Yashica T3 Scope Hack

I was well impressed with the photos from my Yashica T3 - not so impressed with the puny magnification of the waist-level finder. Here's a very simple addition to your T3's N.A. scope which helps composition considerably. Not much hacking to be done. Any small magnifying lens, or front element from a donor camera will work. I had a broken Zeiss Ikon "Idiotica" handy, which has now found new life. You might as well use good glass :)

Step 1:

Take an old bicycle tube of a size that fits your lens or lens housing (yet another use of this great resource!) and cut a few lengths off. For my lens 12mm worked well, magnifying the image and a small portion of the scope frame. Yours will vary depending on the chosen lens. Experiment!

You could also use any tube from cardboard, rubber or plastic that fits your set-up.

I kept my lens attached within its retainer which has a threaded end, so I was able to simply stretch my tight fitting tube straight on without any glue. It looks like an extra camera control that you are simply fiddling with, which is good for candid shots. It can even stretch over the little lens for protection when not in use.

Simply hold the lens/rubber tube assembly between thumb and forefinger above the N.A. scope. No attachment is neccessary, and this gives you even more control of the magnification just in case you need that tiny bit extra.

Remember the film winding is loud with the T3 - unless you hold the shutter down. It only winds on once pressure is released.

Step 2:

These last 3 photos show the difference with and without the add-on. Approx. 2x magnification. Remember, also, that you will be magnified to your subject to some degree, if they were looking in your direction.

Yashica really made a stunner of a camera with the T3, IQ wise. I'm not really sure why they couldn't manage to factory fit something like this into the camera body.

Enjoy.

Note: I am not advocating any form of sneaky photograhpy with this instructable, I intend simply to improve on the design of an otherwise great camera, and the pursuit of more natural expressions from your subjects.