Bought A New Toy

[smoke665]

Maybe it's nostalgia, maybe it's senility, will know next week. Bought a Yashica Mat LM off FB marketplace just from the pictures. Didn't pay much for it, so can probably get my money back if I sold it for parts. I've wanted one of these since I had one for a short while back in the 60s. At least it will be an interesting divergence for me. LOL

From the looks of the pictures it didn't look overly beat up. Came out of an estate, and the woman who inherited it didn't know anything about it. Suggestions on what I need to look for or pay attention to when I start trying to clean/service it???

 

[cgw]

A gift:

Yashica MAT LM instruction manual, user manual, free PFD camera manuals

Yashica MAT LM instruction manual

www.butkus.org

Forget the meter. Friends who are fanciers of old TLRs advised me to check the lenses for reasonable clarity, evaluate shutter speeds and check light seal condition. TLRs never seduced me the way they did them. Good luck!

 

[smoke665]

A gift:

Yashica MAT LM instruction manual, user manual, free PFD camera manuals

Yashica MAT LM instruction manual

www.butkus.org

Forget the meter. Friends who are fanciers of old TLRs advised me to check the lenses for reasonable clarity, evaluate shutter speeds and check light seal condition. TLRs never seduced me the way they did them. Good luck!

I've had some that worked, some don't. Not big deal either way. Hopefully be able to clean it up, replace the seals, and not have to go much further into it.

 

[greybeard]

We had one of those at Barrackville high school back in the 60s for use with the yearbook. It was fitted with a huge potato masher strobe that had a 512 volt battery.

Congratulations.

 

[cgw]

Sounds like fun. After a bit of TLC and refurb, they're still sweet old image makers. I manfully resisted several cement block-like Mamiya TLRs for an equally heavy RB67 ProS.

 

[dxqcanada]

The mirror may be really dirty so probably needs cleaning.

 

[terri]

The mirror may be really dirty so probably needs cleaning.

If not replacing. The mirror may be desilvered, so degraded it's beyond a good cleaning.

The other things you mentioned are good ideas: seals, an overall cleaning.

There's a guy in Marietta, GA who used to work as a Yashica service manager in the US who does private camera repair. We haven't used him. MarkHama.com AFAIK he's around, if you ever want to send it somewhere.

 

[cgw]

If not replacing. The mirror may be desilvered, so degraded it's beyond a good cleaning.

The other things you mentioned are good ideas: seals, an overall cleaning.

There's a guy in Marietta, GA who used to work as a Yashica service manager in the US who does private camera repair. We haven't used him. MarkHama.com AFAIK he's around, if you ever want to send it somewhere.

In 2024, my take is these are late '50s cameras that weren't built to top-shelf standards(e.g. Rollei), though gummed-up, lightly-used examples do surface. Those might be worth Hama-style renos but beaters unless fully functional just aren't worth it. If they die, then it's doorstop/attractive tschotske duty.

 

[smoke665]

@cgw Even refurbished they don't bring much over 200-300. If it's not salvageable at low cost I can sell it for parts and still get my money back.

 

[cgw]

@cgw Even refurbished they don't bring much over 200-300. If it's not salvageable at low cost I can sell it for parts and still get my money back.

Go dog, GO! Worth a roll or two, definitely.

 

[smoke665]

@cgw You'll never hear a diehard Bama fan say "Go Dogs".

The link for the manual is one I already have, but thank you for the suggestion. This must have been owned by the same person, because from the pictures it includes a manual, flash and some other things you'd expect in a kit.

What I really need (and haven't found yet) are some exploded diagrams, videos, etc on the inner workings.

 

[webestang64]

MarkHama.com

Bookmarked thanks!

 

[dxqcanada]

Most of the MATS have the same internal parts ... I have swapped out parts from an EM into a 124G

Below is from yashicatlr.com

 

[dxqcanada]

I have taken apart and restored some Yashica TLR's ... not that difficult to work with.
All of them had gummed up grease on the focus rack, though the cameras were still usable without having to CLA. Most of the ones that I got had a problem with the winding mechanism or the leaf shutter needed cleaning. All of them had dirty mirror ... it's easy to take the hood off to get at it.

 

[dxqcanada]

Other than Mark Hama, there is also Bob Sara if anyone wants to get a Yashica TLR serviced.
Also, he is on the LCR Facebook group and he really great at providing repair advise.