I recently won an auction on eBay for a Yashica J rangefinder camera from 1961 for a really good price. At the top of nobody’s list of classic cameras and seemingly made by Yashica from surplus parts, I was nevertheless anxious to get out and give it a try.

Clean and (seemingly) in good working order. Worth the $15 so far.

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— Charlotte ♥ (@lottiejoy.ca) March 30, 2026 at 1:42 PM

I know, I know. If you’ve been reading this site, you might remember that I have been somewhat ambivalent about rangefinders. Since I also contain multitudes, I also really find romance in the camera type, picturing myself all impeccably cute and exploring some city in the midcentury.

Just a gal, her travelling companion, and a world opening up. 💜

So off I went after work on Wednesday to make photos somewhere between the office, the grocery store, and home. Developed in Blazinal for a quick three minutes, I was quite pleased to see that everything appeared to be working well with the camera.

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1. I misread the temperature and did not develop this segment for long enough. When sleeved next to their April 1 roll-mates, the thinness is all the more obvious. ↩︎