Camera Talk

Finally I saved enough to send my Yashica 12 to Mr. Mark Hama for his magical touch. I just got it back today and it's like early Christmas to me. The camera turned out in excellent working condition. It even smell like new




I picked up this Yashica 12 on ebay long ago from a seller staged that it didn't work. I paid $44 for it just because it looks so good.
I managed to take some photo with it but clearly it need a lot of service. All the turning wheels are sticky, shutter sometime stop working.
Here is the 1st test roll before Mark Hama service. I am shooting another roll now for the new fixed Yashica 12 and will upload photos when I developed it .
https://www.flickr.com/photos/vietnamfr ... 996778068/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks wonderful and shiny!

He is the wizard. Congrats on getting it overhauled. I used to hang out at a camera repair place, and the owner would spray lemon scented furniture polish on a cloth, and rub it all over the camera before sending it back to the owner. Not only did it look great, but had a fresh citrus smell to it.

PF

That looks like a fun camera. I never saw this particlar model. Enjoy!

Thank you everyone for enjoying the photos. I am very happy to get it to use. Before the serviced it was just sitting on my shelf. It looks so nice to be just a decoration piece so I decided to put money on it. I read some negative review about Mark Hama from somebody had bad experience with him so I was skeptical but it turned out mine was a good experience. He fixed my camera in just two weeks and pack it very carefully. I think the "smell like new" is from the new lubricant in the gears

Every camera repairperson makes someone unhappy, whether it's deserved or not. And no one is perfect either. That said, I think the TLR's are his specialty, but he's just as good on the other models. I see also that your camera has the Yashinon lenses. I'm thinking it was with this model they quit using the Yashicor versions. They're good enough lenses, but with only three elements, as opposed to the four element Yashinon. You'll have better edge-to-edge IQ than I get with my 635.

PF

It's my first Yashica so I don't really have anything to compare. I heard that they just make this Yashica 12 for one year so it quite rarer than other version
I like the hand crank. It looks good and easy to use.

You definitely need to shoot some photos and post them here. We love photos taken with classic cameras!

melek wrote:You definitely need to shoot some photos and post them here. We love photos taken with classic cameras!

I agree! It is such a great looking camera; I'd love to see what you can produce with it.

"Snap!" This is my Yashica 12 which I bought new in 1967. I gave it a major CLA ten years ago, but it has never missed a beat ever. The coated Yashinon lens is superb and the film advance is smooth and reliable. Shutter speeds are accurate up to 1/125th and a bit slow at 1/250 & 1/500. I have never used the exposure meter.



You can read more about the Yashica 6x6 cameras here: http://www.tlr-cameras.com/japanese/Yashica.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;