Yashicamat at the Carnival

<p>It's an old Yashicamat with Lumaxar lenses. At some point in it's life it has acquired a Rollei viewing hood, perhaps the original one was damaged and they couldn't get a Yashica replacement, or there may have needed the Rollei hood to get correct focus with the 75mm Lumaxar.</p><div></div>

<p>One problem was flare and poor contrast whenever there was a bright light in front of the lens. Inside the camera seened very smooth, almost shiny, so I decided to add some light baffling. I cut some strips of balsa wood and glued them inside, clear of the light path, and two pieces of corrugated cardboard to fill the void either side of the lens. Then masked it up and sprayed inside with matt black. It may not have improved the value of the camera but it definitely helped image quality.</p><div></div>

<p>These were done at Leicester's Caribbean Carnival a few years ago. I soon learnt that a TLR is not the best choice for moving subjects.</p><div></div>

<p>Second one.</p><div></div>

<p>Last one - thanks for looking.</p><div></div>

<p>Great looking shots.. your improvised method of reducing flare seems to have worked: simple and elegant..I've heard that the Luxamar lenses are far sharper than the 3 element Yashikors and a tad better than the other Yashica/Tessar variants..As far as your Rollei hood, it's good to know that in a pinch a Rollei hood is interchangeable with a Yashica body...I wonder if the reverse is true.....Keep up the good work..</p>

Wow.. Excellent color saturated photos! I can't really seem to see the difference in the camera interior photo. I have a Yashica MAt 124, and it too flares badly. I preferred the Yashica D I had over this for just that reason. I just thought I should be using a lens hood (I do have one in some drawer somewhere) Anyway I will open mine and compare to your photo... If I can fix the flare maybe I'll keep it!

<p>Good for you, John! Your simple solution has provided some great images with vibrant color! Modifying equipment is an old and revered photographic tradition, congratulations for your courage to do so and on its successful implementation. More of us should act on ideas like yours. I'm glad you got out the tools to help you produce better, more interesting images. We should all follow your lead. Heck, the vintage stuff isn't worth anything today anyway.</p>

<p>Now where's that old Argus 75 and my screwdriver set?</p>

<p>Please note, I accept no responsibility whatsoever for any damage caused ...<br>

Thanks for the comments!</p>

<p>Nice pop on those, John.</p>

<p>repeat</p>

<p>That vivid colour really captures the spirit of the carnival, gives almost a "painted" quality. Great innovation and ingenuity!</p>

<p>Nice pics John and it's nice to know that at least those parts are interchangeable.<br>

I am presently rescuing a Rolleicord Va with contributions from various parts bodies.</p>

<p>I had a Yashica 24 with the same problem - too much flare, non-existent internal baffling (unlike my Rolleicord IV which has something almost like a metal bellows-effect inside.) I glued black "flocked" fabric inside, which is a material like the "velvet" stuff that they do "paintings on velvet" of Elvis with. It worked pretty well.<br>

The problem was really noticeable with color film but didn't seem to hurt my B&W work - the flare seemed to raise detail in the shadows, giving me better contrast effects on sunny days. (I was printing with a condenser enlarger.) But with color film I could never get intense colors like yours seen here.</p>

<p>Great pictures. For moving subjects it may be easier to use the frame viewfinder instead of the standard reflex one.</p>