C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Yashica 44 (1958) is a miniature twin-lens reflex camera designed around the 127 roll-film format, producing 4×4cm (4×4) square negatives — sixteen exposures per standard 127 roll. Where the company's flagship Yashica-Mat and Yashica-D used 120 film to produce 6×6cm frames, the Yashica 44 was conceived as a compact TLR for photographers who wanted the waist-level reflex experience in a much smaller package.
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C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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About this camera
Known affectionately as the "Grey Baby," the Yashica 44 brought Yashica's quality TLR design down to 127-format 4×4cm photography — a pocketable twin-lens reflex producing 16 exposures per roll of 127 film.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 127 film, 4×4cm |
| Mount | Fixed (non-interchangeable) |
| Years | 1958–1965 |
| Taking lens | Yashinon 60mm f/3.5 |
| Viewing lens | Yashinon 60mm f/3.2 |
| Shutter | Copal leaf: 1s – 1/300s + B |
| Flash sync | 1/25s |
| Meter | None |
| Exposure | Manual |
| Viewfinder | Waist-level reflex ground glass |
| Focus | Manual ground glass |
| Battery | None |
By the late 1950s, Yashica had established itself as a serious TLR manufacturer with the Yashicaflex and Yashica-Mat lines on 120 film. The baby TLR concept — a scaled-down twin-lens reflex for 127 film — had been pioneered by Rollei with the Rolleiflex T and earlier Rollei Baby models, and the market had room for a less expensive Japanese alternative.
Yashica introduced the 44 in 1958, pricing it accessibly below the Rolleicord and targeting the growing Japanese amateur market as well as export sales. The camera was a modest commercial success and spawned the improved 44A and the 44 LM (which added a selenium light meter), forming a complete product line around the 127 format.
The 4×4 format itself had advantages: 127 film was cheaper per roll than 120, the camera was significantly pocketable compared to a full-size TLR, and 4×4cm negatives were large enough for quality enlargements. The format declined as the 35mm SLR became dominant in the 1960s.
The Yashica 44 is the most accessible entry point into the baby TLR category — Rollei's equivalent cameras command significantly higher prices. The Yashinon 60mm f/3.5 is a capable lens for its class, delivering clean results suited to the intimate scale of 4×4 photography. For collectors and shooters interested in the small-format TLR experience, the 44 offers a working, affordable path into a format that rewards careful, deliberate photography at waist level.
The Yashinon 60mm f/3.5 taking lens is non-interchangeable. Filter thread accepts 34mm accessories. Available accessories included close-up supplementary lenses, lens caps, flash adapters, and an ever-ready leather case. The Yashica 44 does not accept accessories from the full-size 120-format Yashica TLRs due to the smaller scale.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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