A Couple of ‘New’ Yashicas

April 28, 2016December 30, 2016Chris and Carol 3 Comments

ヤシカ… A couple of new Yashicas have caught our fancy. From 1986 and during Yashica’s ‘dark period’ when they were taken over by Kyocera, this super nice (and truly new) Yashica MF-2 Super DX. To be sure it’s a very plastic camera but it’s filled with some nice high tech features… DX coding of the film speed, automatic exposure and built in flash. No focus needed as the lens can focus from about 3 feet to infinity (and beyond!!!).

The other member of the Yashica family is this nice almost 100% mint Yashica-A with gray leather and silky black metalwork. It’s from 1959 and works perfectly… shutter speeds are spot on and the aperture blades are snappy. No self timer on these basic models from Yashica, but they hit a great price point with buyers and had a long production run.

Yashica-A in gray with the original gray leather case. From 1959.

Yashica-A in gray leather and black metal. The Kodak film is close to the correct era (late 1950s).

Low key effect photograph. It gives the camera a bit of an edgy look.

Interesting lens serial numbers on this camera. The taking lens SN (pictured) is only 19 numbers less than the viewing lens. Almost spot on (haven’t seen that yet). Of course these lenses were made by Tomioka Optical of Tokyo for Yashica.

Brand new and never used (isn’t that the same?) Yashica MF-2 Super DX 35mm rangefinder camera from 1986. Parts made in Japan and assembled in Hong Kong.

Low key photograph gives this pretty but humble camera a nice look.

As always we appreciate your visit to our blog… feel free to comment. Many thanks and big smiles… C&C

Our ヤシカ Pentamatic Family…

April 7, 2016February 11, 2017Chris and Carol 1 Comment

We were finally able to get the Pentamatics together for a photoshoot. These cameras range from a March 1960 build date to January of 1961. The lenses are made by Tomioka Optical of Tokyo for Yashica. The lower left camera has both the Super Yashinon-R name and Yashica Tominon (kinda rare). The other three are Auto Yashinons, f/ 1.8, 5.5cm normal lenses that were supplied with the first Pentamatics.

Yashica’s first single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras.

No changes were made to the original Pentamatic ’35’ through its production run. Small (slight) changes were made with the introduction of the Pentamatic II which made its way to dealer’s shelves in the Fall of 1960. The Pentamatic II was never strongly advertised – as late as 1962, large camera dealers were still advertising the original Pentamatic.

1958 Kodak Kodachrome film in our 1961 Pentamatic.

The January 1961 Pentamatic from Arizona is getting (already completed) a ‘new’ baseplate to replace the engraved one (with Arizona driver’s license number). The first owner purchased it in June of 1962 and promptly engraved his DL number. Oh well… that was the norm back then. We’ve seen cameras with Social Security numbers engraved!

Please check out our more detailed posts about this uncommon camera from Yashica.

Thanks so much for the visit! C & C

Yashica ヤシカ J-3 in Pro-Black

April 4, 2016December 24, 2016Chris and Carol 1 Comment

Another of our favorites in the Yashica family. This limited edition J-3 is rather rare to find in nearly new condition these days. We haven’t found evidence from Yashica of the when and why they chose this model to be their first SLR in black (with matching lens). In all the brochures and pamphlets we’ve been able to read, nothing has ever been written about it and no pictures from Yashica either. We’ve checked Japanese home market sales brochures and of course those available in English. Not one word! The serial numbers (both the bodies and lenses) run within a small time period of mid 1962 (we believe).

***Please if a reader has more information about this elusive J let us know!

J-3 finished a roll of Sakura film.

Not quite the heavyweight the Pentamatic is but still a beast at just over 900 grams!

Same family but very distant cousins! Yashica made countless changes in its SLR line-up in just under three years.

As always… thanks for the visit!

Chris & Carol

Heavyweight Champion… the Pentamatic!

