Fujifilm Instax Wide 300 Review

January 25, 2018Chris and Carol 4 Comments

Time for a Reblog – We have some new Instax Wide Monochrome film coming from B&H – We’ll review it as soon as we can!

I wish Yashica was still around… the ‘real’ Yashica from Japan not H.K.

But they’re not so what’s a Yashica freak to do if you want to review new gear and new film formats? Well you turn to my go to camera makers (for the record; Yashica, Canon, Fujifilm)… Fuji Photo Company as they used to be known. Now just Fujifilm. I do appreciate the Fujica line of cameras and would love to own a Fujicaflex and a Fujicarex! But I wander as I often do.

I’ve had my eye on the line of Instax film cameras from Fujifilm ever since they introduced the Instax film (I might have been a little behind the times here). Anyway, since I’ve almost always have had an instant film camera… Polaroids and the Kodak EK4, I decided to splurge and get the Fujifilm Instax Wide 300. Why? The format. I like wide shots…

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Fujifilm Instax 100 “Wide Picture Format” Instant Print Camera – 1999

January 25, 2018January 25, 2018Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Fujifilm’s very first Instax film camera – released in May 1999. This beautiful camera takes the wide format Instax film that produces images of 6cm x 9cm (actual 6.2cm x 9.9cm) in glorious full color – now Instax is available in monochrome too!

fuji monochrome

The camera features a quality Fujinon 95mm lens (2 elements 2 groups) set at f14 and designed to use Instax film rated at ISO800. The shutter fires at 1/64-1/200th of a second. There’s a control to lighten or darken the exposure and an LCD that clearly shows your picture count. The lens focuses from 0.9m to 3m and from 3m to infinity with the push of a button.This set comes in its original box, has an unopened pack of Fujifilm (dated 2001), the original strap, and the instructions. Oh, and four new Fujifilm (AA) batteries!

If you’re interested in purchasing this unique (and a rather rare set) it’s available in our online shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com

We can be contacted via secure email at chriscarol@ccstudio2380.com

Stop by and check out our other unique and hard to find cameras – a great way to get into film photography and show off your “Modern Classic”!

Thanks for stopping by!

C&C ^.^

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Yashica J-7 and Yashica TL – the last of a series and the start of a new era

January 25, 2018January 25, 2018Chris and Carol Leave a comment

The Yashica J-7 was the last camera in Yashica’s popular J-Series of 35mm SLR cameras that ran from about late 1962 to early 1968. They were: the J-3, J-5, J-4, and the J-7. You could throw in the J-P but the J-P was closer in design and function to the Penta J and not the J-Series. All of these SLRs featured the famous and common M42 screw mount lens camera bodies.

The J-Series featured a CdS exposure meter which was built into the camera body on the camera’s left front top plate (see images below). The disadvantage of this type of meter was that the exposure readings did not accurately reflect the amount of light passing through the lens. Adjustments needed to be made if filters were used. The Yashica TL was Yashica’s first SLR to feature an exposure meter built inside of the camera and took readings through the attached lens (hence the “TL” for through the lens). As Yashica stated in the instruction booklet for the TL – “The two CdS resistors measures the average degree of light entering through the lens and directed to the focusing groundglass. In other words, the average value of light directed to the film plane is accurately computed”. This was a giant step for Yashica and would lead them to pioneer the use of electronics in photography as each new SLR made major advances towards the goal of accurate “computer controlled” exposure readings. The Yashica TL Electro-X and the ITS were the pinnacles of these accomplishments by late 1969 and early 1970.

A close-up view of the CdS exposure meter on the J-7.

The last SLR in the famous J-Series of cameras.

The J-Series of 35mm SLR cameras from Yashica. The J-3 was the only one to be released in a pro-black finish.

The “Best of the Best” – Yashica’s ITS model of the TL Electro-X.

And there you have it. A very short history of Yashica’s early 35mm SLR cameras.