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-Mat S is a 6x6cm twin-lens reflex camera for 120 film, introduced in 1963 as a variant of the original Yashica-Mat that incorporates a built-in selenium cell meter. Like the base Mat, it produces twelve square negatives per roll from a fixed Yashinon 80mm f/3.5 taking lens in a Copal-MXV leaf shutter. The selenium meter reads light without any battery, which is the primary practical distinction between the Mat S and the earlier metered Mat LM (which also used selenium but was introduced in 1957 alongside the original Mat).
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.
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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
Selenium-metered variant of the original Yashica-Mat, adding exposure guidance without requiring a battery.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120 film, 6x6cm (12 exp per roll) |
| Mount | Fixed |
| Taking lens | Yashinon 80mm f/3.5 (Tessar-type) |
| Viewing lens | Yashinon 80mm f/2.8 |
| Years | 1963 – ~ |
| Shutter | Copal-MXV leaf: 1s – 1/500s + B |
| Flash sync | All speeds (M and X contacts) |
| Meter | Selenium cell, uncoupled |
| Exposure modes | Manual |
| Film advance | Side crank handle (shutter auto-cocked) |
| Viewfinder | Waist-level, ground glass + sports finder |
| Battery | None required |
| Weight | ~ |
The Yashica-Mat line originated in 1957 with the simultaneous launch of the original unmetered Mat and the selenium-metered Mat LM. By the early 1960s Yashica was preparing the line for its next major step — the Mat 124 with 220-film capability — and the Mat S appears to represent a late-production or transitional configuration within the original Mat platform carrying a built-in selenium meter.
The line culminated in the Mat 124G (1970–1986), the most commercially successful variant. The Mat S occupies a narrow position in the lineage: a battery-free metered camera that offers practical exposure guidance while retaining the full mechanical fallback of the unmetered original.
Selenium cells produce a voltage in proportion to incident light without requiring a battery, making the Mat S genuinely self-contained. Unlike later CdS meters (used in the Mat 124 and 124G), selenium cells do not suffer from the "memory effect" associated with some CdS units, though they can weaken with age and heavy exposure to bright light.
For contemporary users, a Mat S with a functioning selenium meter is a useful working tool for outdoor available-light photography without the need to carry a separate meter. When the cell weakens (a common age-related failure), the camera remains fully functional as a manual TLR — the optical and mechanical components are identical to the rest of the Mat line.
The Yashinon 80mm f/3.5 taking lens is fixed. Standard accessories shared with the wider Yashica TLR line include:
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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