Yashica D

jvanoort · Dec 1, 2009

Yesterday a girl at work told me she had found 'some old camara' in the attic that she wasn't using anyway..so I could have it if I wanted to. She didn't remember exactly what it was or how it looked...it once belonged to her father.

So today she came to my desk with a little cardboard box, containing a pristine Yashica D and a Gossen Sixtino 2 light meter.

I checked it out, cleaned the insides a bit and now it is loaded with HP5+. I can't wait to develop my first 6*6 negatives (yesterday I developed some half-frame negatives from my Olympus pen ees-2 )!
The light meter seems to work OK. It is a selenium one, very small and light and doesn't do much inside the house, but during daytime outside it looks reliable enough.

What a lovely little camera this is! I'm going to have some serious fun with this one!

paul ron · Dec 1, 2009

It looks brand spanking new! What a great score. I hope you take this lady out to a nice place, and do it soon! She just may have a closet full of cameras for ya... or maybe a few Kodak moments.

asp.artist · Dec 1, 2009

Sweet looking!

stradibarrius · Dec 1, 2009

Wow, you need to buy a lottery card!!! I do not have any experience with the "D" but I have a 124G that takes great photos and is light too.
Look forward to seeing some of your shots.

samcomet · Dec 1, 2009

In the 60's my father used to write the advertising and translate the Jap-lish instruction manuals for Yashica (NYC) and so we had one of every camera at home ..... the D was mine before I switched over to the Mat. This pix brings back extremely fond memories!! I now shoot on an Electro 35 but yearn for a TLR. You're very lucky to have a friend like that. Happy shooting! cheers, sam

Stew · Dec 1, 2009

I have one of those cameras! They are great fun to use, but you have to remember to wind the film after each shot or you end up with a double exposure! The newer ones have a Yashinon lens while the older models have a Yashikor. The Yashinon is supposed to be a better,sharper lens, but I'm more than happy with my yashikor stopped down to f8 or smaller!

Dave Pritchard · Dec 1, 2009

Congratulations! I also use one of these.

I let a neighbor kid look through the finder on mine and scan around. He asked what kind of screen it was, because he thought it looked so real. I told him that it was all done with glass, no batteries. "Cool!", he said.

jvanoort · Dec 2, 2009

This morning I brought her a very nice Sauternes (the Rollei among white dessert wines for the non-connaisseurs ).
My wife might object against taking her out and so will her husband probably

The camera came with the original leather housing, also in good condition. I had to sew one side up and now it is usable again...

De Yashikor lenses are indeed said to be not quite as good as the Yashinons, but I've seen many photographs of this lens, both wide open and stopped down, that look really good...

On Ebay I ordered a lens hood, against flare, so I'm ready to go...I'll post some photos when I'm done shooting and developing...

Steve Smith · Dec 2, 2009

jvanoort said:
What a lovely little camera this is! I'm going to have some serious fun with this one!

And what a lovely person your colleague is thinking of giving it to you instead of selling it.

Steve.

jvanoort · Dec 2, 2009

Steve Smith said:
And what a lovely person your colleague is thinking of giving it to you instead of selling it.

Steve.

Yes, she is! If it wasn't too inappropriate I'd hug her to bits

fattyale · Dec 2, 2009

paul ron said:
It looks brand spanking new! What a great score. I hope you take this lady out to a nice place, and do it soon! She just may have a closet full of cameras for ya... or maybe a few Kodak moments.

Paul, you cracked me up with the last sentence.

And she came over to your desk, passing you a camera. You, sir, got yourself a very nice friend.

Take her out and shoot some pictures!

Pumal · Dec 2, 2009

I think is a sign of love or, at lest deep frienship.

Anscojohn · Dec 2, 2009

My first "real" camera was a Yash D, bought in 1961, with a mentor/friend's pro discount at a shop in Philly. Camera, a roll of Plus-X, and a honeywell tilta-mite flash gun cost $54 and 40 cents.

Shoot, press wind button in center of film-wind knob, wind film, recock shutter. I could do it in my sleep.

singerb · Dec 2, 2009

I also have a Yashica D, and I'm curious about lens hoods. I'd like to go the Bay 1 -> 49mm adapter route for easier access to filters and a filter+hood combo, but I can't seem to find square/rectangular 49mm lens hoods for sale anywhere *except* for DV camera hoods. Will those work for this? I was looking for the square style because I remember reading that a round one would block the viewing lens, but is this really the case, or will I be fine with a generic 49mm round lens hood?

paul ron · Dec 2, 2009

Well if your wife might mind, take her n the husband out as a foursome. It's the right thing to do for such a nice gesture.

Oh and I am sure you'll have plenty of Kodak moments.... with the camera of course.

I have been restoring Yashicas to flip em, I even have the entire series twice over. I can't let a single one go.

I've been trying to sell an LM I cleaned up. I have 3 of em. It's in great shape too. I started asking $125, shipping included. I didn't get any hits so I lowered the price just to get a few hits as I got a more nerve to let it go at $100. But now every time I do get an offer I punk out n just say it's sold.

Love them to death, the entire closet full of em.

Stew · Dec 2, 2009

Ilford HP5+ is currently what I use in my Yashica D too. I develop it with D-76H 1:1 and the grain looks more fine than most 100 ISO 35mm films enlarged to 8x10.

jvanoort · Dec 3, 2009

Stew said:
Ilford HP5+ is currently what I use in my Yashica D too. I develop it with D-76H 1:1 and the grain looks more fine than most 100 ISO 35mm films enlarged to 8x10.

I also develop with D76 1:1
I used to use AM74, but that doesn't work so well with HP5+...very coarse

As for the deep friendship, oh, I don't know...just a very nice coworker...hence the also rather special wine I gave to her, she really deserves it.

There was also a film left in the camera. I'm going to develop it for her and make prints too if she wants to.

Tomorrow I'll have time to shoot...this season I go out to work in the dark and come back home when it's dark, so outdoors shooting only in the weekends + friday...

Rick A · Dec 3, 2009

Great gift! I got my first D in 1969 for a whopping $59.95. I had it for a few years and swapped it for a motorcycle, I wish I still had that one. I picked up my currant one last year, shoot Pan F+ and wash it down with D-76 1+1--incredible results. Enjoy your new toy!

Rick

dynachrome · Dec 7, 2009

My first MF camera was a 124G which I bought used in High School. The Yashinon lens was very sharp. The problem was that by the time the 124G came around, many parts had been changed to plastic. The winding mechanism is just not very well made. After some repairs I traded it in. I wound up with a late model meterless Minolta Autocord. I don't think the Rokkor lens on the Autocord is any better than the Yashinon but mechanically the Autocord is much better made. I still have the Autocord and after I started collecting I added three Yashica TLRs: An A, a 635 and a 44. All of these are better made than the 124G. Even the modest A turns out a very respectable 8X10 if you close the lens down a little. The same goes for the 635. Some models were sold with both Yashikors and Yashinons. I don't know whether the D was one of them. If it's working properly the D should give very nice results.

Silvertooth · Dec 7, 2009

I have a Yashica-D that always took phenomenal photographs. Unfortunately, the shutter sticks. It will operate, but not up to the labelled speed. Does anyone have any ideas on how to rectify the problem?

This is my first post here although I have been reading the discussions for a few weeks now. I am about to set up my darkroom again. I have a ten year old who wants to learn analog photography before she learns digital. I simply miss the lovely smell of the darkroom!!

Thanks,
Aubrey

ricksplace · Dec 8, 2009

The D came with Yashikors and Yashinons. Stopped down to f11, you probably won't be able to tell the difference.

Pumal · Dec 8, 2009

I think is a sign of love or, at least deep friendship.

naeroscatu · Dec 10, 2009

I have a Yashica-D that always took phenomenal photographs. Unfortunately, the shutter sticks. It will operate, but not up to the labelled speed. Does anyone have any ideas on how to rectify the problem?

This is my first post here although I have been reading the discussions for a few weeks now. I am about to set up my darkroom again. I have a ten year old who wants to learn analog photography before she learns digital. I simply miss the lovely smell of the darkroom!!

Thanks,
Aubrey

Hi Aubrey, welcome to APUG. I also have a Yashica D which takes great pictures. For the sticky shutter that I experienced I had to send it out for a CLA (clean lube adjust). Now it handles like new.

For the O/P - What a nice story. Enjoy your Yashica D and share some pictures. Cheers

Silvertooth · Dec 10, 2009

Thanks for the welcome and information Mihai. There is a shop not far from here I can check with for the service.

Enjoy,
Aubrey

jvanoort · Dec 16, 2009

I remembered to post some results of my Yashica D.

All shot on Ilford HP5+, developed in D-76 1:1, 'scanned' with a Canon 5D mark II / Tamron 90mm macro / lightbox

Here goes:

Yashica D

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