Tag 1960s

Yashica’s YT-300 Transistor Radio – 1960

Chris and Carol 3 Comments

Yashica produced more than just cameras during its boom years. As a leader in the field of electronic photography in the middle to late 1960s, Yashica’s early electronic devices ranged from such diverse items as transistor radios, record players, movie projectors, calculators, editing equipment and tape recorders to name but a few.

Most of the earliest electronic devices are rather rare now (as one would expect after 50 years) and only occasionally does something come up in auctions both on the web and in estate sales. I suspect that the more common electrical items such as projectors and editing equipment are still flooding eBay and other on-line auction sites.

Finding early radios such as the YT-300 and YT-100 is quite difficult. Here we share some of what we’ve been able to collect over the years.

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Yashica YT-300 Radio Brochure

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Thanks for your visit! If you come across a working Yashica radio or tape recorder snag it! They’re really rare and a fun little reminder of the first transistor radios and how cool they were.

Studio Camera: Samsung Galaxy S4

Chris

Yashica “J” Series of 35mm SLRs – 1960s

Chris and Carol 1 Comment

The Yashica ‘J’ series of 35mm SLR film cameras. Top body is the J-7, next is the J-4, then the J-5 and finally the first one in the series the J-3. These were heavyweight cameras in their day…the best (for the most part) that Yashica produced from their factory in Nagano Prefecture (Shimosuwa).

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Produced in 1962 to around 1967 to early 1968. The black body J-3 was Yashica’s first 35mm SLR ‘Pro Black’ camera. They were released in the following order… J-3, J-5, J-4 and J-7. These cameras feature lots of brass and glass. They also represent Yashica’s first SLRs with built-in exposure meters. TTL exposure metering was just around the corner for Yashica after the release of the J-7 in the form of the TL Super.

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The J-5 was super popular in the mid 1960s.

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Another tough one in the series to find complete and in mint condition.

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One of the harder ones in the series to find in mint condition.

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A J-3 all set for just about anything.

Thanks for your visit.

Chris

Yashica’s ‘Sailor Boy’ – 1962

Chris and Carol 5 Comments

Yashica’s advertising figurine the ‘Sailor Boy’ first appeared in 1962 – closely associated with the launch of Yashica’s J-3 35mm single-lens reflex camera. It was made for Yashica by Modern Plastics of Japan and was produced in a variety of sizes – from a 20cm shop and dealer display model down to this little 10cm guy.

This one ⇓ came to our collection from Germany and man was he a dirty guy!

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Covered with a coat of nicotine and grime, he looked like he was in a bar room fight! But he has a good casting and the paint looks good. Notice how grungy his hat is.

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Since he was covered with a thin film of nicotine he was sticky!

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Looks like he has a black eye!

After some restoration work in the studio, he’s looking ⇓ much better and brighter.

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Nice and shiny! Still a hint of a black smudge near his right eye.

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His hat is white again. If you look to collect one, be sure to look closely at the hat. Often the casting will be a bit porous there and show some pitting. This one is nice and smooth.

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The manufacturer’s marks on the bottom. The round spot was meant to insert a small magnet so as to keep him in his place.

Made in Japan by Modern Plastics for Yashica. He’s never been given an official name from Yashica so we’ve always called him ‘Sailor Boy’ for obvious reasons. Some of the figurines will have ‘Yashica’ in katakana characters on the hat. We don’t have one like that – yet.

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The 20cm shop model with the J-3. The eyelashes are different on the larger models otherwise they’re the same.

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Not our collection! Wish it was! There is one missing – a 10 cm ‘Sailor Boy’ with green shoes otherwise this collection is complete. Notice the large doll on the back left does not have Yashica on his hat but does have green shoes. The one with the camera was released for the launch of the Yashica Electro 35 and as best as I can tell he’s modeled after Wee Willie Winkie from the Scottish nursery rhyme. These are on display at a Tokyo store that specializes in collectible figurines and dolls.

Thanks for your visit! And yes, we take donations of unwanted ‘Sailor Boys’!!! JK

Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W

Chris

Souvenirs

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Abandoned for decades and hidden from view in a remote location, this window remains as it was when the shop was still in use (a bit faded and dirty but intact). I’m fascinated with this lovely painted sign. Usually glass is the first victim of vandals followed by graffiti – this wonderful old building hasn’t suffered from either.

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Thanks so much for you visit. The top image was with my Fujifilm FinePix S9900W and the bottom shot was with my Samsung Galaxy S4.

Chris

US 17 Florida – Riverside Motel

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The last strip of highway heading north towards Georgia. Up ahead the St. Marys River and bridge – heat radiates off the already hot pavement as a reminder that it’s only Spring – wait ’til Summer.

United States Highway 17 was the life giving link to the Eastern Seaboard and beyond. If you came to Florida in the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s you crossed that bridge (well one like it but it was a drawbridge then but it’s not anymore even though the sign says it is, whew!) and your first glimpse of the Sunshine State was this patch of pavement. I-95 didn’t exist and it was 17 or nothing in those days. Now it’s only travelled by locals, log trucks or tourists looking for the original Florida. Along this stretch, cheap but nice motels with air conditioning and swimming pools beckoned those travellers that wanted their first taste of Florida and a cool bed. If you were real lucky, you’d spot a gator or two in the wet areas just off the the road.

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Distance wise, this is Florida’s first motel – just a half mile from the Georgia line. It closed decades ago, driven out by high speed travel on smooth highways. The doors were closed and locked once – now termites and rot have opened them again. Couples would snuggle together in these rooms while on their honeymoon. Children would run wild through the parking lot waiting for the car ride that would take them to Florida’s first attractions still well south. Now only grass and weeds run wild.

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Air conditioned – and just down the road souvenirs, film, food , whiskey and ice cream. Too far north for oranges. Just right for cold beer.

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I like coming here… it’s quiet except for the occasional log truck along the highway heading south to the mills and of course the stray local or curious tourist. Not like it used to be – a steady stream of cars spilling across that bridge into the sunshine.

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Yep, no trespassing. Trespassers will be stung or bitten – wasps and fire ants do the enforcing. No tourists – just bugs, heat and photographers.

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Be sure to get off I-95 at Exit 3 in South Georgia and head west on Georgia 40 to US 17 in Kingsland (just a few miles away). Turn south on US 17 (left) and in a little bit you’ll cross that all too narrow bridge over the St. Marys River and you’ll be in Florida. Just a half mile south on your left you’ll find that first motel in Florida pictured above. Oh there’s no plaque or marker telling you about the history of this place, and that’s a shame. It was part of the gateway to the “New South” and it deserves recognition. It is for sale though! ^.^

Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W

Thanks for your visit! Be sure to watch out for the fire ants!

Chris

 

 

 

Yashica TL Electro-X & the Danish Ads

Chris and Carol 6 Comments

One of our favorite cameras from Yashica (and my first) is the famous and highly popular Yashica TL Electro-X. Yashica had a major hit on their hands when it was introduced to much fanfare in the late 1960s. A fully electronic camera that featured a “IC Brain” that controlled exposure settings and shutter speeds could be timed from 2 seconds to 1/1000 second with infinite in between settings. The TL Electro-X was sold around the world for many years – actually up through the mid 1970s.

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The TL Electro-X seen here as the ITS model.

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Top plate spare part. The gothic ‘Y’ on the pentaprism was/is synonymous with the TL Electro-X body whether it was in pro black or traditional silver.

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Recently discovered Danish ad for the TL Electro-X. As the ads says, the “world’s most advanced SLR”.

The ad above was recently sent to me by my good friend Paul Sokk from Australia – http://www.yashicatlr.com – The ad is from June 1972 and what’s interesting to us is the missing gothic ‘Y’ on the pentaprism. Up until now we weren’t aware of any models without the ‘Y’. No big deal – it’s just a curious variation. We’ve also discovered that Yashica (for whatever reason) also had models that the traditional red ‘X’ was changed to black. See below.

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Camera on the left with what appears to be a black ‘X’ vice traditional red ‘X’.

Our best guess as to why the Danish ad has a TL Electro-X without the ‘Y’ would be that the local trading company or distributor wanted Yashica to supply cameras that were different than what was for sale in let’s say France or Germany. It’s not unheard of that Yashica supplied different distributors with slightly different body and lens sets. The Yashica J-P and its odd little 5cm f2.8 preset lens from 1964 comes to mind.

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April 1969 ad from a Danish photography magazine.

As always we endeavor to bring you the most accurate information about Yashica and its cameras. We welcome comments and of course, if something we’ve said is incorrect please let us know – or simply share additional info if you have some. Thanks

Chris & Carol

Yashica Pentamatic Refreshed –

Chris and Carol 2 Comments

20160326_164016_richtonehdrThe 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.

JN Pentamatic SN 16000375Decoding 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.

16233739912_d43f6fb30f_oThis Pentamatic body (above) decodes to… 3 = March / 60 = 1960 / 01500 = 1,500th made up to that point.

Bold bright colors...

Clean simple lines. Show the customers that this camera was a SLR! Not your dad’s TLR.

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Inspiration and the technical know-how came from the Nicca Camera Company. Pictured on the left is an early Nicca 3-F.

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By May 1960, number 3,354 had been made.

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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

 

Yashica-Mat 120 Film Camera Set – 1960

Chris and Carol 9 Comments
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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.

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It was Yashica’s first crank film advance TLR and it also featured auto cocking of the shutter. First released in April 1957.

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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  ^.^

Yashica J-7 …1966 / update 1

Chris and Carol 5 Comments

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…

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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.

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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.

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CdS light meter sensor “window”.

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Rare complete set with the original box.

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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 ^.^