C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Rolleiflex MX-EVS (1954-1956) is a transitional model in the Rolleiflex 3.5 line, distinguished by the addition of an **Exposure Value (EV) scale** that couples the aperture ring and shutter speed dial. When EV coupling is engaged, changing one value automatically adjusts the other to maintain the same total exposure - an attempt to simplify metered exposure transfer before the era of through-the-lens metering. The standard taking lens is the **Carl Zeiss Tessar 75mm f/3.5**, though some production runs received the Xenotar 75mm f/3.5. The shutter is the Synchro-Compur with full flash synchronization at all speeds, unchanged from its predecessors. The MX-EVS was a short-lived model, produced for only about two years before being replaced by the Rolleiflex 3.5E in 1956.
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C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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About this camera
The Rolleiflex that introduced EV coupling - aperture and shutter locked to an Exposure Value scale.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120 (6x6 cm) |
| Taking lens | Carl Zeiss Tessar 75mm f/3.5 or Xenotar 75mm f/3.5 |
| Viewing lens | Heidoscop 75/3.5 |
| Years | ~1954-1956 |
| Shutter | 1s - 1/500s + B, Synchro-Compur leaf |
| Flash sync | All speeds |
| EV scale | Yes - coupled aperture/shutter EV control |
| Meter | None built-in |
| Weight | ~ |
The Rolleiflex MX-EVS followed the Rolleiflex MX (1951-1956), inheriting its body and optical design but adding the EV coupling mechanism to the Synchro-Compur shutter. The EVS designation stands for "Exposure Value System" - a standardized scale adopted across European camera and shutter manufacturers in the early 1950s to facilitate the use of external exposure meters. An external meter would give an EV reading; the photographer would dial in that EV number and the camera would maintain equivalent exposure as the aperture-shutter pair was adjusted.
The system proved less popular in practice than hoped. Many photographers disliked the coupled mechanism, finding it restrictive compared to independent aperture and shutter control. Rollei addressed this by making the coupling disengageable on the MX-EVS. The model was replaced in ~1956 by the Rolleiflex 3.5E, which retained the EVS scale but added a built-in selenium light meter - a more complete implementation of the same concept. The MX-EVS is therefore a brief transitional chapter between the pre-metered MX and the metered 3.5E.
The Rolleiflex MX-EVS occupies a specific place in the history of photographic metering: it represents the industry's attempt to standardize exposure without embedding a meter inside the camera body. The EV coupling system was a European consensus standard, and its brief appearance across Rollei, Voigtlander, and Zeiss Ikon cameras in the mid-1950s reflects that moment of standardization before TTL metering made the whole approach obsolete.
For collectors, the MX-EVS is notable as a short-production transitional variant. For shooters, the EVS coupling can simply be left disengaged, leaving a functionally standard Rolleiflex 3.5 Tessar with full manual control of aperture and shutter independently.
Lens fixed. Bay I accessory ring:
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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