Yashica Mat 124G

For a nice 124G with lens cap and a hood (case was never used or needed) I had thought £100 would be enough but would max out at £150 for the "right" one.
 
Vintage and classic camera have a couple of Rolleicord Va for £169. I've found that they are very accurate with their descriptions and they are both rated at 95%, not a bad price in my opinion.

Andy
 
skysh4rk said:
If you don't mind my asking, what's your budget in this case? There are probably some sleeper TLRs that can be had for a competitive sum.
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It was around £70 for a working if not mint example. I was going to justify it with a project but I've decided just to shoot it with the RB and live with the back ache! I've since spent my budget though I am easily tempted...
 
I used to have a 124G many years ago when they were a current product. I used to mainly use FP4 and PanF, and with the lens stopped down it would produce excellent 24" x 24" prints with my Besseler enlarger. They were too big to process in dishes, so I used to roll them in a colour processing drum. Within a few years a gust of wind blew it and my tripod over and it was no more, the front caved in. They are relatively small and light compared to other medium format cameras. The light meter could easily be fooled, I used a minolta spot meter with it, and still have it. With any older camera, open it up, set the lens wide open and look through for any haze or spidery fungus. I've seen a few with fungus problems.

Another MF TLR option is the Mamiya C220F. They are smaller and lighter than the C330F, but don't have the interchangeable screen option, and you have to cock the shutter after winding on, no great hardship. They have the great advantage of interchangeable lenses. I bought mine 5 or 6 years ago with the 80mm lens, then added a 55mm and 135mm. I paid around £100 and it was mint. The 55mm Sekor is my favourite lens, and even when its shutter jammed, Black on White in Bristol repaired and calibrated it economically. If you ever shoot IR, they are excellent. You can leave the opaque IR filter on the taking lens and compose through the viewing lens, no hassle changing filters all the time. The Sekor lenses have more versatile screw threads rather than bayonet. Must use mine more.
 
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The yash I bought I don't think I'm going to use. Even though it has the leather ish case with the dinky pouch things. The slightly hazy automat is just so much nicer.
 
I paid £75 for my YashicaMat 124G brand new in about 1982. I'll probably never sell it though.
It's small and light enough to carry with you all day. I used to use a Mamiya C220, but that is bigger and heavier. So not so nice for field trips. Especially when carrying a spare lens with you. Which, apart from the extra sturdiness, is the other benefit of the Mamiya. I find the YashicaMat sturdy enough though. If you are not going to buy other lenses, the smaller TLRs are much more convenient that the medium format SLRs when travelling. Although they are all nice to use.
I like the built in YashicaMat light meter. I had the habit to shade the sensor like I used to with my old Praktika LB2 also with a built-in non TTL meter. Just scan the scene with the meter and dial in what you decide are the best values.

I was given 2 sets of bayonet close up lenses in leather cases. Each comes as a pair, one lens for the viewfinder and one for the taking lens. The viewfinder one has a wedge prism to reduce parallax errors. More acute with close up shots. I also have red, yellow and a soft focus portrait bayonet filters. The bayonet mount is Rollei compatible I believe.

I would love a digital version of the YashicaMat. That would be heaven.
 
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The interest in TLRs has remained strong over the last few years, and as a result, the "bargain"/entry-level TLR suggestions have all crept up in price. The Yashica TLRs are great cameras and I got into medium format shooting one, but when they are within the range of Rolleicord IV money, I know I would much rather have the Rolleicord.

Photography with a TLR really is worth trying out if you haven't made the leap yet.
 
Apologies for resurrecting an elderly thread. I needed a medium format camera for my second photography year at college, and have just ordered a Yashicamat 124G, It is supposed be serviced and in excellent condition so I am hoping that's true, it should arrive tomorrow. I was going to buy a Lubitel, but I was won over by the Yashica photos I've seen on the Flickr groups and various forums such as this.

Other than my normal digital photography, through the course I have ended up working with film again for the first time in years, and have a Canon EOS 33v and 300, and a random collection of rangefinders, 2 x FED-2, an Olympus 35RC and 2 x Olympus XA.

