Yashica 635

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The Camera

The Yashica 635

The Yashica 635 is my only working medium format Twin-Lens Reflex camera (meaning there are two identical lenses, one for the the viewfinder which reflects up onto the viewscreen, and one that is actually used to take the picture), so I have no point of comparison for it. Nevertheless, I think every analog photographer should get a chance to try a TLR: it is very fun to use and the square photos it produces are certainly different from most other cameras you'll use (except for maybe Polaroids). This particular model is called the 635 because it can shoot 6cm x 6cm negatives on 120/220 film, or it can use standard 35mm film with an optional adapter which mine didn't have. I have other 35mm cameras so have no real interest in using it for 35mm, but the added bonus of the 35mm functionality is that it was designed to be lightproof from the get-go, rather than requiring supplemental lightproofing as many older TLRs do (owing to the window to see the numbers printed on the paper film back of 120/220 film). It has no built in light meter, but that's OK. There's nothing like seeing the image before you take it projected on a viewscreen.

Looking through the viewfinder of the Yashica 635

Photos

Here's my family's Christmas card photo from 2021. We printed the card square to match the picture-- a decision which proved to be disastrous in terms of mailing it, because the USPS sorting machines evidently rely on envelopes' rectangularness to perform the automated sorting. Let that be a cautionary tale should you ever try to mail a square envelope. This is probably the highest-effort picture I ever took, not only because I carefully set up the mirror to get me in focus along with everyone else, but because I bracketed exposure and used a whole roll of film to take it, which I developed right away.

Christmas 2021
a family on a Christmas card, featuring the photographer right beside them (by way of a mirror)