A Great Gift

Camera repair provided a new challenge.

Gifts— giving or receiving — aren’t exactly my love language. If I was to analyze it, I’d say that As an only child, I never had to learn to give many gifts, and as a child of divorce, receiving gifts was often a complicated experience to navigate. Nevertheless, I recently received a great gift from my friend Jacob: A Yashica FX-3.

The Yashica is a fully mechanical film camera originally released in 1979 (coincidentally the same year as my vintage Fender Precision bass). Though I’ve “come-of-age” in photography during the film camera renaissance, I’d never shot a real roll of film. Sure, I’d blasted away on a few point and shoots, but hadn’t actually ever done all the metering, focusing, and manually advancing/rewinding that many true photographers cut their teeth on.

I received the Yashica in pretty rough shape. The leatherette had weather significantly and the light seals were actively turning to dust. I ordered replacements for both and spent the meantime looking through the viewfinder dreaming about my first roll (and leaving a trail of black stuff everywhere I went).

Included with the camera were a few lenses, but I settled on the 50mm f2 as my weapon of choice. 50mm and a roll of black and white film just seems like an iconic duo. The kind of thing I imagine photography teachers hand high school students anywhere the craft is still being taught. Speaking of black-and-white film, I chose Ilford HP5+ as my first roll. After some reading online, I chose to push it two stops. I love contrasty b+w photos and this process would increase the contrast while giving me the option to shoot in lower light conditions. That’s a win-win for someone who spends most of their time in the house with their fast-moving kids.

After cleaning the camera up (also a new endeavor for me), I worked my way through all 36 frames. Kamerastore provided this great tutorial for operating the camera, in case you end up owning one someday. I can’t provide a worthwhile review of anything I know so little about, but I enjoyed my experience using the camera and they seem like a great value for the cost (<$100).

Finally, the photos… of my kids, pets, and other family. The most significant photo was a portrait of me and Nana, taken by Ruby. Click to enlarge the images below.