Inexpensive. Good build quality.

Glass kind of soft. Requires adapter for remote release cord. Didn't come factory with fresnel lens, only ground glass.

For about $100, this is one of the best values in medium format. The lack of interchangable lenses, and the waist level viewfinder make any sports shots or animal shots practically impossible. But for landscapes, still life, and especially portrait photography, it is a great camera.

The build quality in both of the cameras I have is very nice. The smooth and quiet shutter is a joy to work with. I added a frensel screen to the ground glass to brighten it up somewhat. TLR's are by nature very attractive bodies, and the Yashica-A is no exception.

The softness of the lens is good for portraits, but lacks sharpness for landscapes.

Customer Service

Never used.

Similar Products Used:

None.

*primative
*built in soft lense
*tuff camera body

*primative
*focusing can be pain with low contrast subjects and in low light levels
*film loading can be a real pain sometimes.

*This camera is a fun toy. Lets face it if you own one of these you know that "soft" images come naturally to this camera.
*It is a very simple camera with very basic controls, but when you think of it all the old masters has nothing more than this to play with it is not all that limiting.
*The only reason I brought this camera was I used something like it in high school and created some great shots with that one. Now it serves as a reminder that you can really go over board on spending money on photographic gear and still not have as much fun going back to the basics.
*Why give it 5 stars? For the money and the relative image quality it provides along with the enjoyment it provides there are few cameras out there that can match this fun toy.

Customer Service

*not worth fixing if it breaks, then again what is there to break?

Similar Products Used:

*other twin lens cameras over the years

Light, Built like a tank. Inexpensive, and Sharp if stoped down past f11

Limited shutter speed range, (1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/300) Soft when shot wide open.

This is a great camera. Use if within it's limitations, and you can't go wrong. Very sharp when stoped down, and great for soft port's wide open. A great addition to a complete camera system.

Similar Products Used:

Other TLR's

Sharp lens at f16. I tested this by putting a laser printout with font size 4 on it 13 feet from my tripod mounted camera. I could read the letters from the negative (TMax 100) after developing normally in my basement sink with TMax developer.

Sharpness at edges is ok at f11.

16x20 enlargments blow away my Nikon 50 1.7 lens. Contrast and image quality are just great.

Soft at f3.5 - f8

My mirror/prism is out of alignment so I have to focus a foot in front of the subject for the subject to be sharp - but this is not normaly a problem at f16 which is what you want to use on this camera.

It does not hold film flat. I had to put in a single black construction paper and two strips of electrical tape on the plate that is supposed to hold the film flat. Since then, my negatives are consistent.

Great backup camera for any system if you need to make enlargements. It is as cheap as the 35mm Nikon 50 1.7. With its all manual controls and no need for batteries you will always be able to get an image.

Sharpness is really good at f16.

Customer Service

Not used.

Similar Products Used:

Rolleicord V