The Yashica-MAT 124G Lives!

"Peter Chant" wrote in message
...
Matthew Winn wrote:


There's a telephoto accessory lens and a wide-angle one but the
performance of the latter is very poor at wide apertures, to the
extent that once you've trimmed off the blurred part the remaining
image covers a smaller field of view than the camera's lens alone.
Stopped down it's OK.


If you wanted that though surely you'd be better off going down the Mamiya
Route?

Yes.....With today's "demise" of film, you can get rather good buys even on
some very good medium format cameras, such as Rolleis and Hassys.......

"Lobby Dosser" wrote in message
news3kli.13764$MV6.11005@trnddc01...
"William Graham" wrote:


"Ken Nadvornick" wrote in message
. ..
"William Graham" wrote:

Does it have interchangeable lenses? And, if so, how hard are they
to
find?

William,

This is the usual place that 124G owners go for accessories. Various
supplementary lenses, filters, step adapter rings and lens hoods are
available here,

http://www.camera-depot.com/TLR.htm

I own a pristine 124G that I've used a couple of times for the SI. I
have a
lifetime supply of PX625 mercury cells for the meter, which has been
professionally calibrated to match all of my other similarly
calibrated various meters. Within its normal operating range, it's
dead on.

Great camera, albeit not for sustained, heavy-duty use.

Ken


There are 20 or 30 of them on eBay at any given time, usually for
under $200. I also wonder what's the difference between the 124 and
the Yashika 44. It does look like a good way to get into medium format
photography for very little money....




The 44 uses 127 film.

Yes. Here is a link to some info I found about it:
http://www.frugalphotographer.com/cat127.htm

I wasn't aware that 127 film was still manufactured. These "44's", it seems
to me, are another good alternative for inexpensive medium format
photography......

"William Graham" wrote:

I wasn't aware that 127 film was still manufactured. These "44's", it seems
to me, are another good alternative for inexpensive medium format
photography......


The "superslide" format was popular for a while, because 4 x 4 cm
slides in a 5 x 5 cm (2" x 2") mount could be projected in most 35mm
slide projectors. The image area was 16cm2 compared to 8.64 cm2 for
35mm slide.

However, 127 film offered nothing that was better than 120 film, with
its 5.7 x 5.7 cm image giving 32.49 cm2. So, for a similar level of
inconvenience compared to 35mm, 120 offered double the image area of
127 film.

Together with the rapid improvement in 35mm emulsions, which gave the
quality of 127 with none of the additional hassle, this well and truly
killed off the market for 127 film. Yes, you can still buy it, but it
is very much a niche product, mainly for use by diehard users of
folding cameras and grey Baby Rolleis.

I have a grey Baby Rollei but it is purely for display.

"William Graham" wrote:


Yes. Here is a link to some info I found about it:
http://www.frugalphotographer.com/cat127.htm

I wasn't aware that 127 film was still manufactured. These "44's", it
seems to me, are another good alternative for inexpensive medium
format photography......



There are a number of similar cameras, including the Baby Rollei. Some of
them are quite inexpensive. I bought a Mamiya C3 on e-bay for $72 - a bit
of a risk, as the seller stated that the the shutter release would not
function. Turns out he really did not know how the camera functioned.
Triggering the shutter without film in the camera is a bit fiddly. A very
nice camera with clean lenses and in fine mechanical condition.

Other inexpensive entries are old folders in 620 or 120/220. I have a few
that look like the were never used. Something else on my todo list.

A lot of the old films such as 127 and 620 are re-appearing as more
people discover or re-discover the joys of film. Here is a source for 620
on e-bay:

userid: alm122843 (search using advanced search)

(I have not bought anything from this individual and know nothing about
the quality of the product.)

William Graham wrote:


Yes.....With today's "demise" of film, you can get rather good buys even
on some very good medium format cameras, such as Rolleis and Hassys.......

Don't think they are quite good enough for me yet!

I supose a Mamiya 6 or 7 would be nice, or maybe the Fuji folder for
something lighter.

--
http://www.petezilla.co.uk

Lobby Dosser wrote:


Other inexpensive entries are old folders in 620 or 120/220. I have a few
that look like the were never used. Something else on my todo list.

I've got an Agfa Isolette II. Getting something reasonable out of it takes
a knack and to be honest its only something I would use for novelty value.

Would have thought though that if you were part of the Holga crowd this
would be a better bet - surely an old folder has some retro-chic?

Pete

--
http://www.petezilla.co.uk

"Lobby Dosser" wrote in message
news:Hsxli.8359$475.3132@trndny04...
"William Graham" wrote:


Yes. Here is a link to some info I found about it:
http://www.frugalphotographer.com/cat127.htm

I wasn't aware that 127 film was still manufactured. These "44's", it
seems to me, are another good alternative for inexpensive medium
format photography......



There are a number of similar cameras, including the Baby Rollei. Some of
them are quite inexpensive. I bought a Mamiya C3 on e-bay for $72 - a bit
of a risk, as the seller stated that the the shutter release would not
function. Turns out he really did not know how the camera functioned.
Triggering the shutter without film in the camera is a bit fiddly. A very
nice camera with clean lenses and in fine mechanical condition.

Other inexpensive entries are old folders in 620 or 120/220. I have a few
that look like the were never used. Something else on my todo list.

A lot of the old films such as 127 and 620 are re-appearing as more
people discover or re-discover the joys of film. Here is a source for 620
on e-bay:

These films are expensive and choice of emulsion may be limited. 620 is
exactly the same width as 120 film but uses thin spools. If you can find
some of these from old 620 cameras (junk shops) it's easy to rewind a 120
film on to a 620 spindle. First load a 120 into your 120 camera and wind
the blank film on to the end of the roll so that it's now rolled up the
wrong way around. Then, in a dark room, rewind this manually on to a 620
spool, so that the numbered frames are back in original order, load your 620
camera and shoot. The only thing to watch out for is the free end of the
film, which tends to curl away from the backing paper during the darkroom
rewind, and has to be tucked into the roll. There are a few illustrated
examples of how to do this on the web if you google around.

On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 01:24:19 +0100, Peter Chant
wrote:

William Graham wrote:

Yes.....With today's "demise" of film, you can get rather good buys even
on some very good medium format cameras, such as Rolleis and Hassys.......

That is a logical assumption, but ...

Don't think they are quite good enough for me yet!

I supose a Mamiya 6 or 7 would be nice

Very nice indeed, but I can't see any evidence at all of prices
dropping significantly for the Mamiya rangefinder cameras.

Peter Chant wrote:

Lobby Dosser wrote:


Other inexpensive entries are old folders in 620 or 120/220. I have a
few that look like the were never used. Something else on my todo
list.

I've got an Agfa Isolette II. Getting something reasonable out of it
takes a knack and to be honest its only something I would use for
novelty value.

Would have thought though that if you were part of the Holga crowd
this would be a better bet - surely an old folder has some retro-chic?

Like I said, something else on my todo list. Retro-chic doesn't work very
well when you are as old as the camera.

Very nice indeed, but I can't see any evidence at all of prices
dropping significantly for the Mamiya rangefinder cameras.

What has died is the wedding business. The RFs were never much in
demand for that and so the price isn't much affected. Serious amateurs
go through about as much film as ever-just they were a lot smaller
market than people thought.