Return of the Rollei
One day after six weeks, I pinged Harry Fleenor about my Rollei. Not ready, it needed another week to simmer. A week later, I refrained from checking again. I knew it would be ready when it was ready. A week after that I got the message: Come and get it. My excitement was split between getting the camera back, and for my mission to get a portrait of Harry Fleenor himself.
When I walked into his shop, there was a geezer there getting an opinion on some camera I couldn’t identify. He was lowballing Mr. Fleenor on the repair quote, to which Mr. Fleenor replied that he would cut no deals on repairs. The geezer was put out, and hemmed and hawed. Just great, I thought. Way to put my subject in a bad mood before I even got to him.
Eventually, it was my turn and I plunked down my pink copy of the work order. “You must be: Orlosky!” That’s me. He put the camera down, and I put the cash down, and then I immediately whipped out a roll of Tri-X and started to load the Rolleiflex. Nervously. Mr. Fleenor started writing up the final receipt. I was fumbling. “You ever shoot with a Rollei before?” he asks me. Yikes. “You going to take a picture?” I’d like to. “What speed film is that?” I was under attack! I whip out my meter. “What’s the exposure?” I’m pretty sure I didn’t even see the reading at that point. “You’re probably down to one-thirtieth. You better hold real still.” I was going to be lucky to even focus the thing. But, he posed skeptically. I focused. I flipped the lug open with an expert’s nonchalance to free the shutter. I drew in a breath and held it. I got the shot.
As we wrapped up the paperwork, he seemed genuinely pleased that I was so eager to shoot with his handiwork. I was glad.
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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 25th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
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Wow, nice! Looks like all is well. Slick portrait, too – even under pressure.
[...] was hesitant to take my camera back to the master machinist Harry Fleenor, fearing another eight-week wait for an eight-minute repair. This was simply beneath him. A contact had recommended a repair [...]