Yashica 124 vs. Rolleiflex

After taking some photos with an ebay-10$-Flexaret IV I fell in love
with square format photography and TLRs.
I can't afford a Rolleiflex 2.8F Xenotar, and I have to spend few
money.

I'm considering Yashica 124G, I heard many positive comments on that
camera, but I heard also very positive comments about Rolleiflexs.
I'm an assistant in an italian wedding photo studio. The
photographer there uses an Hasselblad system, and I'm taking photos
with a Contax equipment.
With the same light and the same film, the colours of our photos are
quite near, but as for details, grain, smoothness etc. they are two
different worlds.

I know that with a Rollei (Planar 2.8, 5 or 6 lenses, or, better,
Xenotar) I will get even better results than Hasselblad system.

Now I don't have the money for a good Rollei.

Should I wait till I can afford buying it?
Or should I give a try to the Yashica 124?

Someone told me that Yashicas are not so VERY similar to some version
of the Rolleiflex, at least the Tessar ones. Is it true?

Thanks a lot.
......................................
Marco Baldovin
www.whitewave.it

I have a older Yashica-mat...not even sure of the model other than
Yashicamat.....with a Lumaxar Lens....I am not a pro but this camera does a
good job for me......
And it is hefty ...not at all tinny..i have handled the Rollei's and did not
seem to be of better construction......I also use a Omegaflex ....and
occasionally a Super 23...with 250 lens in tow....Now thats a hefty
setup......
Merv
"Stacey" wrote in message
...
whitewave wrote:

After taking some photos with an ebay-10$-Flexaret IV I fell in love
with square format photography and TLRs.
I can't afford a Rolleiflex 2.8F Xenotar, and I have to spend few
money.



Now I don't have the money for a good Rollei.


If you can't afford a "good rollei" get a minolta autocord. Much better
IMHO
than a yashica and less money. It has a nice bright focus screen,
ergonomics are great and the lens is easily as good as the xenar on my
rollei. The yashica seems to have spotty QC, some people get great
results,
others say they weren't impressed with theirs. I've never heard anyone say
anything bad about a minoltacord other than if you drop it onto it's focus
lever, you'll break it off! Done that myself to one. :-( Then again if
you
drop any camera and it lands wrong it can break something.

--

Stacey

whitewave wrote:
Now I don't have the money for a good Rollei.

Should I wait till I can afford buying it?
Or should I give a try to the Yashica 124?

Someone told me that Yashicas are not so VERY similar to some
version of the Rolleiflex, at least the Tessar ones. Is it true?

My experience with Yashica was poor. Poorly finished, tinny. Only reason I
used it was because it was what was provided. My suggestion is to wait
until you can get a Rollei. Or maybe get a Rolleicord rather than
Rolleiflex...not as nice but not bad. The Mamiyaflex (not the
interchangeable lens one) was good too. Also, you might consider a
Rolleiflex 3.5 rather than 2.8...little loss in aperture, considerable
difference(?) in price.

As far as lenses go, forget the Tessar. Schneider (Xenon on 3.5, Xenotar on
2.8) is much better. The Tessar is not sharp at the edges wide open. Worst
camera mistake I ever made was getting rid of my Xenon Rolleis and getting
ones with the Tessar. Still have them after nearly 50 years, still don't
like the Tessar.

--
dadiOH
_____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.0...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
____________________________

Or should I give a try to the Yashica 124?

I think the Yashica is a waste of time and money. The 4-elements Tessar type
lens isn't so sharp and the camera isn't very sturdy. You can wait for a
Rollei, but I would strongly advise you to look at the Mamiya C system: twin
lens, and the definitive advantage of interchangeable lenses. Lenses are
good to excellent. It will be more expensive but significantly better than a
Yashica, and cheaper than most Rolleiflex. The Mamiya's 80mm will give you
as good results as any Rolleiflex except the Planar ones.

More information:

http://www.lumieresenboite.com/colle...&c=Mamiya_C330

and

http://www.btinternet.com/~g.a.patte...-contents.html

Regards,
--
Vincent Becker
Photographie et appareils anciens - Photography and classic cameras
URL:http://www.lumieresenboite.com
Merci de passer par mon site pour les réponses par courriel

the 124G is a fine box to work with but it's of course nowhere near
the build quality of a Rollei. On the other hand, my 124G is now 33
years old and still in perfect working order and of course used on a
regular basis still.
I don't know what the your budget is of course but e-bay germany has a
lot of good offerings on rollei's, cord, flex and t models ranging
from 300 to 800 euro's




On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 13:58:43 GMT, whitewave
wrote:

After taking some photos with an ebay-10$-Flexaret IV I fell in love
with square format photography and TLRs.
I can't afford a Rolleiflex 2.8F Xenotar, and I have to spend few
money.

I'm considering Yashica 124G, I heard many positive comments on that
camera, but I heard also very positive comments about Rolleiflexs.
I'm an assistant in an italian wedding photo studio. The
photographer there uses an Hasselblad system, and I'm taking photos
with a Contax equipment.
With the same light and the same film, the colours of our photos are
quite near, but as for details, grain, smoothness etc. they are two
different worlds.

I know that with a Rollei (Planar 2.8, 5 or 6 lenses, or, better,
Xenotar) I will get even better results than Hasselblad system.

Now I don't have the money for a good Rollei.

