shawn
Veteran
Be careful, there are a few 127 TLR gems out there and they are inexpensive enough to get them all.
The Primo Jr is my favorite. This is one from it.
shawn
Veteran
BTW, you can mod the Yashica 44s to shoot 35mm....
Have to be unloaded in the dark though. Primo Jr that was modified for 35mm, with full rewind, but that is a more in depth conversion.
Have to be unloaded in the dark though. Primo Jr that was modified for 35mm, with full rewind, but that is a more in depth conversion.
These are reliable cameras. I would step through the shutter speeds from high-speed to low. Check that the blades open and fully close. If it passes that check- would load up and try it out.
Retro-Grouch
Veteran
They're tiny, cute, and cuddly looking. Sort of like little TLR puppies. They almost demand that you take one home; but, like a puppy, it's more work than I'm prepared to take on!Be careful, there are a few 127 TLR gems out there and they are inexpensive enough to get them all.
The Primo Jr is my favorite. This is one from it.
CMur12
Veteran
Welcome, Absolute Beginner!
The Yashica-Mat is a serviceable TLR with a Tessar-type lens. If it hasn't been used for many years, the shutter speeds may well not be accurate. I'm sure it would benefit from a CLA (clean, lube, and adjust). Your developed negatives or slides will show if there is a problem.
- Murray
The Yashica-Mat is a serviceable TLR with a Tessar-type lens. If it hasn't been used for many years, the shutter speeds may well not be accurate. I'm sure it would benefit from a CLA (clean, lube, and adjust). Your developed negatives or slides will show if there is a problem.
- Murray
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
Be careful, there are a few 127 TLR gems out there and they are inexpensive enough to get them all.
The Primo Jr is my favorite. This is one from it.
Ah, memories! One of my aunts had a '44' way back in the day - I remember it being taken out at family picnics and Sunday lunches when I was a wee nipper, so late 1950s. A good French Canadian Catholic, she traveled to religious novenas in Canada and USA, to Europe to see cathedrals, to Jerusalem to pray at the wailing wall, and she used the '44' as an 'aide-memoire' of her trips. The result was a few thousand negatives, all processed by the local chemist, probably with Kodak Tri-Chem packs. Also at least a ton of small prints, all well exposed and needle sharp.
I recall she never used a meter but worked from the basic exposure details printed on the boxes of roll films. She was widowed during WW2 and never remarried, so she had an adequate pension and lived well, but knew the value of money - a few years later when I was keener on photography, I asked her why she hadn't bought a Rolleiflex 127. Her answer was typical for her - "Too expensive!"
Sadly, she left us in 2003. The camera has vanished. It was still around in 2006 when I last visited the family home, unused for many years and in an old vinyl camera bag with a few accessories (a strap, a lens hood, filters) some ancient 127 rolls). I was tempted to nab it, but I didn't. The house and property were sold a few years later and are no longer in the family. I've long wondered if that camera went to the local church charity shop or got thrown out. Knowing as I did this aunt and how 'thrifty' (as kind as she was, an 'm' word is more appropriate for her), I'm surprised she didn't sell it when she no longer wanted it, but no - she left it in that bag in a hall cupboard.
In its heyday the Rolleiflex 4x4 was marketed as a ladies' TLR. I recall it was for the reason of its small size - it easily fitted into the gals' handbags, which were big holdalls in the '50s and '60s. Now the iPhone has taken over that market. Odd that nobody has thought of making one as a TLR phone...
Okay, let's return to the original post. The sharpness and tonal quality in your image is typical of what those small cameras can produce. In 2009 I Inherited all my aunt's negatives and over the years I've printed a couple of hundred (the family images) for my family. She liked Verichrome Pan and Plus-X, then both popular in 127, now no longer made. Two excellent films gone the way of the dodo.
Now and then I see '44' Rolleis on Ebay, but never a Primo. There must be more of those 127 babes around. If anyone reading this has one, please post - the information will be of interest to many of us who remember those fine small TLR cameras of their time.
I do like the idea of putting 35mm film in a TLR. I wonder if my two Rolleiflex Ts could be fixed to be used for this. Oop - now I remember the manufacturers (F&H in Germany) did make a Rolleikin to convert these cameras to '35 use. In fact I have one somewhere at home, almost never used but there you are, '35 on call. Silly me...
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shawn
Veteran
That is too bad your Aunt's Yashica is gone but great that you still have her negatives. The Primo was also sold as the Sawyer's Mark IV.
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
I have a Primo Jr. and Baby Rollei (and a non-functioning Sawyers) -- I need to get 127 to feed them since I've never shot a roll through them. I know there are film options out there but I haven't checked in a while. And I guess I would need to send the film out (Dwayne's? Blue Moon?) to get them developed in the US.
All the same, they are just the cutest cameras ever.
All the same, they are just the cutest cameras ever.
hap
Well-known
I have a Mark IV. Unfortunately, I don't use it much anymore.
shawn
Veteran
Or do it yourself if you develop your own film. Pretty sure Patterson reels can do 127. I have a SS 127 reel.
Retro-Grouch
Veteran
The Rollei Man does not compromise. The Rollei Man uses only those TLRs deemed of the highest quality by the Rollei Experts. And the Rollei Man would never, ever, concede that lesser cameras are capable of comparable or even adequate results. Just so, I would never, ever, admit on a public forum that the results from my Yashica D are better than those from my two Rolleis.I disagree!
(It would appear you're not one of the Autocord cognoscenti.
- Murray
MrFujicaman
Well-known
true....Paterson reels have a 127 setting,
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
I do not, unfortunately. On the other hand, I pulled out the Sawyer's and while the aperture and shutter speed levers are pretty stiff (may need lubing), it seems to work OK -- shutter speeds are a little inconsistent but may just need exercise. Beautifully made cameras (Primo and Sawyer's).
trix4ever
Well-known
Flexaret. Works perfectly, but the screen is so dark...
Retro-Grouch
Veteran
Rick Oleson makes BrightScreens for the Flexaret. Highly recommended, though I don 't know how complicated the replacement process might be. Replacement Focusing Screen
trix4ever
Well-known
He did one for my Bronica EC. Great screens.
Apparently these can get very dirty mirrors. Just a bit awkward to get at.
trix4ever
Well-known
Rolleiflex 3.5E3, 6 element Planar, in my unbiased opinion the best Rollei ever.I cut down an RB67 screen, so much better than the stock screen.
One of my 'never sell' cameras.
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
True -- and that "see saw" focusing lever is rather loose (at least it is on mine). If the screen were brighter it might make for easier focusing. I can never remember which model I have -- V a? I got it from a fellow member (Raid I think) probably close to 20 years ago.
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
Update -- I got into the shutter blades of the Sawyer's* and cleaned them some and the shutter seems to be working fine. The aperture and shutter speed levers are very stiff -- I think there was some kind of impact that has caused binding, but they will move with effort. Now, to find some 127 film that isn't absurdly priced, but that may not be realistic.
* Rubber stopper to remove the taking lens name ring. Then the front element will come out. Use the rubber stopper again to unscrew the rest of the front lens group; takes a little effort but if you have a good grippy stopper it will shift. When I did the same with the Primo Jr the entire front block came out when I unscrewed the name ring. (Regarding cleaning the shutter blades, I found that slipping pieces of paper under the shutter leaves and moving the paper around has been enough to free them up, without use of liquid. I also used cotton buds on the shutter leaves to remove crud around the edges of the leaves. So far, so good.)
Muggins
Junk magnet
Gorgeous camera! Do I recall right that these later models used the Prestor shutter like the Werra?