Gray Yashica 44 recovered!

StepheKoontz · May 15, 2020

I really enjoy shooting with 127 TLR's and while Yashica and Rollei both made "Baby gray" models, I never cared for the two tone look.

I just recovered both in matching dark gray real leather (from cameraleather.com) and I really like the way they look now. Neither are rare enough to worry about losing their originality and IMHO they look 100% better.

awty · May 15, 2020

Very nice work.
How do you go about getting film?

Ariston · May 15, 2020

Beautiful.

mshchem · May 15, 2020

I sold one of these little gems several years back. My 1st medium format camera was a Yashica 120 TLR a friend of my Dad's gave me. I sent it in had the shutter cleaned, what a great camera.

StepheKoontz · May 15, 2020

awty said:
Very nice work.
How do you go about getting film?

At first I used a film slicer I got off etsy to cut the width of 120 to 46mm, then cut down 120 backing paper to match and rolled it myself. I recently found a fresh roll of 46mm HP5+ and have been using that.

To me this format is the perfect size + I love shooting square. The best baby TLR I own is a Sawyers Mark IV, same as the Primo JR. Super nice camera!

BAC1967 · May 16, 2020

Nice, I have the Baby Rolleiflex and a few Kodak 127’s. Ilford sells bulk rolls of 127 every year during their ULF sale. I reuse old backing paper and cut down 120 paper.

Donald Qualls · May 16, 2020

awty said:
How do you go about getting film?

If you don't mind paying Way Too Much, Rerapan and Rerachrome (misnamed, as it's C-41) are available, fresh, with new spools inside. Otherwise, cutting down 120 as noted above. The Italian 3-D printed tool is very nice, as it includes a template for recutting the paper backing leader and respools the film as you go, but I've done it on a small lathe, making the cut in the light (most films will only fog < 1mm at the cut) and going dark only for the respool -- you could easily build a small contraption to spin the roll and feed in the blade to do this.

Bonus: the offcut is 16mm wide, unperfed, and can be cut in half for length and used to reload Minolta 16 cassettes. Load the original film edge toward the cassette bridge to keep the edge markings out of your images.

ChristopherCoy · May 16, 2020

StepheKoontz said:
At first I used a film slicer I got off etsy to cut the width of 120 to 46mm, then cut down 120 backing paper to match and rolled it myself. I recently found a fresh roll of 46mm HP5+ and have been using that.

To me this format is the perfect size + I love shooting square. The best baby TLR I own is a Sawyers Mark IV, same as the Primo JR. Super nice camera!

I'm curious as to why you'd go through all that trouble instead of just shooting 6x6? I have no experience with 127 film so I'm genuinely curious.

Donald Qualls · May 16, 2020

If you like chromes, 4x4 will still mount in a 2x2 (inch) slide frame and fit a standard projector instead of needing a "super slide" setup. Also, for quality TLRs, the camera weighs less than half what a good 6x6 TLR does. If you like oddball cameras, there are a few that were made in 127 only (Foth Derby, for instance).

ChristopherCoy · May 16, 2020

Donald Qualls said:
If you like chromes, 4x4 will still mount in a 2x2 (inch) slide frame and fit a standard projector instead of needing a "super slide" setup. Also, for quality TLRs, the camera weighs less than half what a good 6x6 TLR does. If you like oddball cameras, there are a few that were made in 127 only (Foth Derby, for instance).

Interesting. I think I've shot exactly 1 roll of slide film in my life. It was 120 format and it was with a Mamiya C220. The negatives are floating around my parents attic somewhere.

Does the 44 weigh less than the 635?

Donald Qualls · May 16, 2020

ChristopherCoy said:
Does the 44 weigh less than the 635?

Never handled a 635, and the only 44 TLR I have is a cheap one, very limited shutter and red window advance -- but give it's 1/3 smaller in all dimensions, if it's built the same way, it'll weigh less than half.

ic-racer · May 16, 2020

Looks fantastic. I have three cameras on my desk now that need new covering (Yashica FX-3 and two Argus C2). I'll check out cameraleather.

StepheKoontz · May 16, 2020

ChristopherCoy said:
I'm curious as to why you'd go through all that trouble instead of just shooting 6x6? I have no experience with 127 film so I'm genuinely curious.

It doesn't take long to respool in the darkroom once you are setup. I reuse the cut down paper and spend less than 10 minutes, less per roll if I am doing multiples at the same time. Maybe I will do a short video of how I do it.

As to why I go to the trouble? I guess for me keeping a dead format alive is cool, like how many people shoot 127 now? I love shooting square and most 120 6X6 cameras with accurate focusing are much larger/heavier. Compared to a Rolleiflex/Xenar, (I consider these equiv in quality/features/optics) the rollei is 2.5lbs, the sawyers is 1.4lbs. The negs print well and it's basically like shooting 6X6 vs 6X4.5 (compared to shooting 35mm), you can crop how you want in the darkroom.

And lastly, these are very jewel like and just so darn cute

ChristopherCoy · May 16, 2020

StepheKoontz said:
It doesn't take long to respool in the darkroom once you are setup. I reuse the cut down paper and spend less than 10 minutes, less per roll if I am doing multiples at the same time. Maybe I will do a short video of how I do it.

As to why I go to the trouble? I guess for me keeping a dead format alive is cool, like how many people shoot 127 now? I love shooting square and most 120 6X6 cameras with accurate focusing are much larger/heavier. Compared to a Rolleiflex/Xenar, (I consider these equiv in quality/features/optics) the rollei is 2.5lbs, the sawyers is 1.4lbs. The negs print well and it's basically like shooting 6X6 vs 6X4.5 (compared to shooting 35mm), you can crop how you want in the darkroom.

