Fujica ST701 Part 2… getting closer!

November 28, 2016November 29, 2016Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Definitely on our “to shoot with” list – and in the very near future we will! Now that the atmosphere in Florida has transitioned from nuclear hot to just a pleasant warmth, time to dust off the collection and put them to work.

Here’s a nice ST701 from the Fuji Photo Film Company of Tokyo – no battery for the meter but on a nice sunny day who needs one! Seals are a bit of a mess so we’ll keep the bottom half of the case on for a little extra light tight security.

Our ST701 from 1971. About to get some field testing.

We’ve heard good things about the Fujinon 55mm – of course the fact that it’s a M42 mount helps too. Since we’re such big fans of everything Yashica, we naturally collect Fujifilm too because of the M42 connection. My very humble digital camera is a Fujifilm FinePix S9900W – it’s not going to blow the socks off the big boys but with 16 mp and a killer long-ass zoom it does pretty well.

Another Fuji friend is our Instax Wide 300 instant camera. We occasionally enjoy a instant picture or two and we choose the Wide 300 for the extra image size over the credit card sized mini format. We’re waiting to see if Fujifilm will bring out some black and white Instax film for the Wide 300 especially since the B&W Instax mini format has been so well received.

Fujifilm Instax Wide 300. Lots of plastic but it gets the job done.

I’m (Chris) still spinning my wheels a bit with close-ups with the Wide 300 – so far the Fuji is 0 for 4 in that department. I’ll have to start using the close-up attachment and see what happens. The autofocus for close-ups needs full sun otherwise it defaults to what looks like infinity. I’ll get it.

Off to use some film… ^.^

Thanks for your visit! C&C

A little Fujicolor to brighten our day!

November 18, 2016Chris and Carol 2 Comments

I’ve always been a fan of Kodak film. Living in the United States it was hard to find anything else to buy at the corner stores – even in New York. Every now and again I’d pick up a roll of Fujifilm and was always impressed with the results. I’ve always liked the little green boxes too… they catch my eye.

While our main collecting focus has been Yashima-Yashica cameras and gear, there’s always been a little offshoot into the world of Fuji. Partly because we lived in Japan – Yokohama to be exact, and Fujifilm was more available and there were labs nearby to process the film. Kodak processing was via handy but slow mail back to Palo Alto, California if I remember correctly.

So on this end of the week Friday, we thought a little Fujicolor was in order.

We’re thinking of a color. Can you guess?

The 12 exposure Fujicolor 100 rolls are all expired (2010) but they usually produce good results if you treat them like they’re ASA50. The Acros 100 is a fresh roll and you can’t beat it for good looking black and white prints. The little XP100 is our go to all weather camera. It has a bright screen (for the beach) and is great in the surf for some wave pics. 1080p video and stereo sound too.

We’ve added a nice Fujica ST701 and Fujipet to our collection but I think were done. Oh, I almost forgot – my primary digital camera is a Fujifilm FinePix S9900W so that’s another Fuji. Oh and I bought my daughter a Fujifilm XP too. Okay, but that’s it. No more Fuji Photo Film Company cameras for us die hard Yashica fans. Well except for a nice Fujicaflex TLR, and the Fuji Photo GS6x9 sure looks great. I’d better stop now!

Thanks for your visit! Comments and likes are always appreciated.

Chris & Carol

Pentamatic S and friends…

November 16, 2016November 16, 2016Chris and Carol 4 Comments

We’ve recently found a nice looking friend for our collection… well, friends. Like almost all collections, ours doesn’t need more friends – more space maybe, but no new friends. This flash came as an accessory to a recent purchase of a Yashica twin-lens reflex camera (from 1956). After a quick cleaning we attached it to our S to see how they would look together – smashing we think! The Kodak Kodachrome is from 1959 and adds a nice touch to the set up. We’ve always loved the bright yellow and red metal film cans from Kodak.

We put our Pentamatic S, from early 1961 or so, and the Zeiss Ikon Ikoblitz 4 (late 1950s?) together. Sadly the flash takes a now defunct battery and has a capacitor so not much we can do except enjoy the view.

