Welcome to our blog about a very simple camera made by a company in Japan. We (Carol and Chris) are “Yashica Fanatics”, so it was a natural for us to start this blog dedicated to one of…
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Fuji Petting with our Fujipet! New Pet Pics Posted…
The goal is to take our 1958 medium format camera from Fuji Photo for a little picture taking. We’ve loaded some fresh Fujifilm Neopan 100 Acros (in days past it was Neopan SS) into the Fujip…
Yashica TL Electro-X ‘ITS’
After nearly five years of research and thousands of “searches” on auction sites, I finally have my answer! ‘ITS’ as it relates to the famous and groundbreaking Yashica TL E…
Source: Yashica TL Electro-X ‘ITS’
More on our faked Yashica J-5 in “pro-black”…
Some time ago we purchased (through an online auction) what was listed as a rare black body Yashica J-5. The camera was sold by a well known camera dealer with a long track record of excellent prior sales. We know from our research and hands-on experience that Yashica’s first ‘Pro-Black’ 35mm SLR was the J-3 as we own two of them and have sold others that were in our collection.
I (Chris) knew that there was about a 99% chance that this J-5 was faked and I don’t have a problem with buying modified or restored cameras as long as it is disclosed as such. But I took a chance on this one even though there were numerous red flags about its originality. The bidding was through an online auction site in another country and my desire to own this ‘rare’ camera got the best of me. My purchase bid went for much more than a typical J-5 should go for and I actually paid more for it (not including the over-the-top shipping fees) than one would pay for a genuine ‘Pro-Black’ body (from the Yashica factory) J-3. In our years of research, we’ve never come across anything in print from Yashica about the black body J-3. No sales brochures (Japanese or English) have a mention of it – but we know that they did produce one a we’ve had a few and have kept track of them online in our database.
Prior to bidding on the faked black J-5, I asked the agent representing this camera if in fact was a genuine, previously unknown black J-5. His answer was that the seller said it was… no worries.
After looking at my new fake for some two years now, I’ve decided to remove the still fresh black enamel paint and reveal the satin chrome paint underneath its black mask. It was shocking just how easy the paint was to remove with alcohol and cotton swabs.
I wrote to the seller’s agent to complain that the camera was in fact faked and after some time (2 weeks) he came back with a no it wasn’t. Even with the pictures in front of them they denied that it was a re-paint. Oh well.
Clue number 1 – the presence of orange peel in the black paint.
As received from the auction. From a distance it looked to be all original. When I opened the shipping box the first time I could tell something wasn’t right, the smell of fresh paint! Got me!
So lesson learned for me… only trust in what you know exists… if it’s not documented elsewhere as existing then there’s a good chance it’s been faked. Ask lots of questions. But, and it’s a big but (pardon the pun), Yashica has never mentioned that they made a black body J-3 in 1963 so it was possible that they made a few black J-5s.
The good news in all of this is that this camera is now in the home stretch of a complete rebuild and will be better than ever. It has been re-imagined as a tribute camera to the U.S. Navy. Stay tuned!
Many thanks for your visit, Chris and Carol
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Totally Off Track… フジペット
Occasionally we can get off track here on the ‘Fanatic’… well more often than not. Here’s a quick post about a rather rare camera on this side of the world. The Fujipet!!! フ…
Source: Totally Off Track… フジペット
Yashima Yashicaflex A-II
Our Yashicaflex A-II is headed for the finish line – soon! These images were from day one and day 100 (just kidding about the 100). There have been so many issues to deal with restoring this 63 year old camera that it’s been a slow go. While this restoration has been an ongoing process for us, we’ve used some of our time to address some of the other cameras in our collection that needed only small repairs and a good cleaning.
Day one is pictured below. After prying the camera from its leather case (literally), the rust and corrosion were widespread and had eaten deep into the metal. Dirt everywhere! But the camera functioned! Glass was mold and fungus free but dirty and the shutter was accurate.
The die cast aluminum body and back door were corroded big time. The thin metal parts were rusty and pitted. The leatherette was dry and brittle with many missing pieces.
Below the same area after 3 coats of etching primer and filler putty to “replace” the missing aluminum due to the depth of the corrosion.
