Monday, February 21, 2011

Yashica TL & Fomapan 100




I knew about Yashica's 35mm cameras for quite a while, but never owned one. I do have three Yashica TLR's, and really enjoy them. I came upon this nice Yashica TL 35mm via Auntie M the auction ninja. The camera was in EX+ condition so I popped the $20 for it, and I sure am pleased with it. The lens is a 50mm f2 and it's flawless. The only flaw on the whole camera is that the onboard meter is DOA. As a rule I rely on the Sunny 16 rule of reciprocity rather than trust an average metering system, so no worries this one is kaput.

The camera has a fast 1/500th max shutter speed, a cable release, self timer, 1/60th flash sync on the hot shoe and through a PC port. The only strange thing is the ISO range stops at 800. I suppose this was due to the limitations of the metering system. Overall the camera is very solid and feels perfect in the hands. The mechanisms are precise and accurate. In short? I really love this one.

Below is my favorite photograph taken on the first roll I put through it. Very crisp and delightful.




The film I used for this photograph was Fomapan 100. I really like this film as it is very predictable and results are easily duplicated. The lighting was very flat when I shot this roll, and as a result I went to Rodinal to extend the tonal range as much as I could. Like clockwork it gave me wonderful tones. This film is very easy to use provided it isn't overexposed.





Yashica TL 35mm
Fomapan 100
Rodinal 1+50 8min 20c

3 comments:

  1. So I just got this camera as anniversary present and am having trouble finding anything online about it. Everything I find is about the electro. Do you have any additional info and leads on where to find a manual???
    thanks so much
    Erika

    ReplyDelete
  2. So I just got this camera as anniversary present and am having trouble finding anything online about it. Everything I find is about the electro. Do you have any additional info and leads on where to find a manual???
    thanks so much
    Erika

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Erika,

    Unfortunately I have no information in the way of a manual for this camera. It's a pretty strait forward camera though. I shoot with manual exposure settings and this one responded well, which is good since the meter is kaput. Sorry I couldn't be of much help. Congratulations on the great gift!

    ReplyDelete