Yashica Mat 124G, 124 and 635 compared: which Yashica is worth it?

Cover image: Wilfredor, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons

You scroll through the listings and stop short because the old Yashica-Mat is named almost like the 124G but costs considerably less. Yet in almost all production years it has the same taking lens. The extra cost sits on top of the camera: when you turn the shutter speed and aperture on the 124G, two needles in a small window move toward each other until they line up. The catch is that this built-in light meter needs a mercury cell that has long since disappeared, and with an ordinary button cell the needles meet in the wrong place. After this guide you'll know whether the moving needles are worth the extra cost to you or whether the money you save is better spent on film.

Already have a 124 or 124G and just looking for the right battery? The answer is in chapter 3 and in our battery overview for Yashica.

Table of contents

1. Which Yashica Mat is in front of you?
2. What distinguishes the 124 from the 124G?
3. Which Yashica Mat needs a battery?
4. How do you get 35mm film into the 635?
5. Which accessories fit the Yashica Mat?
6. What a Yashica Mat costs in 2026
7. Digitizing 6x6 negatives
8. Which one should it be?

1. Which Yashica Mat is in front of you?

From the front, all crank Yashicas look the same: a black box, the viewing lens on top, the taking lens below it, the focus knob on the left side, the crank on the right. The nameplate above the viewing lens tells you which model you're holding. Pay attention above all to one thing there: is there a window for a light meter next to the lettering, and if so, which one? Almost everything that distinguishes the models hinges on this window, including the battery question.

The Yashica-Mat, the first with a crank

The plain Yashica-Mat: no window for a light meter on the nameplate, but instead the crank that cocks the shutter at the same time. Photo: dw_ross, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Yashica-Mat came onto the market in April 1957 and was built until the early seventies. It has no light meter, and it doesn't need a battery either. You push the crank forward once as far as it goes, which advances the film, and back again, which cocks the shutter. When loading, you line up the arrow on the backing paper with the triangles on the film chamber, close the back and crank until the frame counter stops at 1.

The very first examples from 1957 carry a lens called Lumaxar. From July 1958 the ring reads Yashinon 80 mm f/3,5, a four-element lens of Tessar design. This very lens sits in every 6x6 Yashica with a crank until 1986, including the 124G. At f/3,2 the viewing lens is somewhat darker than on the later models; only the last series from June 1970 onward also got f/2,8. If you meter with a handheld light meter or a phone app anyway, the Yashica-Mat gives you the negatives of a 124G without its battery question.

Mat-LM and Mat-EM with selenium cell

Mat-LM: the small badge next to the nameplate names the model, and the honeycomb window above it belongs to the selenium cell. Photo: shando., CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr, resized

The Mat-LM arrived around 1960 (sources vary between 1958 and 1960), the Mat-EM followed in 1964 and stayed in the lineup until 1967. Both have a honeycomb window above the viewing lens. Behind it sits a selenium cell that generates its own current from the light, so these two don't need a battery either. Their light meter is not coupled to shutter speed and aperture, though. On the LM, the needle shows an index number that you set on the ring at the focus knob, where you then read off a matching pair of shutter speed and aperture and transfer it to the camera. On the EM, you turn a knob until a green arrow lines up with the red needle and read the pair in a window.

The Mat-EM, recognizable by the “EM” badge. Photo: Joe Haupt, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr, resized

Selenium cells age. After sixty years, some needles read too low or no longer move at all, and there are practically no replacements. So count an LM or EM as a camera without a light meter and be glad if it still works. You'll notice this in the price: on Kleinanzeigen and eBay, both were even cheaper than the plain Yashica-Mat when we surveyed prices.

How well this works out in practice is described by photographer Eric L. Woods in his blog: his Mat-LM cost less than half as much as a 124G from a US dealer. He doesn't miss the selenium meter, since he meters externally anyway. In the Flickr group for the Yashica Mat, an owner who knows the EM and the 124G from the inside even found the older one more carefully built.

