Mark Hama

Anyone know if he's alive? I've emailed him three times and with no response. I just hope that he's to busy to reply and not :angel:

Some men of that squad are quite used to email, but some still prefer ol' good phone call.
 
I emailed him about a month ago about having a CLA on a Yashica Mat. I received an immediate reply with an estimate and a form to fill out and include in the box when I shipped the camera. He got the camera back to me well within the time estimate that he quoted in the email.

FWIW google returns two web sites for him. You might want to try the other one.
 
Only use him if you have a Yashica TLR. He apparently knows his way around those.

He accepted my Zeiss Ikon Contessa and Voigtlander Vitessa for CLA, and returned them in worse shape functionally than when I had sent them in (stuff like the frame counters no longer working etc).
Also, terrible communication after the initial email inquiry as in would not reply.
 
I had nothing but good experiences with Mark working on my Mamiya TLR gear--he's also quite expert at that. But I didn't live too far from him (he's in Marietta, Georgia) and so I normally just rang him, and dropped the camera off/picked it up myself.

That was about 10 years back, so I can't say how prompt he is nowadays.
 
Only use him if you have a Yashica TLR. He apparently knows his way around those.

He accepted my Zeiss Ikon Contessa and Voigtlander Vitessa for CLA, and returned them in worse shape functionally than when I had sent them in (stuff like the frame counters no longer working etc).
Also, terrible communication after the initial email inquiry as in would not reply.

You were lucky to get your cameras back. I never got my Canon P back from him, or my money.
 
Wow mixed reviews! I'm in Australia so the phone call will be a last resort, I'll try the second web site first and see how we go.

Thanks everyone for the replies, it's good to get feedback both positive and negative. Show that we all live in the real world!

Rod
 
Last contact 18 months ago. He's terrific on most anything Yashica, including all the Electros and, of course, the TLRs. He did a half-dozen cameras for me.

In one case, after a long silent period, I contacted him. It had been a mixup, the camera was lost on his shelves. He called me, apologized graciously, and sent me the camera in perfect shape immediately.

Mark is unique in that he's factory trained, and he bought out Yashica US parts inventory when they closed shop. He has more parts than anyone else, in particular, can replace many electronic parts. (Though he didn't have a part for an RTS.)

He has 47 items for sale on eBay right now with 100% feedback... Seller lakesuwa

My bottom line: He's great and quite old. Can misplace or make a mistake, maybe more than a younger person, happens to me too.

( To ChrisN above, contact him about your Canon P; I'll bet he will come through. )
 
He did a CLA for me on a Yashica D about 4 months ago. Did a nice job, extremely reasonable, email responses timely enough and to the point.
Had the camera back within three weeks, carefully packed. It was a pleasure, to be honest.
 
Last contact 18 months ago. He's terrific on most anything Yashica, including all the Electros and, of course, the TLRs. He did a half-dozen cameras for me.

In one case, after a long silent period, I contacted him. It had been a mixup, the camera was lost on his shelves. He called me, apologized graciously, and sent me the camera in perfect shape immediately.

Mark is unique in that he's factory trained, and he bought out Yashica US parts inventory when they closed shop. He has more parts than anyone else, in particular, can replace many electronic parts. (Though he didn't have a part for an RTS.)

He has 47 items for sale on eBay right now with 100% feedback... Seller lakesuwa

My bottom line: He's great and quite old. Can misplace or make a mistake, maybe more than a younger person, happens to me too.

( To ChrisN above, contact him about your Canon P; I'll bet he will come through. )

Looked at his Ebay site, lots of Leica stuff🙄
 
Mark has always treated me right and the work was 1st rate.
Sometimes he has been slow, but mostly because he's been looking for parts.
Contacted him about a month ago & got a quick reply
 
His comment left me feeling that he picks his work, as when i asked if he only did 124's he replied that he did all Yashica's! Anyway I'll keep in contact with him and see what happens.
 
About 15-20 years ago I sent him a 124G which had a tiny spot of fungus on the rear element of the taking lens. It returned with the Yashinon lens replaced with one marked Yashikor, which I gather came from an earlier model. I suppose he meant well, but he never asked if that would be ok, so I guess customer communication has never been his long suit.
 
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