A Manifest of Misadventure with the Yashica 635 Twin Lens Reflex

...in which you get to learn from my failures as my brain comes to grips with the awkwardness of mid-20th century medium format twin lens reflex film camera technology.
Camera: Yashica 635 Twin Lens Reflex
Lens: Yashinon 80mm f/3.5
Film: Kodak Gold 200 & Ilford HP5 Plus 400
Location: City Beach and Leederville Western Australia
Date: June 2023.
web: markmcmahon.me
instagram: @patternsinsand

[@donball9777]

another fab video from Aussie Spice.

[@patternsinsand]

I'll only reply to 'Aussie Spice' from now on :p

[@ichnicht2353]

Great video really like your humor

[@patternsinsand]

Thanks for watching it. Appreciate the comment!

[@comfortablyblind6853]

I really like my Yashica 635 and its sister the D. Got them for a steal, too. I should load one up and get back to it.

[@patternsinsand]

That's the thing about these cameras - they can produce wonderful images and they need a bit of love everysooften to keep them humming.

[@hb4834]

Great video n great camera...had mine CLA'd by Mark Hama and it prrrrs...waiting on the 35mm kit...gonna try that side of the camera. I also have a Yashica Rookie, the very basic TLR, but fun to shoot as well...

[@patternsinsand]

Thanks. Have fun with the 35mm kit!

[@1973sonvis]

One more tip for the shutter release (I have not tried it myself): Use a car tire valve cap, make a hole in the center top that fit the tip of your conventional cable release and tread it/glue it. This contraption should be possible to tread on to the Yashica shutter release barrel. Good luck! 😊👍🏻

[@patternsinsand]

Sounds like a great MacGyvery solution. Thanks!

[@leolammas7940]

Hi Mark May I advise you to use a lens hood at all times. Flare is a'given' .

[@patternsinsand]

Thanks. Yes I think I really need to invest in a bayonet mount good for this camera.

[@TristanColgate]

FWIW, you can get attachment close focus lenses if you know what kind of bayonet adaptor your camera has. I got a set of minolta ones. You can get to macro (well, the negs are huge after all, so macro isn't quite the achievement it sounds), and they have parallax correction.

[@patternsinsand]

Bayonet 1. Ok, now I have to start looking for some close focusing lenses!

[@TristanColgate]

@@patternsinsand Same as mine. Rollei did some, but obvs. they are now about 1 kidney each. The ones I found are from Minolta. Minolta Close Up Lenses Kit There are two sets, No 1: 65 - 49 cm No 2: 49 - 29 cm (you should get a viewing and taking lens in each kit). I think your supposed to adjust the exposure by a stop with the no. 2 (instructions are in Japanese).

[@bernardkealey6449]

I wish I could remember who I loaned my yashica to thr other day. Ummm I mean in 6th form. 1986.. I’d just gotten home from an evening walk around neighbourhood with my voigtlander Bessa i from 1952, when this video got suggested. Had my tripod, and my plate. No coin or screwdriver to really tighten the sucker tho. So much for my 6x9 portrait shots of lit stairs… Cable release check. Oops camera decided not wanting to play with cable.. Ok tripod is pretty tight, can try 1/2 second with finger… we’ll see about that…. Ah then the trigger button stops doing anything. Right… can fit my finger in between the thingie, thr bellows, and the lens and wiggle around and find the lever on the shutter… And yeah, I had left my light meter at home because it’s new and my brain is old and I’ve not digested the manual properly, and was using viewfinder app on my phone. The best thing about that is if the shots on film turn out baaaad I have a reminder of my failures in digital black and white…. I didn’t double expose tho, yay go me… I did however wind too fast or my adhd started counting squirrels and over wound and went from 6 to 8…. All in all a thoroughly relatable episode and had me guffawing in solidarity. Hitting subscribe and looking forward to more.

[@patternsinsand]

At least you're not double exposing. Fortunately the 635 has hard stops for framing. It wouldn't be the first time, though, that I've wound a whole roll of 120 film through a medium format camera, failing to see the frame numbers through the red window.

[@duratorque]

I love my Yashica 635. You do need to ge used to it. Also, you can use a remote shutter release, you just need a Leica/Nikon adaptor. I think you may have some haze in your lens causing the light leak look when lights hits it.

[@patternsinsand]

Thanks for the tip about the shutter release and for the advice about the haze. Time to shine my phone torch through the lens and see what's lurking there!

[@jeffreycrawley1216]

Good tip on the cable release - just make sure you get the right one (I got the wrong one first time around), a Nikon F2 / AR2 or, as you said, a Leica adaptor (both pretty pricy normally though I was lucky enough to pick up a NOS one for £12.50 / 24 AUD.) When you unscrew the ring from the shutter button slip it along the cable release so you won't lose it.

[@robdido]

I tried a Russian lubitel. Fun experience but ended up throwing myself in the gulag until I realized it was the bloody camera....Getting used to everything back to front is tricky.. bit like the sun setting in the east...cheers Roberto from ☀️ Sydney

[@patternsinsand]

Haha, yes, I lived in Sydney for you a year. You do things strangely compared to us in Perth and of course we're 2 hours behind you in Winter (give or take 20 years!)

[@comfortablyblind6853]

I really like my Lubitel 2. I fell for the optics and I don't have to roll 120 on to 620 spools. Of course, my Yashica 635/D is better, but I'm glad I bought it from Ukraine.

[@robdido]

@@comfortablyblind6853 yes they all seem to come from the Ukraine on eBay. Ended up selling it. I'd like a hasslebadd one day 😆

[@TristanColgate]

I've got an MPP microcord, it's a British made rip off of the rolleicord. It's not bad, the lens is pretty good, and it works. The focusing screen isn't the best though. I really need to get in to intentional double exposure, because I've shot so many double exposures with this thing that I might as well get some decent photos out of the end of it.

[@iainmc9859]

If I had a pound for every time I'd walked to the top of a mountain only to find I'd left the base plate attached to the camera I was using last week I could afford that gold-plated Rolleiflex. The one plus is that it taught me to stand still until I'd finished releasing the shutter button after the shot; normally I drop everything, lens caps, filters, negatives (Jesus, negatives, slippery little buggers) but I can hand hold to 1/4 second on a sober day 😉

[@patternsinsand]

Glad it's not just me!