Mat-124 and Mat-124G with coupled light meter

The Mat-124 with chrome lettering. To the right of the logo is the round window of the CdS metering cell. Photo: A Vahanvaty, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons, resized

The Mat-124 was built from 1968 to August 1970 (the first serial numbers date from as early as late 1967), and the 124G after that until 1986. Both models have a small round window to the right of the Yashica logo. Behind it sits a CdS cell, and this light meter is coupled to the setting wheels. When you open the waist-level finder, it switches on. Turning the shutter speed wheel moves one pointer in the window on top of the camera, turning the aperture wheel moves the other, and when the two line up, the exposure is right. When you fold the finder closed again, it switches off.

The Mat-124G: black trim, “Mat-124” lettering with a gold G. Photo: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Power comes from a 1,3-volt mercury cell that is no longer available (more on this in chapter 3). Both can also take 220 film in addition to 120 film; to do so, you switch the pressure plate. The viewing lens is f/2,8, complemented by a Fresnel lens in the finder. There is an accessory shoe on the left side. According to the manual, both weigh 1.100 grams. The quickest way to tell them apart is the color. The 124 has chrome trim and chrome lettering. On the 124G, almost all the trim is black, and the G is set off in gold. Whatever else is different is covered in chapter 2.

If you'd like to see the 124G in action first: Arndt presents it in detail in German on his channel and then takes it along on a walk in the woods.

Video: “Yashica Mat 124G - Review und Waldspaziergang”, Arndts analoge Abenteuer. The camera presentation runs for the first twelve minutes.

The 635 with knob and a second film format

The Yashica 635 has knobs instead of a crank. Photo: Steve (Flickr: sids1), CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The 635 was made from 1958 to 1971 and, strictly speaking, isn't part of the Mat line, because it has no crank. After each shot, you press a release button and turn the advance knob until it stops; you cock the shutter separately with a lever. Because the two are separate, nothing prevents a double exposure. It has no light meter. Until August 1970, the 635 has a simple three-element lens called Yashikor; only the last examples got the four-element Yashinon and the brighter viewing lens. The name reveals what makes it special: 6 for 6x6 on roll film, 35 for 35mm, and Yashica supplied the conversion kit for it right in the box. Chapter 4 shows how that works.

All models at a glance

Common to all of them is the Copal leaf shutter with speeds from 1 to 1/500 s plus B and the bayonet for filters and lens hood, known as Bay I (more on that in chapter 5). The production dates come from Paul Sokk, who analysed the serial numbers of several thousand Yashica twin-lens reflexes on yashicatlr.com. There you can also date your own camera by its serial number.

And the other Yashica twin-lens reflexes?

When searching, you'll come across a few relatives that only play a minor role in this comparison. The Yashica D is close to the 635 in design, just without the 35mm conversion kit: it also has a knob, no light meter and, until 1970, the three-element lens. The Yashica A is the simplest of them all, with a knob and a red window on the back, a shutter from 1/25 to 1/300 s and 32 mm slip-on filters instead of Bay I. The Yashica 44 exposes 127 film in 4x4 format and is correspondingly smaller. The coupled CdS light meter of the 124 already appeared in the two rare models Yashica 24 (1965 to 1967) and Yashica 12 (1967 to 1968). The 24 was originally intended only for 220 film, the 12 only for 120. Finally, the Mat-124B was assembled in Brazil in the early eighties and is a 124G without a light meter.

One naming trap to finish: The Yashica LM from 1956 is not the Mat-LM. The older LM has a knob instead of the crank and a simpler lens. If a listing only says “Yashica LM”, ask whether it has a crank.

2. What sets the 124 apart from the 124G?

Less than the price difference at dealers would suggest. Lay the original manuals of the Mat-124 and the Mat-124G side by side. You'll find the same lens, the same Copal-SV shutter, the same metering range from ASA 25 to 400 and the same battery; even the dimensions and weight match. The differences lie in the details, and not all of them favour the younger model.

What the G stands for

Yashica explained it themselves in a brochure from around 1970: the contacts on the light meter switch are gold-plated (the early 124G brochure says, word for word, “The meter switch contacts are finished in gold”). This switch is attached to the waist-level finder and turns the light meter on when you open it. According to Paul Sokk, it was redesigned for the 124G because the switch of the 124 was considered unreliable. What this means for you: if the needle on a 124 twitches despite a fresh battery, or doesn't move at all, the switch is the first suspect. A thread in the Classic Camera Repair Forum discusses exactly this case.

Where the older 124 has the edge

In the seals, of all places. The 124 seals its back with a yarn that usually still holds after fifty years. With the 124G, Yashica switched to foam, which over time disintegrates into a sticky, crumbly mess that in the worst case glues the back shut. So you should always price a 124G without new seals as if you still had to reseal it. The battery cover and the locking button on the bottom are also made of metal on the 124 and of plastic on the 124G.

Where the 124G has the edge

Inside, the 124G once again has light baffles that catch stray light in the camera, and a roller as a film guide. The focus knob holds a small film reminder where you set which film is currently loaded. Then there's the revised switch on the waist-level finder. The biggest advantage, though, is simply the numbers: the 124G was built for sixteen years, the 124 for less than three. In our price survey, 61 of 80 German listings for the whole family were a 124G, so you have a bigger choice and it's easier to find a good copy.

You can forget two myths. The 124G has no plastic gears; Paul Sokk found none in disassembled cameras, and plastic is only used in add-on parts such as the battery cover. And the sliding pressure plate, which you use to switch between 120 and 220 film, is not a feature of the 124G. The sliding plate already appeared in the last six months of the 124. On earlier 124s, you take the plate out and put it back in rotated by 90 degrees. For you it hardly matters anyway, because 220 film is barely available today.

ForesthillFilmLab shows the two models side by side in hand, comparing the covering, pressure plate and winding noise directly:

Video: “Yashica-mat 124 vs. 124G”, ForesthillFilmLab. The actual comparison starts after just under a minute, followed later by film loading and sample images.

A look into the film chamber of a 124G with roll film loaded. The foam seals of the back need replacing on almost every 124G. Photo: Nesster, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr, resized

Which one should it be?

From private sellers, both cost practically the same: in our survey the 124 had a median of 330 euros, the 124G 349 euros, although there were only five listings for the 124. Only at dealers is the G clearly more expensive: the Finnish dealer Kamerastore gives a reference price of around 549 euros for a tested 124 and around 749 euros for a 124G. The technology doesn't justify the premium. Buy the better copy, not the letter: a 124 with intact yarn and a working light meter is at least as good as a 124G, and with the 124G you should plan for new seals.

3. Which Yashica Mat needs a battery?

Only the Mat-124 and the 124G, plus the rare models 24 and 12. And even in these, the battery powers only the light meter. Shutter, crank and lens work purely mechanically, so a 124G without a battery takes pictures just as well; you simply meter with a handheld light meter or an app instead. The Yashica-Mat, Mat-LM, Mat-EM and 635 don't need one at all.

The battery compartment of the 124G is on the left side below the focus knob, closed with a screw cap (shown here with our replacement cover). Photo from our own stock.

What the manual calls for

The original manual for the 124G specifies a 1,3 volt mercury cell, “Mallory PX-13B, Eveready EPX-13 or equivalent”, and the manual for the 124 specifies the same cell. Today you'll know this size as PX625 or MR9, the names it goes by in forums and battery charts. Mercury cells have long been banned from sale. The compartment is on the left below the focus knob, with the negative terminal facing inwards. On the 124, the cover is made of metal and has a slot for a coin. On early 124G cameras, it is made of smooth plastic and turned by hand; from around 1979 onwards, it has a slot as well.

The light meter is only switched on while the waist-level finder is open. Fold it shut when you put the camera away, and the cell will last considerably longer.

Why a 1,5 volt button cell isn't enough

Some cameras compensate for a different battery voltage with a so-called bridge circuit, in which case it doesn't matter what's in the compartment. There is no evidence of this for the 124 and 124G. Everything points to a simple circuit in which the battery voltage feeds straight through to the meter reading. Ken Nadvornick has owned his 124G since the seventies. In the Photrio forum, he writes that any deviation from 1,35 volts shifts the reading, but that with the correct voltage and after calibration his camera matches his handheld light meters exactly. A user in the Yashica Mat 124 Flickr group measured this: with a 1,35 volt cell, his camera was within half a stop of a handheld light meter, and with a 1,5 volt cell it was clearly off. Used cameras don't always deviate in the same direction, because some previous owners recalibrated the light meter for 1,5 volts. So check every used 124 against an app or a handheld light meter before you trust it with a film.

Even with the right cell, the built-in light meter has its limits. It takes a broad center-weighted reading. Below EV 8, for example indoors or at dusk, it is practically unusable according to the repairer Matz, as he writes in his review on lichtgriff.de. For slide film or strong backlight, you're better off using a handheld light meter anyway.

What fits in the compartment today

We carry two of these solutions: the PX625 adapter for zinc-air cells (22,95 € with six cells) and the V80H rechargeable battery with our USB-C charger (49,95 €). Disclaimer: We sell some of the products that appear here. Even so, the article is meant first and foremost as help and not as a sales pitch.

If you use zinc-air cells, you can try a trick from the forums: cover three of the four air holes with tape, and the cell will dry out more slowly. One user reports in the Photrio thread linked above that a cell taped this way lasted him almost three years. The detailed comparison of all options, with voltage curves, is in our guide to the PX625 problem. If your 124 or 124G is missing its battery compartment cover, there is a replacement cover (19,95 €). Our short video shows what the change looks like on the 124G:

Video: “How to Change Battery on a Yashica Mat 124G”, Ausgeknipst. Under a minute, easy to follow without sound.

It also works without any adapter at all: You can have a workshop convert the light meter to 1.5 volts, and it will then run on a normal button cell with a spacer ring. That is exactly what the Braunschweig workshop FFS+TriTec did on a 124G in 2023, as an owner reports in the APHOG forum. This is especially worthwhile if the camera needs servicing anyway.

Or without a built-in light meter at all

Many Yashica owners don't meter with the camera at all, but with a light meter app on their phone or a small handheld light meter such as the Sekonic L-208 Twinmate, which can also be mounted on an accessory shoe. With this way of working, the battery question is settled, and the cheaper models without a CdS cell suddenly become a serious alternative. With the LM and EM, the following applies anyway: the selenium cell needs no battery, and only a comparison with a second light meter will tell you whether it still meters correctly after sixty years.

4. How does 35mm film go into the 635?

The 635 is the only twin-lens Yashica designed from the factory for two film formats. The 35mm conversion kit came in the box, and the British importer Photax advertised that it was included in the price of the camera. With it, a normal 35mm cartridge gives you 36 exposures in 24x36 format. Because the film runs vertically through the camera, they come out in portrait orientation.

The 635 with the conversion kit fitted: film frame with transport sprocket, next to it the second pressure plate marked “120 or 35mm FILM”. Photo: Martinvl, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons, reduced in size

According to the manual, the complete kit includes a film frame with transport sprocket, a dedicated pressure plate, a take-up spool for 35mm, an adapter for the cartridge, a spacer ring for the lower spool pin and a mask for the sports finder. The changeover works like this:

1. Pull out the rewind release “R” and turn it, insert the film frame, then set R back again.
2. Screw the spacer ring onto the lower spool pin, insert the cartridge with adapter at the bottom and the 35mm spool at the top, then insert the 35mm pressure plate and close the back.
3. Film is now advanced with the upper spool knob, and after each shot you press the 35mm film lock. You set the separate 35mm frame counter to 1 by hand.
4. To rewind, release R and turn the lower spool knob.

Ozzoy PhotOz shows step by step what this looks like in practice, along with the sprocket hole shots he tries out afterwards:

Video: “The Experience – Yashica 635 35mm Kit & Sprocket Hole Photography”, Ozzoy PhotOz. Installation of the conversion kit starts after just over a minute and a half.

The focusing screen shows which area gets exposed, with a red rectangle and four short lines for parallax compensation at close range. In everyday use this is slower than any 35mm camera. The appeal lies elsewhere: with one camera and two film formats in your bag, you decide on the go whether the next roll will be square or 35mm.

Ask about the conversion kit when buying. The conversion kit consists of around seven small parts. After fifty years one is often missing, as the blogger behind chopsphoto also found out. Check the focusing screen too: some 635s have a replaced screen without the red 35mm rectangle, in which case you are shooting 35mm blind. Without the conversion kit, you are left with a knob-wind Yashica for 120 film, technically close to the Yashica D. If everything is there, the system works well: in the Flickr group for the 635, owners confirm that the camera stops cleanly at every frame in 35mm too. In our survey, the 635 sold privately at a median of 205 euros, and checked by a dealer at around 299 euros. From a dealer, that makes it the cheapest model in this comparison; privately it is roughly on par with the LM and EM. Offers were few and far between, though.

35mm in the 124 or 124G

No conversion kit from Yashica is known for the crank models. If you still want to run 35mm film through a 124G, you center the cartridge in the 120 film chamber with adapter pieces. The film then runs through the camera without backing paper and is exposed across its full width. The result is images with visible sprocket holes, not a clean 35mm format as with the 635. Because there is no backing paper, you rewind the film by hand in the dark at the end. A user in the Flickr group for the 124 describes doing this in a dark closet. Such adapter pieces are available from several suppliers, from us for example an adapter for cameras with a standard 120 spool holder (19,95 €). Nobody guarantees clean frame spacing with this DIY solution; the first roll is an experiment. A good match is our viewfinder mask for the 124 and 124G (22,95 €), which marks the strip in the viewfinder that the 35mm film actually gets exposed on.

5. Which accessories fit the Yashica Mat?

All Yashica Mat models, the 635 and the D have the same bayonet on both lenses for filters, caps and lens hoods. This bayonet is called Bay I; Yashica itself referred to it as the 30 mm bayonet. The same bayonet is found on the Rolleiflex T, on most Rolleicords and on the Minolta Autocord, so their accessories also fit the Yashica and vice versa. Which Rollei has which bayonet is listed in our overview of the Bay I to III bayonets. There are two exceptions in the family: the Yashica A takes 32 mm slip-on filters, and the Yashica 44 has a smaller 28,5 mm bayonet, which some dealers also call Bay I.

First, a lens hood

The Yashinon is sharp, but with a bright sky and side light it is more prone to flare than the lenses of the expensive Rolleiflex. Ian Grant, who uses a Yashica and a Rolleiflex side by side, therefore advises in the Photrio forum to always keep the lens hood on the lens. Aivaras at 35mmc comes to the same conclusion: in resolution, his 124G keeps up with his Rolleiflex 2.8GX, but against the light the Rollei holds contrast clearly better. Original hoods from Yashica and Rollei turn up used, and there are also replicas from various manufacturers.

Lens hood for Bay I with built-in cold shoe, holding a small light meter. This gives even models without an accessory shoe a place for an external light meter. Photo from our own stock.

From our own production, a lens hood (24,95 €, with cold shoe 34,95 €) and a double cap for both lenses (17,95 €) fit all Bay I cameras. For standard screw-in filters there is a hood with filter thread for 39 or 46 mm (24,95 €). Everything else, from filter adapters to battery covers, is collected on our Yashica Mat accessories page.

Telephoto and wide-angle attachments

No Yashica Mat has interchangeable lenses. Instead, Yashica offered attachments that are fitted in pairs onto the taking and viewing lenses. According to a Kyocera brochure, this changes the focal length to about 113 mm or 58 mm respectively. There were also close-up lenses in two strengths. Today the sets are rare and not cheap. How they perform is shown in the 35mmc test linked above, and Paul Sokk lists what other original accessories existed on his accessories page.

Accessory shoe and flash

The 124 and 124G have an accessory shoe without a center contact on the left side. The flash fires via the cable at the flash sync socket, with electronic flash at the X setting at all speeds up to 1/500 s, because the leaf shutter sits in the lens. If you put a small light meter or a spirit level in this side shoe, the accessory points sideways instead of forward. For this case there are angle adapters, including ours as a 90-degree cold shoe (21,95 €). The Yashica-Mat, LM and EM have no shoe at all. The manuals provide for a flash bracket on the tripod socket.

A brighter focusing screen?

Before you put money into a new screen, it's worth taking a look at the old one. Often the viewfinder is only dark because the mirror is dirty or dust has collected between the Fresnel lens and the focusing screen. Matz's test report describes both of these as well. A detailed video by Visuals by Kam shows how to remove and clean the focusing screen and mirror. Comparing it with the Rolleiflex and Rolleicord, a moderator in the hobbyphoto-forum even found the viewfinder image of the 124G more evenly bright right into the corners. If you still want to upgrade, Rick Oleson's BrightScreen offers retrofit screens which, according to customer reviews, have also been fitted to the 124G. Emulsive has an illustrated installation guide for twin-lens cameras.

6. What a Yashica Mat costs in 2026

For the prices, on 28 September 2026 we evaluated all listings on Kleinanzeigen and eBay located in Germany, filtered out accessories, bundles and wanted ads, and calculated the median for each model. These are asking prices; the amount actually paid is usually a little lower. The ranking of the models is more reliable than the individual euro, especially since, apart from the 124G, there were only a handful of listings for each.

Asking prices on Kleinanzeigen and eBay (item location Germany), collected on 28.09.2026. Column “checked at dealer”: average price for the condition “Certified” according to the model pages of Kamerastore in Helsinki, not a current listing.

Two things stand out. Among private sellers, the 124 and 124G are roughly level at the top, while the older models without a CdS cell cost about half to two thirds as much. At dealers, on the other hand, the gap shrinks: there almost all crank models cost between 500 and 750 euros. What you mainly pay for there is the inspected copy. Incidentally, a Rolleiflex T with a comparable four-element lens came in at a median of 624 euros in the same German listings. On eBay, many sellers from abroad also offer cameras, especially from Japan. There the median for the 124G was around 370 euros, plus shipping and, for goods from outside the EU, import duties.

The pre-purchase checklist

View into the waist-level finder of a Mat-LM: the image on the focusing screen is laterally reversed, and the scale of the selenium cell sits at the top. Photo: shando., CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr, resized

1. Crank through a test roll. Does the crank stop at each of the twelve frames? Transport faults, up to and including overlapping frames, are common in used Yashicas and hard to repair, as several owners report in the Photrio forum. With long shutter speeds, only wind once the shutter has finished running.
2. Listen to all shutter speeds. The long speeds from 1 s upwards must run for audibly different lengths. If a long speed hangs, that points to a gummed-up escapement, and a service is due. Never use the self-timer in the M setting; the manual itself warns against it.
3. Shine a light through the taking lens. Look through the lower lens from behind with a flashlight. According to a TLR repair shop on Reddit, the typical faults sit in the rear lens group: haze from old shutter grease, fungus, separating cement. Scratches in the upper lens only affect the viewfinder image.
4. Check the light meter (124 and 124G). Compare it against an app using a 1.35-volt cell and with the waist-level finder open. A dead light meter is no reason to keep your hands off the camera, but it is a good argument when it comes to the price.
5. Check the seals and the back (124G). Crumbly or sticky foam has to go, otherwise light will leak onto the film.
6. Look inside the battery compartment. Old cells that have leaked leave green corrosion on the contacts. And check whether the cover is still there.

oldengguy shows what such a run-through on a real Yashica Mat looks like, from the shutter speed test to the view through the lens, in a camera check on YouTube.

What a service costs and who does it

A Yashica that has sat in a cupboard for decades almost always needs a service, meaning cleaning, lubrication and adjustment, known in the trade as a CLA. We couldn't find current German prices. In forums, owners cite around 300 to 400 dollars in the US for 2025 and 2026, and in the UK around 250 pounds was quoted for a Mat-LM. The best-known specialists are hard to come by: Mark Hama, who used to work at the Yashica factory, was difficult to reach for several people in 2026. The second well-known name, Bob Sara, is booked up for around two years according to Reddit. In Germany, FFS+TriTec in Braunschweig serviced a 124G including new seals in 2023. The owner praises the clean work in the APHOG forum, though it wasn't cheap.

You'll find more addresses in our overview of repair workshops and in the workshop list from analoge-fotografie.net. If you add up a privately bought 124G and a service, you quickly end up close to the price of an inspected dealer copy. Our article “Does every broken film camera need a CLA?” helps you weigh up whether a service is worth it for your copy.

7. Digitizing 6x6 negatives

Twelve square negatives with sides of a good 5,6 cm per roll, that's almost four times the area of a 35mm negative. That's exactly the headroom you don't want to throw away when digitizing.

Sunnyside Beach in Toronto, shot with a Yashica Mat-124G on Kodak Ektacolor PRO 160. Photo: 柳雩, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons, resized

The most convenient route is a scan from the lab that develops your film anyway. Ask them what resolution they scan at and whether there's a larger option for medium format. Our map of film labs shows which labs near you accept 120 film. A flatbed scanner can also take 120 film if its transparency unit is designed for medium format. But it's slow and usually gets less out of the large negative than is actually in it.

You get more detail by photographing the negatives with a digital camera and a macro lens. For this you need an even light source and a holder that keeps the film flat. Several manufacturers offer such systems, for example Valoi from Finland, and we also have a scanner set for 120 film (from 54,95 €). We've laid out how the systems differ in everyday use in a separate comparison of film scanner sets.

Which one should it be?

If you meter with an app or a handheld light meter anyway, go for a Yashica-Mat, an LM or an EM. You get the same Yashinon as in the 124G, don't need a battery and save considerably. According to the detailed review at Casual Photophile, even the early copies with the Lumaxar lens produce barely noticeably different images. In return, you give up the accessory shoe and, on most copies, a touch of brightness in the viewfinder.

If you want the light meter in the camera, go for a 124 or 124G, and pick the better copy, not the better letter. Budget for a 1,35-volt solution or a conversion to 1,5 volts at a workshop, and for the 124G also new seals.

If you want medium format and 35mm from one camera, go for a 635 with a complete conversion kit and accept that the knob and the separately cocked shutter are slower than the crank. One owner on Reddit, on the other hand, considers the knob the more reliable mechanism.

And compared to a Rolleiflex?

This question always comes up. The honest answer depends on the aperture. A photographer who owns a 124G and a Rolleiflex 3.5 with a Planar writes on Reddit that from f/8 onward there's hardly any visible difference in sharpness. In backlight, the Planar holds up better. A long-time Rollei owner in the same thread sees the Planar clearly ahead wide open and in the corners. The Rolleiflex is smoother to operate and more solidly built, but also costs considerably more. If you're interested, our Rolleiflex buying guide covers the whole model family from the Rolleicord to the 2.8F. Kyle McDougall shows a direct comparison with a Rolleicord, the simpler Rollei line:

Video: “Rolleicord vs. Yashica Mat 124G | Which TLR should you buy?”, Kyle McDougall. Build, handling, viewfinder image and image quality in separate chapters.

Read on and ask further

The most thorough source on all twin-lens Yashicas is Paul Sokk's site, yashicatlr.com. There you'll find the model history, details on bodies and trim, and a table for dating your copy by its serial number. A neutral overview of all crank-advance models is on camera-wiki.org. The original manuals for the Yashica-Mat, Mat-LM and Mat-EM are available online as PDFs; those for the 124, 124G and 635 are linked in the chapters above. For questions about a specific copy, turn to the Flickr group for the Yashica Mat 124(G) or the community on r/AnalogCommunity.

A word about us: everything we make for the Yashica Mat is on our accessories page. You'll find more buying guides, from the Rollei 35 to the Mamiya, in the overview of our guides.

Sources

• Yashica: instruction manuals Mat-124, Mat-124G, Yashica-Mat, Mat-LM, Mat-EM, 635
• Yashica: brochures for the Mat-124G, around 1970 and Kyocera era around 1983
• Paul Sokk, yashicatlr.com: Models & Specs, Yashica-Mat 1957, 635 and D, Mat-LM to 124G, Lenses & Shutters, Bodies & Trim
• camera-wiki.org: Yashica 6×6 TLR (crank advance)
• Photrio: Battery for a Yashica Mat 124g (2014), Inspecting used Yashica Mat 124 (2010), Rolleiflex vs Yashicamat 124G (2013)
• Flickr groups: Calibrating meter in 124 (2014), Em vs 124g (2012), Yashica 635, 35mm adaptor (2010)
• Classic Camera Repair Forum: Yashica-Mat 124 light meter switch stuck (2011)
• Matz, lichtgriff.de: Yashica Mat-124 G (2020)
• Aivaras, 35mmc: Yashica Mat 124G and its auxiliary lenses (2019)
• APHOG forum: Yashica Mat 124 G, looking for a specialist repair shop (2023)
• Reddit r/AnalogCommunity: 124g Tessar vs Rolleiflex 3.5 Planar (2026), Yashica Mat 124G Repair Recommendations (2026), Yashica 635 vs Mat 124g (2019)
• Used prices: our own analysis of classified ads and eBay (item location Germany) on 28.09.2026, reference prices from Kamerastore