So far, I’ve shared images from my Denver trip made with two Holgas (the 135BC and the 120N), the FPP Debonair, and the OM10. Due to operator error, the roll from the 135BC and one roll from the OM10 were largely unusable, though I did get some decent results from the small-format, 35mm OM10. I started the trip with a pro pack of Fuji Pro 400H. Four of them went down in a shootout between the Holga 120N and the Debonair, and I saved the fifth the the excellent, pro-am Yashica-Mat 124, but ended up leaving it in the bag for most of the trip…
Given that the bag spent most of the trip in the Air BnB rental, I shot the first few frames from there, at the morning light from the front porch and through a side window.
The bag, and thus the Yashica, did accompany me on the Flatiron Hike, and I took a few frames with it there, but only one came out worth sharing, and then only barely.
And, of course, the camera bag—my first bag, an old Tenba shoulder bag—was with me on the drive home, when Mom and I stopped to check out Truckhenge on the way out of Topeka.
And, of course, I had to shoot the beautiful country road out front of Truckhenge.
I sorta expected the Yashica-Mat to easily best the Holga, and with the trailer and dusty road, it definitely won… but with the classic country road image, I’m not sure…
Igorning the obviously-different color (in)correction, I think the Holga image (on the left) still wins, and wins handily. Horses for courses, and all, and the slight errors in it just add so much to the feel, I think.
And so the Yashica performed admirably, as usual, and I think I should probably sell that camera off. It’s a great one, for sure, but I really don’t shoot it enough to really get along with, and get good images from. In the four+ years I’ve had it, I’ve put 24 rolls through it. Eight of those came in the first four months; 1 was lost due to exhausted developer and two were TriplePrint 126 film respooled to 120, and I got blank film from those too. Looking at the log, these two failures led me to leave the Yashica on the shelf for months, as if I subconsciously blamed the camera for chemical failures. Still. 24 rolls in over 4 years? And, honestly, I get along better with eye-level cameras.
That said, maybe every commited film shooter needs a TLR, and my other TLR is a Ward-Flex (Beautyflex T) with a wonky mirror that forces me to shoot it like a zone focus guestimator camera… And I happily hold onto cameras I shoot far less, so maybe I’ll keep it.
