Yashica Mat 124G or Yashica 635 for the same price?

[anirbanbanerjee]

<p>I have a chance to buy either a Yashica Mat 124G or Yashica 635 for the same price (about USD 140-150), both in good cosmetic condition, clean lens and fully working. The 635 comes with the 35mm adapter kit, which will be of no use to me. The Mat's lightmeter also will not be useful for me as I will use a handheld digital Gossen.</p>

<p>The Mat's Yashinon lens is supposed to be superior than the 635's Yashikor, but the latter has a 9-blade aperture diaphragm (vs. the Mat's 5-blade one), which produces a circular aperture.</p>

<p>At the moment, I am leaning towards the Mat 124G.</p>

<p>Would the forum members concur?</p>

<p>Thanks,<br>

Anirban</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Assuming both are in equally good working order, get the 124G. It's more efficient and a bit more user friendly. My first experience with "serious" medium format as a kid in the late 1960s was its predecessor, the 124, and even then found it nearly foolproof. The big advantage is the film advance/shutter cocking mechanism.</p>

<p>I have the 635 with the 35mm adapter. It's a very good TLR, not quite in the class of the Rolleiflex 2.8C I had (and stupidly sold), but a very good user. Main problem in terms of user efficiency is the film advance wind knob and shutter cocking are two separate actions, increasing the likelihood of unintentional double exposures or skipped frames. Other than that I have no complaints.</p>

<p>The 35mm adapter is a nice novelty but I've used it maybe twice. The default vertical/portrait orientation limits its usefulness, and tipping it sideways for horizontal/landscape orientation would be awkward, to say the least.</p>

<p>I wouldn't be concerned about the aperture blade count or shape. It's practically irrelevant to bokeh, unless one's definition of bokeh is confined to the shapes of out of focus blobs of light. In terms of overall out of focus characteristics, that's determined by the optical design, not by the aperture shape. If the Yashikor triplet in my 635 had more pleasant bokeh than the S-K Xenotar in my Rollei, it's because the triplet wasn't overcorrected to minimize spherical aberration. The Xenotar was very precise, razor sharp to the edges and corners, with a slight tendency toward nisen bokeh - busy doubling of hard edges - and the perfectly circular diaphragm shape did nothing to improve the out of focus characteristics. Didn't matter much to my style since I don't rely heavily on shallow DOF anyway and tend to stop down for more DOF, including using the hyperfocal setting for candids and street photography.</p>

[dan_daniel2]

A triplet like the Yashikor can make for some wonderful swirling backgrounds. And at smaller apertures it can deliver nice results. But all in all, I think a Tessar-type like a Yashinon is a more 'neutral' lens. Sharper all in all.

 

 

With any TLR, condition might be more important than lens, model, etc. I'd take an aligned Yashikor over a bent 124G with Yashinon any day. And the fact is that the design of the Yashicas is not the strongest. Same design as the Rollei TLR focusing system, but built with less precision, weaker rails, etc. (the rails are a weak point of the Rollei design, also). I think this is why some people find their Yashinon lens to be excellent and others find them to so-so. Not only sample variation in the lenses when you are making a million cameras, but alignment and condition.

 

 

Same price, get the 124G. Pull the battery out of the camera and just ignore the meter.

[tim_ludwig2]

<p>The 124G hands down. Keep in mind that you can also find both a short telephoto and moderate wide angle that bayonet into the front of the lenses. Both are surprisingly sharp. The original lens makes a negative that enlarges comparably to a Hasselblad lens, at least up to 16x20. Terrific camera.</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>I think the build is a little better with the older model, but I enjoyed my 124G until I essentially wore it out. Mine was made of pretty cheesy tin and pot metal. I never used the meter in it.</p>

[geoff_r1]

<p>Have you double checked which lens this 635 has? Most had the Yashikor, but some had the Yashinon. The 635 I have has the Yashinon. </p>

[anirbanbanerjee]

<p>Thanks everyone for the replies.I am also inclined towards the 124G, but ... (see below)</p>

<p><strong>Geoff</strong>, yes, the 635 has the Yashikor lens (I was hoping it had the Yashinon and that was the first thing I checked).</p>

<p>My choices just got more complicated: the seller also has a Rolleicord V (not the Va or Vb) with the Xenar for around USD 180. All function work well, but the body is KEH-ugly with lots of pitting on the chrome (see <a href="http://www.dropbox.com/s/863p5yfp6mou5vk/rolleicord-tumbi-IMG_0112.JPG">this</a> and <a href="http://www.dropbox.com/s/ygd5065yd0hqoad/rolleicord-tumbi-IMG_0120.JPG">this</a>). Would USD 180 be a good price?</p>

<p>Finally, the seller has a Yashica Mat 124G in pristine condition with just a few sub-millimetre-size chips off the front paint for USD 270. I am more of a user than a collector, but this is very tempting :-)</p>

<p> </p>

[jeff_bennett1]

A Yashica 124G in good condition both cosmetically and functionally for $140-150 is a pretty good deal. I used one

for close to 20 years and got great results. The lens is very comparable to the Xenar on my current Rolleicord Vb, and

noticeably better than the triplet Yashikor, which I also used for a couple of years.

