My summer on film with the Yashica-Mat TLR
Shortly after I published my blog post about choosing between a Rolleiflex, M3 or Summilux lens, I came across a lovely little Yashica Mat TLR in great condition, in a local antique shop. After annoying the shopkeeper by spending half an hour checking everything functioned properly, I purchased this beauty for £110. A great deal considering it included the full case, strap and user manual, seemed to work perfectly and didn’t seem to have any lens fungus. A lot less than I would have spent on any Rolleiflex, I decided this would be a good way to see if I liked the TLR experience before jumping in headfirst with a Rollei.
The Yashica Mat was first introduced in 1957. I believe they continued producing them until the mid-seventies, with my serial number suggesting it was made in 1966. The Rolleiflex inspiration is clear - they operate in exactly the same way, from cocking the shutter with the winding crank to changing the aperture and shutter speed with the thumb wheels. I am very glad about this as I tried a Rolleicord and found it a lot more fiddly to operate. The Yashica Mat places everything in a sensible place and is a joy to use. Later models added a light meter and the popular 124G model comes in a blacked-out colour scheme. I prefer my version though, I really like the silver and black look and have heard these inbuilt meter’s are now inaccurate so I am happy using a handheld one. The earlier models are apparently built better too but the important thing is they all use the same lens - the brilliant Yashinon 80mm f3.5.
Before I talk about image quality, I want to mention my innitial thoughts about using the camera.
The reversed viewfinder takes a little getting used to. Actually, a lot of getting used to. I still find myself doing a lot of panning and swiveling when trying to get a composition just right - particularly when trying to get lines or horizons straight. I wanted a TLR partly for the different shooting experience and this viewfinder method certainly provides that. I find it is quite easy to see when something is in focus though I still use the magnifier almost every time to make sure and not waste a single shot.
Speaking of the film, I am finding myself enjoying the process of loading the 120 rolls, shooting without an LCD screen and eagerly anticipating the scans coming back. The tactile feel of the focusing dial, winding crank and the way the light catches the shiny surfaces and twin coated lenses all make me want to go out and take photographs, which is what a good camera should do. I shot a couple of rolls and sent off for developing and scanning, half expecting the results to come back out of focus, under exposed, not sharp or - worst of all - completely blank due to a fault with the camera. After a week or so’s wait though, I got my photographs and was not disappointed.
I hope you will agree, the results are astonishing for a 58-year-old cheap camera. I knew medium format film produces a much bigger negative than 35mm, but I was not prepared for the jump in quality since I last shot film with an Olympus OM10 SLR. To be honest, I was never really satisfied with the results from that camera compared to any digital photograph I have taken so I am very pleased with what I have managed to get out of this Yashica Mat.
To get results like this, I took every precaution to get the most out of every photo. All the shots above were taken on Ilford HP5+ or Kodak Portra 400 professional grade film, processed and scanned by the folks at filmprocessing.co.uk and edited from the TIFF files in Capture One. I shot overexposed a stop where I could as I’d read extensively that this is the best way to recover the most detail from these films. The Portra shots I found often had a green tint so I tried my best to remedy this while still keeping colours natural. After the first few rolls I also found that the lens tended to flare quite severely so first 3D printed a lens hood before upgrading to a Bay 1 Rolleiflex one. All these steps I think contributed to better results than the last time I shot on film many years ago. The extra 7 years of photography experience didn’t hurt either I suppose.
One thing I didn’t expect was how much attention this old camera would get from the public. When I first started shooting my Leica on the streets, I’d get the odd “nice camera” comment but that is nothing compared to the amount of people that have approached me to ask about the strange box with two lenses I have hung around my neck. I have found this interest and curiosity helps when asking a stranger for a street portrait as people love to see what their picture would look like from such an old and outdated camera.
All in all, I am very pleased with my purchase. I am very lucky to have found such a great example of a lovely camera and the unique experience of shooting it is only matched by the results it provides. The only downside is I am now thinking even more about upgrading to a luxurious Rolleiflex.
