Brenda inherited a lovely old Yashica MAT from her father, and there’s something about twin-lens reflex cameras that I really adore. I love the way they look, with the double-decker lens situation, but mostly I really think the huge viewfinder and the way you focus and shoot it from the hip is just so cool. Problem is the MAT is huge (by her antique camera standards...not my modern DSLR standards) and she doesn’t take it out very often.
But recently she found a deal and picked up a little Yashica 44 and it’s super cute. The Yashicas evidently are japanese copies of the more famous Rolleiflexes, and the 44 is specifically a copy of the “Baby Rolleiflex.” The 127mm film it uses is still available, just not at your local drugstore. B&H has it for example. Also some processing places give her pretty funny looks when she brings it in, but she’s been able to find places who can do it. The much smaller/lighter form factor has let her bring it out on more excursions which is cool because I love the photos it takes. One thing though, because the camera’s at her hip when she’s shooting, it’s hard to recognize she’s not just making settings adjustments so more than once I’ve walked right into her shot unawares.
Even without the magnifying glass, the viewfinder image is surprisingly sharp and easy to use. This one’s in need of some cleaning oviously but even so the quality of the image, as seen when holding the camera at your waist is hard to describe. Also I love that the exposure indicator font is Futura.
The baby Yashica next to the daddy Yashica.
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