Asahi Pentax H2 and Yashica Pentamatic ’35’. Both cameras were on dealer’s shelves during the spring of 1960. The H2 was introduced in the autumn of 1959. Production began on the Pentamatic in December 1959 and was available for purchase in the US by June 1960.

The Asahi Pentax H2 and the Yashica Pentamatic ’35’ were direct competitors during the early 1960s. Yashica was well know for their high quality but low cost twin-lens reflex (TLR) cameras and were making a name for themselves with quality 8mm movie cameras and 35mm rangefinder and viewfinder cameras. The Pentax H2 was the next step for the Asahi Optical Company to take after the successes of the earlier Asahiflex, the first Pentax (1957) and then the Pentax K (1958). For Yashica, this was their first 35mm single-lens reflex (SLR) camera.

Approximately 41,000 Pentax models were sold before the H2 came to market by late 1959. We don’t know how many of the H2 models were made between October 1959 and June 1960 when the Pentamatic was first available for sale. A ‘guesstimate’ would be around 5,000 to 7,000 but no hard evidence exists to say how accurate that guess is. We do know that by May of 1960, Yashica had produced around 4,000 units. Our May dated Pentamatic has a production serial number of 3,354. One would think that Asahi had a tremendous advantage over Yashica just by the sheer number of SLRs produced before Yashica even got started.

Which camera was better? If we use longevity as the primary test, the Pentax H2 (S2) and the entire run of this Pentax series blows the Pentamatic away! The original Pentamatic ’35’, the Pentamatic II and the Pentamatic S models were basically gone by 1962 and by our estimate, only 25,000 units were built (the original Pentamatic ’35’ accounts for about 20,000 of that total alone). By some estimates, the Pentax H2/S2 sold 130,000 units between 1959 to 1963. If you take a look at eBay and Yahoo Japan auctions you’ll likely find at least a dozen or so H2/S2 cameras available for bids at any given time. Pentamatics seldom appear the model II and the model S are virtually non existent.

What’s different? A lot! First how about weight…

But weight doesn’t equal quality… or does it? It is of our opinion that Yashica wanted to appeal to two types of customers with the Pentamatic. The first would be the serious amateur photographer and the other would be budding professionals. At around $159 in the US, it was within a comfortable price range for both types of customers. The Yashica designers went “over the top” with the build… bigger and heavier had to be better and professionals would seriously consider the Pentamatic as it would stand up to the demands of rugged and repeated use. We agree with the designers. The Pentamatic’s weight does give the impression of quality… the fit and finish are pleasing too. That’s not to say that the Pentax feels or looks cheap or that it’s not designed well. We love the look of the Pentax and so did countless others.

Why all the extra weight and bulk for the Pentamatic? To handle the weight of the unique bayonet mounting for the Auto Yashinon lens was more than likely the reason. The M42 screw mounting for the Pentax meant that the body could be made smaller and lighter. Why Yashica decided to go with its own mount will never be known. At the time of the Pentamatic’s release, hundreds of lenses with the universal M42 mount were available. Compare that to the maybe three Pentamatic bayonet lenses available. This single reason, in our opinion, had to have turned away thousands of potential buyers. Yashica’s bayonet mount is actually very well designed and the mounting of the lenses was quick and secure with less than a one quarter turn. M42 screw mount lenses take about 3-5 revolutions to secure the lens.

The lens mounting flange on the Pentamatic body is 57mm… on the H2 it’s only 49mm. The overall dimensions of the two bodies  are rather telling… the base plates are almost the same… 139mm for the H2 and 141mm for the Yashica. The height of the body (base plate to top plate) is 72mm for the Pentamatic and 67mm for the Pentax. Overall height from the base plate to the highest point of the pentaprism is interestingly 90mm for both cameras.

Other differences and features…

Notice that the rewind knob (camera’s left side) on the H2 is easily accessible and has a more “standard” design then the Yashica’s which is recessed below the cold shoe. An advantage on the Pentamatic is that it came with a built-in shoe for a flash or light meter where the H2 required a shoe to be mounted to the eyepiece and rested on the pentaprism (which almost always left a dent). The film speed setting dial on the Pentax is located on the left side under the rewind knob. The Pentamatic’s was on the back center of the film door.

The right side of the H2 top plate. The exposure counter did not reset itself when the camera back was opened. Top shutter speed is 1/500th of a second. Shutter button is top mounted (traditional location).

The right side of the Pentamatic top plate. The smaller dial (with the red pointer) was set to show the amount of exposures on the film. The other small indicator (pointing to 15) was an automatic exposure counter. It does not reset itself when the film door is opened. The shutter speed dial indicates that the maximum speed of the shutter could be 1/1000th of a second. Shutter button was front mounted at a 45 degree angle… not a traditional location but one that feels correct to us.

Asahi Optical Company logo and name.

Angular design of the Pentamatic pentaprism.

Occasionally here at the ‘Fanatic’ we allow ourselves to get diverted from our love affair with Yashima-Yashica. We do enjoy blogging about other 35mm cameras that we find appealing. Today we have a nearly perfect example of one of the early 1970’s workhorses for the Fuji Photo Film Company, Limited, located in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan…. the Fujica ST701.

Billed as “the most compact and light weight (780g with f/1.8 lens) full-size 35mm camera with built-in exposure meter in the world” with a complete line of professional caliber interchangeable lenses. The viewfinder is 50% brighter than previous models while its FET-coupled silicon light meter responds to light tens of times faster and with greater accuracy than the conventional CdS meter. These are quotes from Fuji’s sales brochure from 1971.

Fujica ST701 with standard Fujinon lens set from 1971.

The ST701 does handle very nicely and it does “feel” compact compared to let’s say a Yashica TL Electro-X of the same era. We’ll have to do a weight comparison and take some “together” shots.

A very good looking SLR with a nice modern look and feel. One of the more unique logos we’ve found on a 35mm camera. It (the logo) actually picks up reflections from the lens. We can’t think of another camera with such a cool logo.

Curious note about this: earlier models have this info on the back left side of the body. Case in point, the cameras depicted in the sales brochure (dated January 1971) has this info on the back of the camera body vice the base plate.

Nice clean layout of the controls and with no fixed hot/cold shoe adds a vintage look to the camera.

Sales brochure dated early 1971.

Sales brochure 1971. What are you never supposed to do when loading or unloading your camera? Never in bright sunlight!

Stop back again as we plan to add some additional images and info on this neat Fuji in the near future. As always, please feel free to comment and add additional information that we may not know.

Many thanks… C&C

Another beautiful Tomioka made f/1.2 lens has been spotted. These gorgeous lenses are things of beauty. This one appears to be in outstanding condition inside and out. They are M42 screw mount lenses so they fit a wide variety on SLRs.

Our feeling on these Auto Yashinon 55 mm f/1.2 lenses are that they are worth the price! Most go in the high $800’s to $1100 or more. The serial number is rather low on this one… the 552 is the model number and the 1773 is the production sequence number.

There’s that desirable f/1.2 on the aperture ring.

This one looks to be in a bit rougher condition overall with some visible dings. But it’s a Auto Tominon 55 mm f/1.2 lens with Tomioka Kogaku Japan on the lens ring! Double secret nice as it carries the Tomioka name. Still a M42 screw mount lens. Not sure of the serial number… the Auto Yashinon Tomioka lenses start with the model number ‘552’. This one starts with 71 and then what would appear to be a sequence number of 0107. I don’t believe Tomioka built many with their own name on them so it’s likely that this could be number 107.

In our June 20, 2016 post we have a close cousin to the above lens… its serial number is 71 0102 which puts it 5 lenses before the lens pictured above! Not many out there!

And another Auto Yashinon Tomioka made f/1.2 lens… this one has the model number ‘552’ and a sequence number of 0354.

By the way, the yashica model number of ‘552’ indicates that the lens is a 55 mm and has a max aperture of f/1.2… ‘552’.

If you’re a collector of really nice M42 mount lenses, don’t pass up the chance to add one of these to your gear bag.

Thanks for the visit!

Chris & Carol

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