By this point some of the final finish coats of primer and filler could be applied. Lots of sanding between coats. At least the corrosion was gone and something of a finish could be imagined.
The camera will be re-imagined and restored. Since it’s not a rare Yashica model, Carol and I feel free to express some creativity in the re-build. Stay with us as I believe we’ll be able to have the finished product ready to show by early spring. The Yashima Yashicaflex A-II ‘Sakura’.
Thanks for your visit!
Chris and Carol
Yashica Pentamatic
We haven’t had the opportunity to focus our attention on the Pentamatic lately. Carol is still working and I’m the retired one. I keep the home business rolling in our studios and lately most of my free time has been spent “rescuing vintage film cameras” – cameras that most people would probably throw away rather than restoring them. We just can’t bring ourselves to do that. Now let me be clear, restoring old cameras is as close to the most crazy thing one can do with their spare time. The amount of hours spent stripping old paint, chasing away rust and corrosion, cleaning lenses and restoring leather cases never equals a smart return on the hours and dollars spent. But we love re-imagining a 60 year old camera into a useful machine again and at the same time make it a work of art.
Anyway, we hope to be able to showcase one of our TLR restorations soon here in on blog. In the meantime, I ran across a few forgotten images of one of our Pentamatics today and I thought I would share them. They haven’t been posted elsewhere – when I first downloaded them I wasn’t sure that I liked them so they sat and sat. Today (after a few tweaks) here they are.
Both images were taken on the same day in our ca. 1911 post office building here in town. The one hundred year old windowsill provided a nice setting for the modern lines of the 1960 Yashica. Strong light flooded the space via the very dirty windows which in turn diffused the light nicely. I reflected some light back at the Yashica via a white shirt I was wearing. The bottom image is the same camera placed on the floor about 10 feet away from the windows. I liked the color and grain of the wood (fir or southern yellow pine) and again the 100 year old wood provided a nice contrast to the Pentamatic.
The Pentamatic remains one of the most invisible of Yashica’s SLRs. I’m drawn to it because of its rather unique styling – a clean pentaprism design, front mounted shutter release button and of course its crazy big lenses.
Thanks for your visit and please feel free to share your comments with us.
Chris & Carol ^.^
Pentamatic in ‘Explore’
This simple studio shot made it to Flickr’s ‘Explore’ group recently. It may be the first and only Pentamatic in ‘Explore’.
Natural window light on an overcast Florida afternoon. Camera used? Samsung Galaxy 4S. No post production by me but the Galaxy may have been on HDR. Sometimes simple is better.
Yashica Pentamatic 35mm single-lens reflex from early 1960.
Chris
Restoring a Yashima Yashicaflex A-II from 1955
Six decades of dirt and moisture = corrosion… Big Time! Over the next few months (turns out 14 months) I hope to be able to document my attempt to “restore” my 1955 Yashima Yashic…
Fuji… just Fuji
Mount Fuji from Yokohama.
That simple four letter word needs no other introduction. Known the world over for its beautiful conical shape. We were lucky to live in the Naka Ward in Kanagawa Prefecture and would often have this view to our west on a clear evening. Carol and I never grew tired of looking for it whenever we traveled somewhere new – hoping to see it from a new vantage point. These images are but a few of the hundreds of images of Fuji. They are in no set order and all were taken from 1977 to late 1979. Primarily shot with a Canon F-1 (1978 version) and a Canon AE-1.
Our go to film while living in Yokohama. Kodachrome holds up well over the years when properly stored.
Freezing cold and crystal clear winter day near the base of Fuji.
Carol enjoying the view and freezing to death while doing so.
Canon F-1 with FD 80-200mm zoom lens at 200mm.
Road trip to Fuji-san.
A reminder that Fuji is an active volcano.
Fuji sunset as seen from the hill behind our home in Yokohama.
We never had the chance to climb Fuji while we were there. The constant deployments of my Navy ship kept me on an unpredictable schedule and made it impossible to find the time during the climbing months. Maybe we will have a chance – we are always hopeful.
Many thanks for your visit.
Chris and Carol
Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris 