Today I had a total surprise when I dove into the cabinet full of cameras. I had received about 40 old film cameras from a childhood friend’s father who lovingly collected them and this is the one I pulled out to test. Thank you Ron!!!
One of the things I have been looking for in a film camera is one that can fit in the palm of my hand and into a jacket pocket with ease just like my cell phone. I love film but it takes dedication to have a camera slung over your shoulder in every instance. Too often I see amazing moments I want to photograph and the only camera I have with me is my cell phone!
I want to have a camera with me for the intimate moments that happen randomly and I want it to have a sharp lens. There are a lot of small film cameras that fit the bill but for various reasons I haven’t found the right one yet.
Some of my favorite walk around cameras like the Minolta F feel a bit fragile due to the exposed parts that aren’t weather proof. This Yashica T4 has the word weatherproof on the front which fit the bill! On top of that it has a protective lens cover when the camera is turned off.
This particular camera was made in 1998 and came with a bag of film that had been in storage since 1998 as well! The camera takes a CR123 that I happen to have in the same box so I put the battery in and fired up the camera. It seemed to function okay as the lens cover retracted and the flash fired in the low interior room light. My son called me to see if I wanted to meet him and his wife for coffee so I walked from my studio and took some test shots.
Along the way I ended up taking some selfies to see if the aperture was working properly but I couldn’t see anything. I was worried that the camera may have been a junker with a bad aperture diaphragm. I decided to not worry and just shoot the roll anyway. The film could be fogged from 21 years of storage and I could end up with nothing at all.
After coffee we met some people on the sidewalk walking their dog. I decided to ask them if I could photograph their labradoodle and they said yes. As I lowered the camera I realized that this gem of a camera has what they call a super loupe which is a waist level finder! This feature is awesome for truly candid street photography where you don’t want people noticing you pulling a camera up to your eyes!
After coffee I immediately walked back to the studio and went into the darkroom to process. The excitement of finding out whether the film still worked was intense! These old cameras give me a thrill that modern digital cameras simply do not.
When people ask me which camera is my favorite I always say it’s whatever one is in my hand at the moment. I think this little camera will be in my hand a lot over the next year!
