Yashica TL Electro X ITS (in black) and TL Electro X with Auto Yashinon-DS f/1.7 50mm lens (foreground).TL Electro X (Type 2) – 1972Yashica Copy Stand – NOS – 1971From 1971 sales brochure.
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
Late Spring 1977. I believe these steps led up to The Great Buddha (Kamakura Daibutsu). I do not know which school the students were from.
Camera & Film – Yashica TL Electro X Kodak Ektachrome 64
This is not my actual first camera but it’s the first 35mm SLR model that I owned and purchased new in early 1972.I’ve shot quite a few rolls of this back in the 1970s. Kodachrome was a great color slide film but its ASA was only 25 so if you wanted a bit more speed you needed Ektachrome 64 and later High-Speed Ektachrome 200.
Thanks for stopping by! – Chris
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
Monster glass from Tomioka. The lens has a super low serial number that puts it within the first few months of production. The camera is the Yashica TL Electro X – ITS made in April 1973.
This image first posted on my Flickr site in November 2019 and so far has been a very popular image amassing over 70 favorites. Image was taken with my Samsung Galaxy S8+ using natural light.
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
For a short time in the Spring of 1972 I was a volunteer firefighter trainee with the Cocoa Beach Fire Department – a professional department that was kind enough to take on a young college student and give me full access to their facilities and training. Here’s a few pics I shot with my new Yashica TL Electro-X 35mm SLR on Kodak Plus-X film that I developed and printed myself (for a school project).
I don’t have his name but he was a friendly firefighter that was more than happy to help with my training (as were all the others in the department).It looks ancient now but completely open cabs were common back then. Engine 4 getting re-stowed after a run.One of their newer engines in 1972 which featured a new to them semi-enclosed cab.Me with my favorite truck. I’m just back from a very long and very hot purpose set fire for training.Lots of gauges.Always training.Mean Mack!
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
From the Yashica book The Creative System of Photography. Some of the lenses pictured here are nearly impossible to find today in mint or near mint condition. I do know some intrepid Yashica collectors that have come very close to owning all of this.
To chase down all of this is a pretty monumental task so I’d give it a Chase Factor of a solid 10 (CF-10). Good luck chasers!
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
From 1973, a box for the TL Electro-X ITS (Integrated Technology System). The box reflects the efforts of Yashica’s marketing division to create a more sophisticated looking box consistent with the new look to the TL Electro-X.The original Yashica TL Electro-X box. This one is from mid-1970.
If you’re looking to add the correct box for your Yashica TL Electro-X be sure to match the proper box to the two different cameras. BTW, except for some external appearance differences, the ITS and the original Electro-X cameras are the same. The ITS was only available in an all black body whereas the original was available in both a satin chrome and black body.
If you look closely you’ll see that this box uses green for the “TL” and “35” logo where the true original uses a red “35” logo and a white “TL”. Oddly this variation of the box is from May 1970 which is right in the middle of the other boxes with the red logo. I haven’t decoded if it means anything changed in relationship to the camera or was it just a marketing exercise to see which looked better.
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
Happy Sunday all! Here’s three classic Yashicas that are certainly worth the chase. The only one that I’d consider rare or hard to find is the pro-black body J-3.
The Yashica J-3 in black was never advertised as best as I’ve been able to find out after years of searching and for the most part flew under the radar in sales and marketing. Fewer than 2,000 were made (unofficial count) and few remain today in mint or near mint (working) condition. It was Yashica’s first black 35mm SLR until the TL Electro X in black came along in 1968. There were chrome versions of both cameras that sold alongside the black models. Conversely, the TL Electro X ITS (Integrated Technology System) was only available in black and featured the gold electron symbol on the pentaprism. BTW, the Yashica Sailor Boy advertising figurine pictured here is the taller 20 cm dealer model and no, he’s not naked.
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
Far left is the TL Electro X in silver chrome (it also was available in all black) and on the right the TL Electro X ITS which was only available in pro-black with the gold electron symbol on the pentaprism.Not to overlook the quality of the lenses from Yashica which were made in-house by Tomioka Optical. Here’s an Auto Yashinon DS-M 50mm f1.4 – super sharp lens (and fast).
If you’re looking to acquire a true classic 35mm SLR that will ease you into film photography, then I highly recommend getting this model Yashica. They were produced in rather large quantities during the late 1960s through the mid-1970s and if you find one that looks as nice as this one (and is a one owner) then the likelihood of getting one in fully working condition goes way up. Avoid online sellers that provide fuzzy pics and vague descriptions – look for sellers that will answer your direct questions as to the functional condition of the camera. The good news is that this Yashica uses a very common battery – I’m using an Energizer A544-6V alkaline (also known as an LR44). The battery provides the correct voltage with no drop-off over time.
BTW, this one was made in the then newest Yashica factory in Hong Kong and is marked “Hong Kong” on the bottom plate vice “Japan” which would be marked on the right side back of the top plate. This one will be leaving my collection soon as I am currently downsizing my camera collection. You can watch for it in my online camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
We enjoy collecting and sharing our Yashica cameras with our readers, especially if they tend to be a little hard to find and in such outstanding condition. I say this is hard to find just because not many were made at Yashica’s new factory in Hong Kong during 1973. As the saying goes, this was assembled in Hong Kong from parts made in Japan.
There’s really no difference between the models assembled in Hong Kong from the ones made in Japan that we’ve been able to detect. In our experience the fit and finish is the same with no known issues particular to the HK model. In fact, the HK models that we’ve owned seem to be in excellent condition overall with exceptionally nice satin chrome surfaces that hold up well over the years.
Typically ‘JAPAN’ would be on the top plate next to the serial number but on these models ‘HONG KONG’ is on the bottom.The serial number is easy to decode. 3 = 1973, 10 = Oct, 01219 = the number built up to this point for that month.
The lens on this beauty is a fast and sharp Auto Yashinon DS-M 50mm f1.4 made for Yashica by the recently acquired Tomioka Optical. All Yashica camera bodies use M42 screw mount lenses up to the C/Y mount cameras made much later.
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.
Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris 