The aluminium is pretty thin and bends easily. Even worse things can
happen, if the screw of the tripod is too long.

I found from a junk bin a thread adapter (3/8" to 1/4") that has a wide
plate, almost the size of the circular feature in the bottom of the
camera. It prevents the latter accident, and seems to be much sturdier
as a bonus.

-- Lassi

The tripod socket secures the back of any Rollei TLR tight to the tripod;
unfortunately, the back is only held by two small screws and the lock at the
bottom. It's not too difficult to damage this three points by using force
to the body of the camera, additionally you can warp the bottom of the
TLR back.

The Rolleifix is the way to go. It secures the body by two points at the front
(there are two small silver cups at the front of the camera where these
two points will connect) and clamps the whole bottom of the camera tightly.
The pistol grip contains one Rolleifix and is sometimes cheaper than a
solo Rolleifix... just remove two screws and lift it out of the grip.

Martin

Recently, David J. Littleboy <davidjl@gol.com> posted:

I learned some interesting things from the responses that you've gotten so
far!

But, it shouldn't be surprising that I'll offer a different perspective. I
have an early '50s Rolleiflex TLR that I bought back in the late '70s. I
don't own a Rolleifix, nor have I felt that the "stock" mount is so
fragile that I'd need one. I also have been screwing it onto generic
tripod heads just as I do with my 6008i other cameras. After over 25 years
of use, I've not suffered any of the difficulties that others have
speculated about, and feel that if you're at all reasonable in your use,
the Rollei will serve you well. As this is a "user" camera, I don't try to
handle the TLR with kid gloves. Of course, I don't do such things as try
to pick up the tripod by grabbing the camera, either.  ;-)

Regards,

Neil