 

A Rolleicord V with significant pitting and corrosion for $180 strikes me as a bit high. You should be able to find one in

pretty nice condition for not much more than that. In general, the Rolleicord is a better made camera than the Yashica

mechanically, even though they are similar optically. But any Rolleicord V is well over 50 years old, so it pays to check

out it's condition carefully.

[Mike Gammill]

<p>The Yashica 124G won't be as old as the 635 so in addition to the other advantages the 124G has over the 635, you can add that one as well.</p>

[User_502260]

<p>I have a 635 with the Yashikor. It's a decent lens if stopped down. Even my Yashica A makes a very respectable 8X10 when stopped down. I had a 124G in High School and college. The Yashinon is very sharp even if it isn't stopped down much. Mechanically it is very poorly made. The original Yashica Mat and 635 cameras are much better made. By the time of the 124G so many parts were plastic you were just waiting for the wind mechanism to malfunctiom. I wouldn't buy another one at any price. Most medium format shooting I do now is with Bronica SLRs. An SQ-A body with a 120 back, an 80/2.8 and a waist level finder is not terribly heavy or bulky. It is reasonably priced too. You get the same laterally reversed image. Both the 80/2.8 S and the 80/2.8 PS are very good lenses. You get the same top shutter speed of 1/500. You can use close-up lenses without having to worry about parallax. If you want to you can get a prism finder and a Speed Grip, also at low prices. There are also extension tubes and a teleconverter available. The SQ-A is a much more versatile camera than a 124G. If I wanted another TLR now I would look for any Rolleicord from the IV on and get it serviced. I would then have a good performer which would work reliably for many years. With a 124G you are getting a nice lens but the whole thing can stop working at any time. </p>

[anirbanbanerjee]

<p><strong>Jeff Adler</strong>: My own thoughts exactly. However, here in Bangalore, India, Bronicas are not very common, in cost as much as a Hasselblad 500. I have looked at a Mamiya RB67 and a Mamiya c220 TLR , but both were too heavy for comfortably using outdoors.</p>

<p>The film wind lever of the 124G sure feels flimsy, but I reckon one made in the '80s has a better chance of failing with my occasional use. The Rolleicords (and Yashica 635, as<strong> Jeff Bennett </strong>said) are just too old.</p>

<p>I am going with the Yashica 124G. Thanks, everyone.</p>

[r22eng]

The 635 was my first medium format camera. It was great for double exposures. Always got good negatives from the

camera. Just don't advance the fim until you are ready to shoot. The 124G was nicer since it advanced and cocked the

shutter. My friend sold me his 635 and bought the 124G. The winder broke on his 124G.

 

Both the 124G and 635 are over 25 years old. if you want to get serious with medium format look for a more recent

medium format camera. The Mamiya and Bronicas are still available and offer more options for accessories. If you are

happy with just an 80mm then go with the 635 in good condition for under $100 and consider it a disposable camera.

 

I still have the 635 and have been amazed that It still works. Mechanical cameras.

[tom_rittenhouse1]

<p>If you are a collector, the 635.</p>

<p>If you are a shooter, the 124G.</p>

[allan_jamieson2]

<p>The 124G is a very capable camera, I used one once for a few months comparing it to my Pentax 67. The 124G images even on Velvia were surprisingly good, using its own lightmeter, sharp and well exposed. In the end I preferred the 6 x 7cm format but if you can get a good working 124G you won't regret it,</p>

[royall_berndt]

<p>I used to have a 124G; it gave superb results. Some say the 124 is better made, but I found my 124G quite tough enough. </p>

[kladoff]

If I were you, I would go for Yashica Mat 124G. It has nice optics and produces sharp negatives. You may check my children portraits, they are all made with this great camera.

[rodeo_joe1]

I think the OP might already have decided after nearly 6 years!

[stuart_pratt]

I think the OP might already have decided after nearly 6 years!

You don’t want to rush such a big decision