Still one of our all-time favorite Yashicas – the Yashica J-3 in pro-black. Just a handsome camera. It was Yashica’s first SLR in black.
Thanks for your visit!
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 © 2015-2018 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
The Yashica Pentamatic S was the last camera in the Pentamatic series of Yashica’s first ever 35mm SLR. We believe that the S model was first produced (by serial number) in April 1961. Approximately 3,200 units later, Yashica stopped producing the S in March 1962.
The Pentamatic S was sold in the US as we have a sales brochure (in English) that features the model S along with the Yashica Penta J and Yashica J-3 (Yashica’s first m42 mount bodies). We’ve never seen an advertisement for the model S in any of the major camera magazines of the period. We aren’t aware of any sales brochures in Japanese either for the model S and we’re not sure that it was available in Japan. No solid proof one way or another yet.
So with all of that said, the Yashica Pentamatic S was produced for an extremely short period of time in very limited quantities (about 3,200 total worldwide). That alone makes finding the original box for the model S quite a rare find. So here it is –
It’s also one of the few Yashica camera boxes that feature a photograph of the camera on the box.
Back of the box specs for the model S.
Another interesting item (to us) is the lens that’s pictured on the box. By serial number, it was made by Tomioka Optical for Yashica in October 1959 and it would have been first used on the original Pentamatic ’35’. The model S went back to using the original lens on its newest model – all part of the general confusion at Yashica during an extremely busy period in the history of the company.
If you have anything relating to the Yashica Pentamatic S, please feel free to share it with us. In addition to being Yashica researchers we’re buyers of almost anything relating to Yashica. Contact us here or at chriscarol@ccstudio2380.com
Thanks for your visit! 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.
I can’t remember where this was taken – could it be down the block from Hyde Park? Buckingham Palace?
Canon F-1 with Canon FD 24mm f/ 2.8 lens on Kodak Kodacolor film.
Scanned from the original 4×6 print with my Canon CanoScan 9000F Mark II. Some loss of details scanning from a print vice a negative. Loss of color too. Maybe I’ll find the original negatives to my London trip someday.
Thanks for your visit. If you know where this is in London that would be great to know.
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.
The original Pentamatic ’35’ and the Pentamatic II. The original Pentamatic made its debut in March 1960 and was first available for sale in April 1960 (production started in December 1959). The Pentamatic II was rushed into production in August 1960 and was only for sale in Japan. The only change between the two cameras… was the lens!
The P1 (left) came with the Auto Yashinon f/1.8 5.5cm lens. The P2 (right) came with the Auto Yashinon f/1.7 5.8cm lens. The goal of Yashica was to improve on the semi-automatic operation of the lens over the standard lens on the P1.
Serial numbers. The SN on the top camera is on the original Pentamatic camera body. The number, NO. 126013189 contains a date code and production sequence number. This camera was made in December 1960 and was the 13,189th camera made. The bottom camera’s serial number (Pentamatic II), NO. 126004171 decodes to: December 1960 and it was the 4,171st made since August 1960 (the start of production on the P2).
So both of the cameras were in production at the same time in the same factory. We’re highly confident in our analysis of the serial numbers. We have enough examples in our database and enough experience in decoding Yashica serial numbers to say that we are 100% correct.
The whole process of releasing the Pentamatic II was rushed – the top plates were only slightly modified to accommodate squeezing in the “II”. The engraving was moved about 1 mm to the left so as to have room to engrave the “II”. On the back of the camera it only took a change in the serial number engraving to reflect the P2.
The Pentamatic II didn’t get any upgrades to the body… no self-timer and no hot shoe. The lens is a totally different lens and we’ll cover those differences in our next post.
Thanks for your visit!
Studio Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W
Chris
I have been exchanging emails with the owner of a great website about Yashicas. As I live in Japan I sometimes see hard to find models and have sent him a few. He wanted to do something in return, so I suggested he send me a camera in return. He did, and this is the […]
via Yashica FR II — Camera Go Camera
A must visit blog with great camera reviews and excellent photography! Check out her wonderful posts! Chris ^.^
Very early if not the earliest printed in the US sales brochure for the new Pentamatic.
We’re thinking the summer of 1960…
We haven’t found an earlier brochure that features the Pentamatic then this one – “Printed in the U.S.A.” on the back cover using the 234 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, N.Y. address. The cover is amazing in that other than Yashica’s name and an image of the camera, there’s no other writing. No “Pentamatic” – just an image of the camera. That was a first for Yashica as best as we can tell.
The first magazine advertisement was June 1960 in the US so we don’t believe this brochure was out before that. The only problem with our thinking is that most of the other cameras featured inside this brochure are 1959 model cameras and in some cases late 1958. There could even be a few that came out in early 1960. The two pages we’ve scanned (see below) contain an interesting wealth of info on the features and accessories for the Pentamatic. Of note, the lens serial number (No. 59100036) puts that lens to be one of the first lenses Tomioka made for Yashica with the new Pentamatic exclusive bayonet mount – 59 = 1959, 10 = October, 0036 = the 36th made in the production run.
We know from our research that the October 1959 date for the lens is 2 full months early from the first Pentamatic bodies (December 1960). Our best guess is that Tomioka Optical (the maker of the lens) needed to start production of the standard lens early in order to meet the demand for the camera body itself. No proof exists yet but it’s the best decoding of the lens serial number we can come up.
Page 1 provides a wealth of info for Yashica’s first 35mm SLR.
Page 2 shows (with prices) a nice selection of accessories for the Pentamatic. It appears that at the time of this brochure that there were 5 lenses available in the Pentamatic bayonet mount.
The Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic playing with his toys. It took a long while to chase down some of these Pentamatic thingys – still some items to find. Ah, the chase!
Chris
My lovely wife Carol enjoying the sakura blossoms in front of my mom’s house in New York – 1974.
Shot with my Yashica TL Electro-X and printed on Kodak matte finish paper. This many years ago the colors have faded…
… but our love hasn’t.
Still married 43 years later to my sweetheart and best friend. ^.^
Chris & Carol
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.
The TL Electro-X seen here as the ITS model.
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.
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.
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.
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
A beautiful “in the box” classic from Asahi Pentax
A classic 35mm SLR from Asahi Pentax. Nice clean lines and good balance.
Thanks for your visit!
Chris
Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris 