How did that happen?

[John Parry]

Did a quick search on eBay for Yashica, looking for a remote trigger switch and a widish angle for my 200AF and 230AF.

Before I know it, I'm the new owner of a 635 TLR. Now what made me bid on that? And the bid I put on was only a few pence more than the start price - why did I even bother? Somebody STOP me!!

On the other hand, having looked it up, it would appear that the 635 (without conversion to 35mm) is exactly the same as a 124G, which apparently was the last of the Yashica TLRs - and very well thought of. Plus you can always put 35mm through it (if the conversion kit is part of the deal, which wasn't mentioned in the description).

So, although mad, my somewhat random bids do sometimes work out OK in the end!

Regards - John

ps - forget the 124G part - it's a modified 'D' which I have an example of. Still no metering!

[kiev4a]

John:

Exactly how I got my Nikon F4. I was just minding my own business when it jumped up and grabbed me!

[herron]

John & Wayne:
There's been a lot of that "jump-and-grab" stuff going on! That's how I got so far off course from collecting Mamiya's! I know Kodak and Zeiss, and all those Russians aren't Mamiya....but they jumped out (and I grabbed)! LOL

[Microdad]

My Calumet 4x5 fell out of the sky and landed right on my head, that's why I act weird.

Steve

[Randy]

That's how I got into collecting cameras, I had a Minolta XG1n and was not even looking for cameras, I was shopping for diecast cars. I typed in Minolta, and the next thing I know, here we are!

[John Parry]

Just watching a pair of Yashicamat 124Gs on UK eBay. With 5 minutes between their finishing times, one is currently at £118 with 22 bids, the other is £31 with 4. The first does have it's original box and case, but four times the price?? What makes these people go on a bidding frenzy?

Bet the seller of the first wishes the previous bidder was winning - the highest bidder has zero feedback! We all have to start some time, but at those sort of prices, I'd be just a little bit nervous!

John

(If you want to see how they end up, their item numbers are 7597541366 & 7596843523 )

[John Parry]

Feels like my birthday today,

The Yashica J & 635, the Minolta SRT101 & XG-M and a Knonica P&S all turned up together. The Dynax 300si and Praktica BC1 arrived yesterday.

First impressions:

The J took me back 36 years to when I bought one just like it in Singapore.

The 635 (c/w case & Leica nipple) are in beautiful condition - much better than my 'D' The guts are set up for 120 and the seller didn't have the conversion kit. Pity - would have liked to play.

For some reason I thought the SRT101 was an M42. But... it's got a true mirror lock-up, the first slr I've had that has it. Will try for an M42 converter I think and try some long shooting. No hot-shoe on it though - strange.

Not sure about the XG-M. Came with a 28mm Vivitar, which seems quite nice. Early days, but suspect I will be using the Prakticas as before.

The 300si is very neat. Think I saw some 'cheats' on the internet which let you sneak into manual mode on the various Dynax models, otherwise it's going to be a bit restrictive.

One disappointment. Also bought an M42 converter for my Yashica 230AF. Doesn't fit. The AF bayonet is different to the Contax/Yashica bayonet, which means that the Contax/Yashica manual lenses won't work either. One reason that nobody buys the Yashica AFs I suppose. You can use them in conjunction with the 'official' AF teleconverter, but that's a 1.6x magnifier - so a wide angle won't be!

And one pleasant surprise - the BC1 came with a Sigma 35-200 zoom. The action is a bit sloppy, but it has a very nice macro range on it.

Anyone ever managed to tighten up a sloppy zoom?

Regards - John

[John Parry]

Here's the 635 - a bit too shiny (the sun came out!) but...



Regards - John