
Yashica Mat 124G

Canal, Amsterdam
I can totally see where one who grew up on 35mm and digital cameras would find a rare bird like the Yashica Mat interesting. You simply don’t see TLRs out on the streets anymore. I can’t recall ever encountering someone with one, other than myself. Had we, two kindred souls, met on the street, trusty TLRs in hand, we’d have retired right then and there to the nearest pub and bought each other a round of drinks.

Ghost Walker
Lots of professional photographers have completely abandoned film and gone whole-hog into the digital world. I can understand their motivation. Film is messy. You have to store it, bring it with you, and develop it. Professionals are, well, professionals. They must earn their living taking pictures. Professional grade digital cameras and Adobe Photoshop have transformed the photography business. To a professional, time is money, and they don’t have time to mess around with film anymore. But to those of us who have a little more time on our hands, medium format TLR photography offers many rewards, especially if you can afford a good film scanner.

Bridge Reflection, Amsterdam
Three things I especially like about the Yashica Mat 124G are its sharp lens, rugged build, and super accurate built-in exposure meter. I dropped this camera from about waist high onto the floor in the Heineken beer factory in Amsterdam while playing a rousing game of foosball. I picked it up, dusted it off, it worked like a champ. No dents, no dings.

Leidseplein Trashed
Most people have no idea you’re even taking a picture. There you stand, with a little black box hanging from your neck. You’re bent over slightly from the waist, like a hunchback, eye to the ground glass magnifier getting the focus just right. You lift your head, check the framing, adjust the shutter speed, then the aperture, and then, when everything’s perfect, you trip the shutter, and the only hint of a taken photograph is an imperceptible click.

Mannequins Business Card