Bitten By the MF Bug...

<p>...and I don't even have a camera yet! But that didn't stop me from buying my second MF camera yesterday. I have a Zeiss Ikonta in the mail, and yesterday I couldn't resist a nice Yashica 124-Mat, and now that is on the way. I did remember to order some 120 film, so with a bit of co-incidence I might be able to test drive these cameras when they arrive! </p>

<p>Mark,<br>

Congrats. I hope, like me, that you have just entered a world sheer personal enjoyment.</p>

<p>Welcome to the club, Mark! The one thing about MF is that it requires a slower approach to your subject. Make sure you have a good tripod and use a cable release whenever possible. Regards.</p>

<p>Both good cameras! Hope you have a lot of fun with them. More hand-holdable than my Hasselblad...I used Yashica twin-lens cameras for wedding work for a long time (until I found weddings more like work than I wanted to do and quit shooting them) and they did a fine job. Once you get used to the waist level finder on the 124 you'll find it to be a fine piece of equipment, especially given its price range.</p>

<p>Walter---<br>

Yes, I can pretty much tell it is a slower approach to things, which will be new to me. I am often a bit of a machine gunner, and one of the reasons I wanted to try this was to learn to be more contemplative about what I am seeing, and what I am composing. I purposely chose the 6 x6 square format after reading people talking about the relief it was not having to bother with the decision of portrait or landscape! I am very anxious to give this a try.</p>

<p>I have never used a 120 camera before. I don't even know how to load film in it. But, I am sure it can't be too hard, right? I mean girls do it, don't they? <0:-) Joke.</p>

<p>I'll let you guys know when the first one lands!</p>

<p>Make sure there's an empty spool on the side opposite the film to wind on to, and when you start the roll wind until you see a 1 in the window. Expect to lose a roll or two at the beginning because of film loading. Look here: http://www.butkus.org/chinon/ for instruction manuals.</p>

<p>Congrats Mark! Enjoy them :)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>If the Yashica needs service, Mark Hama in Atlanta is the man to send your Yashica to for an overhaul. He used to work in the Yashica factory building them. Hea got the last of the parst for the 124 from Yashica.</p>

<p><a href="http://markhama.home.comcast.net/~markhama/">http://markhama.home.comcast.net/~markhama/</a></p>

<p> </p>

<p>My favourites are the Mamiya TLRs (C3, C220, C330). Like Walter says, use a tripod whenever possible. MF makes you slow down and think more before pressing the button. And there's something special about a really good MF neg.</p>

<p>Anthony--<br>

Yes, I've seen Mark Hama mentioned many times while I was Google-mining for info on the Yashica Mat. Thanks! I sure hope it doesn't need any service right away.</p>

<p>STUPID QUESTION #1</p>

<p>Ok, my Yashica Mat 24 arrived in the mail. Yahoooo! It looks in decent shape overall. The leather case with nice red felt inside is in very good condition. I popped it open and looked in the VF. The ground glass looked very smudgy, no, dirty. I disassembled the top hoods and waistfinder to get at the glass, which I carefully cleaned along with the magnifier. Ahhhh, much nicer view in there!</p>

<p>Looks like just two simple adjustments on the copal shutter - f/stop from f/3.5 to f/22 and shutter speed which is a continuously variable dial from 25 to 300. First time I've ever seen that. I guess if you want to use 1/125, you guesstimate? Very interesting. The lens is 80mm. By the view I get, it looks to be about a "normal" lens, true?</p>

<p><strong>But, here's my stupid Q.</strong> There was film in the camera, so I opened the back to play with how this film gets wound. (I wasn't about to develop it). There is just paper covering the film stock? You wind it off, tuck in the flap and seal it, I guess. Q: Do I need to do this in a dark room? Won't the daylight leak around this flimsy paper? When I remove the exposed roll, do I need to place it in a dark bag for sending off to the processor? Can you handle these rolls in the daylight? It seems preposterous to me!</p>

<p>Sorry - my ignorance here knows no bounds! I very much like the camera thus far without having done anything with it.</p>

Congrats, Mark. MF is a lot of fun. And, yes, even girls can do it. ; )<br>

<br>

As for loading film, I can't speak directly about the Yashica, but I'd be surprised if you have to load film in a darkroom. Your

description sounds much like loading a Hasselblad magazine which doesn't require a darkroom, although I had doubts at

first, too.<br>

<br>

There's a youtube video showing how to load a Hasselblad back, you might check for Yashica?

<p>Little Update:<br>

I have now shot two rolls of film in my Mat 124. What a blast! I am quite hooked on this! The film loading turned out rather easy and not as scary as I thought. Here's a few things that took me by surprise with this camera.</p>

<p>--Well, boy you really have to watch for the frame number carefully because you can roll "backwards" if you pass it!</p>

<p>--Looking down in the viewfinder is a mirror image. Whoa - - I have to sway the opposite way my intuition tells me. It's still a tiny bit awkward getting the image vertically and horizontally squared up.</p>

<p>--There's no protection against double exposure! That's ok, I am one of those "always wind immediately" types. But, boy, there are a lot of mistakes one can make with these all mechanical cameras.</p>

<p>--I haven't gotten either roll developed yet. I used Tmax 400, but wish I had bought a slower film.</p>

<p>- The shutter speed is weirdly imprecise and is market with oddball values like 25, 50, 100, 300. I guess you simply use linear interpolation to get your "125" or "250"?</p>

<p>--I feel like I am being more deliberate with choice of shots. Only 12 per roll!</p>

<p>I should have my Ikonta this week too.</p>

<p> </p>