Daydreaming that this is all only “temporary” and that he’ll resign at any moment.
“Click your heels together three times and say ‘There’s no place like home’ and you’ll be there.”
I couldn’t resist… it’s the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw that the challenge was “Temporary”.
Chris
To others, a big “oh, okay”. The Yashica Penta J was Yashica’s first 35mm SLR camera to use the common m42 screw-in lens mount. Released around September (?) 1961, it was basically a continuation of the Pentamatic series but with the different lens mount. The Penta J appears to have at least 3 versions – Version 1 (image below) retains the closest design to the Pentamatic S (minus the self timer lever below the shutter release button, the small lens release button and the neck strap lugs discussed below).
Yashica Penta J version 1.
Please note as to where the neck strap lugs are on this version of the Penta J (pictured above). The strap lugs are on the sides of the camera vice on the front as in later Yashica SLRs. Notice where the strap lugs have been moved to on the Pentamatic S (pictured below).
The strap lugs have been moved to the front of the top plate on the Pentamatic S. This was a departure from the first two Pentamatic models (pictured below).
The original Pentamatic ’35’ (left) and its Japanese market only cousin the Pentamatic II. Note that the strap lugs are just like the first version of the Penta J.
One of the things that’s been troubling us about the Penta J, is where did Yashica come up with the “J”? Were they following a progression of the alphabet? Did they just like the sound and look of the “J”? We can guess that the “Penta” was lifted from the camera it was replacing, the Pentamatic. As it turns out, the answer as to what the “J” stands for has been in a Japanese ad that we’ve had for years (image below) and never noticed until now!
We think this is one of the first ads for the Penta J anywhere. We don’t know if the camera pictured in the ad has the “filled-in J” like the Penta J version 1 camera above. The clue as to what the “J” stands for is circled in red and underlined in green.
If you look closely at the Japanese characters that I’ve circled in red, ジャガー they represent the word “jaguar”. If you then go to either Google Japan or Yahoo Japan and search for “Yashica Jaguar”, you’ll see at least 3 different blogs that refer to the Penta J as the “Jaguar”.
With that mystery (to us) solved, I believe that the Penta J fits in nicely to another camera that Yashica released in the summer of 1960 – the Yashica Lynx-1000 which is a 35mm fixed lens rangefinder camera (image below).
The Yashica Lynx. Released about a year before the Penta J = Jaguar.
The ad states that the camera goes by the nickname of the “wildcat” hence the name “Lynx” and that it “catches the moving body agility like its name”.
So there you have it – a minor mystery solved… and the answer was staring us right in the face!
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Chris
Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2017 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
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Some minor updates… November 8, 2017
Yashica’s first 35mm single-lens reflex camera with the Praktica-thread (M42) mount lenses was the Yashica Penta J… at least here in the United States and in Japan. Elsewhere (most of the world) the camera was known as either the Yashica Reflex 35 or Reflex J (Australia and possibly the U.K.). As best we can tell, they were all the same cameras with different top plates to accommodate the different names (logos).
Part of the demise (lack of sales success) of the well-built Pentamatic series of cameras that preceded the Penta J, was that Yashica decided to go with a Pentamatic exclusive bayonet mount lens system. Sturdy and well designed to be sure, but being unique limited the available lenses that could be swapped between cameras. The Praktica design M42 screw thread mounting system was in widespread use at the time and Yashica’s bayonet design just went against the flow.
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Beautiful wall tile in Valldemossa.
Canon F-1 with Canon FD 80-200mm f/ 4 zoom lens on Kodak Kodachrome 25 color slide film.
Majorca – Summer 1986
Chris
Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2017 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
Catching the light…
Have a beautiful day!
Chris and Carol
Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2017 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
Maybe not my most favorite statue in Florence (so many to choose from) but I like the effect that my 24mm lens gives the viewer – add in contrasty late day lighting and it was a tough shot to get. Wide angle lenses like the 24mm slightly pointed upward will give the most (pleasing) distortion.
Canon F-1 with Canon FD 24mm f/ 2.8 wide angle lens on Kodak Kodachrome 25 color slide film. The light meter in the F-1 handled the tricky lighting rather well. If I remember correctly, I took a spot reading of the building in bright sunlight and then the deep shadows behind the statue – I then adjusted the exposure settings to reflect an average of the two.
Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus, 16th Century – Florence
Thanks for your visit to the most beautiful place in all of Tuscany.
Chris
Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2017 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
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How quickly things change in Times Square. 1996 looks like eons ago… wait, it was eons ago!
Not the best of scans. Canon EOS Rebel 2000 on Kodak Kodacolor film. NYC – May 1996
Chris
Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2017 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
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Found photo from a quick trip to New York City during Fleet Week, 1996.
May 1996 – NYC
Canon EOS Rebel 2000 on Kodak Kodacolor
Chris
Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2017 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
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Our old dude hanging out with me (Chris) this afternoon while I was testing a new camera. Point a camera at him and he’s sure to look away.
Today in the garden.
He’s a sweetheart. AKA – Pirate, Andy Panda, Shamu, Pi-Pi and Old Dude. He’s about 16 years old give or take a year. He adopted us one day back in the summer of 2003.
A few years back – a younger Pirate.
Thanks for stopping by! Chris ^.^
Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2017 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
The Yashica Pentamatic S was the last camera in the Pentamatic series of Yashica’s first ever 35mm SLR. We believe that the S model was first produced (by serial number) in April 1961. Approximately 3,200 units later, Yashica stopped producing the S in March 1962.
The Pentamatic S was sold in the US as we have a sales brochure (in English) that features the model S along with the Yashica Penta J and Yashica J-3 (Yashica’s first m42 mount bodies). We’ve never seen an advertisement for the model S in any of the major camera magazines of the period. We aren’t aware of any sales brochures in Japanese either for the model S and we’re not sure that it was available in Japan. No solid proof one way or another yet.
So with all of that said, the Yashica Pentamatic S was produced for an extremely short period of time in very limited quantities (about 3,200 total worldwide). That alone makes finding the original box for the model S quite a rare find. So here it is –
It’s also one of the few Yashica camera boxes that feature a photograph of the camera on the box.
Back of the box specs for the model S.
Another interesting item (to us) is the lens that’s pictured on the box. By serial number, it was made by Tomioka Optical for Yashica in October 1959 and it would have been first used on the original Pentamatic ’35’. The model S went back to using the original lens on its newest model – all part of the general confusion at Yashica during an extremely busy period in the history of the company.
If you have anything relating to the Yashica Pentamatic S, please feel free to share it with us. In addition to being Yashica researchers we’re buyers of almost anything relating to Yashica. Contact us here or at chriscarol@ccstudio2380.com
Thanks for your visit! Chris ^.^
Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Copyright © 2015-2017 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris 