We recently came across this sales brochure (catalog actually) for Fujifilm. Straight from Japan (Kanagawa Prefecture) to our blog! Hard to date some of these brochures as they almost never had dates or even some type of a date code. Our guess on this one would be 1955 or so based on the design of the film boxes. We could be wrong so please correct us if we are.

“Cute” ad from Fuji Film. Along the same lines as the early Coppertone ads.

Check out the ASA 10 Fujicolor film box. It had better be really really bright out and during mid day to get away with ASA 10! Below is a scan from the inside of the catalog. Great looking camera!

The super small kanji to the lower left of the camera image translates to ‘Hosokawa Letterpress Office Inko.

How does this relate to Yashica? Not directly really but some of our early Yashica instruction booklets feature Neopan film in the book.

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    From the July 1960 issue of Modern Photography magazine. What we find most interesting in this article can be found in the opening paragraph. Describing the Pentamatic as a “relatively small, lightweight, quiet-shutter single-lens reflex incorporating a number of features found only in cameras costing a good deal more.” Interesting that the reviewer did not mention that this was Yashica’s first ever single-lens reflex camera. It would seam important to the reader as Yashica had a reputation of building fantastic twin-lens reflex cameras and some beautiful rangefinders. Our guess is that compared to the other cameras that were available in early 1960, one could say that the Pentamatic was small and lightweight. Pick up a Pentamatic with the standard f/1.8 5.5 cm lens, and by today’s standards, it’s anything but small and lightweight! We do agree however that the Pentamatic has a quiet shutter and the price was certainly good compared to the other SLRs.

From the July 1960 issue of Modern Photography magazine.

    The specifications were supplied by Yashica from the official press releases during the March-April 1960 time frame. The entire article was written from that information with what appears to be a very brief test of the camera. No mention of the quality of the images taken with the Pentamatic other than to say that the normal lens produced little to no significant fall-off of edge sharpness at full aperture (f/1.8). The reviewer did state that the chrome finish wasn’t too good but that another technician liked it just as it is.

Often the design of such a simple thing (here a box) can tell much about a company, its history and its growth. Yashima (later Yashica) was founded in 1953 in a then very crowded Japanese camera market. The Japanese people were urged by the American occupation authority to essentially grow technology industries so that the country could earn some much needed currency. By producing sophisticated products such as cameras that would appeal to foreign markets, Japan would strengthen the yen against other currencies and offset some of their imports of raw materials, oil and food.

How does this relate to boxes? It doesn’t directly but it does show that at least one company (others did it too) was a serious player in the dynamic camera industry of the early 1950s. Yashima had to show the world that although their cameras (mostly TLRs) were inexpensive, they were of the highest quality. The construction of such a simple thing as a presentation box had to stand out among the other manufacturer’s boxes (mainly those from Germany) and compete for space on camera dealer’s shelves and attract potential buyers to at least take a look at the camera inside. The early 1957 (below on the left) box weighs in at 352 grams empty and the box from 1964 weighs 155 grams. That’s a big difference to be sure. The early box took more time and demanded more material to construct then the simple 1964 box which was printed flat and stapled together rather then glued (think cereal box). That’s a big change and reflects a strong desire by Yashica to maximize its profit in the rapidily changing marketplace of the mid 1960s.

We should point out that by the mid 1960s, Yashica was producing record numbers of twin-lens reflex cameras (TLRs) even as the world market demand for them was decreasing. By 1964 (the year the newer box was constructed) Yashica was producing high quality 35 mm single-lens reflex cameras (SLRs) as well as innovative 35 mm rangefinder cameras and sophisticated 8 mm movie cameras. Before the decade of the 1960s would end, Yashica pioneered the use of electronic photography and the use of “computers” to control exposure and shutter speeds in their SLRs like the extremely popular TL Electro-X.

Early 1957 Yashica Model A presentation box on the left and on the right the simple 1964 box.

Bottom of the 1957 box.