Gone back to film.

octane.music

octane.music

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Scott
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Hey everyone. :D

It's been a very long time since I posted anything in here, but a change in circumstance (I sold all my digital camera stuff a while ago) means I now get to play with an old Yashica 635 when I'm out and about.

I only ever used film cameras as a kid, so it was a very easy 'load film, close, set to auto, shoot, give film to Boots to process'. These are a little different! :LOL:

Since I'd learned a bit when shooting digital, I thought it would be worth a blast. I'd seen this camera for sale on here and thought how nice it would be. I didn't have the funds to get the Rolleiflex I really wanted, and after a little research decided it would be more than up to the job and parted with £65 for it. This isn't mine but a stock pic of one -

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Fully manual, 120 (medium format) film and in full working order.

I used a couple of rolls of film (12 shots per roll) during the winter, using a light meter app I have on my phone to assist, and had a couple of OK pics, but there were a few double-exposures where I'd forgotten to wind it on after each pic, but it wasn't a big problem.

I've just had the CD back from the 3rd and 4th rolls I've used (at Grasmere Classic Car Show and VWNW 2016) and I'm really pleased with the results.

At an average of £2 per photo I've had to learn to be really selective about my shots though, and not seeing the results for weeks is something my kids will never get used to!

Anyway, a few pics...I'll put the lower-res ones up here, but a link at the bottom to the album as the high-res ones have so much clarity it's hard to believe it's a 58 year old camera!

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A double-exposure -

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Looking forward to getting more results with it in the future. I'll hope to get some portraits and more car stuff at VW Action in a couple of weeks and I'll update this thread as I get more stuff processed when time / cash allows! :LOL:

Link to the album - https://flic.kr/s/aHskFiC67d
 
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You've got some excellent results there Scott. I like them all, and I don't think a Rolleiflex would improve on them very much.

Are you really paying £2 per frame? I've been shooting a lot of Ektar recently that I picked up for around £4.20 a roll (https://www.7dayshop.com/products/k...ur-negative-print-film-5-pack-WH2-EK11205PACK)

I process it at home, which obviously makes it very inexpensive, but there are a lot of companies who process, scan and post it back for well under £10. I've used these before: http://www.ag-photolab.co.uk/ who charge about £8 for processing plus a medium quality scan. There's a spreadsheet somewhere on here that lists the most popular film dev companies. You should be able to shoot medium format for less than £1 per photo.
 
After I add it all up (film and processing) then yes. I've been using C41 to process and scan my stuff to date.

I'm all ears for suggestions for other companies. I'd love to do it myself really but time / space is something I don't have! (Classic cars / under restoration etc...)

What would I need to self-process? What sort of money would that be as I'm doing OK for cash at the mo and it's a consideration for future saving.
 
I've started to use FilmDev for my dev/scans (funnily enough from my Yashica 635 as well my Mamiya kit) and they charge £5 for Dev, medium scan to CD, digital download of a compressed preview version and return postage so are much cheaper than others I've used in the past (AG and Peak). The quality of the scans are really good and they have turned mine around in a couple of days.

Excellent shots by the way, the Yashica 635 is a really good TLR which also gives you the option of shooting 35mm and Instax, although that's not standard ;0)
 
I also use Filmdev, requesting options: soft envelope so it gets through the door if we're out, include (8-bit) TIFFs on the CD, no sharpening (some recent ones have been a bit aggressive), and (for 35mm) negs sleeved in 6s rather than 4s. No extra cost! I really like the scans, particularly without sharpening.

Very nice set, Scott; the Rolleiflex might be lighter and nicer to use, but I doubt the results would be better!
 
Great pictures Scott - I'm constantly amazed by what these 'old machines' can produce.

I've not heard of FilmDev, but I think I'll give them as go. Do they process chromes though?
 
Interesting, I'll check them out.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
donnyburger said:
After I add it all up (film and processing) then yes. I've been using C41 to process and scan my stuff to date.

I'm all ears for suggestions for other companies. I'd love to do it myself really but time / space is something I don't have! (Classic cars / under restoration etc...)

What would I need to self-process? What sort of money would that be as I'm doing OK for cash at the mo and it's a consideration for future saving.
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You would need the same basic stuff as B&W (a changing bag, film tank and reels, measuring cylinders etc.) plus some sort of water bath to keep the chemicals at 100F. Check out eBay - way cheaper to buy a job lot of darkroom kit than trying to buy it new. I use a Jobo tank, but it's not necessary, just more convenient. The chemical kits work out around 50p to £1 per film, depending on how many you process at a time and the size of the kit. Obviously, you would also need a scanner, but because you're working with large negatives, you can use a cheap flatbed. Waaaaayy more fun to process them yourself :)
 
Well it's been a couple of years since I posted in here, but I'm pleased to report I've continued to use the Yashica. Up until last month, it's performed utterly perfectly, but unfortunately the timer mechanism seems to have stuck and it's not letting me take any more photos. I've had it apart and had a fiddle, sorted it, but again it's stopped working so I may very well be shopping for another one (or a Rollieflex) in the near future.

