Twin Lens Reflex - Should I indulge myself?

[yardbird]

I don't use film any more and have two dormant OM10 35mm bodies, motor drive and assorted lens'.
I just carry a neat little Olympus digital in case I see anything I fancy - gasometers and the like.
There's a lovely little camera shop in Brighton that's just full of camera classic porn.
They always have several TLR s and I'm finding it hard to resist 'cos I think they're beautiful.
A good quality Yashica without meter 120 quid
Another with meter 185 quid
Should I ?

 

[stowpirate]

I don't use film any more and have two dormant OM10 35mm bodies, motor drive and assorted lens'.
I just carry a neat little Olympus digital in case I see anything I fancy - gasometers and the like.
There's a lovely little camera shop in Brighton that's just full of camera classic porn.
They always have several TLR s and I'm finding it hard to resist 'cos I think they're beautiful.
A good quality Yashica without meter 120 quid
Another with meter 185 quid
Should I ?

What version of the Yashica TLR is it? My near mint Yashica D cost me 40 quid from a camera shop about five years ago. It must be worth a tenner now My local shop I am told dumped all there classic gear at the town dump, from memory they had a Leica M5 amongst a load of other beautiful classic kit. My Yahica D produces photos looking like this:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/2861018374_b0048db79e_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3119/2861018390_b1e0904c46_o.jpg
A tad large scans

120 quid is really steep I think ?

 

[cybertect]

Those sound on the high side. I might be expecting to pay somewhere in the region of £80-£100 for a 124G (with a meter) in good condition.

I got mine as a gift from my dad though, as he wasn't using it any more

If they're recently serviced with a warranty, however, it might be worth the extra.

Batteries for the metered one probably requires a bit of a hack, as the mercury cells they were designed for are now illegal, but you can get an adapter from the Small Battery Company.

 

[ViolentPanda]

As has been said, that's highly expensive for a Yashica TLR. I'd be wanting mint condition for those sort of spondulicks, even though the Yashicas were, with the exception of the Mamiya C-series tlrs, some of the best made.
Cybertect mentions the 124G, which is a great camera, and takes 220 as well as 120 film, so you get 24 rather than 12 shots per roll.
To be blunt, though, I wouldn't spend more than a hundred on one, case included, and given my druthers, I'd go for an MPP Microcord or a Rolleicord Vb.

 

[stowpirate]

As has been said, that's highly expensive for a Yashica TLR. I'd be wanting mint condition for those sort of spondulicks, even though the Yashicas were, with the exception of the Mamiya C-series tlrs, some of the best made.
Cybertect mentions the 124G, which is a great camera, and takes 220 as well as 120 film, so you get 24 rather than 12 shots per roll.
To be blunt, though, I wouldn't spend more than a hundred on one, case included, and given my druthers, I'd go for an MPP Microcord or a Rolleicord Vb.

Has the Microcord and Rolleicord you mention have a four element lens or a cheaper triplet? You should be able to get a Rolleiflex for around 150 quid. My Rolleiflex Automat cost seventy quid on ebay and the same again to have a new lens shutter assembly fitted

 

[stowpirate]

As has been said, that's highly expensive for a Yashica TLR. I'd be wanting mint condition for those sort of spondulicks, even though the Yashicas were, with the exception of the Mamiya C-series tlrs, some of the best made.
Cybertect mentions the 124G, which is a great camera, and takes 220 as well as 120 film, so you get 24 rather than 12 shots per roll.
To be blunt, though, I wouldn't spend more than a hundred on one, case included, and given my druthers, I'd go for an MPP Microcord or a Rolleicord Vb.

Has the Microcord and Rolleicord you mention have a four element lens or a cheaper triplet design? You should be able to get a Rolleiflex for around 150 quid. My Rolleiflex Automat cost seventy quid on ebay and the same again to have a new lens shutter assembly fitted

Just to put used camera prices into perspective an OM1 on ebay just sold for 37 quid.

 

[FunkyUK]

My old man shot some of a friends wedding B&W on a Rolleiflex last weekend. The few rolls he turned out were glorious - far better than I could have managed with my dslr

 

[boskysquelch]

I have a C330 kit I can neither afford to use, give or throw away.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I have a C330 kit I can neither afford to use, give or throw away.

What do you mean by "kit"?
I hope you don't mean the awful one that (IIRC) Robert White did in the '80s where the had the camera, 2 lenses and a porrofinder in a really horrible hard case that looked like a cooler box! That was major league gash!

 

[ViolentPanda]

Has the Microcord and Rolleicord you mention have a four element lens or a cheaper triplet design? You should be able to get a Rolleiflex for around 150 quid. My Rolleiflex Automat cost seventy quid on ebay and the same again to have a new lens shutter assembly fitted

Just to put used camera prices into perspective an OM1 on ebay just sold for 37 quid.

The MPP I saw on Peter Loy's site for sale a few months ago was a freshly serviced MPP Microcord Mk2 at £89, so it would have had a 4 element Ross Xpres lens, and if you're willing to shop around you can find Rolleicords with Xenars, although myself I'd be just as happy with one packing a Triotar.

BTW, I don't like the film cranks on 'flexes, they're a bit fiddly for my very clumsy fingers. Knob wind is easier for me. The only crank I'm not worried about borking is the substantial one on my pair of C33s.

 

[stowpirate]

The MPP I saw on Peter Loy's site for sale a few months ago was a freshly serviced MPP Microcord Mk2 at £89, so it would have had a 4 element Ross Xpres lens, and if you're willing to shop around you can find Rolleicords with Xenars, although myself I'd be just as happy with one packing a Triotar.

BTW, I don't like the film cranks on 'flexes, they're a bit fiddly for my very clumsy fingers. Knob wind is easier for me. The only crank I'm not worried about borking is the substantial one on my pair of C33s.

Funny that this thread started just as I started taking an interest in medium format again. Recently I have been using my Yashica D and Moskva 2. I nearly put a film through the Rolleiflex Automat

I am looking out for a very cheap British made Microcord TLR or even a 35mm Reid Rangrfinder at car boot sales

I like the crank on the Rollei but am not convinced about having the shutter set as you wind on the film.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Funny that this thread started just as I started taking an interest in medium format again. Recently I have been using my Yashica D and Moskva 2. I nearly put a film through the Rolleiflex Automat

I'm currently awaiting the arrival of some Fomapan 100 to put through an Ensign Autorange 220 that I was given as a "junk" camera (it had been in someone's non squirrel and mouse-proofed loft for about 30 years, so the leather was chewed, and almost the moving parts were frozen/jammed by the ingress of rodent pee!).

I am looking out for a very cheap British made Microcord TLR or even a 35mm Reid Rangrfinder at car boot sales

You can live in hope, I suppose!
My problem, the few times I get to a bootfair, is not letting a look of avarice steal over my face when I see something nice, and not reacting when given a ridiculously cheap price.

I like the crank on the Rollei but am not convinced about having the shutter set as you wind on the film.

Ah, I'm used to that, because of my C33s, but it does sort of become second nature to wind on and then cock the shutter on a TLR, doesn't it?

 

[Bernie Gunther]

I very nearly bought a Rollei SL66. Lovely thing it was. I fondled it for ages before common sense and willpower (also the wife) dragged me away.

 

[stowpirate]

I very nearly bought a Rollei SL66. Lovely thing it was. I fondled it for ages before common sense and willpower (also the wife) dragged me away.

I have been ordered to sell my stuff

 

[ViolentPanda]

I very nearly bought a Rollei SL66. Lovely thing it was. I fondled it for ages before common sense and willpower (also the wife) dragged me away.

They are beautiful, but the lenses would have killed you. they're even worse than Nikon or 'Blads (although they hold their value equally well too!), because they're harder to find, from what I recall.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I have been ordered to sell my stuff

How many times is that now?

 

[stowpirate]

How many times is that now?

At least half a dozen this morning