Imagining a Tokyo camera store window display in Akihabara or Shinjuku or Shibuya (our favorite spots in Tokyo) during the late summer of 1964. The searing heat and oppressive humidity of the Kanto Plain is starting to wane… at least a bit. Soon the Tokyo Summer Olympics will begin and on the first of October the Tokaido Shinkansen will make its inaugural run from Tokyo to points south. Yashica releases their newest 35mm single-lens reflex camera in time for both events. In just under a generation, less time than anyone could have imagined, Japan was hosting the first Olympics to be held on Asian soil. From the ruins of the Great Pacific War, and with guidance from the United States and others, Japan has turned its economy from near the brink of elimination to being world leaders in electronic technologies and precision equipment… cameras and high speed “bullet trains”… and on the horizon, world class automobiles that were small, inexpensive and fuel efficient.

The Yashica J-5 was another big step for a small manufacturing company that started out making simple but well built twin-lens reflex cameras in a little town along the shores of Lake Suwa, Nagano Prefecture.

Some interesting “clippings” from our vast trove of Yashica sales brochures, advertisements and instruction booklets… Enjoy!

Brochure featuring the Penta J with the Pentamatic S and the new J-3.

From the same brochure. Nice detailed description of the Penta J.

German catalog featuring the Reflex 35. Available by June 1962.

Australian sales catalog and the new Reflex J.

U.S. sales brochure featuring the “big 3” from Yashica.

From the Penta J instruction booklet.

Penta J instruction booklet.

Yashica’s “no name or model number” exposure meter.

Another example of a Yashica first. After Yashica introduced its first 35mm single-lens reflex (SLR) film cameras in the Pentamatic series, it followed up in 1962 with the little know Penta J. The Penta J was also know as the Reflex J in Australia and the UK and the Reflex 35 J in Europe. As I’ve discussed before, the Pentamatics were either a complete failure or a big success for Yashica. Choosing to go with an exclusive bayonet mount for their lenses (Pentamatic series), Yashica decided to go mainstream by using the more common M42 screw mount lenses and to forgo their exclusive bayonet mount. This gave Yashica the opportunity to reach more potential customers and more than likely helped Tomioka Optical (their lens maker) as they did not have to produce a unique mount just for Yashica. The Penta J with lens listed for around $130 in the U.S. and 28,000 yen in Japan. Just as with the Pentamatic S before it, the Penta J had the ability to attach a clip-on exposure meter that was coupled to the shutter speed dial (about $25).

Even with the rather clunky exposure meter attached, the Penta J was an elegant camera that retained the strong lines of the Pentamatics and a feeling of solid construction.

The location of the shutter release button was moved slightly from the Pentamatic design so as to allow room for the clip-on exposure meter. 

A beautiful set from 1962.

A quick note about the Yashica Pentamatic and the beauty of their serial numbers. I found this camera listed for sale in Japan recently. It appears that Yashica may have been selling the Pentamatic in their home market earlier than most people thought (including myself) and may have released the Pentamatic in the United States and elsewhere sooner than commonly thought. My rational is that it’s not likely that this particular Pentamatic was sold in the U.S. and then made its way back to Japan during its lifetime. Possible yes but unlikely.

Very early Yashica Pentamatic. The serial number (No. 16000375) decodes to… 1 = Jan / 60 = 1960 / 00375 = 375th body produced. Production did begin at the Yashica factory complex in early December 1959 with a very slow run-up to full production. This serial number would indicate that even by sometime in January 1960, fewer than 500 units were made. At its peak, the Pentamatic was rolling off the assembly line at an average of just under 1,300 units per month by the summer of 1960.

Taking lens on the Pigeonflex. Uses full name Tomioka Opt. Co.

More Tomioka branded lenses. Tomioka Optical Co., Ltd. taking lens (above image) on the Pigeonflex. Yashima’s first ever TLR before becoming Yashima Flex.

(Below images)… This is the taking lens (on the bottom) and the viewing lens on our Yashima Flex TLR. The Yashima Flex is the first camera to carry the Yashima name. This example is from very late 1953 to early 1954. The Tomioka Tri-Lausar name would soon be removed from all future Yashima (later Yashica) TLRs.

Both lenses on the Yashima Flex. Simply Tomioka.

Taking lens on the Yashima Flex. Simply just Tomioka.

Tomioka Kogaku K. K. (Tomioka Optical Co., Ltd.) of Tokyo and Yashica Co., Ltd. of (officially Tokyo) but the factory complex was in Shimosuwa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Yashima (later Yashica) had a strong relationship with Tomioka from the start. Through the 1950s, Tomioka Optical occasionally put their name on Yashica lenses but not often. In the 1960s, even fewer lenses bore the Tomioka name even after being acquired by Yashica in 1968. In the early 1970s (maybe late 1969) Tomioka and Tominon would once again appear on Yashica lenses. One of the more famous was the Auto Yashinon f/ 1.2 55mm lens (pictured below from a Yashica TL ELECTRO-X ITS brochure). The Tomioka Japan stood out proudly on the lens ring. In other publications by Yashica, the Tomioka (or Tominon) name would be removed at the printers.

Auto Yashinon Tomioka f/ 1.2 55mm lens. The serial number also indicates the model number of the lens (552) and then the production sequence number (in this case the 0124) indicates the 124th unit made.

Another example of the dual names (Auto Yashinon and Tomioka).

Another sales brochure from the early 1970s… shows a “prototype” lens with a fake (?) serial number of No. 440111.