An Entry to the World of Medium Format - Yashica Mat 124G

I, like others I would imagine, have been interested in larger negatives and the cameras used to shoot them ever since I got serious about 35mm photography. I've been at that stage for quite a while now. But it wasn't until I set up my own darkroom that I decided to try my hand at medium format.

So what's the advantage to bigger negs? Well, they're easier to work with than 35mm negs on the whole, and you can enlarge them to 16x20 without and degradation of detail or increase in grain. Which isn't to say I can't get nice 16x20's from my Leica's. I can, but they're definitely not on par with medium format images of the same size.

When thinking about going to MF, keep a few things in mind:

  1. Cameras tend to be bigger, heavier and MUCH more expensive than their 35mm counterparts.

  2. Relatively fast lenses for MF cameras are insanely expensive, and still nowhere near as fast as my Leica glass.

  3. Without ND filters for all your lenses, you'll probably be unable to shoot at large aperatures during the day. Typical MF cameras have top shutter speeds of 1/500 - 1/1000 of a second. Not a big deal if you like lots of depth of field.

  4. You'll want to use a tripod. The whole point of MF is superb image quality. With a small number of exceptions, like the Bronica RF645 and a few Fuji rangefinders, most MF cameras are meant to be used on a tripod.

So you definitely sacrifice a lot. But, you get amazing negs, and you're forced to start slowing down, mounting the camera on a tripod, and thinking really hard about whether or not you want the shot you see in front of you. For me, this is the appeal of medium format. Taking my time to make negatives. But if you're like me, you didn't want to spend upwards to $3000 for a system. So what are our options? Well, there are a few:

  1. Bronica RF645 - this camera appealed to me because it's like a Leica M6 on steroids. It's reasonably sized, handholdable and a bargain compared to most new MF systems on the market. What I don't like is the fact that the default viewfinder orientation is vertical. Also, for me anyway, I don't think the image quality a camera like this offers is worth the sacrifices of moving to it from my Leica gear.

  2. Fuji Rangefinders - there are many of these, and they come in all kinds of formats, 6x45 to 6x9. They seem neat, but again, these don't really appeal to me.

  3. Old TLR's - ah, now this is where things get interesting. There are a few old TLR's out there that offer some great advantages of MF, without killing you with a high price tag. These include old Rolleiflexes and Yashica Mat's. A TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) typically has a waist level viewfinder that you look down into to compose a scene. There are two lenses on the front of the camera, one that projects the screen on the ground glass (the viewscreen) and another that is used to take the picture. A few really neat advantages of TLR's are: they're nearly silent, are relatively inexpensive on the used market (depending on the model), offer 6x6 negatives, and have waist level finders that I personally love.

I decided to get a Yashica Mat 124G. This was the last model Yashica Mat ever built, from the 70's to mid 80's. Don't pay more than $300 for one... I'd say don't pay more than $200, but unfortunately prices are grossly inflated at the moment, and you might not have much luck getting one for that price that's in good condition. The 124G is a neat camera. It has a PC socket for flash sync at all shutter speeds, a self timer, a Yashinon taking lens that offers great results in the range of f/8 - f/16, and acceptable results at other f/stops, a ground glass magnifier to make fine focusing a little easier, and it weighs less that one of my Leica M6 bodies (probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.5 pounds). It takes 120 or 220 roll film, adjustable via a pressure plate in the back of the camera. It's got a built in light meter, though if the old mercury cell battery is still in the camera, you won't be able to replace it. You can get a converter that fits into the battery compartment and takes a silver 386 battery that is common today.

Take a look here: CrisCam

I've found the light meter to be as accurate as any other reflected light meter, so make sure you know the zone system, and take your meter readings close to your subject if possible. Best of all, it's fun! Plus, a lot of the cons that go along with MF cameras that I listed above don't apply to the Yashica Mat (or any other TLR for that matter). For example, because TLR's have leaf shutters and no mirror to flip up, you can actually handhold them at very slow shutter speeds with great results.

Just keep in mind a few other things before running out to grab an MF camera:

  1. You'll need to be able to do something with the negatives or chromes you shoot with it. This means either an MF enlarging lens (typically an 80mm lens) for your enlarger, plus a negative carrier for 6x45, 6x6, 6x7 or 6x9 depending on what camera you end up with.

  2. Or, you need to be able to scan the negs. Most MF scanning solutions are hideously expensive, but I've heard good things about the Epson 2450 scanner, which will scan up to 4x5 large format negatives with good results. Best of all, it only costs around $400.

Want to read some of my other Equipment Reviews?

Want to read some of my other Technical Articles?