They make for a handsome display. All are age appropriate too.

With the flash tucked away in its hard plastic shell it takes on an interesting look.

Hope you enjoyed your visit and if you care to, please leave a comment or suggestion for us. Of course if you know more about the Zeiss Ikon flash or want to contribute something about the Pentamatic, please do so!

Many thanks again… Chris and Carol

You can find us on flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/127540935@N08/

Yashica’s Little Gems

November 12, 2016February 26, 2017Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Pentamatic’35’ and J-3.

They couldn’t be more different – the Yashica Pentamatic was Yashica’s first 35mm single-lens reflex (SLR) camera and the J-3 was Yashica’s first SLR with a built-in exposure meter. In this example, the black J-3 was Yashica’s first SLR in what we call ‘Pro-Black’ finish – all black body with matching black lens.

Lovely little gem from Yashica – the J-3 in Pro-Black. Made in limited quantities and came with the matching black Auto Yashinon lens.

The Pentamatic’s clean simple lines makes it one of the most attractive cameras of the early 1960s in our opinion.

As was the case during the early 1960s, both cameras would be quickly replaced with upgraded models with more advanced features and a wider array of available lenses. Not all of these changes were for the better… in the case of the Pentamatic, the model II and the model S, the changes did little to attract more buyers as their upgrades were too few and too late.

In the case of the J-3, it was the building block to Yashica’s success throught the mid 1960s and beyond. The ‘J’ series of SLRs, which included the J-5, J-4 and finally the J-7, were respected cameras with excellent optics at a great price which sold in the ten’s of thousands. Quantity meant that Yashica could afford to advance its technology and deliver some groundbreaking SLRs by 1968 and beyond.

As always, thanks for your visit and your comments are appreciated. To see more about Yashica, stop by our flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/127540935@N08/

Chris and Carol Photography

Pentamatic ’35’… 11.3.2016

November 3, 2016November 11, 2016Chris and Carol 5 Comments

The tank that is the Pentamatic ’35’.

A nice example of an everyday shooter. This one was made in May of 1960 and looks like it saw some regular use. The Auto Yashinon lens is spotless inside and shows a nice patina on the barrel.

The Pentamatic pictured above shows some signs of frequent past usage. Some bright marks on the silver finish, a few dings and dents here and there… some bits of surface corrosion but nothing broken or inop. Per the serial number on the body and on the lens, this camera and lens set were made in May of 1960. The body was the 4,410 th to roll out of the factory since production began in December 1959.

The Pentamatic and its standard lens – the Auto Yashinon f1.8 5.5cm is a beast! Lots of brass and glass went into making these beauties. We love the chrome nose on the lens… a quick swab with some 91% isopropyl alcohol and it shines like new.

As is typical with these 56 year old cameras, the mirror tends to show some grime and “soot”. A very very gentle swab with water and some dish soap does a good job with the dirt and some of the soot but the mirrors never really come fully back to their original shine.

The metal lens cap (52mm) is quite solid and is backed with black felt like material. Occasionally you’ll find some pretty dented up caps but since they were so well built you’ll more than likely find a good example out there.

The Nicca Camera Company (Taiho Optical Company) inspired cloth focal-plane shutter. Simple and pretty rugged. This one has some white spots on it as most do… we tend to leave them be rather than trying to clean the them off.

This one (above) has a nice clean film path and film chambers. They’re easy to keep clean with a cotton swab and some canned air. Don’t blow directly on the shutter curtain with the high pressure air!

Since the Pentamatic with lens weighs nearly 2.5 pounds, the base plates usually take a beating. This one is rather good and has held up well!

If you’re interested in adding a nice Pentamatic’35’ to your vintage camera collection, hopefully we’ve shown what a super clean but well used camera looks like. Be careful when you’re shopping around – the mirrors often get stuck in the up position. A few little adjustments (and some lube) usually get them working again but they’ll remain “tricky”. Obviously look for evidence of severe damage – a major dent that prevents something from operating properly would be one to definitely stay away from. The lenses often freeze up do to lack of use… a short time with a hair dryer can often get them moving again.

Best of luck on your search! Any questions please feel free to contact us.

Many thanks, C&C

Nicca Pentamatic!?

October 27, 2016October 25, 2018Chris and Carol 5 Comments

We know… doesn’t make sense, does it? Doesn’t even sound right… “Nicca Pentamatic”.

Stay with us and we’ll try to make our case. Recently discovered information has filled-in some of the missing links in the development of our favorite ~~obsession~~ camera. The mysterious and seldom seen Pentamatic ’35’… Yashica’s first SLR.

Nicca 3-F 35 mm rangefinder (left) and Yashica Pentamatic 35 mm single-lens reflex SLR (right).

A few interesting bits of info have come to our attention recently. We were alerted to an auction by our friend Paul Sokk (http://www.yashicatlr.com) that listed a 13.5 cm f/ 2.8 lens made by Taiho Optical Company – Nicca Lens. Having never heard of the company, Taiho Optical, and knowing about Nicca’s history, we couldn’t figure out where and how there could be a Nicca connection.

taiho_optical_co_nicca_135mm_f28_04

Let’s backtrack a bit with a quick history lesson. Yashima-Yashica was a very successful maker of high quality, low-cost twin-lens reflex cameras but hadn’t moved into the 35 mm market as of early 1957. It appears that the president and founder of Yashima-Yashica, Mr. Yoshimasa Ushiyama could see that although Yashica was successful building TLRs, the market for them would slowly diminish as new, smaller and easier to use 35 mm cameras would grab the marketplace. He wanted in but how? Yashica had no experience in 35 mm cameras, especially rangefinder cameras with cloth focal-plane shutters. There were dozens of Leica copy cameras in Japan (and the world for that matter) but possible patents protected specific manufacturer’s shutter designs. If he could buy into an established company then he could use their shutter design and incorporate it with early Yashima-Yashica designs. In May of 1958, an opportunity presented itself. Nicca Camera Company was apparently experiencing financial difficulties and may have been on the brink of bankruptcy. Nicca cameras were well known and well respected – they made high quality 35 mm rangefinder cameras with focal-plane shutters. They used Nikkor lenses with the L39 screw mount. Mr. Ushiyama was in a rush to purchase Nicca before they went belly up. Advisers cautioned to wait until Nicca went bankrupt arguing that they would be able to acquire it for a better price. Mr. Ushiyama knew that that outcome of a bankruptcy could take longer than he was willing to wait and there would certainly be more suitors to compete with. So the deal went through… sort of. As best as we can glean from our research, a “religionist” “admonished” Mr. Ushiyama for rushing into the deal and cautioned that Yashica itself would suffer a “decline” if all of the transfer were made immediately.

Yashima-Yashica founder Mr. Yoshimasa Ushiyama.

OK, OK! We give!!! We share your feelings dear reader – what’s the connection between Nicca and the Pentamatic? Taking the advice of the religionist, Mr. Ushiyama created a new company. Nicca would become Taiho Optical Company. Say what? Nicca wasn’t absorbed into Yashica in May of 1958, instead, they became another company that could continue to operate with Yashica but without becoming Yashica. Simple. Confused? Mr. Ushiyama listened to his adviser so nothing bad happened. It appears that the former Nicca employees were now free to develop new processes and designs with the financial and technical support of the much larger Yashica. What did Yashica get for its money? Plenty it would seem. Access to years of 35 mm rangefinder manufacturing experience and access to a proven focal-plane shutter. Important steps in building a 35 mm single-lens reflex camera. We don’t know (yet) which one of the two companies came up with the design of what would become the Pentamatic. Was it mostly a Yashica design that had been kicking around for a while lacking a focal-plane shutter, or was it mostly a Nicca design that lacked the financial means to bring it to market? We feel that it was more than likely a 60 – 40 split with Nicca as the 60%. Just a hunch, no facts at the moment.

Pentamatic’s focal-plane shutter. Thanks to Nicca.

But what did the Taiho Optical Company make? Yashica didn’t make their own lenses, Tomioka Optical of Tokyo did. Was the former Nicca, now that it had become Taiho Optical, going to suddenly start making lenses? At the start of this blog, we mentioned that we were alerted to the existence of a 13.5 cm lens for sale with the Taiho Optical Company-Nicca Japan markings. Other than that, nothing.

