I know…

I know… we’ve gone a bit overboard with all this “Fujipet Thing”. One post after another… posts in flickr and posts on our blog (which is supposed to be about the Pentamatic)! We just can’t get enough of our little pet.

I imagine some of this has to do with the Fujipet being considered as a toy camera by many citing the plastic lens and simple operation as the basis for their statements. As best we can tell, the original idea behind the Fujipet was to design an attractive and quirky camera that would allow novice photographers to experience the joys of photography… medium format photography with large 6 x 6 cm negatives that enlarge nicely to let’s say 5 x 5 inches. The original brochures and the instruction book clearly point out that the Fujipet was designed for women and children to experience “picture taking” without lugging around pounds of equipment and learning how to read an exposure meter or focus. Point and shoot as they say.

The prints may not be on par with more expensive medium format cameras but they’re not horrible either. The softened edges of the image help to direct the eye towards the center of the picture and gives a somewhat vintage feel to the shot.

For basic 6 x 6 cm photography we completely recommend the Fujipet as a vintage camera that’s worth taking a look at. By the way, we used Fujifilm Neopan 100 Acros 120 film and had the film developed and printed with http://www.thedarkroom.com

Having used the Fujipet in the field I can say that it will become a part of our picture taking gear… its ability to capture quality images without a lot of fuss makes it an attractive alternative to more expensive equipment.

Thanks for your visit… as always, we encourage comments and likes!

C&C

These fun guys are part of the Fuji Photo Film’s instruction booklet for the Fujipet.

From 1958 or so. Great ways to steady your camera!

Parts of the Fujipet.

Still waiting on our prints to be developed… stay tuned! And here’s one of the first images from our new Pet!

Strong late morning Florida sun in August. Lots of strong shadows and high contrast. The Fujipet handled it very well! The film used was FujiFilm Neopan Acros 100 black and white negative film. The columns are a very deep green and the door is a medium brown. I love the detail in the doors and the slight edge distortion of the frame. This is the actual scan of the 6x6cm negative with no post production.  

We sent the film to be processed at https://thedarkroom.com

More to come on another blog.

Thanks, C&C

We’re about ready to give our little Pet a work out with some fresh Fujifilm Neopan film. Probably the first time this little beauty had film in it since the 1960s!

It has a fixed focus plastic lens with a focal length of 70 mm and three aperture settings… f11, 16 and 22. Shutter speeds are bulb and 1/50 of a second. She weighs in at an impressive 288 grams with film!

We’ll be sure to post the images here!

The Fujipet getting its first roll of film in decades! A fresh roll of Neopan (SS) Acros 100 black and white negative film. Can’t wait to see what the Pet will do!

Exposure number one ready to go!

Ready for some picture taking!

Many thanks for your visit! Please let us know what you think and if you want to share something with us please feel free to do so!

Chris and Carol

Yashica has always called their user manuals ‘instruction booklets’. Here is a sample of the front and back covers of the Pentamatic ’35’ and the Pentamatic S booklets. These are seldom seen in their proper colors and with this amount of detail. The first booklet’s design draws its inspiration from the box that the camera comes in, which is often referred to as the presentation box. Same colors and same pentaprism design.

Original Pentamatic ’35’ front cover.

Pentamatic ’35’ back cover.

Pentamatic S front cover. Of course this booklet is simply referred to as ‘instructions’. It is one of the few that does not use the word ‘booklet’.

Pentamatic S back cover.

We do not have the Pentamatic II instruction booklet and would love to acquire one. If someone has a clear copy of one we would love to see it.

Thanks for the visit! As always, please share with us your likes and possibly dislikes about our blog. We are always looking to expand our knowledge of this often unseen camera from Yashica.

Chris & Carol

The Pentamatic ’35’ went into production starting in December 1959. Our best guess as to how many were built is just that… a guess based on body serial numbers. The original Pentamatic has a rather easy to decode serial number as it uses the year, month and sequential production number in the overall serial number. An example would be… 56003354. That serial number decodes to ‘5’ = May, ’60’ = 1960, and ‘03354’ = number 3,354 th made since December 1959. Later serial numbers for October, November and December would be 116015100 which would be ’11’ = November, ’60’ = 1960, and ‘15100’ = the 15,100 th made since December 1959.

Pentamatic ’35’ made in May 1960 and it is the 3,354 th made.

Staying on our best guess path, it appears that about 16,000 Pentamatic ’35’ bodies were built during the approximately 15 month production run. So that brings us to the Pentamatic S which was the last version of the Pentamatic series of cameras. The serial number date coding theory hasn’t been fully been decoded as there is way too few in our database.

Here’s a Pentamatic ’35’ that was built in January 1961 and was the 13,838 th made since production began.

The Pentamatic S back view. Our guess, and it’s a big guess, is that the model S body serial “might” be ‘1’ = 1961, ‘4’ = April, and ‘0294’ = 294 th made.

Pentamatic S front view all decked out. The lens pictured is the standard lens for the Pentamatic model II.

Thank you for your visit and as always, please share your views with us and please, if we’ve made a mistake correct us! Our goal is to provide the most accurate data on the Pentamatic series.

Chris and Carol

It would appear to the casual follower of this blog that we may have strayed off the Yashima-Yashica path a bit with our recent posts about the Fuji Photo Fujipet and the Shinano Pigeon 35 Model IIB. Yes we have and we’re even further away from current posts about the Yashica Pentamatic series of cameras. Guilty on all counts!

One of the things that attracted us to the Pentamatic 35 mm SLR in the first place was the general lack of accurate information on the web about the “mysterious” and seldom seen Pentamatic. Our goal was to enlighten the web with some new and hopefully correct info about Yashica’s first single-lens reflex camera which was released in the first half of 1960.

Our attempts to locate a good (and affordable) Pentamatic Model II for our collection have hit financial deed ends… that is to say that occasionally a Model II does come to auction but are going for near record prices in the ¥30,000 range and better! That is an indicator to us on just how rare that model is and why it shouldn’t be passed up by the collector. There is only a slight difference between the two models but in the terms of units sold new, the original Pentamatic 35 outsold the Model II at a 3 to 1 ratio or more. The Pentamatic S which was the last in the series, isn’t even advertised in the mainstream photography magazines of the early 1960s. In fact, magazine ads from as late as June 1962 were still running ads for the Pentamatic 35 and nothing for the Model II or S. Yashica pulled the plug quickly on the series and adopted the M42 mount for all future 35 mm SLRs.

The biggest change from the original Pentamatic 35 was the change over to a new lens (made by Tomioka Optical). The first Pentamatic came with the 5.5cm f/ 1.8 lens with exclusive Pentamatic bayonet mount. The Model II was fitted with the rather odd 5.8cm lens and a slightly faster f/ 1.7 aperture. It still held on to the bayonet mount.

The “new” Pentamatic Model II lens.

Could it be true? The first sighting of the Pentamatic II in a sales brochure for the Japanese home market.

Thanks for stopping by !

Chris and Carol

We were able to scan some images from the Fujipet’s instruction booklet and a scan of the ‘warranty card’ / registration card. If you’ve read one of our previous blog posts about the Fuji Photo Film Company’s Fujipet, then you have been introduced to a rather unique camera from Japan in the late 1950s.

A scan of the front cover of the Fujipet Camera instruction booklet. c1958

Back cover of the Fujipet instructions. Nice graphic showing which Fuji films to use given the sun conditions of the day.

Near the back of the user’s book is this lovely model showing us how to use a flash gun not mounted to the camera’s accessory shoe. The only problem… no direct wire connection.

Here is a scan of the front and back of the warranty / service / registration card that came with the Fujipet.

A scan of the front cover of the Fujipet Camera instruction booklet. c1958

The reverse of the card where you can tell Fuji Photo the who, what, when and where of your purchase.