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Yashica Cameras |
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Back in the early 1970's my camera of choice was a Pentax SP500 35 mm SLR. I used this camera for all my bushwalking and general photography. Then I was offered some part time freelance work shooting weddings on weekends. I bought a second Pentax but soon realised that Medium Format was the way to go. I bought an old Mamiya Press (6x7) with a roll film back and a 100mm Mamiya Sekor lens. It was about this time that I decided to buy Yashica Mat 124g Twin Lens Reflex. An interesting purchase you might say, some people can never come to terms with the TLR's peer into the viewfinder and discover that the image is back to front. Try to follow a moving subject and wooohooo. It's true they do take some getting used to. Solidly built Yashica's final model had fully interlocked shutter / winder mechanism and a match needle coupled CDs light meter. The 80mm yashinon lens (4 elements Tessar design) produced tack sharp images and was ideal for portraits or wedding photos. Yashica did offer a telephoto and wide-angle lens set which coupled to the prime lens via a Rollie type Bay1 filter fitting. Though I have a camera in my collection with these add on lenses they are not in my view a success and do nothing to enhance the otherwise excellent reputation of the Yashica Mat line. So why do I collect this rather odd genre? Well I guess there is some degree of sentimentalism and also because with this collection there is a beginning and an end. Yashica made these TLR's between 1954 and 1986 There are around 26+ - models or variations. I still have a way to go to acquire one of each. Finally non of them cost a great deal. You can pick up an early model for around $70 AUD on ebay without to much trouble. At the top end $300 will buy you the top of the line Mat 124g. Value seems to increase marginally as the years go by.
In the begining there was ! The Yashimaflex and then the Yashicaflex Shown above are the Yashicaflex A and A2 models (not to be confused with the Yashica A.) which may have preceded the Yashica A but were certainly still being produced through the first decade of the Yashica branding. Very strange and confusing! One can only wonder at the curious marketing strategy of producing two lines of cameras seemingly in competition.
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Yashica Mat EM
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. Yashica A & B
Yashica C & LM
Yashica E (Ugh!) |
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