So when did Mr. Ushiyama merge the two companies? He apparently listed to his adviser and waited eight long years before merging the two. From 1960 (when the Pentamatic was released) until 1968, when he not only made Yashica whole, but he also acquired long time lens supplier Tomioka Optical.

Now we know how the Pentamatic came to be and why it could be called the Nicca Pentamatic.

dscf2748

Thanks for sticking with us. Comments? Likes?

Chris and Carol

Nicca 3-F… Nicca Camera Co., Ltd. & Yashica

October 24, 2016June 11, 2018Chris and Carol 10 Comments

What connection could this attractive 35 mm rangefinder camera have with Yashica? And why on earth is it in a blog about the Yashica Pentamatic???

Nicca 3-F from early 1957 (maybe late 1956). Obviously, it is one of many Leica copy cameras that were built during the 1950s and beyond.

First a little bit about Nicca. Nicca was one of the literally hundreds of camera manufacturers in Japan during the late 1940s and through the 1950s. Production appears to have been, on average, anywhere from just a few hundred units per year to nearly 5,000 per year by 1958. Nicca made what many consider to be one of the better Leica copy cameras. The fit and finish of this particular 3-F are extraordinary. After six decades of use, the camera still functions perfectly and the finish is beautiful. Of note, the leatherette is some of the finest we’ve seen from this period. It is still tight and complete and is a joy to hold this camera.

To keep things in perspective, it is a rather simple camera… focal plane shutter, highest speed 1/500th of a second, no built-in exposure meter, no mirror, no self-timer and a straightforward film advance knob vice single stroke lever (later model did add the lever). Simple but executed well.

The business side of the 3-F. Traditional layout of the controls… this was Nicca’s last model with the knob film advance (they did produce this model with a film advance lever in late 1957).

Where’s the connection with Yashica? In May 1958, Yashima (pre-Yashica) purchased the Nicca Camera Company which by some accounts was struggling and near bankruptcy. We’ve yet to find proof of the bankruptcy part of this narrative but we will continue to pursue it. Yashima, soon to be Yashica, wanted access to Nicca’s technology, design and small camera manufacturing abilities as Yashima lacked experience in 35 mm camera production. We’re sure there was some desire to acquire Nicca’s focal plane shutter technology as Yashima for the most part only made TLRs (just released an 8 mm movie camera and the Yashica 35). Nicca produced two more models(?) under its own name before Yashica released the Nicca-Yashica YF in 1959. Yashica quickly stopped making rangefinder cameras with interchangeable lenses by 1960. We have always found it to be a bit odd but rangefinders with interchangeable lenses were quickly being pushed aside by 35 mm SLRs for all angles… including Yashica with its Pentamatic ’35’.

What’s the relationship with the Pentamatic? The Pentamatic was more than likely designed in the early part of 1959 and may have been originally a Nicca design (more of that later). Distribution of the Pentamatic occurred in the spring of 1960 with a widescale release and advertising by June 1960 (in the US). The Pentamatic was Yashica’s first 35 mm single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. If featured a focal plane shutter with a top speed of 1/1000th of a second. Nicca’s knowledge was directly used in the Pentamatic.

Exposure counter and film reminder dial.

Close-up of the slow speed knob.

It appears that when Yashima purchased Nicca in 1958, there wasn’t an immediate transfer of the company’s assets to Yashima. Instead, Nicca Camera Company became Taiho Optics (or Optical) a subsidiary or new company of the Nicca-Yashica amalgamation. Mr. Ushiyama, founder, and president of Yashica received council that it was not in Yashica’s best interest to proceed with the merger (as the decision to acquire Nicca was made in haste). Instead, Taiho Optics would go on to produce some of its own lenses and lend support and design experience (and personnel) to Yashica. Why? Yashica wanted to build a 35 mm SLR and Nicca was an important stepping stone on that path.

Thanks for your visit… please feel free to leave comments.

Chris & Carol

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!