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Hello Group,

In reply to this query posted in the group.

beardedrainbow wrote the group:

Hi Tom, Please tell us more about the Yashica 635? Ive never heard of a
camera that is both 35mm & 2 & 1/4, unless its a medium format film
camera with interchangeable backs. My Yashicamat 124G still works well,
& has fared much better than my Mamiya 645, which needed major repairs.
I may still be interested in anything you have to sell, as long as it
works well. Ive had bad luck buying Yashica Slrs thru fleabuy & Keh.
Thanks a lot! B

Tom's response:

I'm a collector of Yashica TLR's and I hesitate to sell any duplicates
in my collection to anyone who actually shoots with them The last model
made, the 124G is over 25 years old. Cameras that old are inherently
troublesome for taking photographs. Many times people selling in the
various venues available online are not familiar with the proper
operation which makes buying any old camera intended for use difficult.
As always it's a buyer beware when buying used equipment online. In the
heyday of mom and pop camera stores you could actually use the equipment
and many times they'd let you leave a deposit and shoot a roll of film
to see if there were any problems. Sadly those days are long gone and
buying online is a challenge. I ask many questions from the seller, if
I get a standard "I' don't know much about the camera" response, I won't
buy. If they ignore my queries I won't buy either. From a collectors
viewpoint as long a the camera is cosmetically OK I can ignore minor
operational problems. As a shooter you'll want the camera to work as
the manufacturer intended. In a month or two I'll be offering some of
my duplicate cameras for sale, all with the understanding that the
shutter speeds may be off, film transport may not be 100% etcetera. I'll
describe the camera to the best of my knowledge. OK enough said.

As far as the Yashica 635. This was a hybrid of the Model "D" . Yashica
added 35mm film transport with a 35mm kit (missing on most cameras I've
seen online) With the kit installed 35mm film could be used in the
camera. The camera is identical to the "D" as far as lenses, shutter
etcetera. Early models had the Yashikor and later models the Yashinon
lenses. The hood also had a special grid to outline the 35mm format,
with parallax correction lines. The 80mm lens with with 120 film was
good for landscapes but the focal length did not avail itself to well
for portraits. With 35mm film the 80mm lens was great for portraits. The
camera sold very well so many people apparently thought the dual format
was a good idea. The 635 sold as long as the model "D" from 1957 to 1973.

You can view the instruction manual here.
http://www.butkus.org/chinon/yashica/yashica_635/yashica_635-splash.htm

Hope this helps and answers some questions.

Regards

Tom