Stages
Shadows
Not quite there yet – soon the sounds of popping blossoms will be heard!
Have a beautiful day! – 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.
With the help of my good friend Paul Sokk from Australia (www.yashicatlr.com), we’ve nailed down the location of Yashica’s second factory which was opened in 1956. I say second because Yashica’s (then Yashima) first factory was located across Lake Suwa in the town of Suwa – possibly established as early as the late 1940s. Yashica likely operated its first camera factory in Suwa – an early 1954 advertisement in English claims that the head office was located at 244, 4-Ku Ohwa, Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture, Telephone: Suwa 1350-4 (see scan below). My thinking is that is a less than an accurate translation of the Japanese to English. I’ve had more luck in finding the general area on today’s maps by using 2-4-4 Owa, Suwa which brings me very close to the present day Seiko-Epson headquarters.
Likely 1954 advertisement in an English language newspaper circulated in Japan. As best as I can tell it may be the first ad for the Yashima Flex in English.
My fear all along during this search was that since Yashica was bought out by Kyocera in 1983 that the fate of the factory in Shimosuwa would be lost in time since Kyocera’s current factory in Okaya is not related to the Shimosuwa factory.
With Paul’s sharp eyes, attention to detail, and sheer determination he was able to find Yashica’s old factory in present-day Shimosuwa.
Yashica’s “new” factory in Shimosuwa as it looked in late 1956 (at least to the artist). Lake Suwa and the distant shoreline can be seen in the distance. Of note, this artists rendering is in no way even close to scale – many of the buildings are in the wrong location and the smokestacks seem to be placed for artistic “balance” vice accurate representation. Of course, this drawing may be more conceptional and not reflective of reality.
The image above is an artist’s rendering of the Shimosuwa factory complex before the addition of the massive gym structure (see below) and before the central administration building was built.
Looking south across Yashica’s factory campus as it appeared in the mid-1960s. The large building on the bottom center in this picture is Yashica’s gym and auditorium. The administration building is shown about centered in this scan.
The famous and easily identifiable Yashica factory administration building at night.
Aerial view of the Yashica factory campus from around 1959 or so. The gym building is on the extreme upper left in this picture. The factory administration building with the large verticle “Yashica” on it can be seen from behind (from the south looking north).
This image is from a 1958 Yashica sales brochure. The distinctive Yashica factory administration building as it looked when new. At this point in time, it still had the covered parking area just to the building’s right – two modern full-sized “service” vehicles are parked underneath.
A view of the Yashica factory campus from around 1960. I would guess that the view is taken from the hillside that overlooks the grounds. Very similar view of the artist’s rendering from 1956. (Document scan courtesy of Paul Sokk)
Current view of the original site of Yashica’s first factory in Shimosuwa, Nagano Prefecture. The present use of this site is by Mutoh Industries, Ltd. – a maker of large-scale inkjet printers for commercial use and sold around the world.
In the above capture, Yashica’s gym building (large silver roof structure in the upper left portion of the highlighted area) can still be seen. Most of the original buildings appear to have saved.
It’s been a long but enjoyable process searching for this site. For a Yashicaphile such as myself, I would love to be able to visit the site and tour the facilities. I would like to meet with previous employees of Yashica and speak with them about their experiences while working for Yashica. Maybe someone knows the exact location of Yashica’s first factory in Suwa. That would be neat. I’ve reached out to the Mutoh company and have inquired if they would be interested in acquiring any of my collected scans of the factory from its earliest days.
Thanks for stopping by!
Chris
One owner camera and lens purchased new in 1969 in New York City. Gently used and in nearly new condition – this lens is amazing.
This set will be available for purchase soon at http://www.ccstudio2380.com
Thanks for stopping by!
Chris
Miss them both – always thinking of my mom and dad.
1961 – a second honeymoon. Mary and Paul
You can’t celebrate Father’s Day without remembering a wonderful mom.
Happy Father’s Day to all of us dads!
Chris
A new Pentamatic joins the family – this one was made in September of 1960.
