11 Frames: Expired Fuji Reala 100 on a Yashica D TLR
Today was a day of firsts. For the first time ever, I shot a twin lens reflex camera (TLR for short) and 120mm film.
Photographers might cringe when I admit that my Yashica D was sitting on a shelf, collecting dust, for roughly 3 years before I spontaneously took it out at golden hour on a September afternoon. Within 24 hours, I had my negatives scanned at Brooklyn’s Accurate Photo Shop and the results were… surprisingly decent.
I won’t say too much more and let the photos speak for themselves. However, here are a few facts to set the scene.
If you don’t know much about photography, I’ll let you Google what a twin lens reflex is and how it works. I will say that it’s different than regular point-and-shoot cameras and different than SLRs (or DSLRs). The film I’m using is also different from the 35mm metal canisters. It’s 120mm, which results in a larger negative. In my case, 6x6cm.
The Yashica is missing it’s nameplate, and I’m assuming it’s a D based on extensive Googling. I got it in a box of other cameras at an estate sale in Hamilton, Ontario. I drove from Toronto to pick it up. The camera was at the very bottom of a cardboard box and wasn’t visible unless you dug in. I got the TLR along with some other older cameras for a laughable $80 in 2017. The others have been resold.
Since then, I didn’t touch it other than cleaning it up with Q-Tips and Windex. You can see that there are some spots on the viewfinder or the glass, but this didn’t affect the photos (something I was worried about). I’m not sure if it’s supposed to look that hazy either but, again, I’m not too worried because the photos turned out much better than expected.
Ok, the Reala 100. I got two rolls of it, and a few others, in a trade for a used Minolta SLR camera body (probably from that one box I got at the estate sale) and a random lens. All of the rolls have been sitting in a little box in my closet for almost as long as the TLR has been sitting on my shelf. The Reala expired in 2006, which would mean that I need to overexpose it. Something I didn’t end up doing.
However, yesterday I decided that I wanted to finally dust it off and try it out properly. I had fiddled with it at home and even loaded a roll of expired Fuji Pro 400H into it a year ago. I even snapped some photos. But I guessed at the exposure and, as you can imagine, the photos turned out terribly. I had to finish the roll inside before I moved onto the Reala 100.
I’m glad I did, because I got to use it as practice. For example, it took three frames before I realized that I wasn’t winding the film between each shot, causing this horrible triple-exposure shot.
A rare triple exposure whoopsy brought to you by me. Expired Fuji Pro 400H, Yashica D.
The colors are so beautiful, I wish I didn’t mess this up! But it’s ok, because it wasn’t the Fuji Reala 100. I can always get more Pro 400H. One of the frames was supposed to look like the photo below.
One last thing: I finally used a light meter. I downloaded an app on my phone (two apps, actually, to be safe) and metered before shooting each photo. It’s called LightMeter in the Google Play app store for Android. Not sure if there is an iPhone equivalent.
11 Frames of Expired Fuji Reala 100
So, without further ado, here are the 11 frames that came out of the camera. There are typically 12, but I guess I did a poor job winding again. Maybe I was even extra cautious.
1/11
2/11
3/11
4/11
5/11
6/11
7/11
8/11
9/11
10/11
11/11
All of these photos were taken in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn on 3rd Avenue, Shore Road Park, and American Veterans Memorial Pier at the end of Bay Ridge Ave.
I’m really impressed with the results considering the film has been expired for nearly 15 years and I didn’t adjust my exposure in any way. Some of the shots are slightly blurry, which is the result of my shaky hands. I don’t recall any of the photos shooting slower than 1/30.
I love that in nearly every shot, the shadows and highlights all have well preserved details.
I can’t wait to shoot my last roll of Fuji Reala 100. I’ll be taking it with me, along with some Portra 400 and Fuji Pro 400H, on a road trip this October. I’ll be heading to Washington DC, Charlotte, and Atlanta to see friends and plan to shoot a dozen rolls with the Yashica D. Which, miraculously, it in great shape and deserves better than to sit on a shelf as an ornament.
You can find me on Instagram here and my film photography account here.
If you want to buy 120mm film, you can get Fuji Pro 400H (5 rolls for $41 USD) and Kodak Portra 400 (5 rolls for $46 USD). I also plan to buy some Cinestill 800T ($27 USD per roll) for some night shots.
