Equipment Journal*: YashicaMat LM

When writing the non-review of my Rolleiflex 2.8D the other day, there was a tiny part of me that felt like I was giving short shrift to the TLR that has served me the longest. My praise of the Rollei was a bit effusive, like nothing else came close to it. While it certainly is a superlative camera, there are other cameras in my stable that are still very capable shooters. My YashicaMat LM is a prime example and so I thought it was worthwhile to devote my next post to it.

I had often read the praises of Yashica TLRs on the net over the years — basically as long as I can remember reading about photography on the web. Philip Greenspun discussed them on his article on medium format film on the old Photo.net (which is no longer part of that site, sadly). For some reason, I had always bypassed them and looked elsewhere for my TLR fix. That remained the case until I was fortunate enough to cross paths with Nickie. Nickie and I had a lot of crazy adventures together. He had a few Yashica TLRs over the years and repaired a few more and sold them. He brought Yashicas with on several of our outings and I finally got a look at one up close. I was instantly impressed and decided that adding a Yashica TLR to my camera collection wouldn’t be a bad idea.

I had hoped to pick up one of the 124 models. Nickie mentioned that the non-G 124 was a little better built in a couple of minor areas than the 124G. Additionally, I thought it was a pretty good looking camera. Prices for the 124 and 124G were both out of my range when I went looking, though. So I started doing some research on the various models and was surprised to learn that there were quite a line of TLRs — both the lesser Yashica range and the higher end YashicMat line. Some of the earlier versions hadn’t received the press that the 124 and 124G had and consequently were quite a bit cheaper.

One day, I happened across this YashicaMat LM (LM for light meter) on eBay. The auction was ending soon and the price was ridiculously low. I watched the auction and put a last second snipe bid on it. Lo and behold, I was the proud owner of a Yashica TLR for less than $50, shipped. That might have been the highest performance to price ratio of any camera I’ve ever bought because this thing is good. Really, really good.

While I gushed on the Rolleiflex quite a bit (for which I’m unapologetic), the truth is that the YashicaMat is 90% of my Rollei. Maybe 95%. There are even some respects in which I like the Yashica more. Loading film, for example, is more of a straight forward affair. While I haven’t managed to screw up loading the Rollei yet, I nearly did once and I’m sure I will someday (it’s almost a right of passage for Rolleiflex owners). There’s a sensing arm roller that the film must be threaded through. Forget to do that, and the camera will cheerfully wind through the whole roll of film without ever stopping at frame 1. The Yashica, on the other hand, is not as elegant as the Rolleiflex but it’s a lot simpler and less likely to be screwed up.

The areas where the Yashica don’t quite measure up to the Rollei are build quality and lens performace, especially close to wide open. Don’t get me wrong, both are way more than adequate and had I never shot a Rollei, I’d never know I was missing anything. Like I said above, it’s 90-95% of my Rollei at a price point that was, for me at least, literally an order of magnitude less than the German legend.

So what’s so appealing about the camera? For starters, it’s just fun to shoot. Part of this relates to the appeal of TLRs to me that I talked about in the Rollei post. But a larger part is that the Yashica just puts things in places where it’s comfortable to use. The controls strike a nice balance between smoothness and rigidity that is the hallmark of good camera design. The aperture and shutter speed indicators are easy to read at the top of the camera and aligned nicely with the waist level viewfinder so that it’s easy to see what the camera is set at. The film advance crank has a satisfying feel to it. The shutter button is a little squishy but not terribly so. It’s just nice to shoot with.

There’s a second joy that comes when the film is developed, too. The 80mm f3.5 Yashinon is a very good copy of the classic Tessar design. As I mentioned above, it’s a little softer than the Xenotar on my Rollei wide open and up to f5.6 or so. From f8 to f16, though, I think I’d be hard pressed to tell a difference. Indeed, the aperture is another area where the Yashica beats the Rollei. The Yashica has more blades in the iris for aperture control. I haven’t counted them and I can’t find the number on the ‘net at the moment, but I’d guess that it’s probably around 10 or so. Rolleiflexes like my 2.8D only have 5 (though earlier Rolleis do have more). The result of more blades is a more circular aperture opening and smoother rendering to out of focus areas. Chalk another one up for the Yashica.

There’s one more advantage for the YashicaMat line over the high end Rolleiflex models (the 2.8 models and the 3.5 Planar/Xenotar models). The Yashica uses Bay 1 accessories like the earlier Tessar/Xenar Rollei models. Bay 1 accessories like filters, hoods, Rolleinar close-up lenses, etc. are all much cheaper than the Bay 2 and Bay 3 accessories needed for the higher end Rolleis. Definitely something to think about when contemplating costs of a TLR.

The LM model of the Yashica does have a light meter on board. It’s a selenium meter which does not require batteries. Selenium meters are prone to failure with time and exposure to light, though. This is the case with mine. It no longer registers any needle movement, no matter how bright the light pointed at it is. Honestly, I’m not that upset about it, though. The light meter is uncoupled and has a range from 1-10. Users would note the number reflected on the meter and the consult a mechanical calculator on the focus knob. Since the number is kind of arbitrary and doesn’t even relate to EV values, it would be clunky and slow to use. For the time being, I just use a light meter app on my phone. I recently backed the Reveni Light Meter on Kickstarter and look forward to pairing that with some of my older cameras like the YashicaMat when it is completed.

There are two knocks that I’ll point out for the Yashica. The first is that it uses a Leica nipple for the cable release. I kind of detest Leica nipples. It’s easy to lose them. Additionally, they’re either on the camera when you don’t need them or they’re not on the camera (and lost somewhere in the camera bag) when you do. Since approximately half of my work with this camera is done with a cable release, it’s a huge annoyance.

The second is less of an issue for me but is worth pointing out for other users. Care must be used to never use the self timer while the M-X flash synch lever is in the “M” position. Doing so can lock up the shutter to the point that it will need to be disassembled to unlock it. I think I’ve heard that Mark Hama will even lock out the M setting when he does CLA’s on Yashicas to prevent this problem.

Speaking of Mark Hama, it’s a name that any Yashica user should probably know. Many cameras have one or two gurus that really know their stuff and are the best place to send them for repairs and Clean/Lube/Adjust (CLA) maintenance. Sover Wong is that guy for Nikon F2s. Harry Fleenor for Rolleis. Mark Hama is your guy for Yashicas. From the moment that I got my YashicaMat, I have talked about sending it to Mark for a CLA. The problem was that I just liked shooting it too much and didn’t want to send it away for any amount of time. Now that it’s been replaced a bit by the Rolleiflex, it’s probably time to finally do that.

There are a lot of great Yashica TLR write-ups around the ‘net and one need only search a bit to find good information on them. I have a few favorites that I’ve come across. Jim Grey’s write-ups on his Yashica D and his Yashica 12 are certainly worth a look (actually, all of his camera reviews are and I’m pretty sure that it was the Yashica D post that originally led me to his great blog). Matt Denton’s write up on his YashicaMat 124 is full of his usual thoroughness on all aspects from history to use to repairs. Steel City Snapper has a nice first impressions report of a 124G. The list could go on and on.

The TL;DR version of this is simple: My YashicaMat LM is a camera that I paid very little money for that is a joy to use and produces stunning results. For someone looking to get into medium format film photography on a budget, it’s hard to think of a better camera to recommend than one of the Yashica TLRs.

*Previously, I was labeling this series “Camera Non-Reviews.” While the title of the series expressed my intent — to provide summaries of my experiences without being formal reviews — the name was clumsy and it also boxed me in to doing camera posts. I envision doing similar pieces on other parts of my camera kit as well as parts of my post-processing workflow, so I thought a new series title would be appropriate. Journals seem like good outlets for pondering without the formalities of true reviews. Hence the new title.