Rolleiflex (twin-lens reflex)

A Rolleiflex 2.8F, one of the later versions of the twin-lens reflex Franke & Heidecke first released in 1929. The top lens is for looking, the bottom lens takes the picture, and you compose by gazing down into a hood at a bright square image. That waist-level way of shooting changed how portraits felt: the camera sits at chest height, you are not hiding behind it, and the subject looks at a person rather than a lens. The Rolleiflex became one of the three main cameras of the press photographers, alongside the Leica and the Speed Graphic. Its square 6x6 cm negatives are large enough that prints from a well-kept one still look superb.