Should I wait till I can afford buying it?
Or should I give a try to the Yashica 124?

Someone told me that Yashicas are not so VERY similar to some version
of the Rolleiflex, at least the Tessar ones. Is it true?

Thanks a lot.
.....................................
Marco Baldovin
www.whitewave.it

"Vincent Becker" no_address@no_spam wrote in message
...

Or should I give a try to the Yashica 124?

I think the Yashica is a waste of time and money. The 4-elements Tessar
type
lens isn't so sharp
This is absolute rubbish.
I've had Yashicas for years and the lenses are superb. I'm not knocking
Rollei by saying that because they also are excellent, but you will be hard
pushed to tell the difference.
I have many cameras and can tell you that a lens is good or it's not, and
not because of its name.

The best lenses of any camera I've ever had are on the Mamiya 6 system. Most
people who've tested them will agree.

I've had Yashicas for years and the lenses are superb.

Well, I have one, and it is not. It is not a bad lens, but far from superb.
The Yashinon is really good between f/8 and f/11, but not so at
wider/smaller apertures. And lens quality seems to vary between a Yashica
and another, so it is not very reliable. If you pick a good sample you're
lucky, if you pick a bad one you'll just regret it. I think the money that's
spent on a Yashica would be far better spent -with some additional cash- on
a Rollei or a Mamiya C: better lenses and coating. Since I bought my Mamiya,
the Yashica is just gathering dust. The Yashica should be chosen only if the
budget is really, really tight. I too have quite a collection of cameras and
lenses, and I use most of them. That's how I've come to think that a Yashica
is not so good a deal as is sometimes said.

--
Vincent Becker
Photography and classic cameras
URL:http://www.lumieresenboite.com

lot of good offerings on rollei's, cord, flex and t models ranging

What about the T series? Is its Tessar the same I can find on
"normal" series?
What are its disavantages?

Wich differences between Rolleicord and Rolleiflex T?

Thanks a lot.
......................................
Marco Baldovin
www.whitewave.it

The Autocord, Ricohmatic 225 and the Ricoh Diacord all have excellent tessar
lenses that are sharp from edge to edge. I have compared these cameras with
the Rolleiflex 2.8 (Planar and Xenotar) and found the Japanese lenses to be
far superior in sharpness. But that is due mainly to what the lenses were
made for, the Japanese lens industry was originally for military purposes
and the goal was to accurately capture what the camera sees. The Rolleiflex
lenses were consumer based and the flattering rendition of what the camera
sees was the goal. Hence I find the 2.8 lenses and the 3.5 lenses in the
Rollei cameras lacking in sharpness when compared to the Japanese 3.5 lenses
(and even the few 2.8 lensed Japanese TLRs that I have been lucky enough to
examine). Though the Rolleiflex/Rolleicord lenses do give a certain
"plasticity" to the pictures that is quite appealling for portraiture work.
Of all of the Japanese TLRs made, I feel that the Autocord, Ricohmatic 225
and the Ricoh Diacord have the best quality build and the sharpest lenses
around. Rarely have I found one of them were the focus shifts as the lens
is stopped down, (poor quality control allowed the aperture to not be
located at the central nodal point of the lens, hence the focus shifts as
the aperture is adjusted) whereas it is quite common on the
Rolleiflex/Rolleicord cameras (my examination utilizes an autocollimator
that is capable of determining off axis alignment of lenses as well as lines
per millimeter accuracy of sharpness). The Yashica cameras are a mixed lot
as far as quality in build and assembly with the older cameras being better
all around.

regards,
karl


"whitewave" wrote in message
...
After taking some photos with an ebay-10$-Flexaret IV I fell in love
with square format photography and TLRs.
I can't afford a Rolleiflex 2.8F Xenotar, and I have to spend few
money.

I'm considering Yashica 124G, I heard many positive comments on that
camera, but I heard also very positive comments about Rolleiflexs.
I'm an assistant in an italian wedding photo studio. The
photographer there uses an Hasselblad system, and I'm taking photos
with a Contax equipment.
With the same light and the same film, the colours of our photos are
quite near, but as for details, grain, smoothness etc. they are two
different worlds.

I know that with a Rollei (Planar 2.8, 5 or 6 lenses, or, better,
Xenotar) I will get even better results than Hasselblad system.

Now I don't have the money for a good Rollei.

Should I wait till I can afford buying it?
Or should I give a try to the Yashica 124?

Someone told me that Yashicas are not so VERY similar to some version
of the Rolleiflex, at least the Tessar ones. Is it true?

Thanks a lot.
.....................................
Marco Baldovin
www.whitewave.it

see http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/tlr.html for comments and notes etc.

the rolleicord has essentially the same mechanical and optical qualities
of the corresponding rolleiflex TLRs, but with simpler mechanics and
requires an extra step in use (E.g., shutter cocking). You can often find
them for sale for $100 US$ on ebay, about the same as many Yashicamats. I
think at these prices the rolleicords are a better buy, IMHO.

the price of a number of MF kits used has now dropped to where folks are
getting mamiya C2XX/C3xx series or 645 SLRs for little more, often $150+
US$ and up. The extra flexibility of the interchangeable lenses could be
very useful over the long-term as a pro, so might be worth a bit more up
front now, rather than change later. Then again, many pros pack a TLR as a
backup camera, in case all else fails (and sometimes, it does ;-)

hth

bobm
--
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