My Yashica D was my first medium format camera. I used it often and (if I do say so myself) used it well this summer. Light and street-friendly, many a shot was composed in through its twin lenses.

I remember getting the first rolls back in late June, and falling in love with the dreamy, saturated tones. 

Not long after the summer ended, I sold the Yashica to a friend, figuring with my Hasselblad, I would only ever need one medium format camera.

Since then I’ve missed my TLR dearly, and my hands and eyes long for a dim viewfinder to look through, glossy metal knobs to turn; this was the camera that made me fall in love with analogue photography.

Maybe I’m looking at this with rose-tinted glasses (lenses?) because I only know this camera in the context of an amazing, beautiful summer, but when I think about that camera, I think about all the things that its seen, all the people and places and memories that I’ve seen through it.

So I’ve purchased  a Yashica Mat 124. It’s a slight upgrade from the Yashica D, and it feels similar, looks similar; but it’s not the same camera, and it will never be the same camera.

Still, I look forward to the many rolls that I will shoot with it; it’s a new year, and a time for new pictures, a new camera. And every time I click the shutter, wind the knob, I will remember fondly upon its predecessor, my beloved, long-gone Yashica D.