Author Chris and Carol

Serious Photography!

Chris and Carol 5 Comments

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If you’re a regular reader (or curious visitor) you’ve hopefully picked up that we (Chris & Carol) enjoy sharing images of cameras that have crossed our paths over these many years. You may have also noticed that while we post countless images of cameras, lenses and what not, we’re not overly technical when it comes to photo gear. We’re not going to “beat you over the head” with needless specs of the gear we share – just (hopefully) good imagery of the wide-world of  photography.

With that said, we’d like to share an image of a camera that never fails to make us smile –

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Our son Timothy’s first (and only) camera – a Pikachu 35mm with genuine Pokemons inside! Tim just loved this camera and it’s an important part of our collection still.

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As always, many thanks for your visit. We hope it made you smile – after all, that’s what photography is all about…

Chris & Carol and Pikachu and Ash too!

My Dad Paul

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On the 103rd anniversary of his birth – March 7, 1914

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On the streets of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn ca. 1921. My dad’s dad drove a milk wagon delivering milk in the neighborhoods of Brooklyn. My dad grew up around horses and continued that trend while assigned to a CCC camp at Ft. Dix, New Jersey just before WWII.

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U.S. Army ca. 1943. Military Policeman assigned to the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

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His favorite camera. Purchased new in 1953.

Remembering a great man on the day of his birth. Forever missed.

Chris

Yashica-Mat 120 Film Camera Set – 1960

Chris and Carol 9 Comments
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Pretty close to the way it looked when it was unboxed back in 1960. This one was part of a short production run of only a handful of cameras. It was for sale at US Military Exchanges (stores) in Japan as it is marked *EP* which meant an exempt purchase. No taxes paid but it could not be purchased or sold on the Japanese domestic market.

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It was Yashica’s first crank film advance TLR and it also featured auto cocking of the shutter. First released in April 1957.

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The quality of the images taken with a Yashica-Mat are outstanding – Yashica used high-quality Yashinon f/ 3.5 80mm lenses made for them by Tomioka Optical of Tokyo.

They are a joy to use and it’s a great camera to get into medium format photography with. It produces large 6 x 6 cm negatives or slides.

Thanks for your visit! Please visit our camera shop for some interesting vintage photo gear at http://www.ccstudio2380.com

Chris and Carol  ^.^

Yashica J-7 …1966 / update 1

Chris and Carol 5 Comments

The last in Yashica’s “J” series of 35mm single-lens reflex cameras. These wonderful cameras carried Yashica through the dynamic changes in 35mm photography during that decade.

The J-7 is not a common camera. We don’t have a feel for the amount of sales for this model. The Yashica TL Electro-X was on the horizon – the J-7 was the last of the old technology bodies. Soon thru-the-lens (TTL) metering would turn things around for Yashica.

Here’s a photo essay of this classic and classy camera…

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Yashica J-7 35mm SLR film camera. The last of the ‘Penta J’ series of cameras from Yashica. The J-3, J-4, J-5 and then the J-7. All were well-designed heavyweights… lots of brass and glass. No TTL metering.

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Also of note is that this is the first time that Yashica lists “Yashica Trading Co., Ltd.” at its Jingumae, Shibuya-ku headquarters. The J-7 was the last of the “J” series and the TL-Super was Yashica’s first TTL exposure metered 35mm SLR.

There are two slight variations on the TL-Super. Version 1 is shown here. Look closely at the film advance lever… it is all silver very similar to the J-3. On the Version 2 of the TL-Super the lever is very similar to the later TL-Electro X with part of the lever silver and the rest black plastic.

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CdS light meter sensor “window”.

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Rare complete set with the original box.

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The J-7 is about as hard to find (in nice condition) as the J-4. The J-5 and J-3 being the most common. Each model makes a very fine camera to get into film photography with as most average (working) bodies going for well less than $50. Since the Yashica uses the universal M42 screw-in lens mount, there’s a whole world of outstanding lenses to choose from and not break the bank.

Good luck!

Chris and Carol ^.^

 

Minolta Uniomat III

Chris and Carol 4 Comments

35mm rangefinder camera from Minolta. This one is from about 1963. Neat little camera – a bit small for my hands so it’s hard to reach the lens to focus comfortably. The rangefinder focuses well but doesn’t snap out at you although the view is bright. No film test for this one. The shutter fires and the speeds appear to be on time – the rear lens element is “ate up” (Southern term) with fungus and when I got rid of the fungus I was left with an etched lens. Maybe some polishing might bring it back. The light meter appears to be accurate too.

It’s a pretty little thing. I like the gray leatherette body and it certainly looks nice under my studio lights. We like to collect complete sets when we can and this one has its original box, leather case (black), silica-gel pack and the owners manual. It would have been extra nice had Minolta made the case gray like the camera.

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Although the box has some damage from handling it over the years, it’s still quite solid. It was covered with soot, dirt, dust, grime and I’m sure some DNA – it was so dirty that the Minolta logo was not visible! I used a new bar of ‘Mr. Clean Magic Eraser’ lightly made wet to gently ‘erase’ the dirt. It’s amazing how well it did without damaging the delicate 50+ year old paper. A new way to restore some of our older boxes in our collection.

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Nice image from inside the owners booklet.

We wish we had a chance to run a roll through it to test the f2.8 45mm Rokkor lens… but as is typical with these vintage rangefinders, the rear lens element is trashed with fungus.

Thanks for your visit. We hope you know a bit more about this unique camera.

Chris and Carol Photography ^.^