Lynx-14

I mentioned in a recent post that I regretted not holding onto my Yashica Lynx 14.  About a week later one showed up on my porch, a gift from a generous reader.

This one has an accurate and quiet shutter, smooth focusing, and a viewfinder that is a bit brighter than the one I had fifteen years ago.  The meter works, but is a couple stops low and will need some attention.  To enhance the contrast of the rangefinder patch I added a square of color film leader over the front window, and that makes the focusing much easier. I also added a neck strap made from a bootlace which is secured to the snap swivels with a couple hangman's knots.  I loaded some Kodak ColorPlus 200 in the camera and took it for a walk to Old Town.

I shot some more with the Lynx after our monthly meeting of New Mexico Film Photographers.  Margaret and I took a walk through the UNM campus and met up at the Fine Arts and Design Library with Greg Peterson who has put together a marvelous display there of Twentieth Century film cameras.

Greg follows the same policy as I in acquiring cameras for his collection -- rarely paying more than thirty or forty dollars for anything.  He seems to have quite a bit more patience and perseverance in that pursuit, however, as he has turned up very fine examples of the best film cameras ever produced from all over the globe.  I was particularly impressed with his medium format and large format Graflex cameras.  The big single reflex press camera had a f4 Tessar that must have made marvelous images.  Greg said his favorite shooter in the group was a Canon 7 rangefinder.  Greg mentioned that there was a nice display of antique radios over at the Engineering Library, so I went there the next day to finish up the roll of ColorPlus with a few more low light shots.

The radios were all from the 1920s when commercial broadcasting became feasible with the widespread introduction of radio receivers.  The collection included many simple crystal sets which were often built from kits, but there are also many examples of more sophisticated radio receivers from the big makers including Crosley, RCA and Western Electric.
    The Yashinon-DX lens handled the dim light ok, though the florescent lamps presented a challenge for the daylight color film.  I shot at f2 and 1/60.  The blowup of the small label at the right edge of the image shows the good resolution of the lens at that large aperture.

I'm looking forward to doing some more low light work with the Lynx 14.  Maybe I'll even get myself out on the street to shoot some night life.