Yashica

I’ve said very little about it here as I write this review in October 2021, but for over a year now, I’ve been slowly, methodically gravitating toward repairing and restoring cameras, and developing a workbench and collection of tools to do so. First it was the Zeiss Jena Biotar lens on my Exakta. Then I managed to get a couple of Zeiss Ikon Contina II cameras running (a model which still needs its own review here). Then a Graflex Graphic 35. Bit by bit, my confidence and knowledge levels rose in the face of (or perhaps because of) a few notable failures. And while I still know my limits (e.g., complex cameras don’t belong on my repair bench), I nevertheless relish tackling basket case cameras in horrible cosmetic condition just to see what (if anything) I might be able to do to get them working and looking acceptable again. Such was the case recently with a very tired, non-working, aesthetically bankrupt Yashica-D — one of the many twin lens reflex (TLR) models to come out of the Yashica factories over the course of the company’s existence.

I don’t generally require nearly two years to write a review, but in fact, I did start this one in October 2019. The passage of time has given me new perspectives on the venerable Yashica Mat-124G TLR camera, and in those two years, much as changed about the used film camera market — especially when it comes to decent medium format cameras. Given this camera’s stature in the medium format universe, and given its amazing 16 year production run, from 1970 clear until 1986, it constitutes both a popular and a worthy choice — at least when you can find one to buy.