
Peace and happiness in the New Year! – Chris

Peace and happiness in the New Year! – Chris
I guess it’s required to do some type of “best of” as the New Year approaches so here’s my take on it. I thought about picking my own favorites from the year but that’s too hard – so I decided to let my Flickr friends do it for me. The following images garnered the most “favorites” during the year but not necessarily the most views. Thanks to all of the followers of my blog here on WordPress – I enjoy reading your posts and I especially enjoy your comments. Peace and Happiness in the New Year! – Chris
My Flickr page can be found here
These are in no particular order and it’s obvious that I take a bunch of pics of cameras! Do you have a favorite? Please let me know in the comments section – thank you!























My favorite pic of me because it was taken by my lovely wife Carol.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a fantastic 2019 and beyond!!! – Chris
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.
Copyright © 2015-2018 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.

A foggy North Florida morning seemed like the perfect time to grab a shot of my maple trees. This is about as much color as we can get out of these river maples without having a freeze or frost. I’m rather proud of these two as I grew them from seeds taken from one of my other maples in the backyard. I started them in pots and then transferred them to the front yard. I’d guess that these are just shy of ten years old – they’re doing well in the front which gets lots of afternoon sunlight.
Camera – Samsung Galaxy S8+
Thanks for stopping by! – Chris
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.
Copyright © 2015-2018 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.

A trio of 1950s Japanese 35mm rangefinder cameras. Starting from the top, the Yashica YE was made shortly after Yashica acquired Nicca in 1958. In the middle, the Nicca 3-S was one of the last cameras made with the Nicca name and last, the Tower Type-3 which was made by Nicca for the Sears, Roebuck and Company around 1951. All of these were considered to be excellent “copies” of the Leica rangefinder.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! – Chris
By the way, I’m having a big after Christmas sale in my online camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com – stop by and see if something strikes your fancy! ^.^
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.
Copyright © 2015-2018 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
A few found images from a quick trip I made to the track back in 1972. I believe these were taken with my Yashica TL Electro-X on Kodak Plus X Pan and developed by myself. The original negatives were in horrible condition and this is the best that my humble photo editor can make them.
“Vintage” funny cars of the day.

Joe Winter’s new Mustang body on his older funny car frame. Joe stopped racing at the end of 1972. Chrysler 392 Hemi powered, a nitro-fueled rocket capable of nearly 200 mph in the quarter mile.

1971 Chevy Vega body funny car of “Big Mike” Burkhart.

“Big Mike” Burkhart’s Vega funny car with its 426 Chrysler engine. Mike pictured on the left.

Camaro vs. Maverick

1969? Camaro

Mart Higginbotham’s Vega body funny car – it could be a Camaro body but I don’t think so.

The Central Florida Dragway was located just east of Orlando off of SR 520 west from Cocoa Beach. It’s still in operation today.
Thanks for stopping by! – Chris
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.
Copyright © 2015-2018 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
Hope everybody had an enjoyable Christmas. A nice way to start off your after Christmas day!


Christmas cactus – the gift that keeps on giving! Chris
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.
Copyright © 2015-2018 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.

A very Merry Christmas to all! – Chris, Carol & family
Remembering a very special trip to California in 2004 – our 30th wedding anniversary and a fun time for the kids.

Lindsay, Chris, Carol and Tim out front. We were also celebrating their March birthdays too.
Have a beautiful day and if I don’t see ya, have a Merry Christmas! – Chris
Time for another look at this underappreciated Yashica.
Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris
I know – the FR II and the F-1 are miles apart in features (and price). I purchased my first Yashica, a TL Electro-X in 1971 and used it faithfully through much of the 1970s. Being a young (and married) US Navy Sailor and money deprived, the TL suited me just fine – until I was transferred to Japan in 1977. If you were ever stationed in Yokosuka then you know what Building A33 means. It was the Navy Exchange camera and stereo heaven!!! Reps from all of the major camera manufacturers were present and demonstrated their latest gear to the now cash flush Sailors. Upstairs was a branch of Navy Federal Credit Union… if you couldn’t afford it, finance it! Pure bliss.
I’m so easily distracted.
So it was time for me to upgrade my trusty TL Electro-X, so naturally I looked at what Yashica had to offer. The…
View original post 507 more words
When you chase down something for over forty years the payoff should be special – it was! It’s not like these beasts are rare, if I had had a few more bucks in my pocket back in 1978 I could have purchased it for around $400 at the Navy Exchange in Yokosuka along with my F-1. But being an underpaid and over-deployed Sailor there’s only so much money to throw at cameras when there were hi-end stereos still to buy. ^.^

No one I knew at the time (including myself) needed one of these – they were meant for professional photographers and I was certainly not that. But how could a 25-year-old “camera bug” not want it? Just look at it! Crazy big but powerful and that sound it made when burning through film at 3.5 fps – wow! The F-1 was already a monster to lug around and this bit of motorized mayhem would add over 2 pounds to an already strained neck.

Yum-yum, eat ’em up!
So after 40 years I broke down and bought my Canon Motor Drive MF on eBay from a large camera retailer on the West Coast. I believe I got it at a great price – $60 plus shipping for a fully working and in nearly mint condition. I’m very happy with it and yes, it’s still a ridiculous piece of camera hardware but it harkens back to another time and place in photography and that makes it worth it.

It’s almost as big as the camera itself!

A gentle reminder that when in the continuous mode that the shutter speed range is from a low of 1/60 to a max of 1/2000. Single frame allows shooting down to 1 second.

It looks great on my original F-1 from 1978 and it’s a fun reminder of those heady days back in Japan when I wanted anything that could be attached to the F-1. After 40 years it just feels right! Merry Christmas to me.
Thanks for stopping by! – Chris
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.
Copyright © 2015-2017 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.