April 1, 2016Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Having only fond memories of the 1960s era SLRs can be quickly erased by putting a neck strap onto a Pentamatic and walking around with it. My first SLR was a Yashica TL Electro-X purchased in the PX at Patrick AFB near Cocoa Beach, Florida in 1972. I remember that with the normal lens (50mm f/ 1.7) attached it felt like a lead weight swinging from your neck and thumping against your chest with every step taken. But I can at least take comfort in the fact that I didn’t have to lug the Pentamatic!

Lots of brass and glass… nearly a kilogram of stuff here and that’s without film! Two pounds of camera can leave someone with a very stiff neck.

Conversely our new Fujifilm FinePix S9900W comes in at only 674 grams! But if you’ve never composed a picture with a beast like the Pentamatic then you missed out on some of the nuts and bolts of photography. But we’re happy to embrace the new technology… can’t wait to see what’s next on the horizon.

Our Fujifilm. Beautiful and very capable camera.

Many thanks for the visit! Chris & Carol

Yashica Pentamatic Lenses – Update 8.27.2017

March 31, 2016August 27, 2017Chris and Carol 9 Comments

As Yashica was designing their first 35mm single-lens reflex camera during the Summer of 1959 (with help more than likely from the newly acquired Nicca Company) they faced another challenge… since it was decided to use an exclusive lens mounting system (Pentamatic bayonet mount) and not go with the more common M42 screw-in mount, they put Tomioka Optical Company in a bit of a spot.

Tomioka was their exclusive lens supplier through the 1950s but Tomioka also supplied a wide variety of lenses to other manufacturers as well. That meant that Tomioka would have to start building a new lens series with an exclusive mount very quickly in order to have enough lenses available to meet the demands of a new camera hitting the marketplace by the Spring of 1960.

Here is but a small collection of Pentamatic lenses that were available in the early 1960 time period.

One of the earliest examples in our collection of the standard lens supplied with the Pentamatic ’35’ starting in 1959. We interpret the serial number to read: 1959, December and the 1,630th lens made by Tomioka.

This lens is the standard lens for the Pentamatic II which came out in August 1960 (Yashica was still building and selling the Pentamatic I at that time. It was a rather odd lens to use as the normal focal length… 5.8cm (58mm) but with a slightly faster f/ 1.7 aperture.

Front view of the standard lens for the Pentamatic II. It is a very beautiful lens and it does provide a bright clear view wide open. Here it’s mounted on the Pentamatic I.

One of the earliest medium telephoto lenses for the Pentamatic. We don’t know what the ‘K.C.’ stands for… our guess would be that it applies to the coating on the surface of the lens. The serial number decodes to 135mm and the 927th made in the production run. We feel that this lens was made in 1959.

Original lens shade (as Yashica calls them) from the early days of production. The lens is the standard f/ 1.8 5.5cm lens for the Pentamatic I and S. From about mid year 1960.

A highly desirable early Tomioka branded lens for the Pentamatic. Another issue from 1959… the serial number 35 = 35mm and 246 indicates the production sequence. This lens is super bright and sharp. An excellent wide-angle lens for general photography.

The latest lens of the original production run that we now have is No. 60521000. The lens (above) shows that it is number 15,001 in the run which would put the lens into early 1961 production.

We hope to expand on more details of the early Pentamatic lenses in the near future. Stay tuned and thanks for reading our little blog!

Chris & Carol

Yashica ヤシカ This & That

March 28, 2016Chris and Carol Leave a comment

You know when you get a new toy… the photographic kind, you’ve gotta play with it just to see its capabilities and possibilities. Our new Fujifilm FinePix has some great features and some that fall a bit short. The macro settings appear to be a nice plus.

Extreme close-up of the Yashica logo on the front of the leather case for the Pentamatic ’35’. We quite like this font… they used it some here and there in the late 1950s but went to the ‘western’ font for much of the 1960s.

