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 B (1957) is a fixed-lens twin-lens reflex camera producing 12 exposures on 120 film at 6x6 cm. It sits at the base of Yashica's TLR product ladder, below the Yashica C, D, and Mat models, and carries a Yashimar 80mm f/3.5 taking lens paired with a Yashimar viewing lens of the same focal length. The shutter is a Copal leaf shutter offering speeds from 1s to 1/300s. The Yashica B has no built-in meter, no parallax correction mechanism, and no film-type reminder dial - features found on more expensive Yashica TLRs. What it offers is a straightforward, fully mechanical 6x6 medium-format camera with reasonable optical quality at the lowest price point in Yashica's lineup.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the — format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →BW
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
The stripped-down entry point to Yashica's twin-lens reflex line - basic, reliable, and entirely mechanical.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120 film (6x6 cm), 12 frames |
| Taking lens | Yashimar 80mm f/3.5 (3 elements) |
| Viewing lens | Yashimar 80mm f/3.2 |
| Years | ~1957 – ~early 1960s |
| Shutter | Copal leaf, 1s – 1/300s + B |
| Flash sync | ~1/300s (M and X sync) |
| Meter | None |
| Modes | Manual only |
| Viewfinder | Waist-level, ground glass with folding hood |
| Focus | Side-mounted focus knob |
| Battery | None required |
Yashica entered the twin-lens reflex market in 1953 with the Pigeonflex and rapidly expanded its TLR lineup through the mid-1950s under the Yashicaflex and Yashica brand names. By 1957 Yashica had a tiered product line running from the Yashicaflex S (base) through the Yashica A, B, C, D, and Mat (top). The Yashica B was positioned as the entry-level model after the transition from the Yashicaflex branding, targeting the budget end of the serious-amateur 6x6 market. It shared the basic body architecture of the A but included the Copal shutter rather than the Copal-MX found in some variants, and the Yashimar lens rather than the Yashinon glass fitted to the D and Mat. Production continued into the early 1960s before Yashica consolidated its TLR line around the D, Mat, and Mat-124 models.
The Yashica B is representative of the democratization of medium-format photography in Japan during the late 1950s. Japanese manufacturers - Yashica, Minolta (Autocord), Ricoh (Ricohflex), and Beauty (Beautyflex) - produced TLRs at price points substantially below German competitors (Rolleiflex, Rolleicord), making 6x6 medium-format accessible to a much wider population of amateur photographers. The B's Yashimar lens, while modest by Yashinon standards, delivers usable sharpness and renders with the slightly soft character that contemporary photographers associate with vintage TLR glass. In the current market the Yashica B occupies the lowest price tier of functional medium-format cameras and is commonly recommended as an entry point for photographers new to the format.
The Yashica B uses a fixed-lens design with no interchangeable optics. The taking lens bay accepts 30.5mm push-on filters and accessories (close-up lens sets, lens hoods). The standard Rollei-compatible bayonet accessories (Bay I size) do not fit the Yashica B's push-on mount.
Accessories: standard waist-level finder is built in; sports finder mask inside the hood for eye-level framing; cable release socket on the shutter.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
View profile →Yashica B
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