One of our favorite cameras from Yashica (and my first) is the famous and highly popular Yashica TL Electro-X. Yashica had a major hit on their hands when it was introduced to much fanfare in the late 1960s. A fully electronic camera that featured a “IC Brain” that controlled exposure settings and shutter speeds could be timed from 2 seconds to 1/1000 second with infinite in between settings. The TL Electro-X was sold around the world for many years – actually up through the mid 1970s.
The TL Electro-X seen here as the ITS model.
Top plate spare part. The gothic ‘Y’ on the pentaprism was/is synonymous with the TL Electro-X body whether it was in pro black or traditional silver.
Recently discovered Danish ad for the TL Electro-X. As the ads says, the “world’s most advanced SLR”.
The ad above was recently sent to me by my good friend Paul Sokk from Australia – http://www.yashicatlr.com – The ad is from June 1972 and what’s interesting to us is the missing gothic ‘Y’ on the pentaprism. Up until now we weren’t aware of any models without the ‘Y’. No big deal – it’s just a curious variation. We’ve also discovered that Yashica (for whatever reason) also had models that the traditional red ‘X’ was changed to black. See below.
Camera on the left with what appears to be a black ‘X’ vice traditional red ‘X’.
Our best guess as to why the Danish ad has a TL Electro-X without the ‘Y’ would be that the local trading company or distributor wanted Yashica to supply cameras that were different than what was for sale in let’s say France or Germany. It’s not unheard of that Yashica supplied different distributors with slightly different body and lens sets. The Yashica J-P and its odd little 5cm f2.8 preset lens from 1964 comes to mind.
April 1969 ad from a Danish photography magazine.
As always we endeavor to bring you the most accurate information about Yashica and its cameras. We welcome comments and of course, if something we’ve said is incorrect please let us know – or simply share additional info if you have some. Thanks
Chris & Carol
Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris 
I like how the Danish ad describes the Yashica Electro-X’s abilities: “If only you have an eye for the scene/subject, Yashica will add the brains.” 🙂
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Too funny! Thank you for the translation. It’s fun digging up these old ads for Yashica.
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I have the “Danish” TL Electro X (I am situated in Denmark). It was part of a collection I acquired last year. It even has a nice serial number: 90100060. I could make a photo for your page.
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Hello. That would be awesome! Thanks. Yes, that’s an interesting serial number.
Chris
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How can I get the photo to you, sorry for being uninformed! The size is 2000x1500px
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You can send it to coastalbreez1@yahoo.com and I will post it showing you as the contributor.
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