Yashica Mat 124g

Blasted

Blasted

Messages
927
Edit My Images
Yes
Morning all, I’ve just got my hands on a Yashica Mat 124g.

After the having a play about with it I have a few concerns and I’m looking for advice on how I should go about getting them rectified.

1, the shutter speed dial is quite tight to turn and there doesn’t seem to be any indentations, the f stop is a little easier and again it doesn’t have any indentations (I’m not sure but I may have read that only the speed should have indents).

2, the self-timer wasn’t initially working, I managed to gently ease it up and down and it seems to be a little better, it now sorts of stutters along and will eventually fire the shutter.

3, the shutter button doesn’t pop back out to easy, it fires the shutter ok but sometimes sticks in a little.

4, the camera absolutely stinks of cigarette smoke, what’s the best/strongest cleaner I can use on it to get rid of the pong.
On the plus side the shutter speeds appear to be doing what their supposed to, the blades look clean, the light meter is doing something, the lenses look good and the body is of a reasonable condition. It does have a bit of a dent in the pop up top so it’s not as slick as it could be and a mark where it looks like it’s been dropped on its corner.

Are there places in the UK that service/repair these types of camera?

Thanks
 
Send it to Miles Whitehead for a clean, lubricate and adjust (CLA) and he'll sort it out for you. Drop him an email, details here http://www.mwcamerarepairs.co.uk he does prioritise pro work but it's worth the wait.
 
The tobacco smell will go away if you air it. My RB67 stunk when I got it but it's fine now.
 
Thanks, I asked him if its something he can look into.

The camera must have been a chain smoker, at least its not covered in yellow smoke stain.

Comsidering I paid £80 quid for it, is it worth the cost of getting it all sorted or should I think about cutting my losses?
 
At the end if the day if it gets serviced it will be in great condition if you buy another it will still be old.
 
Blasted said:
Thanks, I asked him if its something he can look into.

The camera must have been a chain smoker, at least its not covered in yellow smoke stain.

Comsidering I paid £80 quid for it, is it worth the cost of getting it all sorted or should I think about cutting my losses?
Click to expand...

Depends how much a CLA is going to cost and how much it'll cost to fix the other problems. They tend to go for 170-200 quid on ebay so if it costs you 50 quid for a CLA and a bit more to sort the rest then you're quids in with a camera with a serviced lens.

Thing is you can buy one that's sold as "fully working" for 180 quid on ebay, and in a few months it might need a CLA anyway.
 
Getting it serviced yourself means you have a reasonable guarantee that it'll be mechanically sound for a good few years, and you'll have some warranty (and paperwork) for the peace of mind. As the others have suggested, getting another one with little provenance may just be asking for trouble down the line, and may require that service at some point anyway.

I rarely pay much attention to adverts saying "recently serviced" unless there is paperwork to prove it - repair services are not all the same, and without paperwork, it's just a verbal promise at best.

They are great TLRs, and hold their value extremely well in the second-hand market if you don't find it to your liking. As for the smoke - clean the leatherette, which will remove some of the smell, and then air it - I used to own a Nikon 50mm lens that came from a chain smoker, and now there is no hint of smoke at all. If you send it to Miles and ask him to try and remove some of the smell, I'm sure he'll have some experience doing it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top