The Yashica D - A Twin Lens Reflex

Contains ARTISTIC nudity - Adults only This book contains 108 color images and is almost entirely images. There is considerable debate among photographers about whether film is better than digital with about an equal number lining up on both sides and presenting their opinions and relevant and irrelevant data. It is not the purpose of this volume to espouse one position or another. It is sufficient to know that they are each different and subject to a considerable range of interpretation. However, it is quite enjoyable to take one of these old cameras, that have absolutely no automatic functionality, and create excellent images. I suspect that it is the same force that drives auto enthusiasts to take an old Model T Ford car and restore it. They certainly don't have the power and ease of operation of modern automobiles but they are extraordinarily fun to drive Unlike other books about old cameras this one does not dwell on the fine technicalities of the individual camera (although limited technical data is present) but to present images taken with the camera to show the reader concrete examples of images taken with that model. The Yashica D is a very interesting camera and the author first used one in the 1960's for wedding photography. It is in 6x6 format and uses 120 roll film. Since it has a leaf shutter it is extremely quite and flash sync's at all shutter speeds up to 1/500 of a second making it extremely flexible when shooting people outdoors. It is a twin lens reflex design so the photographer views through the top lens and takes the image through the bottom lens. Consequently, the photographer can always have the subject in view and is never momentarily blinded by the SLR mirror at the moment the shutter is released. The camera has ground glass focusing with a magnifier focusing aid and is normally shot from the waist however is can be shot from eye level as well giving the photographer a 'other than normal' perspective. The camera can also be held directly over-head when shooting in crowds and the image can still be composed on the ground glass. The camera is entirely manual, no batteries and no meter. Even the shutter has to be manually cocked greatly increasing the opportunity for double exposures, intentional or otherwise. The limitations are most significantly the lack of interchangeable lens and parallax introduced by the twin lens design requiring extra care when shooting close-ups. In addition, the ground glass reverses the image so left is right and right is left making tracking a subject a bit more interesting. The large 6x6 negatives yield approximately a 50 megapixel image when scanned at high resolution. The author began photography and photo-journalism in early 1963 when he accepted an offer from his local newspaper to write about and photograph sports events at the Arizona high school where he was a junior. After a stint in the service, he had an opportunity to study photography and printing techniques with Bernard Hoffman, a true gentleman and scholar, and one of the earliest staff photographers for Life Magazine. Since that time he has had thousands of photographs and hundreds of articles published by more than 60 national and international periodicals. He was also a contributing editor for one of them for more than ten years. Topics ran the gamut from professional sports, medicine, archeology, and photography to science. After twenty years away from Arizona he returned in 1985 and it has been the base from which all his photographic excursions are launched. Along with many others he has embraced digital photography but can still be seen, from time to time, peering through the ground glass of a large format camera, hoisting a large medium format 6x7, or indeed still using a 35mm film camera. The photographer currently has fine art photography on exhibit at The Center for Fine Arts in Globe, Arizona.