Hi! Mickey Mouse Camera

January 24, 2018January 24, 2018Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Our super cool Hi! Mickey Mouse camera from Fujifilm.

Carol made a cute custom camera case for the Fujifilm Hi! Mickey Mouse camera.

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You can find this and many other interesting cameras in our online store at http://www.ccstudio2380.com

We’d love to see you there!

C&C ^.^

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.

Canon AE-1 Program – An alternative to the more costly A-1

May 4, 2017May 4, 2017Chris and Carol 3 Comments

Canon’s A Series of cameras were among the best in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Often overlooked, the Canon AE-1 Program (it was also available in a pro black body) was a fun and accurate SLR during its heyday. Of course the Canon A-1 and the AE-1 were the most popular of all.

The AE-1 Program, like all of the Canon A Series of bodies, used the Canon FD lenses – here with the popular and super lightweight 50mm f/1.8 lens.

AE-1 Program in pro black and Olympic Edition.

If you get a chance to pick one of these up for a fair price we think you’ll be surprised at how well the auto exposure modes do under challenging lighting situations. It’s not built as robustly as the A-1 but can be had for much less.

The AE-1 P makes a nice addition to any Canon collection and certainly would look good in any collection of early Japanese SLRs.

Thanks for stopping by!

Camera: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170

Chris

FIFA World Cup 1986 Canon T50

May 3, 2017May 3, 2017Chris and Carol 5 Comments

Probably not many of these floating around in the U.S. – this was in our collection of ‘all things Canon’ for awhile but has since moved on to another collector. We thought it deserved a spot on the blog if only because few people know of its existence.

The Canon T50 is one of the simplest cameras (35mm SLR) that Canon ever produced. It accepted all Canon FD lenses, took 2 AA batteries, had a power winder built-in and had programmed automation!

Cool logo!

Simple Simon! Shutter button, function dial, hot shoe and rewind lever.

Nice bright graphics!

Bold hand grip and clean design.

If you want a simple, and we mean simple, 35mm SLR film camera to play around with, then the T50 and its cousin the T70 are just the ticket. Both take all of Canon’s FD lenses – and that’s worth the price of admission any day!

Camera: Sony Cyber-shot W170

Chris

Indulgence – Yashica Pentamatic ’35’

May 1, 2017Chris and Carol Leave a comment

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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

Yashica Pentamatic S – Phase 1

February 27, 2017February 27, 2017Chris and Carol 2 Comments

A long neglected (not by us) Yashica Pentamatic S is getting a much needed restoration and some re-imagineering by us as a top-level professional SLR.

A few peeks before the color coats get applied. Stripped of its hardware and sanded to slickness – 2000 grit sandpaper – she’s ready to shine again!

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We love the hints of brass that are showing through the factory silver finish after the wet sanding. The Pentamatic family of SLRs have one of the sharpest looking pentaprisms around. Without a clunky accessory shoe on the top of the finder, the Pentamatics have a clean, modern design. This one is from early in the production run in 1961. It’s number 237 off the assembly line at the Yashica campus in Suwa, Nagano Prefecture.

Stay with us as we will post updates along the way!

Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S9900W

Thanks, Chris and Carol Photography

Mystery Models – v2.0

February 7, 2017February 7, 2017Chris and Carol Leave a comment

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1959 Yashica Model A twin-lens reflex camera instruction booklet cover.

This dapper dude appears on at least two different Yashica brochures in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This cover shot is from a Yashica A III instruction book from 1959. He always appears with a “modern” pipe, fancy derby and is winking at the camera. My thought is that he is an actor who may have lived in or was super popular in Japan during that period. Any thoughts? Please see the back cover image below.

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Here he is in a German language Yashica brochure from early 1960 (below).

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Any help would be appreciated. As researchers of silly Yashica stuff, knowing who he is helps with some other silly stuff we’re interested in (Yashica-wise).

Thanks!

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

Standard Lens for the Pentamatic II

November 22, 2015October 12, 2017Chris and Carol Leave a comment

The only difference we can tell between the original Yashica Pentamatic ’35’ and the Pentamatic II (which came out in August 1960), is the standard lens that came with the camera body.

The original Pentamatic came with the Auto-Yashinon, f/1.8, 5.5cm semi (fully?) automatic 6 element lens. Of course it has the unique Pentamatic bayonet mount and not the M42 screw mount. The Pentamatic II came with the Auto-Yashinon, f/1.7, 5.8cm lens (pictured below). The f/1.8 lens was made for Yashica by Tomioka Optical of Tokyo. New evidence uncovered by us (Oct 2017) indicates that the f/1.7 lens was made by Zunow Optical. It’s a beautiful lens and weighs a ton and is rather rare today at under 6,000 lenses made. It has 10 aperture blades.

Update July 2017 – The Pentamatic II was only for sale in the Japanese home market and for only a short time (Aug 1960 to Jan 1961). Less than 6,000 cameras were made and of course about the same amount of these lenses. No English language sales brochures have been found that mention or feature the Pentamatic II. No advertisements either in English language newspapers or magazines.