This is my first and only MF camera. It has a very sharp lens and is built very solid...much more solid than any modern camera I've used. The only thing that feels less than solid is the film advance winder, but it has not given me any problems. The shutter release, shutter speed dial, and aperture dial are all well positioned for easy access. However, the dials are a little stiff for their small size, making them hard to turn (not too bad though). The image quality is far superior to any 35mm images I've seen. It accepts both 120 and 220 film. This camera has sparked more conversations with strangers than any other camera I've used, but it can also be used discretely, due to the waist level finder. Parallax can be a problem, but as long as you are careful, with a little practice, it's not an issue. Same goes for the reversed image. The light meter is fairly accurate and usable, but you will want a hand held meter for more precision.
Strengths:
Great image quality for the price.
Solid build.
Fun to use.
Leaf shutter with 1/500 flash synch.
Weaknesses:
Stiff dials.
Shutter speed max is 1/500.
Light meter ISO max is 400.
Inherent to TLRs:
Parallax and reversed image take some getting used to.
Single focal length.
Similar Products Used:
None.
Customer Service:
Mark Hama is as close as it gets to customer service for Yashica, and my experience with him was fantastic. When I received my Yashica from the Ebay seller, I was disappointed to discover that the lens was full of dirt and fungus. Mr. Hama helped me to negotiate with the seller for a $50 refund, and then he replaced the lens with a brand new one, and did a CLA for $130. He actually called and spoke with the Ebay seller to assure him that I was not trying to rip him off. That's good service! I ended up with a $270 camera in almost mint condition
Cost-effective way to enter medium format photography. I got a mint condition camera for only $25 and I could have got it cheaper still had I bargained a bit. I also got an original instruction book, case in excellent condition and even the original box.
The shutter is very quiet, and I was surprised at how good the results turned out even when hand-holding at slow speeds (1/60) when I thought I had shaken the camera while releasing the shutter by hand. I have now taken to using a cable release. For indoor flash I used my Nikon SB 20 flash connected by a cable and held by hand over the camera, firing in its non-TTL auto mode with excellent results. The Yashinon lens is supposed to be at its sharpest at f/8 to f/16, but I found acceptable to good portraits possible shooting at f/4 and f/5.6. The slight softness being desirable in most portraits. I had prints made at 12 x 8 with nice results.
Strengths:
Cheap, well made. Due to its leaf shutter, it will syncronize at all speeds.
Weaknesses:
Simple match-needle exposure meter that uses obsolete PX-625 type 1.35 V Mercury batteries. Accessory shoe awkward and if you mount a ISO type flash it will be facing backwards!
Has Bay 1 type bayonet lens hood and filters that are hard to find and relatively expensive.
This is a nice TLR for beginner. It has a nice lens, the 4 elements Yashinon. Of course one cannot expect it to perform as well as Rolleiflex, it never meant to be. Comparing to Zeiss the Yashinon is less colorful and flat. But considering the price, it is very nice. A better choice instead of Seagull, giving promising result in a reasonable price. And yes, it would probably beat down nearly all 35mm format camera.
Strengths:
Cheap, easy to use, light, high price to functionability ration.
Weaknesses:
Don't rely on the meter, use a cal-ed digital camera or a meter instead.
Optics, good enough but don't compare it to the very nice and expensive German optics.
I've owned three of these over the past 20 years, one purchased locally and nearly new, and two through eBay in the past two years. One has been retired for mechanical reasons, one is in frequent use by another family member, and the original one I still use. I have also had a Rollei TLR for the past 20 years. Looking over the old negatives, it is not possible to tell which came from which camera. The negatives are mostly of family members and friends, taken under daylight lighting conditions.
As other reviewers have commented, these cameras are an excellent way to get into medium format photography, and for the price they are very hard to beat. My advice would be to buy one in near mint condition, or buy a good one and have it re-conditioned. When you can afford it, buy another one.
Strengths:
The price. You can buy and re-condition three of these for the price of one Rolleiflex 3.5F.
Lens quality is very good. Pictures are everything you expect from medium format.
220 film option is a definite plus.
Built in light meter is also a plus.
Other strengths which are inherent in the TLR design.
Weaknesses:
They are not as well made as the Rolleiflexes, nor did they ever claim to be.
There are a couple of dirt entry points (self timer lever, flash sync. switch) which are taped over on my cameras.
The film advance mechanisms are fragile (less so on the earlier 124 model). Be gentle when you wind them.
The lenses collect tiny drops of oil from the shutter mechanism. The shutters frequently drag at low speeds. Since these are 25 year old cameras, these things shouldn't be surprising.
Other weaknesses which are inherent in the TLR design.
Similar Products Used:
Rolleiflex TLR.
Various SLRs.
Various point and shoot 35mm.
Customer Service:
Athena Camera in Calgary does good CLA work on these cameras for a reasonable price.
The Yashica Mat 124G's build quality and lens are its greatest assets. A lot of photographers are quick to recommend it as the perfect camera for medium-format newbies. They're right, but it's more than capable for professional work. You have to see the negatives that it produces to really appreciate the lens it has on board. Very sharp, starting at F/5.6, and it starts to falter at F/32.
Strengths:
Solid workmanship on the body, and a great lens; supposedly a copy of a German design.
Weaknesses:
There aren't many available accessories anymore, like filters and tele or wide-angle lenses. If you do find them, they'll cost you.
Sample Images
More Products from Yashica
Link to this page
4 of 5
5 of 5