As this is another venture, I was looking for a bit of tlr-specific advice, please. I need to order some film; the images I've seen seem to sharp and detailed that I want to keep the grain down if possible, so I was thinking of buying Portra 160 and perhaps Xmax 100 or maybe FP4+ 125 (most of the b&w film I've used has been Ilford, and I have Ilford chemicals). I wondered if people found they got better results with outdoor photography or if the Yashicamat works equally well in lower light. Also, does anyone ever do any studio work with it?

And my third question; original filters filters seem in very short supply and very expensive - I've seen some adapters that allow you to attach thread fit filters, eg 52mm. Has anyone ever done this? I want UV and ND filters. The price of the camera has eaten up my original budget which was meant to cover film as well!

Many thanks in advance.
 
First of all welcome to the best bit of the forum.

To answer some of your questions. you really can't go wrong with Portra, it is a wonderful film in its 160, 400 & 800 guises and very forgiving. It's pretty much the only colour negative I use.
Again, in b&w Tri-X is excellent as is Fuji Across, I'm not a great fan of FP4 or HP5 unless I'm shooting indoors which it seems to cope with very well, for slow b&w Ilford Pan F is a joy.
Filters can be bought reasonably cheaply if you go down the adapter route, cheap adapters off the well known auction site and then pick up some cheapish ND's.
As far as studio work goes the 124G was a workhorse back in the day, particularly for those that couldn't afford the likes of a Hasselblad or didn't want the weight of an RB67.
You are limited a little by the one standard lens and the inability to swap film backs but as a first TLR the 124G is hard to beat at the price.
Look forward to seeing your results and if there's anything else you need to know just ask.
 
Hi Susie..just to add:- nearly any medium format camera is better than say 35mm for studio work and is usually for one reason and it's quality...and the same goes for outdoor shots. Bit inconvenient only have 12 shots per roll so forget the bad habits of using a digi and get the subject\exposure right before pressing the button.
Also if you decide film is not for you after college you'll get your money back (well depending what you paid for it) on a resale.
 
Thanks very much Nick and Brian. I didn't do any studio work with the 35mm, I have only done digital. I was really thinking that I would stick to low ISO if I was going to be using flash as well as outdoor photography. Have either of you used Fomapan? I can see the PanF, crikey, 50ASA!

A quarter of last year's course was film photography and I did enjoy it, and the darkroom work. It's time as much as anything else as I am having to fit it around various elements of work. I bought a Tetanol colour development kit but I haven't used it. I really like the prints I have seen from the TLRs and especially the 124 are very nice. The camera was £155 which was more than I was originally expecting, and seem to go from about £70 (not tested) up to the mid £200s. This camera claims to be serviced with lenses clear and everything fully working so I hope that's the case when it appears.

The meter is supposed to work accurately but I am not sure if putting an LR144 in will mess up the reading, I've seen conflicting reports. I can always use my meter anyway; I have tried using the sunny 16 rule with the rangefinders and it turns out I am rubbish, generally erring on the side of overexposure! I only use the meter as a rough guide to what I want to achieve anyway, I think it's not having that sense of security that's the problem.

I think I will order the bay 1 adapter, although I can only see them from the US.

Susie
 
Thanks Nick ;0)

Hi Susie. I've been developing my own Bay1 filter adaptors so I can shoot with interlinked polarisers or ND filter and see the effect through the viewing lens. This is the thread I've been running with a plan to start a Kickstarter campaign to fund them.

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/index.php?threads/Bay-1-"TLF"---Twin-lens-Filter.589244/

At the moment, life and my 4x5 conversion have taken priority but I'm happy to send my initial adaptors to you to test out if you can give me some feedback on their use? I've got 2 circular polarisers with a band to interlink them as well as a variable ND filter you're welcome to use.

Cheers
Steve
 
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Susie Hewson said:
Thanks very much Nick and Brian. I didn't do any studio work with the 35mm, I have only done digital. I was really thinking that I would stick to low ISO if I was going to be using flash as well as outdoor photography. Have either of you used Fomapan? I can see the PanF, crikey, 50ASA!

A quarter of last year's course was film photography and I did enjoy it, and the darkroom work. It's time as much as anything else as I am having to fit it around various elements of work. I bought a Tetanol colour development kit but I haven't used it. I really like the prints I have seen from the TLRs and especially the 124 are very nice. The camera was £155 which was more than I was originally expecting, and seem to go from about £70 (not tested) up to the mid £200s. This camera claims to be serviced with lenses clear and everything fully working so I hope that's the case when it appears.

The meter is supposed to work accurately but I am not sure if putting an LR144 in will mess up the reading, I've seen conflicting reports. I can always use my meter anyway; I have tried using the sunny 16 rule with the rangefinders and it turns out I am rubbish, generally erring on the side of overexposure! I only use the meter as a rough guide to what I want to achieve anyway, I think it's not having that sense of security that's the problem.

I think I will order the bay 1 adapter, although I can only see them from the US.

Susie
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...don't worry about overexposure as neg film doesn't mind (although correct exposure in theory is best)...with still decent results from about 4 stops over to 2-3 stops under.....if you are going to guess always overexpose (for slide film it's usually best if you underexpose slightly).
Well you might think that's great that latitude :clap: and just overexpose by say 2 stops to make sure, but there is a good chance if you over\under expose film too much you could get grain in your shots...great for say B\W grave yard shots on a miserable day, but doesn't help in close up portraiture of a person's face.
Have fun.
 
Get a smartphone light meter app and compare the readings.

Ideally a real light meter would go well with the camera.
 
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RaglanSurf said:
First of all welcome to the best bit of the forum.

To answer some of your questions. you really can't go wrong with Portra, it is a wonderful film in its 160, 400 & 800 guises and very forgiving. It's pretty much the only colour negative I use.
Again, in b&w Tri-X is excellent as is Fuji Across, I'm not a great fan of FP4 or HP5 unless I'm shooting indoors which it seems to cope with very well, for slow b&w Ilford Pan F is a joy.
Filters can be bought reasonably cheaply if you go down the adapter route, cheap adapters off the well known auction site and then pick up some cheapish ND's.
As far as studio work goes the 124G was a workhorse back in the day, particularly for those that couldn't afford the likes of a Hasselblad or didn't want the weight of an RB67.
You are limited a little by the one standard lens and the inability to swap film backs but as a first TLR the 124G is hard to beat at the price.
Look forward to seeing your results and if there's anything else you need to know just ask.
Click to expand...

Last year when I was taking colour for an assessment I used the ordinary Kodaks - I had to submit both ordinary colour and cross-processed slide film. As I was short of time and results I decided not to try out the Tetenol kit I'd bought but have the slide film cross processed at the local Kodak shop. They were happy to do it but it was done just after Christmas and their chemicals were really shot and just to finish it off someone there decided to reroll the negs instead of cutting them. This time I hope for better results and I have bought Portra 160 and Tmax 100. Trying out one of the latter as the camera turned up today. This film will be all about getting to grips with the back to front image, I think. I found a used adapter on a camera shop website so I've ordered that.
 
excalibur2 said:
Hi Susie..just to add:- nearly any medium format camera is better than say 35mm for studio work and is usually for one reason and it's quality...and the same goes for outdoor shots. Bit inconvenient only have 12 shots per roll so forget the bad habits of using a digi and get the subject\exposure right before pressing the button.
Also if you decide film is not for you after college you'll get your money back (well depending what you paid for it) on a resale.
Click to expand...

I didn't try any studio work with the 35mm. The film cameras I have present such a range, from the 33v which is so modern to the rangefinders which are really variable. The shots I got with those - where I was trying to use their meters - were too overexposed to work and with the second reel I took, I adjusted development time but they were still over exposed. This TLR seems to be a joy to focus by comparison too - perhaps I should have waited until I developed the first shots before saying that. I enjoy shooting film and more than happy with development but with fitting in study with work difficult to find the time and virtually impossible to find a good time to turn the bathroom into a darkroom so printing is pretty difficult. I've got a negative scanner but it only does 35mm negs and slides. I'm not so sure I have a 6x6 carrier for the enlarger either - I might have to find a lab that does high-res print and scan!
 
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