These "girls" were cameras, of course. A photographer develops a working relationship with his prized cameras that can be ones of love (or hate). A camera can make the job more enjoyable. Back in "the day", I tried to stay on the leading edge of equipment and I experienced many of the now-relic film cameras firsthand. I can tell you pretty much what the pros and cons were (are). Most of the cameras that pros used back then had a lot of design thought and so-called human-engineering built into them, which is lost on the casual user or reader today. It is one thing to collect these cameras, and still another to actually use them in daily work.
I will start with the first decent quality camera that I had access to. It was handed down to me by my dad; It was a Yashica twin lens reflex (TLR) which was a copy of a similar camera first built by Rollei, the Baby Rollie. The film size was 4 cm x 4 cm or 127, which describes the diagonal from one side to the other. This size film size is all but extinct today but it was the rage at one time. It was larger than the image are from 135 film, but would fit into a slide projector for a larger "Super-Slide" image that would fill up a screen of the day.
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The 4x4 format, being square, would carry with it the same familiarity of composition for those who used the larger 6x6 (2-1/4 square) image produced by the bigger TLR's. The square image was also capable of being visually "cropped" within the viewfinder and rendered precisely that way when prints were made, whether by a lab or as a hobbyist. Another couple of nice features the TLR offers is a leaf shutter, which will sychronize with an electronic flash at higher, and in this case all shutter speeds. This is very desirable if their is any subject movement when used in lower than perfect light conditions.
Since there is a viewing lens AND a taking lens, there is no point at which the view is blocked while taking the picture, such as with Single Lens Reflex Cameras. This provides the most desirable situation when looking through the finder taking portraits or other pictures that require special timing, such as a child smiling or winking spontaneously. My portraits are known for the natural expressions captured on people's faces. The shutter reaction is instantaneous as well. The problem of delay, is one of my chief complaints with digital cameras. But it is also a problem with all SLR film cameras.
Those who first look through a TLR, are predictably confused by the reversed image, meaning that when you move the camera or the subject moves while you are looking through the viewing lens, it is counter intuitive. This takes a few times to get used to. I don't remember how long, but your brain, amazing computer that it is, quickly rewires itself to adapt to this phenomenon. It doesn't take long until it seems natural, and it doesn't affect your ability to use an SLR camera either.
These features apply to all professional quality TLR's. My little 4x4 was almost an anomoly in physical size and film size. Only the Baby Rollei, after which it was styled is similar. However, aide from those aspects the camera is identical in operation to its bigger brothers.
I kept that camera through high-school, and although I lost a large case of my old photos and negatives taken during that time I do still have several surviving photos. I made many other quality black and white photos, which were sold to the newspaper during that era of my life. I reluctantly loaned my camera to a "friend", telling him to be sure not to drop it. Upon its return it didn't work. I sent it to the nearest Yashica repair facility and it was returned and said it was Unrepairable Damages Due to Impact. Some friend, huh.
My Dad had had several other models of the larger format 6x6 cameras that Rollei made such as the very famous Rolleiflex's, a pro camera line and Rolleicords, made with the serious amateur in mind. The Rolleiflex first appeared in the thirties. I use the 6x6 designation because it is more familiar today, but early on int the USA, we called it the 2-1/4 square format. This was a popular format, which was used extensively by news photographers, for four decades, finally declining during the sixties--as inovation in finer-grain film emulsions made 36 mm cameras more viable and several medium format SLR cameras became available.
Reporters and news photographers liked the cameras because of their relatively small size, and relatively large square negative it produced. Many a news photographer or journalist, including I, have developed B&W film, "stopped" it in a solution of ascorbic acid, and then "fixed" it for a short minute to make the film temporarily insensitive to light so that it could be rinsed quickly and place, wet, into the enlarger to project an image onto light-sensitive paper and create prints suitable for making the deadline for the next day issue (or that day) of the newspapers. The larger (than 135) film was much more forgiving under such abuse than the smaller formats could be.
The Yashica "copies" of the Rollieflex came in many models, as they evolved and filled different niches. The earlier models used only three element lenses. Before my time there was the Yashica A, B, and C models. There was a Yashica 635 which was probably inspired by the Rolleiflex that had an accessory kit, offering adaptation to 135 mm film. In my estimation, neither was used much.
There was an early Yashica 6x6 which was more like the Rolleiflex, featuring a rapid-wind film crank and a four element Yashinon lens (sometimes designated as Luxamor on early models). This model became the 12 and the 24 models, which were also similar to the Rolleiflex design. The 24 took 220 film, which was the same size as 120 film, except it had 24 exposures instead of 12 exposures.
The Yashica D had a four element lens, but it required manually cocking the lens and had no rapid wind crank for film transport, a smart innovation by Rollei. At the same time several somewhat more costly and highly featured models eventually evolved into the "mat" designation such as the Yashicamat, then the Yashicamat 24 and 124.
Had it not been for my dad's wise indoctrination regarding the benefits of the larger format, I might well have missed these points, instead going for one of the newer, glitzy 35's then being heavily advertised in the photography magazines. I lusted after those cameras as surely as I did any girls.
During this time I also was precocious enough and fortunate enough to get an after school job working for a successful general photographer. My official capacity was as a darkroom technician, and one of my perks was that I got to use the facilities including the studio and darkroom for my own stuff. It also provided enough income, along with my freelance news work to fuel my growing photography habit.
At this time, I had no question about what my career would be. I spent most of my time and all of my money on photography. I owned quite a number of cameras during this time, seldom simultaneously, but I often traded some less-preferred model in order to buy a more preferred model.
I was loaned a used Rolleicord 6x6 TLR by my Latin teacher who wanted to foster my photographic orientation. She let me use it for the shoe school year. Rollei made the "best" TLR cameras of this type during the early to mid-sixties of which I am writing. Germany was known for their superior glass and craftsmanship. The Rollieflex was th flag-ship TLR model from Rollei. It sported a six element lens design, and a rapid-wind crank to quickly drive the film transport. It was tight and made of fine materials in and out. I have one today which appears as new as it did the day it was sold. Rollei went the extra mile and made a variety of attachments for their Rolleiflex, and Rolleicord. The protective cases in which they came were even works of fine craftsmen. They were solid and felt good in your hands. Fingers and hands of an average-size person fell right into place on the controls.
Rollei's viewfinders were bright and easy to focus. They were beautiful cameras. I have another model today, of the Baby Rollie designed 4x4 camera, after which my first Yashica 44 was copied. It is encased in a gray plasticized, molded-to-fit case which is so practical, that had my little Yashica had the same, it would have survived any serious impact. This kind of attention to details is undoubtedly what gave the Rollei the reputation for quality--along with their fine lenes.
Later, during the seventies, I owned a couple of Rolleiflexes. I liked them and knew their potential value, butthen having a young family, their needs outstripped my need for extr cameras. I have several of these fine relics now.
For the day-to-day user, it was usual to take the leather case off of these cameras, so that one could quickly access and open the back in order to change film. This rendered many cases impractical to use all the time. The Baby Rollei case was designed in such a way, that the front and the back came off independently, still leaving a good portion of th body attached and covered. With this design the camera could be accessed internally and the film changed without taking the case off.
I never saw one of these nice cases on a 6x6 Rolleiflex; during this time, plastics were still regarded as inferior. I suppose the plastic case was experimentally relegated to the less-common 4x4 Baby Rollei. No surviving leather case is as pristine as is the plastic case specimen I ave today, after forty or more years.
I simply could not afford a 6x6 Rolleiflex camera new during those days. But I owned several Japanese imitations. Japanese-made gear was just shedding the ,"Made in Japan", stigma with which it had been dubbed for a decade post-war. But Japanese cameras, while not quite the quality of German-made cameras, came much closer than we had realized then. The price point spread was significantly better than the quality actually warranted.
There were several models of these Japanese knock-off copies of Rollies. Yashica made some of the best models and I owned one or more of each at various times. The Yashica D was an inexpensive, less highly featured model TLR after the fashion of the Rolleicord models. LM or EM designated an uncoupled light meter some models had. There was also the A, B, C, E and the 124, which enabled the use of 220 film as well as 120, which meant that you could shoot 24 exposures without changing film instead of just 12. The Yashicamat 124 G was a nice camera, and was the last TLR made made by Yashica. I had one. I have one today, which is still an excellent working camera. This model had a coupled light meter, which I had little use for. There is a slight softening of the image of those shot through even the best Yashica lenses at wide open apartures as opposed to the Rollei's, or that has been my experience.
At the time of this writing (2008) Yashicas can still be had for under a hundred bucks. This is less of a reflection upon the quality of the camera than it is a refection of it's great success, as more Yashica TLR's were produced than any other model. If you desire to experience the retro-feeling of a nice medium format camera while making excellent photographs, you should snag a Yashica. If you are a collector, in it for the long haul, you should snag several, as the price WILL certainly increase exponentially, and the day will come not to distnat when they can barely be found at any price.
I also purchased a Minolta Autocord TLR, which was, in an early model, one of the the first Japanese copies of a Rolleiflex. The camera was much the same as the others, but the focus was uniquely located at the bottom of the taking lens--to be operated with one or both index fingers where they naturally fell while holding the camera. I liked the Minolta, but they were seen far less often than were the Yashicas, and Rollie's, at least by this time in the photography evolution. I'm not sure what happened to my Minolta Autocord. This was a mid-sixties model Minolta Autocord. I felt it was every bit as good as a Rollei. Some experts agree with that notion, and it has become a much sought-after collector camera.
There were numerous cheaper TLR cameras of various makes and models that came and went during the first half of the last century. There were also several more expensive and quality copies of the Rolleiflex. Notable examples that survive as cololoectors are the Ikonoflex which I never used, but which I;ve read good reports and one model that offered interchaneable lenses. There were other good models that were produced and held behind the iron and bamboo curtains until a couple of decades ago. I was not privy to using these models "back when". But as a general rule, most Eastern-made cameras are pretty good, especially the optics. Most Chinese made products such as the Seagull are at the lower end of the quality ranking.
At one time or another, there most camera manufacturers which were around during hte forties and fifites, produced there version of the Rolleiflex. With the exception of the Mamiya which came about during the sixties, and those I have mentioned, these cameras were mostly also-runs and short-lived.
Once, at the challenge of a friend, teacher, part-time business partner, I spent several months (I don't remember how many) limiting my photography to a mere Yashica D model TLR. The training was good. Everything, was as manual as it could get, and the lenses were not quite as good as some models (I didn't know this at the time--and it made no difference whatsoever).
Although I had understood photography basics since I was in elementary school by then, the practical application of these principles to the extreme while exclusively using the manual camera gave me a great confidence in knowing that it is primarily the photographer, not the camera used, that creates great photographs.
A few years later, with an abrupt change in the economy, I had to reinvent myself and my career. I should never have strayed from my fist love, I confidently bought a Yashica D camera and began a a lucrative home portrait business forthwith.
http://notesandnods.typepad.com/photography_for_profit_or/2008/12/rollei-6x6-twin-lens-reflex-cameras.html
Excellent link for more information about Yashica TLR's http://www.williamsphotographic.com/ocr/mf/yashica.html
(My explanation of cameras I have loused and loved (or hated) will be continued in the next posts.)
