Month September 2017

How to date a pretty little Yashica… *

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

More exactly, how to decode the serial numbers on the Yashica YE 35mm rangefinder camera.

*Not an official Yashica dating site.

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We touched on this briefly the other day, but the Yashica YE serial number might have a date code embedded in it. We say might have because we are working off only a 25 camera database – possibly not enough to make a definitive call.

In the example above, the serial number (No. 392745) appears to decode to: 3 = March, 9 = 1959 and 2745 = 2,745th made.

The earliest camera in our database is: (No. 128049) which would be 12 = December, 8 = 1958 and 049 = the 49th made.

The latest in the database is: (No. 699821) which is 6 = June, 9 = 1959 and 9821 = 9,821st made.

Reports on some sites on the Internet claim that only 4,000 cameras were made. The serial numbers, if consecutive and continuous would seem to contradict that. For the moment, let’s keep an open mind about the serial number decoding. More info is needed to fill in the December 1958 and post June 1959 production numbers from Yashica.

If you have some additional info or serial numbers to share, please feel free to share that with us.

Thanks!

Be sure to check out some of our fine art prints available at https://society6.com/ccstudio2380

Chris and Carol

Lovely building along the tracks.

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Our “vintage” town was conceived in the mid 1850s with many of the buildings from the 1870s onward still standing (commercial and private). Our town was skipped over by progress so we’re fortunate to have retained some of our Southern charm into the 21st century.

Here’s a neat old building that’s the last one on the south side of Centre Street – closest to the railway station and still active tracks.

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If you look closely at the far right side you’ll see a passing freight train.

I’ve photographed this store in it’s many versions over the years… now it’s a jewelry store that been nicely reimagined. I love the faint outlines of previous advertisements on its side.

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Note the rather large cedar trees on the property. The Lesesne House. Built just prior to the start of the Civil War.

Further down Centre Street and right next to the c1911 post office is this lovely home. One of the few remaining private homes (not B&B) still left in the downtown center.

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The cedar tree that is in front of this house.

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The Lesesne House (c1860) as seen from the historic post office parking lot.

Side view of the Lesesne House along Centre Street (above). c1911 post office below.

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Thanks for stopping by! All images were taken with my Fujifilm X-A10 with Canon FD 24mm f2.8 lens.

Please be sure to check out our collection of fine art photography prints available at https://society6.com/ccstudio2380

Chris

Finally! A Pentamatic II will be joining our Yashica family!

Chris and Carol 4 Comments

Success! After literally years of searching and countless missed bids, we’ve acquired a Yashica Pentamatic II. One of Yashica’s lowest production cameras – ever. Estimated at less than 5 thousand – and since it failed in the marketplace and wasn’t distributed outside of Japan, it wasn’t considered a collector’s camera and many were simply dumped whenever they broke. It’s hard to estimate how many exist today, but a wild guess would be around 1 to 2 thousand (and that may be high). Production started in August 1960 and for the most part ended in very early 1961 (late January) when the Pentamatic S came out worldwide.

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Yashica Pentamatic II – the hardest Pokemon of all to catch!

Our camera has the original short lived Auto Yashinon f1.7 5.8cm lens. It also has the correct leather strap and strap hangers and comes with the original Yashica metal lens cap and lower leather case.

This has been a long chase – but fun! The camera was sold as “junk” – Yahoo Japan Auction speak for a camera that is not functioning properly or has not been fully tested. Sometimes junk cameras are little gems and sometimes they are as the word junk implies.

We’ll have more about our exciting find in the next few weeks as our little Yashica sails or flies across the Pacific to our studio (at many thousands of yen).

Thanks for your visit and stay tuned!

Chris ^.^