Tag 1986

Kyocera (Yashica) T from 1986

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Another ‘Modern Classic’ as we like to call them. For Kyocera, this was the first fully branded Kyocera camera in the famous T* Series of point and shoot autofocus 35mm film cameras. The Yashica T which was made by Kyocera in 1985 was technically the first.

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For the domestic market in Japan, this was what you got for your ¥50,700 ($301 USD) plus an extra 2,000 JPY for the case. No zoom lens and no true user inputs except for the flash. What you did get was a sophisticated Carl Zeiss Tessar f/ 3.5 35mm lens with the famous T* coated optics. This is a true point and shoot camera designed to take the highest quality images just short of owning an SLR.

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The T-D (date) model weighs about 356 grams without film but with the heavy 2CR5 lithium 6v battery installed. The date function is powered by a CR2025 battery but at this point, I haven’t installed one as the date function only goes to 2019. The camera automatically sets the ISO for DX coded films from 50 to 1,600. There’s a cover over the lens that opens when the shutter is pressed and then slowly closes over the lens again. It looks to be semi-transparent from what I can tell. Not sure how you would keep the cover open to clean the lens.

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Not much in the way of user input except to kill the flash. There’s an analog film indicator, simple on-off slide switch and a self-timer switch. No LCD screen to fail over time (which is a good thing).

I’m pretty excited to give the camera a go on a walkabout and to eventually compare its performance to my Yashica L AF with similar features. See my review and test of the Yashica L AF here.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out my camera shop on Etsy at http://www.ccstudio2380.com and on eBay at https://www.ebay.com/str/auntfotosphotography

Chris

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.

Copyright © 2015-2020 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.

Hercules and Cacus – Piazza della Signoria, Florence

Chris and Carol 4 Comments

Maybe not my most favorite statue in Florence (so many to choose from) but I like the effect that my 24mm lens gives the viewer – add in contrasty late day lighting and it was a tough shot to get. Wide angle lenses like the 24mm slightly pointed upward will give the most (pleasing) distortion.

Canon F-1 with Canon FD 24mm f/ 2.8 wide angle lens on Kodak Kodachrome 25 color slide film. The light meter in the F-1 handled the tricky lighting rather well. If I remember correctly, I took a spot reading of the building in bright sunlight and then the deep shadows behind the statue – I then adjusted the exposure settings to reflect an average of the two.

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Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus, 16th Century – Florence

Thanks for your visit to the most beautiful place in all of Tuscany.

Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Copyright © 2015-2017 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.

Palma de Mallorca – Summer 1986

Chris and Carol 4 Comments

As a career U.S. Navy Sailor, I often went on liberty in some pretty questionable ports of call. Dirty, tough and not so nice. Palma – well there’s no place better for an overworked Sailor then a port call in Palma during the summer!

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USS Forrestal (CV-59) anchored out off the coast of Palma.

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Nothing like an ice cold Heiney!

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Obviously Palma is much more than an ice cold beer and a long night of drinking at ‘Bar  Joe’ – come back often and I’ll be posting more Kodachrome slides of my port visit.

All images are shot on Kodak Kodachrome with my Canon F-1 and scanned on a Canon scanner.

Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Copyright © 2015-2017 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.

Fuji DL-150 35mm Compact Camera – 1986

Chris and Carol 3 Comments

Released in November 1986, the Fuji DL-150 entered into a hyper crowded marketplace filled with everything from cutting edge 35mm SLRs with capable autofocus and autoexposure modes to some of the most basic point and shoot cameras ever made.

We think this Fuji probably existed somewhere in the middle of the pack of simple AF compact cameras. We don’t have a handle on the price point of the DL-150 – the excellent build quality would suggest a steep list price.

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Since Fuji makes film, this set came supplied with a free roll of Fujicolor. It was a great way for Fuji to kick the yellow box and introduce their new customers to the quality of Fuji film.

Focusing on the DL-150 is automatic (infrared, active type) with autofocus memory. The shutter is a programmed electronic type with speeds of 1/30 to 1/500. ISO (DX Coding)is from 100-1600.

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We like the styling of the DL-150… typical 1980s design but in our eyes it still looks fresh. It feels like Fuji used a higher quality plastic and the fit and finish is excellent. This model appears to have been built in Japan.

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Fujinon f3.5 35mm lens – 3 components with 3 elements. Closest focus is 0.85 m

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First time we’ve seen a JCII inspection sticker on one of our simple Fujis.

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Drop dead simple top plate!

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The shutter release button is sweet – a soft touch oval that feels great under your fingertip.

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A real owner’s manual vice folded pamphlet.

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Colorful retail box. The Fuji DL-7 has a similar design.

Billed as the “world’s simplest loading system”! Features autofocus, auto flash firing, motorized film advance and end of roll rewind and DX auto film setting. No way to turn on the flash and the flash fires to “assist” you in dim lighting indoors.

Takes 2 AA batteries and weighs in at only 255 grams (without film, batteries or strap).

We haven’t field tested it yet but it’s on that ever growing list!

Thanks for your visit – if you find a nice clean DL-150 for a good price we recommend giving it a try.

Studio Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W

Chris

Monaco – Monte-Carlo 1986

Chris and Carol 3 Comments

Some recently found images from a short stop in Monaco and the French Riviera in September 1986. Original images are from my Canon F-1 on Kodacolor film – scanned with a Canon CanoScan 9000F Mark II. The prints are on satin finish paper which does not scan well – at all!

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Casino de Monte-Carlo.

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Monaco police caught in casual mode.

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Monaco

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The TVG that I did not take from Marseille to Paris!

At the casino, I was invited for a change of clothing as my casual American attire was too casual for the likes of the casino. Nice clothes – and they were happy to store my camera gear for me and watched us US Navy Sailors like hawks!

Wonderful port visit overall – we were anchored out off the coast of Cannes along the French Riviera and travelled to Nice and Monte Carlo.

Thanks for your visit!

Chris

 

A Couple of ‘New’ Yashicas

Chris 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.

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

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

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

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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.

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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.

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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