explained how he got his first guitar. His father told him that if he and his brother David chopped down all the small dead chestnut trees along the edge of their field, he could sell the wood to a tannery. Watson bought a Sears Silvertone from Sears Roebuck with his earnings, while his brother bought a new suit. Later in that same interview, Watson explained that his first high-quality guitar was a Martin D-18.
Watson's earliest influences were country roots musicians and groups such as the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. The first song he learned to play on the guitar was "When Roses Bloom in Dixieland", first recorded by the Carter Family in 1930. Watson stated in an interview with American Songwriter that, "Jimmie Rodgers was the first man that I started to claim as my favorite." Watson proved to be a natural musical talent and within months was performing on local street corners playing songs from the Delmore Brothers, Louvin Brothers, and Monroe Brothers alongside his brother Linny. By the time Watson reached adulthood, he had become a proficient acoustic and electric guitar player.
Career.
In 1953, Watson joined the Johnson City, Tennessee-based Jack Williams' country and western swing band on electric guitar. The band seldom had a fiddle player, but was often asked to play at square dances. Following the example of country guitarists Grady Martin and Hank Garland, Watson taught himself to play fiddle tunes on his Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. He later transferred the technique to acoustic guitar, and playing fiddle tunes became part of his signature sound. During his time with Jack Williams, Doc also supported his family as a piano tuner.
In 1960, as the American folk music revival grew, Watson took the advice of folk musicologist Ralph Rinzler and began playing acoustic guitar and banjo exclusively. That move ignited Watson's career when he played on his first recording, "Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley's". Also of pivotal importance for his career was his February 11, 1961 appearance at P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village. He subsequently began to tour as a solo performer and appeared at universities and clubs like the Ash Grove in Los Angeles. Watson would eventually get his big break and rave reviews for his performance at the renowned Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island in 1963. Watson recorded his first solo album in 1964 and began performing with his son Merle, the same year.
After the folk revival waned during the late 1960s, Watson's career was sustained by his performance of the Jimmy Driftwood song "Tennessee Stud" on the 1972 live album recording "Will the Circle Be Unbroken". As popular as ever, Doc and Merle began playing as a trio with T. Michael Coleman on bass guitar in 1974. The trio toured the globe during the late seventies and early eighties, recording nearly fifteen albums between 1973 and 1985, and bringing Doc and Merle's unique blend of acoustic music to millions of new fans. In 1985, Merle died in a tractor accident on his family farm. Two years later Merle Fest was inaugurated in remembrance of him.
Watson played guitar in both flatpicking and fingerpicking style, but is best known for his flatpick work. His guitar playing skills, combined with his authenticity as a mountain musician, made him a highly influential figure during the folk music revival. Watson pioneered a fast and flashy bluegrass lead guitar style including fiddle tunes and crosspicking techniques which were adopted and extended by Clarence White, Tony Rice and many others. Watson was also an accomplished banjo player and sometimes accompanied himself on harmonica as well. Known also for his distinctive and rich baritone voice, Watson over the years developed a vast repertoire of mountain ballads, which he learned via the oral tradition of his home area in Deep Gap, North Carolina.
Watson played a Martin model D-18 guitar on his earliest recordings. In 1968, Watson began a relationship with Gallagher Guitars when he started playing their G-50 model. His first Gallagher, which Watson refers to as "Old Hoss", is on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1974, Gallagher created a customized G-50 line to meet Watson's preferred specifications, which bears the Doc Watson name. In 1991, Gallagher customized a personal cutaway guitar for Watson that he played until his death and which he referred to as "Donald" in honor of Gallagher guitar's second generation proprietor and builder, Don Gallagher. For the last few years, Doc had been playing a Dana Bourgeois dreadnought given to him by Ricky Skaggs for his 80th birthday.
In 1994, Watson teamed up with musicians Randy Scruggs and Earl Scruggs to contribute the classic song "Keep on the Sunny Side" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.
Later life.
In his later life, Watson scaled back his touring schedule. Watson was generally joined onstage by his grandson (Merle's son) Richard, as well as longtime musical partners David Holt or Jack Lawrence. On June 19, 2007, Watson was accompanied by Australian guitar player Tommy Emmanuel at a concert at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas. Watson also performed, accompanied by Holt and Richard, at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco in 2009, as he had done in several previous years.
Watson hosted the annual MerleFest music festival held every April at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The festival features a vast array of acoustic style music focusing on the folk, bluegrass, blues and old-time music genres. It was named in honor of Merle Watson and is one of the most popular acoustic music festivals in the world, drawing over 70,000 music fans each year. The festival has continued after his death.
Watson was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010.
Personal life.
In 1947, Doc married Rosa Lee Carlton, the daughter of popular fiddle player Gaither Carlton. Watson and Rosa Lee had two children – Eddy Merle (named after country music legends Eddy Arnold and Merle Travis) in 1949 and Nancy Ellen in 1951.
On April 29, 2012, Watson performed with the Nashville Bluegrass Band on the Creekside Stage at MerleFest. It was an annual tradition for Watson to join the Nashville Bluegrass Band for a gospel set on the festival's Sunday morning. It would be his final performance.
On May 21, 2012, Watson fell at his home. He was not seriously injured in the fall, but an underlying medical condition prompted surgery on his colon. Watson died on May 29, 2012 at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center of complications following the surgery at the age of 89. He is buried in the Merle and Doc Watson Memorial Cemetery, Deep Gap, Watauga County, North Carolina, with his wife and son.
Legacy.
In 2002, High Windy Audio released a multi-CD biographical album titled "Legacy". The collection features audio interviews with Watson interspersed with music, as well as a complete recording of a live performance at the Diana Wortham Theatre in Asheville, North Carolina. The collection won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album.
In 2010, Blooming Twig Books published a comprehensive biography of Doc Watson, written by Kent Gustavson. The book, titled "", features never before published content regarding Watson's life and career, gleaned from interviews with Watson's friends and collaborators, including Norman Blake, Sam Bush, members of the Seeger family, Michelle Shocked and many others. The book also goes into detail on the life, supporting role and ultimate death of Merle Watson. An updated edition was released by Sumach-Red Books in March 2012.
In April 2013, Open Records released a multi-disc collection of unreleased recordings by Doc Watson. The collection, titled "Milestones", features 94 songs as well as stories, remembrances, and over 500 photographs. The collection was created by Watson's daughter Nancy and is being produced by ETSU Bluegrass and ETSU professor Roy Andrade.
Awards and honors.
In 1986, Watson received the North Carolina Award and in 1994 he received a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award. He is a recipient of a 1988 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. In 2000, Watson was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1997, Watson received the National Medal of Arts from U.S. president Bill Clinton. In 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
A portion of the U.S. Route 421 near Deep Gap (Watson's birthplace) bears a sign reading, "Doc and Merle Watson Highway", dedicating it to Watson and his son.


Mike Elliott (game designer)

Mike Elliott (sometimes credited as Michael Elliott) is a Seattle-based board game, card game and mobile game designer whose titles include "", "Thunderstone", and "Battle Spirits Trading Card Game". "Magic" head designer Mark Rosewater called him "one of the most prolific "Magic" designers in the history of the game." He was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design Hall of Fame at the 2017 Origins Game Fair.
Career.
While living in Phoenix, Arizona in the early 1990s, Elliott and several of his friends were active bridge players and competed regularly in tournaments. One evening after a tournament, a friend introduced the group to the "" trading card game. When Elliott returned home he purchased the game and began playing in "Magic" tournaments. While at a "Magic" tournament at Arizona State University Elliott told two fellow attendees what he thought was wrong with the game. During the conversation they revealed that they worked for Wizards of the Coast. One of them, Joel Mick, invited Elliott to fly to Seattle and interview for a position with the company.
Wizards of the Coast.
Elliott started at Wizards of the Coast in January 1996 as a developer. Afterward he was promoted to designer, and then senior designer. He worked on approximately 30 Magic expansions and introduced new mechanics such as slivers. His "Magic" related expansions and project included:
Designing
Developing
While at Wizards of the Coast he also designed non-"Magic" games including "Harry Potter Trading Card Game", "Neopets Trading Card Game", "Hecatomb", and "Duel Masters Trading Card Game". Elliott left Wizards of the Coast at the end of 2005.
WizKids.
After leaving Wizards of the Coast, Elliott worked for WizKids until the company closed its Seattle office. His titles for WizKids included "Star Wars PocketModel Trading Card Game", "Halo ActionClix", and "DC HeroClix: Batman (Alpha)".
Freelance career.
As a freelance game designer and developer, Mike Elliott, has designed dozens of games. Notable titles include "Battle Spirits Trading Card Game", "Thunderstone", "Quarriors!" and "Star Trek: Fleet Captains" He also designed "Card-Jitsu", an online mini-game in the Club Penguin children's MMO and worked on "Hearthstone" in early 2017.
Battle Spirits.
In 2008 Elliott designed the "Battle Spirits Trading Card Game" for Bandai. Part of the "Battle Spirits" franchise—which also includes several anime series, manga serializations and other merchandise such as toys and video games—the TCG was released in Japan in September 2008. "Battle Spirits" became one of the top selling trading card games of the year.
The game's popularity led to Elliott's appearance in promotional videos, and a new character based on him being added to the anime series "Battle Spirits: Shōnen Toppa Bashin". The "Michael Elliott" character was an eccentric American game designer who created the titular "Battle Spirits" card game played in the series.
"Battle Spirits Trading Card Game" was released in the United States by Bandai of America on August 14, 2009.
Thunderstone.
In 2009 Elliott designed "Thunderstone" card game for Alderac Entertainment Group. The game won several awards and nominations, including 2010 Golden Geek Best Card Game Nominee, 2010 Japan Boardgame Prize Voters' Selection Nominee, 2010 JoTa Best Card Game Audience Award, 2010 JoTa Best Card Game Critic Award and 2011 Fairplay À la carte Winner. Alderac relaunched "Thunderstone" in 2017 as "Thunderstone Quest" with a Kickstarter that raised more than $500,000.
Quarriors! and Dice Masters.
In 2012 Elliott designed the "Quarriors!" dice building game. Published by WizKids, the game won the 2013 Origins Awards for Best Family, Party or Children's Game.
The "Quarriors!" Dice Masters system expanded to include "The Lord of the Rings Dice Building Game", "Marvel Dice Masters, DC Comics Dice Masters", "Dungeons & Dragons Dice Masters", "Yu-Gi-Oh! Dice Masters, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dice Masters". WizKids reported that "Marvel Dice Masters: Avengers vs. X-Men" sold out within its first week of release and in 2015, "Marvel Dice Masters" won the Origins Vanguard Award.
Shadowrun: Crossfire and Dragonfire.
Eliott helped design "Shadowrun: Crossfire, The Adventure Deck-building Game" for Fire Opal Media and Catalyst Game Labs. Released in August 2014, the game is a cooperative card game that combines elements of roleplaying games and deck-building card games. "Dragonfire", a cooperative deck-builder game based on the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game and using the Crossfire game engine, was launched in 2017.


Troy Christensen

Troy Christensen (born July 16, 1964) is an American author and game designer. Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he is an established figure in the role-playing game community.
Biography.
Troy Christensen created the "Phantasm Adventures" game, and the first edition was published in 1982. In 1987 he rewrote the game into "Phantasm Adventures II". "Advanced Phantasm Adventures" was released in 1988, and was described by "Dragon" as a rich and complicated fantasy role-playing game system. The rules was first printed as an independent publication, just as "Dungeons & Dragons" was reaching the height in American popularity in the late 1980s. In 1987, he went to live and go to school in Japan. He attended the International Christian University in Mitaka Japan, with the aspiration of learning Japanese for cartoon translation. Although Troy Christensen was living in Japan and going to a Japanese university, he could not speak the language. The cultural shock put great pressure on his ability to maintain grades. He found his escape when he sought out Japanese gamers. There he made contact with Dai Nippon Kaiga (), a company willing to publish his new game ideas. Working through their Artbox brand division, he released numerous books and manuals that exemplified Japanese language radical role-playing games. With the release of "Advanced Phantasm Adventures" and Multiverse, he introduced a number of new concepts to the role-playing game genre. He is known among other things for his series of Japanese language role-playing games.
Notably the "Phantasm Adventure" rules allowed for a large scope of playable races, unseen before this game, numbering more than fifty. With a combination of racial and personal statistics, ranging from a score of 1 to 10, each player character could be given a comparative score that classified the individual among all other NPCs and player characters in the game. Thus the game made it possible for a pixie barbarian as well as an ogre necromancer. By multiplying their racial and personal scores, they could be played in the same campaign with varying and startling mix of possibilities. It was a new game concept to divorce race and class restrictions on a character design and it was unheard of at the time to have more than a dozen playable races to pick. The rules also created a whole new methodology of creating spellcasters. Instead of simply selecting spells from a list, in "Phantasm Adventures" each wizard is unique in the way they harnessed, memorized, and cast each spell. The rules alluded that no two spell casters would ever be the same.
As early as 1984 Troy Christensen was writing books for "Villains & Vigilantes". He would eventually write three modules: "Devil's Domain", "Most Wanted III", and "Dawn of the Devil". All three books expanded upon the universe of "Villains & Vigilantes", with the "Devil's Domain" being reviewed in the Space Gamer magazine.
By the mid 1990s he had worked for a number of prestigious game publishers. He reached the height of his game writing with "AD&D" second edition "Thief's Challenge", "The Castle Guide", "Arms and Equipment Guide", and "RoleMaster" "Heroes and Rogues". In 1992 he released two short role-playing books called "Bloodbath" and "Bloodchant". Both of the books described gruesome and sometimes powerful visuals of decapitation and mutilation. A review warned parents away from the gratuitous violence of the game rules. Distinctively ahead of his time, Troy Christensen produced a wide range of games and sold them not just in the United States, but also in Japan. Making that leap across geographic and cultural boundaries, he found an audience for many new game designs.
Christensen continues to write paper and pencil role-playing games. In recent years he has released a new version of "Phantasm Adventures" on numerous digital storefronts. In the new edition, the game has been published in five books, two of which are presently available. The other books have yet been released but are projected to be published in 2015.
Novels.
Amish Johnson and the Pegasus Chamber, the first book of the Amish Johnson Trilogy, was published on July 2014. With special arrangement, in October 2014 Amazon published Christensen's next novella called The Tome.


Flag of North Brabant

The flag of North Brabant () consists of a chequy pattern with 24 distinct fields in the colours red and white or gules and argent. The flag has been used since the Middle Ages, but fell into disuse in the 18th century. Thanks to the State Archivist ("rijksarchivaris") Mr. J. Smit, the flag is back in use. It has been the official flag of North Brabant since 1959.
The flag of the province of North Brabant was adopted by the Provincial Council on January 21, 1959. In addition, the following description was used: "Rectangular, consisting of four horizontal stripes, divided into six adjacent surfaces of red and white and six vertical lines, divided into four adjacent sides of red and white."
The flag of the Belgian province of Antwerp and coat of arms and Middle Age flag of Croatia follows the same pattern but flag of Antwerp makes use of the colours red, white, blue and yellow.
History.
The North Brabantian flag dates from the Middle Ages. The colors gules and argent are used in Brabant standards, flags and pennants since the proclamation of the County of Louvain (942 CE) during the Lotharingian period. Later the Duchy of Brabant took these colors on. During the Middle Ages and the centuries after the red and white would be often used. Ships sailed under a red-white flag, especially in Antwerp.
At the end of the 18th century the flag fell into disuse. Only since 1959 has the red and white checkered flag become the official flag of the province of North Brabant.
Highest seniority.
North Brabant flag has the highest seniority among all Dutch province flags. For that reason, it hung until 2006 immediately to the right of the throne of the monarch in the Ridderzaal. On official occasions the flag should always be on the very left site for the spectators. As of Prinsjesdag 2006, the flags in de Ridderzaal were replaced by tapestries bearing the provincial coat of arms.


Hum Award for Best Actress Popular

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Selected by Viewers is one of the Hum Awards of Merit presented annually by the Hum Television Network and Entertainment Channel (HTNEC) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the Television industry. Since its inception, however, the award has commonly been referred to as the hum for Best Actress or Best Drama Actress Viewers Choice. While actors are nominated for this award by Hum members who are actors and actresses themselves, winners are selected by Online Public Voting.
History.
Hum Television Network and Entertainment Channel presented this award to one of the finest actresses of Pakistani TV industry. This Category is introduced at 2nd ceremony in order to select actress according to viewers choice.
Winners and nominees.
In the list below, winners are listed first in the colored row, followed by the other nominees. Following the hum's practice, the dramas below are listed by year of their Pakistan qualifying run, which is usually (but not always) the drama's year of release.
For the first ceremony, the eligibility period spanned full calendar years. For example, the 1st Hum Awards presented on April 28, 2013, to recognized actors of dramas that were released between January, 2012, and December, 2012, the period of eligibility is the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31.
Date and the award ceremony shows that the 2010 is the period from 2010-2020 (10 years-decade), while the year above winners and nominees shows that the dramas year in which they were telecast, and the figure in bracket shows the ceremony number, for example; an award ceremony is held for the dramas of its previous year.


Karol Madaj

Karol Madaj (; born 9 February 1980) is a Polish board game designer. Best known for Kolejka, he has designed games for Poland's Institute of National Remembrance, the Polish Humanitarian Organisation, and the National Centre for Culture. In 2013, he was awarded Poland's Gold Cross of Merit for services in the development of historical awareness.
Madaj studied theology at John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.


Eugene Lee (designer)

Eugene Lee (born 1939) is an American set designer who has worked as the production designer for "Saturday Night Live" since the show's premiere in 1975. Lee has been resident designer at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island, since 1967.
Lee attended Beloit Memorial High School, has a BFA each from the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago (now at DePaul University) and Carnegie Mellon University, an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and three honorary Ph.Ds. He has won Tony Awards for Bernstein’s "Candide", Sondheim’s "", and "Wicked", as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design. Other New York theatre work includes "Amazing Grace", "Alice in Wonderland", "The Normal Heart", "Agnes of God", "Ragtime", "Uncle Vanya", "Ruby Sunrise", "Bounce", and "A Number". Film credits include Coppola’s "Hammett", Huston’s "Mr. North" and Malle’s "Vanya on 42nd Street".
Lee lives in Providence with his wife, Brooke, where they raised their two sons.
His work on the musical "Candide" at the Chelsea Theater Center of Brooklyn and on Broadway are chronicled in great detail in Davi Napoleon's book, "". The book also describes his work on "Slave Ship" and other productions at the Chelsea.
Lee is also a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 2006.


Kyle Creed

Kyle Creed (1912–1982) was an influential musician and banjo luthier of 20th century Appalachia. Along with Tommy Jarrell, and Fred Cockerham, he was a central figure of the Roundpeak-style old-time music that began to find an outside audience in the 1960s, and his clawhammer banjo playing came to shape banjo practices in the Old-time music tradition.
Biography.
He was born in the Round Peak area of Surry County, North Carolina on September 20, 1912, becoming immersed in the traditional music of the region from an early age. Creed was a multi-instrumentalist but concentrated on clawhammer banjo, playing in various groups such as the Camp Creek Boys and winning the prestigious Galax, VA Old Fiddler's Convention banjo competition in multiple consecutive years He also operated a music store and built banjos for other players of the style. His work as a luthier continues to influence preferences and standards in open back banjo construction and sound.
Particularly influential was Creed's novel practice of executing the right hand playing motion over the highest frets of the banjo fretboard as opposed to the standard method of striking the strings directly above the banjo head. Kyle Creed recorded individually and with the Camp Creek Boys and is included in the Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture and the seminal "County Records Clawhammer Banjo" series.
He died November 26, 1982.


Apti Eziev

Apti Eziev (born 21 July 1989 in Russia) is a fashion designer based in Belarus
Participated in fashion shows:


Zhou Chaochen

Zhou Chaochen (; born 1 November 1937) is a Chinese computer scientist.
Zhou was born in Nanhui, Shanghai, China. He studied as an undergraduate at the Department of Mathematics and Mechanics, Peking University (1954–1958) and as a postgraduate at the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (1963–1967).
He worked at Peking University and CAS until his visit to the Oxford University Computing Laboratory (now the Oxford University Department of Computer Science) (1989–1992). During this time, he was the prime investigator of the Duration Calculus, an interval logic for real-time systems as part of the European ESPRIT "ProCoS" project on Provably Correct Systems.
During the periods 1990–1992 and 1995–1996, Zhou Chaochen was visiting professor at the Department of Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, on the invitation of Professor Dines Bjørner. He was Principal Research Fellow (1992–1997) and later Director of UNU-IIST in Macau (1997–2002), until his retirement, when he returned to Beijing.
In 2007, Zhou and Dines Bjørner, the first Director of UNU-IIST, were honoured on the occasion of their 70th birthdays. Zhou is a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.