Yashica-A v Lubitel 2

mryoda · Jul 21, 2012

Hey all, bought a new camera a few days ago, i got a
Yashica-A,
I wacked a film through it taking a few "snaps" in the garden here
to make sure it was working and didn't leak light etc: etc: and its great

Alex

Katie

Now compare this to my Lubitel 2
Both Films Fuji Acros 100 dev'ed in R09 (Rodinal) the same way (stand developed for 1 hour @ 1:100)
Both developed to paper the same way, but wow what a difference ??

Alex-Lubitel-Poor

How can 2 really similar camera's be so different ?
All comments are very welcome

ic-racer · Jul 21, 2012

Similar? Like a "Diana Mini" is similar to a Leica M3

mryoda · Jul 21, 2012

LOL only a 5k difference
So how are they different ?
I see 2 lens on both, the taking lens are both 3 piece's i have read
The Lubitel viewer is way better than the dark old Yashica-A, although the magnifier on the Yashica is loads bigger,
Seems i am missing something ? lol

ic-racer · Jul 21, 2012

Seriously though that picture you posted taken with the Lubitel is probably printed from an underexposed negative. That is why it looks poor. I'll admit you are correct about the lenses. I had thought the Yashica A shared the 4 element Yashinon of the other Yashica TLRs but was wrong.

mryoda · Jul 21, 2012

You may be right about the Lubitel pic, it is kinda poor lol
I spose you gel with something and this time its me and the Yashica,
The negatives are the best i have seen in the short time (3 months) we have been
home deving and printing, i am very impressed with it

Wade D · Jul 21, 2012

My 1st TLR was a Ciro Flex in the early 70's. Then I bought a Yashica D in 1978. It is still my go-to camera for MF. It's always been reliable and a joy to use. I know you will get to like your Yashica A very quickly.
Your pictures look great for just starting out with home processing.

mcgrattan · Jul 21, 2012

For what it's worth, my first TLR was a Lubitel, and I had pretty decent results with it. It does benefit from a lens hood [I made one by cutting down a 35mm film canister]. Certainly better than your example shot. Not that I'm disputing your results, and the Yashica shots are great, but I found with mine I had less of an obvious disparity in results between the Lubitel and higher quality cameras. A couple of my favourite early shots were from the Lubitel, and I have the prints in a frame to remind me.

That said, Japanese or German TLRs are a big step up mechanically and optically.

mryoda · Jul 21, 2012

Thanks for the comments Wade, The first thing that struck me was the weight
Quite heavy and well built, its a keeper, i bought it because i put 2 rolls through the Lubitel
and both were poor (as above), the only decent pic was on "B" a 1 min exposure of cars tail lights on the Motorway (highway)

Light

Thanks mcgrattan
I am glad you had more luck than i with the Lubitel
Its a shame, i liked it when i bought it and the viewfinder is really nice and bright,
but for some reason i can't take a decent shot with it.
Mines made from Bakelite and looks like new, there isn't a scratch on it, only prob with it is the
self timer, it won't run,
Anyway it only cost me £6.51 ($10 ish) so it's not a huge loss
I would have liked a Rollei of some description, but the price of a clean one is way out of my league

JPD · Jul 22, 2012

The Yashica A is basically a simpler copy of the german Rolleicord. It has a real matte screen viewfinder and a unit focusing triplet lens (Yashimar = OK, Yashikor = Very Good), and the four speed shutter is often surprisingly reliable after all these years.

The Lubitel 2 is a copy of the german Voigtländer Brillant (much simpler and cheaper than the Rolleicord). The viewfinder is only a mirror and a magnifying glass (with a little matte spot in the center to aid for focusing). The lens is a cheap front cell focusing triplet. It's more of an advanced box camera than a real TLR.

The Yashica A with Yashikor is a good TLR for beginners. The lens is beautifully soft wide open, and surprisingly sharp stopped down to 8-16.

My grandfather had the early Yashica A with Yashimar lens, and it was the first TLR I used. I liked the grain free prints. Then a local photo shop had a used Rolleiflex for sale. I bought it, and I was blown away buy the quality and sharpness.

mryoda · Jul 23, 2012

Just had a good look over the Camera and my Lenses are Yashikor
So i think that means its the better lens for this camera ? its also a grey coloured model if that makes a difference ?

Thanks for the info its interesting, i love this older stuff,
Since returning to film i seem to have stopped using my digital cameras, its strange, when i look at
my digital kit, i kinda of pull a Grrr! face lol
My only regret is not having learned to develop and print 20 odd years ago
Oh well, i am 45 now so plenty years left to get better

JPD · Jul 23, 2012

Yes, Yashikor is the better lens on the Yashica A. On the more expensive Yashicas you can find the four element Yashinon which is even better.

Yashica A was available in both black and grey. My grandfather's was black. I still have it, but most of the leather is gone. He let me play with it as a child. I bought another one as a present to my dad a couple of years ago and it's also black and has the Yashikor. I was pleasantly surprised at the image quality, so I also gave him a filter, sunshade, cable release and one of my lightmeters.

If you need filters and sunshade, find them used in 32 mm push-on mount. Any brand will do.

Welcome to the fine hobby of real photography! I'm 41 and learned to develop and print in the mid 1980's, and started to collect and use old cameras in the early 1990's after buying my first Rolleiflex. I still have alot to learn, and I love discussing photography on forums.

Yesterday I developed a roll of Efke 100 in 127-format. I had used a Baby Rolleiflex 4x4 from 1938. Fine sharp negatives, and today I will mix the paper developer from raw chemicals, using an old Agfa recipe.

mryoda · Jul 24, 2012

I just ordered a sun shade from ebay and was looking for a cable release but can't find one that would fit
I am absolutely loving being in the darkroom, i would be happy to let someone else take the pictures and
leave me to develop them lol
Up to now i have only used the Fuji Acros in 120, but it seems to be ok,
i am always on the lookout for different film to try.
but most seem to be out of date by decades lol and i don't know if they are worth using as i don't have
any experience doing that yet ?

premortho · Aug 3, 2012

You live in the land of Ilford...I like fp4+, and panf. Efke, and foma plus Kodak have great films too.

mryoda said:
I just ordered a sun shade from ebay and was looking for a cable release but can't find one that would fit
I am absolutely loving being in the darkroom, i would be happy to let someone else take the pictures and
leave me to develop them lol
Up to now i have only used the Fuji Acros in 120, but it seems to be ok,
i am always on the lookout for different film to try.
but most seem to be out of date by decades lol and i don't know if they are worth using as i don't have
any experience doing that yet ?

mryoda · Aug 3, 2012

It took some time to get prints somewhere near acceptable, so
its hard to change when you have it working, but i do always look at different films
and i think i am going to try a change, maybe some FP4+

Yashica-A v Lubitel 2

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