The Yashica Pentamatic was a bold entry into the world, albeit small world at that time, of the fastest growing segment of the photographic industry… 35 mm Single Lens Reflex (SLR) photography. Yashica had grown by leaps and bounds during the decade of the 1950s. In only 7 short years, Yashica was out producing such other well known names as Canon, Nikon and Olympus just to name a few. But Yashica in 1959 was well know for its Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) medium format cameras, excellent 35 mm rangefinder cameras and movie cameras… not SLRs. If Yashica wanted to contend in the “space age decade” of the 1960s, it needed a camera that would bring it into the future and it had to be something the company could strengthen its reputation on. The Pentamatic was conceived in mid 1959 and the first units were produced by December 1959. The marketing team in Tokyo had a large task ahead of them. Convince the world that this new 35 mm camera was worthy of their attention. So, boxes to ship and display their new camera had to be designed. They had to stand out on the already busy retailers shelves and window displays. Sales brochures and catalogs printed. Flyers and pamphlets distributed. Advertising campaigns launched. All this by a planned March 1960 release date! Here is just a small sample of what they produced.

Clean simple lines. Show the customers that this camera was a SLR! Not your dad’s TLR.

An early US sales brochure for the Pentamatic. Back cover design depicted.

No mistaking the details of this new camera… put it right on the box!

Boxes from early 1961… inner and outer boxes.