Comments are always welcomed, as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
In the Contax RTS instruction booklet, the baseplate pictured either has a “real” serial number or one “made up” by the marketing department. RTS models out in the wild don’t have a serial number that is easy to decode (date manufactured), but this one does, at least if you know how to read Yashica serial numbers. I interpret this SN as February 1975 (502), and its number is 166.
The original instruction booklet (dated 06/76) has an 8-digit SN.My RTS baseplate has serial number 087024, which looks nothing like the serial number in the instructions.Here is a baseplate from an RTS-Fundus Scientific / Medical camera. I see 091238. I don’t see a date code in there – do you?
Anyway, this is just a quick post to gather my thoughts. Do you own a Contax RTS first model? I’d like to see more serial numbers as a pattern may appear. Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed, as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
Brothers from different mothers – the classic Contax-Yashica RTS (original model) and the Fujifilm X-T2. I find the weight and feel to be the same, and many of the manual controls I use are right on top of the T2. That could be why I was attracted to the Fuji in the first place. In the world of modern mirrorless digital cameras, the T2 just feels and acts like an old-school SLR.
The Fuji features a sharp Fujinon zoom lens, and the RTS has a fast and sharp f1.7 Yashica lens. I enjoy the aesthetics of both cameras, and I often shoot with the half-cases attached.Fujifilm got it right when they designed their T2 (and similar models), drawing on the successful designs and functionality from the past.A better view of the lenses. I chose the Yashica lens over the much more costly Planer lens because, let’s face it, Yashica made both (maybe from a Tomioka design in collaboration with Zeiss). The famous T* coatings may be missing on the Yashica, but I doubt it. The T* mainly was a marketing exercise. Full disclosure – I’d take the Zeiss Planer in a heartbeat if money were no object.
I enjoy using my Fuji; it is my go-to camera whenever I shoot with my classic lens collection or when I need to test a lens before listing it in my Etsy shop or on eBay. It’s fast and easy, and the APS-C sensor has a 1.5 crop factor that “boosts” the focal length of every lens I use. See yesterday’s gorgeous 450mm shot below from my 300mm Nikkor-H lens.
Boeing 777 (likely) at over 30,000 feet over northeast Florida (not cropped).
Thanks for stopping by, Chris. Which is your favorite mirrorless camera? Are you a Canon or Nikon photographer? Has anyone tried the new Nikon Z cameras?
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed, as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
Comments are always welcomed, as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
Over the years, I have collected an incredible variety of cameras made by Yashica, from their earliest days (1953) to the last true Yashica models in the late 1980s to early 1990s. I’d have to say that this Yashica Pentamatic set (made in August 1960) is my most impressive find. It’s a one-owner set, and it is in like-new condition. It came with some unexpected goodies (pictured), too.
A gem of a camera set from 1960.
Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
1953 After 6 decades of use, this leather case for the Yashima Flex TLR camera stands strong. It is relatively rare to see a Yashima-branded item outside of Japan; this represents the first time Yashima used its name on a case. I don’t believe Yashima-Yashica made their own leather cases. As a start-up company back in the early 1950s, Yashima and other camera manufacturers likely contracted outside companies to make their leather cases and branded goods so that they could focus on their core activities. Many of these early cases have distinct markings on the bottom, indicating the hallmark of the company that produced it.
From 1953, a beautiful example of a Yashima leather case.An early example of a hallmark on the bottom of the case.Another hallmark.
I have a few additional examples in my collection – time to dig them out and photograph them. Have you seen a Japanese leather case with what appears to be a hallmark? Please, share if you do. Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
There is still plenty of conjecture about the exact meaning of the two letters that appear in a diamond design on Japanese-made photo gear made in the 1950s and 1960s and gradually disappearing in the mid to late 1970s. Some suggest that it meant “Exchange Purchase” since the mark often appeared on cameras sold in military exchanges throughout Japan during that period. The catch is that not all of the cameras sold in the exchange stores had that mark – probably only 30% or less, depending on the decade and store. Stereo equipment was also marked as was binoculars. Expensive jewelry and watches didn’t have the mark. So what gives, and exactly who ordered the symbols to be placed on, at times, random items within these few categories.
Here is a never-before-seen (by me) mark on the presentation box of a <E.P> marked Nikon S2 35mm rangefinder camera from the 1950s. The camera bears the mark, and so does the box. It’s too bad the box doesn’t have an affixed price sticker. It would have been interesting to see which exchange it sold in and for how much.
Look closely at the image of this Nikon box pictured below. In the upper right-hand corner is a price sticker. The sticker has quite a bit of good information, but it also leaves out some vital info. The “Japan Tax Exempt” and dollar amount printed on the sticker are such a tease. The camera was from the early 1970s, so it could have had the <E.P> mark, but not necessarily. From memory of my time living in Japan and shopping at the Navy Exchanges in Yokosuka and Yokohama, I don’t ever recall seeing a price sticker with “Tax Exempt” printed on it since everything sold in the exchange was tax-free and therefore tax exempt. If it wasn’t sold at the exchange and in fact sold at a duty-free or tax-free shop in Japan, why would it be priced in USD and not yen?
Intriguing find.My 1955 Nicca 3-S with a <E.P> mark on the rewind knob (typical placement of the mark).
No record exists that explains precisely what the “E & P” stood for or why the program existed and, for that matter, who instituted and administrated the process. I believe the mark was primarily intended to deter the black market reselling of photo gear to Japanese civilians by military personnel since the cameras were tax-free in the military stores and were more than likely also priced lower than the same camera “out in town” in a Japanese camera shop. It’s likely “EP” stood for “Exempt Purchase” or “Exempt Product” and not “Exchange Purchase” for the reasons I stated in this post. Do you have additional information about the program? Do you fondly remember purchasing a great camera at the exchange, please share it.
Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
Yashica’s first through-the-lens (TTL) light metering single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. Two CdS resistors measure the average degree of light entering through the lens and directed to the focusing ground glass. The TL-Super started a bunch of great things at Yashica.
In addition, the TL-Super was the first Yashica SLR with a fixed accessory shoe (flash hot shoe) mounted to the top of the pentaprism (woohoo)!
Shown with a sharp and fast Auto Yashinon-DX 50mm f1.4 lens.It’s a great first-time film user camera if you can find a nice example.
Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
The best addition to my camera collection in 2023. I’m a big-time Canon and Yashica collector, so getting into the Nikon brand has been a fun experience. Lots to learn, which has made it a challenge. Nikon F2A (F2 Photomic A) with a Nikkor 50mm f2 lens. Pictured with the AS-1 Flash Unit Coupler and AR-1 Soft Shutter Release. The F2 body is from early 1973, and the DP-11 metered viewfinder is from 1978.
Pictured is the Nikon Speedlight SB-16B, which is too big on the AS-1 adapter. When a flash head is this big, it’s best to go with a flash with a handle. The SB-16 features a bounce, swivel tilt head, and forward firing flash below the main flash. When mounted on the F2, the TTL flash feature is unavailable like it would be on the later F3. It’s still an automatic flash with two settings and a manual flash mode.The Nikkor 50mm f2 is a great lens – you don’t always need a faster lens when shooting with a higher ISO (ASA back then). I find it plenty sharp enough, especially at f4 and 5.6.
Do you have a new favorite Nikon? Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
A couple of Minolta 35mm film cameras for your Sunday morning viewing pleasure.
Purchased in the summer of 1975 and still going strong.Purchased in the autumn of 2000. It’s hard to believe it’s been 23 years!
Do you have an all-time favorite Minolta camera? Do you still have it? By the way, I’ve put both of these classics in my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com. Thanks for stopping by, Chris
Follow me on Instagram at @ccphotographyai
Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by, and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan
Please respect that all content, including photos and text, is this blog’s property and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.
Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris 