Tag Yashica-Mat

Yashima YashicaMat – 1957

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Yashicamat, Yashica-Mat, YashicaMat – they’re all the same camera, and as was typical for Yashima (later Yashica) they had a difficult time staying consistent when it came to the way they named their cameras. At this point in time, Yashima had only been around since 1953 so I’ll cut them some slack. By 1958, Yashima became Yashica as the company adopted the name of its cameras.

So here is a super early sales brochure (Spring 1957) for the new YashicaMat 120 roll film twin-lens reflex (TLR) camera, the YashicaMat.

High-res scans are posted below from my own brochure.

Front cover.

What I find interesting is that the camera that’s depicted is the very first version of the model with a 75mm Lumaxar f3.5 taking lens (bottom lens) that were only available for a very short time before being replaced by the lens described in the brochure – 80mm Lumaxar f3.5 lens. There’s no written history to definitively know why the change was made so quickly or why they switched at all. It’s possible Tomioka Optical had difficulty providing enough 75mm lenses to meet the production demands of Yashima.

Inside centerspread. Look closely and you can just barely see 75mm on the bottom portion of the lens retaining ring (bottom lens). Both lenses say Lumaxar with the viewing lens (top lens) the clearest of the two.

Back cover scan below.

Back cover. Yashima’s camera line-up as of early 1957 (newest models).

If you look closely at this back cover you can see Yashima’s full corporate name – Yashima Optical Industries, Company, Limited, and their headquarters were located in Shibuya in Tokyo. The factory was in Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, and later Shimosuwa.

Thanks for stopping by and if you chase down a nice Yashica-Mat that you like be sure to check out my good friend Paul Sokk’s excellent TLR site at http://www.yashicatlr.com to learn more about the camera that you’re about to purchase. – Chris

Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.

Copyright © 2015-2022 Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris (Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic), Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.

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Yashica’s Yashica-Mat TLR

Chris and Carol 1 Comment

This one is from 1968. It features an 80mm f3.5 Yashinon taking lens (bottom) and an 80mm f3.2 viewing lens (top) with a Copal MXV shutter. This was Yashima-Yashica’s first crank film advance TLR introduced in 1957.

An early sales brochure from 1957 or 1958.

For more about this amazing camera please visit my friend Paul Sokk’s site at http://www.yashicatlr.com/66ModelsPage5.html#yashicamat

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to follow me on Instagram @ccphotographyai – Chris

Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.

Copyright © 2015-2022 Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris (Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic), Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.

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Are TLRs a good way to discover medium-format photography?

Chris and Carol 2 Comments

I guess another way to pose the question would be “are TLRs still relevant”?

Film photography appears to be holding its own in this digital world but have twin-lens reflex cameras lost their appeal? Obviously, not all vintage and classic camera sales go to just collectors – many of these 40 and 50-year-old cameras are being purchased and used by today’s crop of film photographers looking for a way to explore medium-format images without breaking the bank.

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Typical twin-lens reflex (TLR) film camera.

I decided to take a snapshot of just completed sales of cameras that were listed as “TLR – Film Cameras – Sold” on eBay.

tlr sold list

The top six are –

  • Mamiya
  • Yashica
  • Rolleiflex
  • Lubitel
  • Rollei
  • Konica Minolta

This list goes back to the last few days of January 2019 and does include some accessories (lenses, lens caps, cases) that are not cameras. So the total numbers will be a bit skewed.

Here’s the list searching for “TLR Camera – Film Cameras – Sold” on eBay which removed accessories like lenses, cases and other minor parts.

tlr list

The top six are –

  • Yashica
  • Mamiya
  • Rolleiflex
  • Rollei
  • Konica Minolta
  • Minolta

This represents an unscientific look at the popularity of TLRs as a viable tool for enjoying medium-format (6×6 cm) photography. 120 roll film is still widely available and it’s easy to find online companies that develop the film.

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6×6 cm image taken with my Yashica-Mat EM TLR. Learning to compose and shoot this square format takes a bit of practice but the quality of the finished picture is worth it.

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Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

My camera shop is always open and it can be found at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – I’ve got a big sale in progress with some super savings… check it out!

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Copyright © 2015-2019 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.

Yashica-Mat 120 Film Camera Set – 1960

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

For those who may have missed this post from two years ago here’s a reblog of it. This is one of the nicest sets we’ve ever come across in all our years of collecting Yashicas.

Chris and Carol's avatarChasing Classic Cameras with Chris

dscf3786 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 and exempt purchase. No taxes paid but it could not be purchased or sold on the Japanese domestic market. 

dscf3787 It was Yashica’s first crank film advance TLR and it had 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 f3.5 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. It produces large 6 x 6 cm negatives or slides.

Thanks for your visit!

Chris and Carol  ^.^

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Yashica-Mat 120 Film Camera Set – 1960

Chris and Carol 9 Comments

dscf3786

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.

dscf3787

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  ^.^

Costly Mistake…

Chris and Carol 4 Comments

It’s the best looking non-working Yashica TLR in our collection! There. Got that out of the way. This Yashica-Mat medium format camera is from 1968 and is in mint condition. The Mat had a super long run for Yashica – 1957 to 1973. Lots of pretty Mats out there to be had. Lots of dogs too. Sometimes the dogs work great and sometimes the pretty ones are dead in the water (DIW).

This one is DIW (nautical term meaning not moving). In my haste to add a good looking Mat to our collection, I overlooked a fatal flaw that often happens with these cameras…

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Do you see the flaw that I missed?

How about now?

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Look closely… do you see it yet?

How about more of a hint?

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Okay, I’ll point it out.

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Missing self timer lever. Did you see it right away? Pat yourself on the back if you did.

As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, in my haste to add a nice Mat to our collection, I failed to notice that the self timer lever was missing. No big deal right? It is and I know better. The lever is a small thingy with a little red dot of paint on the end of it. When it’s there, it should be all the way to the right (when looking straight on at the camera’s face). If it’s missing (as in this case) don’t buy it unless you enjoy repairing cameras. If it’s all the way to the left then ask questions of the seller. What happens is that the self timer lever should not be missing and should not be engaged to the left. In the instruction booklet, Yashica clearly cautions – “Be sure to move the synchro selector to the X position when using the Self-timer”.

The synchro selector lever is the little thingy sticking out just above the right thumb wheel as seen in image 1 (it has a little yellow dot of paint on it). The X position is pushing the level down (you can just make out the red X in the image above).

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Syncro selector lever (yellow dot thingy) in the up M position (M is in yellow on the camera body).

Remember, yellow dot thingy lever up is in the M position. Yellow dot lever pointing down is in the red X position. A review: no self timer lever = run! Usually someone has forced the lever one way or another because the lever is stuck to the left. If the lever is in the left position and the yellow dot lever is in the up or M position then ask the seller a bunch of questions. Please ask if the shutter button trips the shutter when pressed. More then likely the answer will be no.

In closing, if the camera you’re interested in is photographed slightly turned as in this example below, it’s easy to overlook the missing self timer lever. Ask questions before purchasing it.

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Here is an example of a Yashica-Mat with the self timer lever almost all the way to the left. I checked another image of this camera and the syncro selector lever is on M (which is in the up position). This is a classic case of what I’ve been talking about. You need to ask the seller if the shutter fires. More likely it does not. Run!

Completely my fault for not checking the lever and not asking questions of the seller.

Thanks for your visit… comments are always appreciated.

Chris