Photoshoot c1960’s style.

Close-up of Sailor Boy’s hat. This hat is on the standard 4 inch promotional doll made by Modern Plastics of Japan for Yashica in 1962.

We were lucky to find another Yashica J-3 in Pro-Black trim for our collection. This image was not taken with the Fuji… back to the trusty Samsung Galaxy S4 with natural lighting.

So there you have it… a few new images to share with you.

Thanks for the visit… Chris & Carol

ヤシカ Pentamatic ’35’… May 1960

March 24, 2016March 24, 2016Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Here’s another nice Pentamatic for our collection. This beauty is in mint factory fresh condition! Only a few traces of past use. This camera was assembled in May 1960… about 6 months after the first one rolled off the assembly line in Yashica’s ultra modern factory in Nagano Prefecture (central Japan). The first half year of production showed a slow run up as approximately 500 units or so were made per month. This one has a serial number of 3,354. By August of 1960, Yashica was building about 1,500 units per month.

A beauty from May 1960.

NO. 3,354 since production began in December of 1959.

The lens was also made in May of 1960 at Tomioka’s factory in Tokyo.

As simple of a design as you can get. Love the shutter speed dial… still bright and colorful after 56 years.

The Pentamatic’s rather unique way to open the back and to pop up the rewind lever.

This Pentamatic is a fully working example of a beautifully designed camera. We can’t wait to run a roll of film through it and give the camera a good work out!

Thanks for the visit! Peace, Chris and Carol

New View of the Yashima Flex

March 22, 2016Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Some recent images from our new Fujifilm FinePix camera. A beautifully simple camera with some nice “in camera” settings. The model is the S9900W and the setting selected is ‘Low-Key’.

1954 Yashima Flex

Tomioka Optical Tri-Lausar lenses.

Original Yashima Flex box from 1954.

Well there you have it. I enjoy the strong contrast and the muted highlights of the ‘Low-Key’ effect.

Some “new” Yashica brochures…

March 16, 2016Chris and Carol Leave a comment

We’re always on the lookout for some “new” Yashica sales brochures and catalogs. As some of you may know from past postings, Yashica was not a big fan of dating the various publications it produced. Every now and then they would “hide” a date code but not very often. So here is a small sample of our recent acquisitions…

From September of 1969.

Date code ‘909’ decodes to September 1969.

Beautiful brochure from October 1970. The Yashica Mat-124 was at the end of its production.

Back page of the TLR brochure with a close-up of the date code (010E6). Decodes to October 1970.

Some very nice Yashica tripods from the 1960s. We have the first one (on the left) the ST-1.

Of course no new collection of Yashica brochures would be complete without a TL Electro X image. From March 1970.

So there is a small sample of the latest brochures. All are in original mint condition… just as they were printed in Japan by Dai Nippon Printing Co., Tokyo.

Please share any comments and of course if you have an interesting Yashica brochure let us know! We’d love to see it!

Thank you… C & C

Cute Little Brochure

February 29, 2016Chris and Carol Leave a comment

We recently came across this sales brochure (catalog actually) for Fujifilm. Straight from Japan (Kanagawa Prefecture) to our blog! Hard to date some of these brochures as they almost never had dates or even some type of a date code. Our guess on this one would be 1955 or so based on the design of the film boxes. We could be wrong so please correct us if we are.

“Cute” ad from Fuji Film. Along the same lines as the early Coppertone ads.

Check out the ASA 10 Fujicolor film box. It had better be really really bright out and during mid day to get away with ASA 10! Below is a scan from the inside of the catalog. Great looking camera!

The super small kanji to the lower left of the camera image translates to ‘Hosokawa Letterpress Office Inko.

How does this relate to Yashica? Not directly really but some of our early Yashica instruction booklets feature Neopan film in the book.

Thanks for your visit! Be sure to “Like” us… or just a comment or two. C & C

Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris

Yashica cameras and so much more!

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