Anyway, for now, a few of my favourite images from the last couple of years.

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I've still got 13 films to upload to my Flickr, but 3 are for a magazine so can't publish them yet.
 
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Great shots. The Yashica's are wonderful cameras, but a tad fragile as you have discovered; it is most noticeable once you pick up a Rolleiflex - they have this reassuring heft and solidity to them.
 
donnyburger said:
Well it's been a couple of years since I posted in here, but I'm pleased to report I've continued to use the Yashica. Up until last month, it's performed utterly perfectly, but unfortunately the timer mechanism seems to have stuck and it's not letting me take any more photos. I've had it apart and had a fiddle, sorted it, but again it's stopped working so I may very well be shopping for another one (or a Rollieflex) in the near future.
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Hope you continue to enjoy film....just thinking: - I first got my decent camera Pentax S3 in 1960 and from then saved all the negs (before then usually people, inc me, once they got the pics threw the negs away :eek:). So I can dig up the old negs and scan for prints or post here... if you went back to digi where would your jpgs be in 50 plus years time.:eek:
 
On the Yashica 635 (and other derivatives of that model) never have the flash sync lever set to anything other than the 'X' setting if using the self-timer, as it will jam the mechanism permanently if it's set to the 'M' position. A 'Caution' about moving the sync lever to the 'X' position before using the self timer is given in the instruction manual, however, I don't think this goes as far as to explain what happens if you ignore this warning!

To be honest, I find it's safest never to use the self-timer on an old mechanical camera as it's usually the first thing to start to stutter and hesitate, and can lead to the mechanism jamming (particularly on the 635 where it's so easy to forget to check the flash sync lever is in the right position, or to accidentally nudge it to the 'M' position without noticing!). Other than that, I've found the 635 seems to be quite reliable, but best used with your back to the sun as they can be a little prone to lens flare.
 
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donnyburger said:
A few more for now. :) (Yes, it's mainly cars but it's what I do!)



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This, Mr Burger, is outstanding, if I had one gripe it would be to lose the barrier on the right but that’s just being picky.
 
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Well, the Yashica is dead. The timer mechanism has jammed, which is in turn locking out the shutter. I've had it apart a couple of times, had a look at it and come to the realisation that I neither have the knowledge or skill to fix it, and it'll cost a fortune to repair.

So, it's gonna go back together and sit on the shelf with a few other old cameras I have.

In better news, I've replaced it with this -

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Arrived yesterday. :D

It appears to be a great piece of kit, stunningly well put together and damn sturdy, and it's abilities look to far outweigh the Yashica. I'm looking forward to getting out with it soon.

In the meantime, a few more photos from the Yashica.

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Sad that the Yashica has died, I dare say Miles could sort it out for you but with postage you’re probably looking at £75-80’ish to get it sorted if no parts need replacing.

The Mamiya C series are great, a little bigger and heavier than the Yashicas but with so many advantages.
 
In my opinion the Mamiya C series are amongst the best MF kits ever made.
 
Oh yeah it's a heavy piece of kit alright!

RaglanSurf - tell me more regarding Miles please. I'm not overly familiar with people on here but might be worth repairing for a backup.
 
Oh, is there any way of changing my name on here BTW. 'donnyburger' is kinda a former life of mine I'm trying to leave behind.
 
Miles is very well known in this part of the forum as being a talented camera repair engineer and an all round decent chap. I'm yet to see a bad review of his work. He can be found here:

http://www.mwcamerarepairs.co.uk/

As for changing your name, as I recall, the admin team stopped accepting requests for this a while ago. I have no idea if they make any exceptions to this based on good reason, however. Perhaps @TheBigYin might enlighten us? :D
 
donnyburger said:
Oh, is there any way of changing my name on here BTW. 'donnyburger' is kinda a former life of mine I'm trying to leave behind.
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As you have only 142 posts maybe you could just join again under a new name.....of course best to contact admin that you are doing this.
 
excalibur2 said:
As you have only 142 posts maybe you could just join again under a new name.....of course best to contact admin that you are doing this.
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True true. I'll get a message sent later and see how it goes. Cheers.
 
As an alternative, have a think about putting the repair money towards another 635? During the last year or so of production around late 1970 they updated the model and used a slightly faster (and brighter) viewing lens and changed the taking lens to the Yashinon lens they'd previously used on the Yashicamat/124G range. This lens is sharper than the Yashikor and doesn't give the swirly bokeh when using wider apertures. Quite often the seller will not know about this so this later model can sometimes be found for the same price as a standard 635. Yashinon lensed 635s do take a bit of finding though, but one or two per year tend to turn up an eBay, so it's a case of watching and waiting.

It would probably cost between £100 and £140 for a good one, against around £100 or so including insured postage for a repair to your 635 (if this is possible). Do watch for jammed shutters on what you're buying though (usually, but not always, detectable by the self timer lever being stuck in the downward 5.30 o'clock 'cocked' position in any photos of the advertised camera, rather than it being more at the 3.30 o'clock setting it should be in). Bear in mind, a repaired camera should arrive back with the shutter fully working, cleaned and lubricated, whereas buying a working old one will be 'as it is'. Having said that, my 635s seem to work sweetly enough and none of those have been serviced to the best of my knowledge. Hope this is useful. (y)
 
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donnyburger said:
RaglanSurf - tell me more regarding Miles please. I'm not overly familiar with people on here but might be worth repairing for a backup.
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Woodsy said:
Miles is very well known in this part of the forum as being a talented camera repair engineer and an all round decent chap. I'm yet to see a bad review of his work. He can be found here:

http://www.mwcamerarepairs.co.uk/

:D
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Asha said:
He repairs camera kit at a fair price and does an extremely good job too;)
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Looks like you have your answer re Miles, the simplest way to contact him is to just drop him an email and hell get back to you when he can, he does tend to favour his "pro" customers so you may have to wait a little while..
 
Having just read through this thread, I have to say - Brilliant photos! Coming from a fellow car nut :D
 
Mr Badger said:
As an alternative, have a think about putting the repair money towards another 635? During the last year or so of production around late 1970 they updated the model and used a slightly faster (and brighter) viewing lens and changed the taking lens to the Yashinon lens they'd previously used on the Yashicamat/124G range. This lens is sharper than the Yashikor and doesn't give the swirly bokeh when using wider apertures. Quite often the seller will not know about this so this later model can sometimes be found for the same price as a standard 635. Yashinon lensed 635s do take a bit of finding though, but one or two per year tend to turn up an eBay, so it's a case of watching and waiting.

It would probably cost between £100 and £140 for a good one, against around £100 or so including insured postage for a repair to your 635 (if this is possible). Do watch for jammed shutters on what you're buying though (usually, but not always, detectable by the self timer lever being stuck in the downward 5.30 o'clock 'cocked' position in any photos of the advertised camera, rather than it being more at the 3.30 o'clock setting it should be in). Bear in mind, a repaired camera should arrive back with the shutter fully working, cleaned and lubricated, whereas buying a working old one will be 'as it is'. Having said that, my 635s seem to work sweetly enough and none of those have been services to the best of my knowledge. Hope this is useful. (y)
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It's a consideration but I'm pretty attached to what I have as it's been my re-introduction into film and I love it for what it is.

It didn't cost me much (bought off here through the classifieds) so it doesn't owe me a great and I'm a sucker for it. :D
 
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RaglanSurf said:
you may have to wait a little while..
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Quite possibly, though I contacted him recently re a CLA for a lens.
He replied to my email within less than an hour and even though he explained that he has more work on now then ever before, he would still be looking at the average 3 week turn around time to service my lens and have it back out to me!

From past experience, I can say that he usually keeps to his word, if not, then he has a very valid reason!
 
donnyburger said:
It's a consideration but I'm pretty attached to what I have as it's been my re-introduction into film and I love it for what it is.

It didn't cost me much (bought off here through the classifieds) so it doesn't owe me a great and I'm a sucker for it. :D
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I understand, I've done the same with a couple of my 'favourite' cameras in the past, what price can you put on happiness? :) Do be aware of how addictive the film camera buying thing can become though, this started out as 'oh look, a Yashica 635, I've always wanted one of those'! :rolleyes: Anyway, at least you can see the slight differences between the Yashikor (centre) and Yashinon lensed models (left and right) in that photo.

 
Woodsy said:
Miles is very well known in this part of the forum as being a talented camera repair engineer and an all round decent chap. I'm yet to see a bad review of his work. He can be found here:

http://www.mwcamerarepairs.co.uk/

As for changing your name, as I recall, the admin team stopped accepting requests for this a while ago. I have no idea if they make any exceptions to this based on good reason, however. Perhaps @TheBigYin might enlighten us? :D
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As to name changes, there's an option on the contact us link where you can request a change. .. use it wisely, we don't often change it more than once..
 
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