TLR owner once again! Yashica 'A'

[Velorum]

Many years ago I used a Rolleiflex 2.8F and a Yashica Mat. Both were sold to fund 35mm equipment - mainly Leica RF's.

Recently I have been feeling the need for a TLR again. Being as I really enjoy shooting basic box cameras with 120 film I decided to go for the most basic Yashica you can buy - the 'A'. I love the fact that the knob film advance is in no way connected to the shutter mechanism and that it doesnt have a film counter - its a case of looking at the numbers on the paper film backing through the little red window. There really isnt much to go wrong so provided that the glass is in good condition and the shutter has been serviced an 'A' is ready to go!

They are significantly cheaper than the later MATs etc.

I now have two of these, both 1964 models. One is away being serviced at the moment. The repaired emailed me today to say its in great shape and the shutter didnt need much adjustment. He is fitting a new mirror. The other (pictured below) was bought from a dealer who CLA's it prior to sale and provided a warranty.

It feels good to be using these again. Id forgotten just how nice it is to use a waist level finder !

 

[Retro-Grouch]

Many years ago I used a Rolleiflex 2.8F and a Yashica Mat. Both were sold to fund 35mm equipment - mainly Leica RF's.

Recently I have been feeling the need for a TLR again. Being as I really enjoy shooting basic box cameras with 120 film I decided to go for the most basic Yashica you can buy - the 'A'. I love the fact that the knob film advance is in no way connected to the shutter mechanism and that it doesnt have a film counter - its a case of looking at the numbers on the paper film backing through the little red window. There really isnt much to go wrong so provided that the glass is in good condition and the shutter has been serviced an 'A' is ready to go!

They are significantly cheaper than the later MATs etc.

I now have two of these, both 1964 models. One is away being serviced at the moment. The repaired emailed me today to say its in great shape and the shutter didnt need much adjustment. He is fitting a new mirror. The other (pictured below) was bought from a dealer who CLA's it prior to sale and provided a warranty.

It feels good to be using these again. Id forgotten just how nice it is to use a waist level finder !

Simpler isn't always better, but usually it is. Although it's a bit mor complex, I love my Mamiya C22 for the same reasons.

 

[KoNickon]

I've never tried the A but I'll keep a lookout. The Yashikor lens is pretty darn good; I have an earlier D with one. (And with a red window camera there's never a frame spacing issue -- unless the user isn't paying attention!)

Have fun with it. And there's nothing like a TLR to attract interest from passersby. "Cool camera!" "We had one of those!" "That's a Rollie right?" "Can you get film for those still?"

 

[Coldkennels]

The Yashica A is a lovely thing - very simple, but very capable of great images. In some ways I prefer it to the crank-wind MAT, 12, 24, and 124 models. The only catch for me is that the f/3.5 viewing lens is a bit harder to focus with than the f/2.8 viewing lens of later models, but that's a small issue.

It does benefit from a hood - 32mm push-on, if I remember right - and I suspect that flocking in the film chamber might help cut down on internal reflections. I did that with a Yashica 24 years ago and it was a huge improvement, but never went through with doing the same to my A.

I really should use it more; I've been neglecting my TLRs in recent years. This is from the only roll I've shot in the Yashica A this decade (!):



(Actually, that's not quite true. I had shot one roll before this but the entire roll was completely out of focus. Turns out one of the "nubs" which holds the ground glass in place had snapped (when it was just sitting on a shelf!), and the ground glass had shifted downwards as a result. Can't remember what I did to fix it, but I'm not about to dismantle it again to check.)

 

[DownUnder]

I had Yashica TLRs in the 1960s-1970s. First a D I acquired in 1962, then an A as a backup.

I also had my own darkroom and did all my own printing. And used my TLRs for commercial photography, mostly weddings.

I saw significant quality differences between the A and the D. The A had a cheaper lens, which didn't really resolve fine detail as well as the better optics in the D.

Eventually, I sold that A and bought a 635. Never used the 35mm adapter - I still have it, but haven't seen in for at least a decade, tho' I know it's somewhere in a storage box in the garage - but 120 negatives from both (Nat and D) came out much the same.

Now and then I still print something taken from those two cameras. And I sold heaps and heaps from my Asian travels in the 1970s.

A few years later I bough a Rolleiflex 3.5 E2. And never looked back.

For all this, Coldkennels' images posted in this thread are marvellous. They show the capabilities of even the basic Yashica lens in the right hands.

So in the end, yes, those Yashicas are good cameras. Not a Rollei, but we don't expect them to be.

 

[Coldkennels]

I saw significant quality differences between the A and the D. The A had a cheaper lens, which didn't really resolve fine detail as well as the better optics in the D.

There's a couple of A variants; early ones had a "Yashimar" lens, the later ones had the same "Yashikor" as the early D. Both of these are basic triplets. Later Ds have the same "Yashinon" Tessar lens as the 12, 24, 124, etc.

If your D had the Yashinon, that would explain the difference. My A has the later Yashikor, and while it's not quite as good as the Yashinon on my 24, it's more than acceptable for a (relatively) light and easy-to-use TLR.

 

[CMur12]

Velorum, welcome back to the world of TLRs!

I bought a Yashica D specifically for the simpler Yashikor lens, as I thought it would be perfect for portraiture. I also liked that it had a knob wind, rather than the fickle lever wind of the 'Mats.

I've loved TLRs since I got a Kodak Duaflex IV for Christmas, in 1959. I have a bunch of them now, my favorites being the Minolta Autocord and the Mamiya C330f.

- Murray

 

[David Murphy]

The A's an amazing camera. Inexpensive, light, and compact for a 120 format camera. It's simple and easy to use, and makes very sharp images.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

The A's an amazing camera. Inexpensive, light, and compact for a 120 format camera. It's simple and easy to use, and makes very sharp images.

No lights. No buzzers. No whirring motors. Doesn't sound like much of a camera to me! 😉

 

[DownUnder]

There's a couple of A variants; early ones had a "Yashimar" lens, the later ones had the same "Yashikor" as the early D. Both of these are basic triplets. Later Ds have the same "Yashinon" Tessar lens as the 12, 24, 124, etc.

If your D had the Yashinon, that would explain the difference. My A has the later Yashikor, and while it's not quite as good as the Yashinon on my 24, it's more than acceptable for a (relatively) light and easy-to-use TLR.

Good points here. For me, it was so long ago (early 1960s), I no longer remember. I did keep photo diaries in those long ago days, but sadly those all vanished a few decades ago when we moved house interstate in Australia and our movers lost a fair amount of goods, mostly irreplaceable documents and images. Removalist insurance paid us well, but, you know. Some things get lost, and a part of your soul goes with them.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

Good points here. For me, it was so long ago (early 1960s), I no longer remember. I did keep photo diaries in those long ago days, but sadly those all vanished a few decades ago when we moved house interstate in Australia and our movers lost a fair amount of goods, mostly irreplaceable documents and images. Removalist insurance paid us well, but, you know. Some things get lost, and a part of your soul goes with them.

One of the lessons of age! Nothing to be done but carry on...