First image with our new Nikon D3100*. My first Nikon anything since my Nikonos II bought new in 1971.
*Gifted to us by one of our son’s friends.
First shot with the Nikon. Not bad with the pop-up flash. Tough autofocus situation. More to come about this new to us camera.
Chris
The beautiful, simple and clean lines of Yashica’s first SLR.
If you’re new to the Yashica Pentamatic then you’re in luck as this is the best place to be for the most accurate information about the mysterious Pentamatic. First envisioned when Yashica acquired the Nicca Camera Company in the summer of 1958. Yashica needed the technology and manufacturing know-how that Nicca had – focal plane shutters and the ability to build small complicated 35mm SLRs.
The timeline as best as we can tell looks like this – Yashica “invents” the Pentamatic in the summer of 1959. Yashica files for the trademark ‘Pentamatic’ in Japan September 18, 1959. The first Pentamatic bayonet mount lenses are made by Tomioka Optical for Yashica in October 1959. The first Pentamatic bodies roll off Yashica’s line by December 1959.
Yashica files for a patent/trademark in the US on February 12, 1960. The Pentamatic ’35’ is revealed at the ’36th Master Photo Dealers & Finishers Association Trade Show’ (St. Louis) in late March 1960. The lens shown on that Pentamatic is an Auto Yashinon 5.5cm f1.8 lens (SN 59100035). By April-May 1960, the first pictures appear in photography magazines in the US from the St. Louis show. The first Yashica Pentamatic ’35’ advertisements appear in both ‘Popular Photography’ and ‘Modern Photography’ magazines in their June 1960 issues. Ads within those publications have dealers in New York selling Pentamatics for $159.95.
Decoding serial numbers… Yashica has never been upfront with the dating of their cameras, lenses or printed materials. Instruction booklets and sales brochures are only occasionally dated and those were mostly in the 1950s and then again in the 1970s. Camera bodies and lenses (and accessories) remained a mystery until now. We believe we’ve finally decoded the serial numbers of Yashica’s first 35mm SLR, the Pentamatic. Look closely at this camera’s serial number… 16000375… knowing a little bit about when this camera was “invented” helped us decode the number. The trademark “Pentamatic” was filed by Yashica in September 1959 in Japan. The first lenses were built in October 1959 with the first bodies produced by December 1959. This camera (above) dates… 1 = January / 60 = 1960 / 00375 = 375th unit made since December 1959. The latest camera in our database has a serial number of 16115756. This decodes to… January 1961 and was the 15,756th unit produced since December of 1959.
This Pentamatic body (above) decodes to… 3 = March / 60 = 1960 / 01500 = 1,500th made up to that point.
Clean simple lines. Show the customers that this camera was a SLR! Not your dad’s TLR.
Inspiration and the technical know-how came from the Nicca Camera Company. Pictured on the left is an early Nicca 3-F.
By May 1960, number 3,354 had been made.
Earliest lens serial number (in our collection) decodes to – October 1959, the 92nd made. The ad behind it is a much higher serial number and appeared in a June 1960 ‘Popular Photography’ magazine ad.
The original Pentamatic ’35’ is a fun and challenging camera to collect. Knowing a little something about the serial numbers may add to your enjoyment of the chase. There was a short lived Pentamatic II (well less than 10K made) and another short run of the Pentamatic S which was the last model before Yashica ditched the Pentamatic bayonet mount in favor of the universal M42 mount.
Happy hunting! Questions? We’ve got answers.
Chris & Carol
Nerd heaven! After years of speculation and almost constant searching, we’ve been able to confirm that Tomioka Optical began making lenses for Yashica’s new Pentamatic 35mm SLR camera in the latter part of 1959. The two lenses pictured below confirm (via serial numbers) of an October 1959 start of production. Yashica had filed for a trademark of the name ‘Pentamatic’ in September 1959 (in Japan). Since their new camera used an exclusive mount for its lenses, Yashica designers had to have shared their design with Tomioka as early as the summer (August ?) of 1959.
Using the rule of twos, these lenses are the earliest in our collection.
By serial number the left lens was built in October 1959 and it was the 92nd lens made. The right lens was built in December 1959 and by then Tomioka had built 1,630 lenses for Yashica.
No. 59 = 1959 10 = October 0092 = 92nd made
No. 59 = 1959 12 = December 1630 = 1,630th made
Here’s our lens matched up to an advertisement in ‘Popular Photography’ magazine from the June 1960 issue. The lens in the ad is No. 59100581 which decodes to – October 1959, lens number 581 in the sequential production run. So in October, Tomioka had made nearly 600 lenses and by December they were up to 1,630 made. Certainly possible that they were averaging nearly 600 lenses per month in late 1959.
It’s a good find for us as the early serial numbers were just a guess on our part as to how they decoded. Having two lenses made before 1960 helped firm up our speculation. Lenses made in 1960 drop the month code in favor of a model number or code. A typical 1960 lens would have a serial number of: No. 605xxxxx which would be 60 = 1960 5 = model code xxxxx = production sequence number.
Serial number No. 60515001 decodes to 60 = 1960 5 = model code 15001 = 15,001 made since production began in October 1959.
If you’re a collector of Pentamatics or are just interested in Yashica cameras in general, this is important info. We know, total nerd stuff!
Thanks for your visit.
Chris
Nothing beats Spring here in Florida. Our backyard habitat is alive with color and texture.
Cameras: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W , Sony Cyber-shot W170 , Samsung Galaxy S4 , Canon A-1 , Asahi Pentax 6×7
Many thanks for your visit. Enjoy your Spring!
Chris
If you’re a regular reader (or curious visitor) you’ve hopefully picked up that we (Chris & Carol) enjoy sharing images of cameras that have crossed our paths over these many years. You may have also noticed that while we post countless images of cameras, lenses and what not, we’re not overly technical when it comes to photo gear. We’re not going to “beat you over the head” with needless specs of the gear we share – just (hopefully) good imagery of the wide-world of photography.
With that said, we’d like to share an image of a camera that never fails to make us smile –
Our son Timothy’s first (and only) camera – a Pikachu 35mm with genuine Pokemons inside! Tim just loved this camera and it’s an important part of our collection still.
As always, many thanks for your visit. We hope it made you smile – after all, that’s what photography is all about…
Chris & Carol and Pikachu and Ash too!
A beautiful “in the box” classic from Asahi Pentax
A classic 35mm SLR from Asahi Pentax. Nice clean lines and good balance.
Thanks for your visit!
Chris
Yashica’s best in pro-black…
Featured… TL Electro-X (1971) TL Electro-X ITS (1973) J-3 (1962) Yashima Flex (1954)
Thanks for your visit. Comments always appreciated.
Chris
Pretty close to the way it looked when it was unboxed back in 1960. This one was part of a short production run of only a handful of cameras. It was for sale at US Military Exchanges (stores) in Japan as it is marked *EP* which meant an exempt purchase. No taxes paid but it could not be purchased or sold on the Japanese domestic market.
It was Yashica’s first crank film advance TLR and it also featured auto cocking of the shutter. First released in April 1957.
The quality of the images taken with a Yashica-Mat are outstanding – Yashica used high-quality Yashinon f/ 3.5 80mm lenses made for them by Tomioka Optical of Tokyo.
They are a joy to use and it’s a great camera to get into medium format photography with. It produces large 6 x 6 cm negatives or slides.
Thanks for your visit! Please visit our camera shop for some interesting vintage photo gear at http://www.ccstudio2380.com
Chris and Carol ^.^
The last in Yashica’s “J” series of 35mm single-lens reflex cameras. These wonderful cameras carried Yashica through the dynamic changes in 35mm photography during that decade.
The J-7 is not a common camera. We don’t have a feel for the amount of sales for this model. The Yashica TL Electro-X was on the horizon – the J-7 was the last of the old technology bodies. Soon thru-the-lens (TTL) metering would turn things around for Yashica.
Here’s a photo essay of this classic and classy camera…
Yashica J-7 35mm SLR film camera. The last of the ‘Penta J’ series of cameras from Yashica. The J-3, J-4, J-5 and then the J-7. All were well-designed heavyweights… lots of brass and glass. No TTL metering.
Also of note is that this is the first time that Yashica lists “Yashica Trading Co., Ltd.” at its Jingumae, Shibuya-ku headquarters. The J-7 was the last of the “J” series and the TL-Super was Yashica’s first TTL exposure metered 35mm SLR.
There are two slight variations on the TL-Super. Version 1 is shown here. Look closely at the film advance lever… it is all silver very similar to the J-3. On the Version 2 of the TL-Super the lever is very similar to the later TL-Electro X with part of the lever silver and the rest black plastic.
CdS light meter sensor “window”.
Rare complete set with the original box.
The J-7 is about as hard to find (in nice condition) as the J-4. The J-5 and J-3 being the most common. Each model makes a very fine camera to get into film photography with as most average (working) bodies going for well less than $50. Since the Yashica uses the universal M42 screw-in lens mount, there’s a whole world of outstanding lenses to choose from and not break the bank.
Good luck!
Chris and Carol ^.^
Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris 