Originally posted by cooltouch l
You're the second guy now that I've heard say this. There was another fellow over at mflenses.com who told me that he actually thought the Autocord was a better performer optically than both the Yashica Mat 124 with its Yashinon and the Rolleiflex with its Tessar. And he also commented on the camera's build quality as being quite high. This got me intrigued, but whenever I looked for one on eBay they were selling for major bucks. Especially the ones with meters. They were selling for Rollei F prices and more. Whew! I just took another look at Autocords over there. Yikes! Prices ranging from $135 to $1800. My problem is, I don't know which of the cheaper ones are worth buying. So, I've just kept plugging along with my Yashica Mat 124, and I've been very pleased with the results.
I had a 124G vs Diacord comparison in the defunct yashica forum... Lens wise, I'd say my Diacord G is contrastier and edge-sharper than the Yashica; the Yashica on the other hand has more realistic gradation and blending, without loss of detail. Equal but different.
The Autocord I think beats both; the lens quality combines the best of the two above; the build quality is much better than either (remember I'm talking about 124G)...
In general, I don't like metered TLRs - they tend to be heavier ugly ducklings (Yashica excepted).
In an exception to my bottom fishing habits, I bought the 124G directly from Mark Hama. I bought the Autocord very cheap on ebay (banged up etc), and ended up sending it to Karl Bryan for CLA and fixing & put in new camera leather dot com leatherette. Now my Autocord is ultra smooth, the kind of smooth I've mainly felt with a well CLAd Rollei: feels like with age and use these cameras have melded into human hands... the 124G does not reach this quality.
I bought the Diacord a few years ago for $25 -before the TLR craze- and it is missing one of its bottom feet - I have put electrical tape on the inside to block the light leak.
---------- Post added 06-09-2015 at 09:27 AM ----------
The Hardie Tank Wagon. full frame and detail.
1. Autocord, Ilford HP5+
2. Diacord G, Tmax 400
"100%" crop with the Diacord
not a crop, with the Autocord
To my surprise I haven't taken a pic of the Hardie with the Yashica Mat!
However, 124G + Neopan 100
and '100%' of the same frame
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Zeiss Super Ikonta 6x6 with a Tessar, wide open @ f/2.8, Holga 400 (Foma)
Foma 400 in the 124G
Diacord didn't note the film