And lastly, these are very jewel like and just so darn cute

Interesting. How do you know that the film is cut with a straight edge?

ChristopherCoy · May 16, 2020

huh.... interesting.

StepheKoontz · May 16, 2020

ChristopherCoy said:
Interesting. How do you know that the film is cut with a straight edge?

The width? I use a tool that looks like this I bought on etsy. It has 2 razor blades, you put the 120 film in, hold the lid down and pull it through. Then I cut it to length and am ready to roll!

ChristopherCoy · May 16, 2020

StepheKoontz said:
The width? I use a tool that looks like this I bought on etsy. It has 2 razor blades, you put the 120 film in, hold the lid down and pull it through. Then I cut it to length and am ready to roll!

All in the dark? Wow. Sounds like quite a challenge.

ChristopherCoy · May 16, 2020

Nope. Not doing it. I. DO. NOT. NEED. ANOTHER. CAMERA.

Not even if I can make my own 127 film.

(but ebay does have a lot of them)

StepheKoontz · May 16, 2020

ChristopherCoy said:
All in the dark? Wow. Sounds like quite a challenge.

Not really. You just pull the 120 film off the roll, place it between the side guides, put the top on the cutter thing and pull it through. Then again I've done a lot of work in the darkroom like this, processing color prints etc so maybe it's harder than I think, for someone who hasn't done a lot of work in total darkness. The main thing is lay everything out before you start and stay organized.

Donald Qualls · May 16, 2020

I've done much the same thing to produce new 828 film for my Bantam RF (and I might eventually buy another Bantam). The 28x40 frame is the same as a half-frame 127, but the camera is the size of a compact 35mm (most of them were folders, too). The 6x4.5 track on 120 film gives you a little extra space between frames, but you get 16 instead of 12 (or 8). I get 18 (with standard clearance) with my Bantam RF, because it uses a friction wheel to stop the advance -- I just have to watch for the 16 to go by so I know when the roll is done, since it lacks a mechanical counter.

I'm with @StepheKoontz it's no harder than reloading a 126, 110, Minolta 16 or Yashica 16, or Minox cassette. Just a matter of having a good workspace and knowing before the lights go out what you need to do (and practicing a few times in the light with sacrificial film).

ChristopherCoy · May 16, 2020

I’ve never reloaded film. I once bought a bulk loaded for 35mm but never got around to it. I didn’t even know you could split film to make other sizes!

Donald Qualls · May 16, 2020

Nearly everyone who shoots subminiature formats has, at one time or another, split film to get strips the right width. Many 16mm cameras can use movie film with one or two rows of perforations, and a few require it, but the choice of emulsions is very limited and they aren't optimized for small-frame still photography. By splitting down larger films, you can gain access (at least for cameras that don't depend on film perforations) to any emulsion you can buy in a larger roll width, and save a bunch of money compared to preloaded cassettes (if you can even get them -- Minox still had them as of a few years ago, 9.2mm wide film for 20 or 36 exposures, for twice the price of top-name 120 in a choice of three emulsions, but Minolta 16 was dropped thirty years or so ago).

Then there are the fine quality cameras in 127 and 828. I don't mind the effort to recut and respool film if it lets me use a good camera that I was able to buy because "You can't get film for that any more."

And the other side of that is using films we can buy now in a larger camera -- like 120 in a 116 or 616 camera, or even larger ones. Some of the really big ones work well with a single sheet film loaded in the darkroom (one of the old roll film sizes was 4 inches wide, and produced 4x5 negatives on a roll of 8 or 12)..

eli griggs · May 16, 2020

StepheKoontz, your camera looks great, so congratulations on the fine job you've done recovering it.

Camera Leather covers are, in my limited experience very nice, and I need one or two at this moment, myself.

ChristopherCoy said:
Nope. Not doing it. I. DO. NOT. NEED. ANOTHER. CAMERA.

Not even if I can make my own 127 film

(but ebay does have a lot of them)

You are truly denying yourself the JOY of a quality camera, the Primo Jr. AKA Sawyer's mkIV is a joy, small enough to drop in an autumn/winter coat and very close focusing with a beautiful lens.

I'd be interested in learning more about HP5 Plus in 46 mm and which department to contact for sales.

Back when, I bought a bunch of 127 Ekfe (sp.?) and have saved the rolls and spindles, plus a Processing Company sent me a bag of 127 papers and spindles for the cost of shipping, so I would love to be able to roll up a bunch of HP5 Plus to keep on hand without resorting to cutting down 120.

By-the-Way, My Sawyers needs a new cover, and Camera Leather is my choice for these, but I'm thinking since I shoot B&W only in this camera, of getting a bright red or yellow covering, instead of the usual black.

One colourful, TLR to brighten the days when the shooting is good, ie., 'weather' won't do too much harm... will it?

BAC1967 · May 16, 2020

eli griggs said:
I'd be interested in learning more about HP5 Plus in 46 mm and which department to contact for sales.

They usually do the ULF sale in May each year through many of their vendors. You have to pre-order with a vendor, then you get it later when the order comes in. I haven't seen anything on it yet for this year, maybe it's delayed or canceled because of the virus.

StepheKoontz · May 17, 2020

BAC1967 said:
They usually do the ULF sale in May each year through many of their vendors. You have to pre-order with a vendor, then you get it later when the order comes in. I haven't seen anything on it yet for this year, maybe it's delayed or canceled because of the virus.

I haven't seen anything this year either. It does look like Blue moon camera still has some 46mm bulk rolls. bluemooncamera.com and search Ilford HP5+ Film - 46mm x 50ft - ULF

Gray Yashica 44 recovered!

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency