Yashica!

Remember the Yashicamat LM that I mentioned a few weeks back? Well, I went ahead and acquired a Yashicamat 124G as well, and last week I put it to some good use.

On Thursday I loaded it with some Provia 100F and stomped around the shores of Lake Superior at dusk to do some night photography. Also the first color that I've exposed since 2004. These should be ready for me to pick up after work tomorrow.

Saturday I chewed up seven rolls of Delta 400 in the thing shooting the 31st annual Grandma's Marathon. Nothing like an endless stream of some 17,000 people to waste film on right? It was a fun outing, and I learned that I really like the TLR format for shooting people. Waist level composition & shooting is pretty nice. Most people expect a camera to be lifted to the photographer's face before they shoot, so it is a lot easier to get some candid photos without them even realizing what is going on. Not having to raise & lower the camera creates a certain disconnect from the subject that I find enjoyable. Shooting doesn't feel so confrontational when half they time they don't even realize that a photo was taken.

Seems like a nice machine, and a good balance between my Olympus Trip 35 & Large Format gear. I've had a lot of fun using it so far, and "'m sure I'll get plenty of use out of it in the future.