Have you ever used the auxillary wide and tele lenses on a Yashica TLR?

[68degrees]

Im curious what the results are and what they would be equivalent to in terms of angle of view to 35mm which is what Im used to. Also, is there a close up lens for he Yashica TLRs? I have bay 1 mount o what I think is a plain Yashica-Mat. Is that the same as a 124?

 

[guangong]

In the 1970s and even later I considered buying the wide angles and tele Mutars for my Rollei. In the early days far beyond my budget. Later, when I saw one for sale, I would desire to acquire, but after some thought, decided that a TLR reigns because of its simplicity and compactness. I do own and use two sets of close-up lenses that can be carried unnoticed in a pocket. I assume that Yashika made similar lenses.

 

[choiliefan]

I've used a wide/tele 44 set made by Sun on baby Rollei and Sawyers/Primo Jr with okay results. Angle of view is perhaps equivalent to 35/90 in 35mm terms.
I've also tried a Yashica Electro 35 wide/tele set on my Rollei 2.8F via a BIII adapter by switching it from viewing lens to taking lens and firing the shutter. It works okay and the tele is fine for portraits. Vignettes a little but heck, I'm just messing around anyway. Resolution is not exactly sharp nor is it objectionably soft.
If I found a Yashica or Sun 66 set at a decent low price I'd certainly use on my Rolleicord Vb.

 

[Dan0001]

With my 635 Yashica shooting 120 film I found significant vignetting on both the Yashica aux tele and wide angle..Center was ok so some cropping would be necessary. Attaching the aux lenses did not seem as secure as I wanted as the are heavy. See images. 1st w/o aux lens.

 

[choiliefan]

I could live with that, Dan.

 

[Pentode]

These were sold under myriad brand names. I have a set of wides for 6x6 TLR and 4x4TLR as well as a wide/tele set for Yshica Electro. The wides are pretty close to the equivalent of a 35mm lens on a 35mm camera. I thought my tele adapter was something like a 75mm but I could be mis-remembering. I’m pretty sure all three sets were flea market finds and I’m quite sure I wouldn’t have paid more than $10 per set. I remember my 6x6 tele set is a Spiratone and the Electro set is Hanimar. I can’t recall what the 4x4 set is but it’s likely they all came from the same factory.

As the others have said, the optics aren’t particularly good with these accessory lenses but they are fun to play with every once in a while. They also lose one or two stops of speed so use them in bright conditions or with fast film or both.

 

[ic-racer]

Dan's examples above match my experience and are a fantastic reference.

I frequently keep one TLR with the Wide Angle adapter in place all the time. Sometimes, for special effect, I put the viewing adapter over the camera's taking lens.

Also, if you want to compose with a brighter image, you can put the taking adapter over the camera's viewing lens.

I almost never use the Telephoto adapter, because cropping when printing frequently gives a better print.

 

[Paul Howell]

I had a set, early to mid 70s, don't recall how I got it, it was a Yashica set, my experience matches Dan, if pushed I could have lived with it, but as I acquired a Kowa 66 with a 3 lens I really didn't have the need. Never figured out why Yashica never made either an interchangle lens body, or like Rollie a telephoto and wide angle model.

 

[grahamp]

I have a set, more from curiosity than anything else. Not really worth the disappointment if you enlarge much. Some do seem to be better than others.

Now, if you really want some odd effects, look for front element wide/tele optics made for video cameras. I have a reversible one with a 46mm thread that mounts onto a bay 1 to 46mm filter thread adapter. The wide direction has edge curvature like a fish-eye. Resolution and aberration correction is not worth much, though, as they were designed with a video camera optical setup in mind, not 6x6.

On the close-up lenses - you should be able to find Bay 1 sets of +1, +2, and +3 (focus distances of 1 metre, 50 cm, and 33cm.). They come as pair - a simple meniscus lens for the taking lens, and a meniscus plus prism unit for the viewing lens. You do get a little parallax as the YashicaMat lenses are 45mm apart and the viewing lens is looking down a bit due to the prism, which is why there is an index mark to get it the right way up!

I keep a set in a little leather case on the strap of my YashicaMat for those times I need to get closer than the 3.5 feet minimum focus. I think the +2 set gets the most use for me. Once you get to +3 parallax can be a real problem. My Mamiya C Paramender has a 45mm mark added to the column for use with the Rollei/Yashica design TLRs. It's how I got it.

 

[Dennis-B]

I had the Yashica made sets for both a 635 and a 124. The results, especially at greater enlargements, were less than stellar. There was vignetting, and the edges lacked sharpness. I finally gave up, sold the auxiliary lenses, and went the Mamiya C route.

Novelties, at best.