Falling back in love with film
I blog about falling back in love with medium format film photography.
[A brief expose on film photography]“After habitually shooting on digital camera bodies for years, I knew that I had been missing something. My entire style had changed, and I almost entirely had forgotten what sparked my initial joy of photography.”
Some years ago, in 2010 I had been poking around the Value Village thrift store in Capitol Hill, Seattle. My buddy Brien grabbed a leather belt, and we made our way to the cashier checkout station. He was pretty happy about his find, while I hadn’t seen anything that caught my eye. I poked around the glass case where they kept more valuable items. Brien hopped out of the queue and pointed at a leather case. “I wonder what’s in that bag?” Now my eyes were fixed on it. Raising my hand, I got the attention of one of the clerks and had him open the case. He handed me the clunky brown leather case, and to my surprise it was a camera. It wasn’t anything like I had seen in person. The label read “Yashica Mat”. The camera had two lenses on the front of equal size.
The clerk asked me if I wanted it, which I replied, “How much is it?” As he fumbled around trying to find a tag, he summoned the manager. “There’s no tag, what should we sell it for?” The manager seemed in a rush, and seemed irritated. “Just sell it, I have to get back to these racks in production”. The young cashier, maybe a year or two older than myself, looked at the camera, then looked at me. Brien said, “I don’t know, how about 20 bucks?” … … a brief awkward silence. I interrupted, “Brien, this camera”… a subtle kick to my shin, I glanced up and Brien gave me the “shut the hell up kid” look. The cashier just walked back to the register and rang us up. Brien’s belt was 4 USD The Yashica Mat was 20 USD. The total was just over 26 USD with city and state sales tax.
Excited, we walked out of the store and Brien says, “The camera is going for 250 USD on eBay in rough shape. Worst case, you got a sexy looking paperweight for your desk. Best case, you got a nifty little camera from the 70s”. I was stoked! We later went to Glazer’s Camera near Aurora Avenue on the other side of town. “Next time, pull out your phone and do a quick search to find out how much they’re going for online.” He was right. We had just scored this awesome camera, and I was thrilled to see what the guys at the camera store would say about it.
As we pulled up to the curb, I was preparing myself for the worst, but hoping for the best. I didn’t know how to operate the camera, or even where to start loading the film. Hell, I didn’t know what kind of film this camera would accept. I hadn’t shot much film outside 35mm. This was my first time going to Glazers. My eyes were eagerly open, soaking up all the displays. Cameras both old and new were lined in glass display cases. There were a few people ahead of us getting help, so we exhausted our time checking out the variety of different camera bodies. After a bit of scampering around the store, we heard my name called, and we made our way to an older gentleman.
“So, what do you folks need help with today?” The clerk asked us. With excitement and fear running through my veins, I place the new-to-me relic of a camera on the counter. The shopkeeper adjusts his readers, and takes the case off my new potential paperweight. “Oh, nice, I love these Japanese cameras!” A breath of relief. Not knowing anything about what I was getting myself into, I asked, “How much do you think it’s worth?” The man inspected the camera, checking out the surprisingly decent condition it was in. Handing it back to me replied “Well it’s in decent condition, and it looks like the shutter actuates just fine. Why would you want to sell it?” Taken back, I was surprised. “So you think it’s worth keeping?” I questioned. The man looks me dead in the face and says, “Young man, I wouldn’t ever sell a camera like this. They take stunning photos and are a great way to get into medium format. After all, it’s a 6x6 camera and a relatively reliable camera.” Another customer, maybe in his late 50s or early 60s offered to buy it from me right on the spot. I politely declined his offer, and had my head held high. I was very proud of our find at the thrift store. And at such a great deal to boot!
After the inspection proved worthwhile, we were offered a few rolls of black and white film to test the camera. The clerk at Glazer’s even offered to clean up the glass since we bought some film from him. I was thrilled and excited to try this camera. The waist level viewfinder really changed my entire prospective on shooting. Keeping the camera level with the horizon line initially proved difficult, but with some patience and practice, I started to get the hang of it.
Despite being a total noob with this camera, below are some of the shots circa 2010 from the first roll.
After a few rolls the Yashica Mat eventually made its home onto a shelf, sparingly used. Time passed, and I had been enjoying the convenience of digital. Since 2010 I have been primarily using DSLRs until 2021, and am currently using the Sony A7R iii. Sure, does it produce stunning clarity? Killer lowlight performance? Absolutely. However, my photoshoots seemed to lack the substance that I had once loved. The entire process of composition, metering the light, and the patience from shooting film offered. You don’t realize how precious the process is until you are limited to 12 shots per roll. One might think, shooting film is so time-consuming. Having to wait for your development, prints, and scans when going through a lab for processing. Sure, there is latency given the whole process of film as a whole. But the experience is something completely profound. I think, with my experience, that the intimacy of taking photographs on a 120 film roll, hell, even 35mm leaves something to be desired that digital is lacking.
After habitually shooting on digital camera bodies for years, I knew that I had been missing something. My entire style had changed, and I had almost forgotten what sparked my initial joy of photography. And with this being said, I decided to scour the web and find another 6x6 medium format. A few days later, the itch had to be scratched. After a long debate between the Rolleicord, Mamiya, and the eclectic blend of other medium formats available on eBay and Facebook marketplace, I decided to go to the tried and true. Yashica was it. It’s what I learned on. If I was chasing this particular nostalgic feeling of my first medium format, so be it. I had found a Yashica Mat 124G, the successor of the Yashica Mat on eBay. I got it for 240 USD in great cosmetic condition. However, there was a broken crank, some significant fungus and grime on both the taking glass and the viewing glass.
After calling around and getting some quotes from camera repair shops both domestic and foreign, I opted to go through Advance Camera in Portland, Oregon, USA. Their reputation from the local photography community was overwhelmingly positive. Despite the backlog of orders, eight weeks in this particular instance, I was glad to have chosen Advance Camera for the repair. The camera was praised in the shop for its condition, and now with a complete rebuild, I was ready to shoot. After a decade of abstinence in medium format, I was ready to try my hand at it again.
Below are some samples from the rebuilt Yaschica Mat 124G with Kodak Portra 160.
After shooting on the Yashica 124G after over a decade, I was pleased with the results. Advance Camera did a stellar job on the restoration of the body and glass. The tilting of the camera was something I had to get used to all over again. The focus pulling was easier this time around as well. I think that the whole long-lost experience I had been chasing came back. And this time with a bit better sense of composition, understanding of light, and so on. This time, I did however choose to scan my own negatives. Something I haven’t done until recently. Nonetheless, this was everything I had hoped it to be. The client was pleased with the mixed format of work, and opted for film in parallel to digital shots.
Would I do it all again if I had to? You bet your Sunday steak dinner, I would.
