I’ve never used a twin-lens reflex (TLR) camera. I know a lot of people really like them, but they haven’t been a part of my life. But I’ve been curious. 6×6 negatives with a huge focusing viewfinder? What’s not to like?

The approach of significant round-number birthday led me to buy a Yashica Mat from Kamerastore. Judging by the serial number (and the help of the excellent http://yashicatlr.com/) it’s a pretty early model. The Yashica Mat camera was introduced in 1957 and mine is from 1958.

Once it arrived I loaded it up with some Catlabs 320, a film I’ve used several times in 135 format, but never in 120. As with my previous rolls I metered this 200 and developed with Rodinal.

I definitely need time to adjust to shooting a TLR. Holding the camera and framing is tricky. I frequently thought I was standing square to a subject only to see a skewed, crooked image in the viewfinder. Thankfully there’s a nice clear grid on the viewfinder to help me line things up. And adjusting my mind for square composition and waist-level point-of-view will also take some time.

I may also need to tweak my metering. Pretty much the entire roll is overexposed. I’d say that shots are usually 1-2 stops brighter than I metered for. When the camera is empty again I’ll do some tests of the shutter speed. But until then I plan on shooting slower than the meter reading.

Full roll

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