Bought my Yashica Mat 124 G

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ajishc

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HI All,

Few weeks’ back I bought a Yashica Mat 124 G for less than 100 bucks. The camera is in good working condition and light meter needle also moves when putting a new battery

Today I bought a role of Kodak Portra 160 VC to try out the camera (Was this is a good choice of film?). I will let you all know how the first roll comes out.

I am very much comfortable with all aspects of my camera except the light meter. I bought a battery from a nearby camera shop (WEIN CELL 1.35 V MERCURY REPLACEMENT BATTERY - $6). When I put this in the camera, the red needle moved but I was not able to align the red and yellow needles by moving the shutter speed/aperture control knobs. The 124 Manual (downloaded from internet) didn’t help much. How should I be using the light meter?

Also, how can I validate that the light meter is showing the correct reading?

Ajish
 
Hi Ajish,
why can't you align the red needle and the yellow fork? Doesn't the fork move when you change shutter speed/aperture? Have you set the right film speed?

If you want to test the meter, compare the readings to a reliable external light meter.
 
I have the same problem, the neddle moves but something inside has disengaged, so you won't be able to match the two needles.
My problem was because my neckstrap suddenly broke...and my camera fell on the hard pavement of Genoa streets...
Get a cheap external meter (sixtino, or in US Gossen Pilot) and forget about it.
An external meter is well capable to face tricky situations (shadows, black cats...) while the internal meter of the Yashica will fell.
Good shooting !

My flickr page was shot in sunny16, take a look and don't worry about the meter and the battery.
 
andrealed said:
....
Get a cheap external meter (sixtino, or in US Gossen Pilot)....
An external meter is well capable to face tricky situations (shadows, black cats...) while the internal meter of the Yashica will fell.
Click to expand...

A good handheld meter is a must with all vintage cameras. Get used to using 'incident light' readings and chances are you will get much better exposures. Do get a better one though. I have used a Sekonic 308b some 20 years and it is still working fine. I also have a 308s since a couple of years back. These will serve all my exposure needs.
 
It may be the light level in the store was too low. Other than that, there is a problem with the meter. If that is the only problem with the camera, a hand held meter will not be a big inconvenience. I had a Yashica MAT 124 G many years ago and really liked using it.
 
Thanks a lot guys for responding back.

I spent couple of hours today on this and kind of figured out the issue with the light meter. Whenever I tap the light meter is works and then it stops. So I decided to take a major risk and removed the View Finder to get access to backside of the light meter. That when I saw the problem. One of the two joints of the light meter was broken. Being adventures I unscrewed the light meter and removed the broken piece. I attached the light meter back with one on screw.

Now when I check, both needle moves and red one is sensitive to light BUT the readings are way off. For example: in bright daylight, both needles align when Shutter Speed is B and Aperture is 3.5

Below picture shows how the meter setup looks now.

Can anyone with experience in repair please help me out?
 

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Even if the meter were working it is old and might be off. Might also be a problem getting the right battery. You'll be better off with a hand held. This way you can even take care of filter factors.
 
Those meters are not as accurate or the technical masterpieces of today. Go with a cheapo meter that works. If you are not sure of the exposure bracket your shots. An old GE PR-1 for under $20 if it is close will work just fine.
 
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