Seldom seen in the wild, Yashica’s “Phantom” camera – the P2
The Pentamatic II was fitted with a limited production lens made by Zunow Optical – a 5.8cm f1.7 Auto Yashinon with 10 aperture blades. It’s a massive camera with a ton (1,028 grams) of brass and glass.
It’s a distinctive design – very modern but classic at the same time. A clean pentaprism without the cold shoe mounted on it – in fact, the cold shoe (accessory shoe) is mounted on the camera’s left shoulder just above the hidden rewind knob.
The serial number (NO. 96000944) indicates the “when” of this camera. The “9” is for September and the next digits, “60” is for 1960. The last 5 digits are the sequence number or production number. This one is the 944th made since production began in August 1960.
A rather unique lens for its time – I feel that the lens was made by Zunow Optical for Yashica and was only produced in an extremely limited number for the short run of the Pentamatic II (about 6 months). This is one of Yashica’s hardest cameras to acquire – there may only be less than 500 of these (if that much) left in the wild.
Thanks for stopping by!
Chris
Carol and I have decided to start cutting back on our extensive collection of mostly Yashica “stuff”. Some of the items we’ll be listing rarely come up for purchase and are in some cases, the only known examples in existence.
This item, the Yashica ‘Happi Coat’ was made in Japan around the mid-1960s to coincide with Yashica’s new line of electronic cameras. The advertising phrase, “Pioneer in Electronic Photography” became more widely known as Yashica included it in almost every advertisement and brochure. As we understand the origins of this coat, Yashica provided it to salespeople to wear while demonstrating Yashica cameras in US camera stores. I know of only one size – something of a large-medium-large that was designed to fit a majority of wearers. If you were larger than that the happi coat could be left open and worn without the belt. It’s made from a heavyweight high-quality cotton and is very vibrant. The silk screening is sharp and colorful too. Only a slight hint of some discolorations are noted on the fabric. More detailed pictures can be found in our Etsy Shops. By the way, our “model” is about 5′ 9″ tall as a point of reference.
It kinda looks like something Doc would have dressed Marty up in for the Back to the Future movies.
This wonderful coat can be seen in more detail in our Etsy Shops.
It’s also available at https://www.ccstudio2380.com
Stay in touch as we endeavor to list most of our collection by the end of the summer (well by the end of fall at least).
Thanks for stopping by!
Chris and Carol ^.^
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.
As was typical with Yashica sales material, this brochure is undated. Our best guess would put it around late 1961. It’s fairly complete with all of the major accessories and lenses that were available for the Pentamatic line of cameras – the original Pentamatic ’35’, the Pentamatic II, and the final camera the Pentamatic S.
The Pentamatic S was available in the US but received only limited press – few advertisements and only 3 different brochures in English are known to exist.
The Pentamatic S was made starting in August 1961. By that time, the Pentamatic family of cameras were starting to show their age and lack of sophistication and were already having trouble in the world marketplace.
The Pentamatic is a well-made camera but was lacking in some important basics that were addressed with the S. Adding a coupled exposure meter and a self-timer were but a few steps Yashica took to make the camera more competitive. The original lens for the Pentamatic ’35’ was made by Tomioka Optical and the S went back to using it. The middle camera (Pentamatic II) was only released in Japan and was equipped with a Zunow made 5.8cm f1.7 lens.
The first known advertisement for the new Pentamatic – Spring 1960. Take notice that the lens serial number 59100581 is very close to the serial number on the lens in this late 1961 brochure (59100521). The Yashica marketing team must have held onto some of the first lenses made for them by Tomioka.
Thanks for stopping by! If you want to add a truly unique camera to your collection take a look at the Yashica Pentamatic S – if you can find a nice, clean working model go for it!
Please check out our online shop at https://www.ccstudio2380.com for some neat vintage cameras and some brand new modern classics!
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.
Azalea stamens in the bright Florida sunlight.
As taken. No post-production of the image.
Camera: Fujifilm X-A10 with Vivitar 70-150mm f3.8 close focusing auto zoom lens using Fotodiox Pro FD-FX adapter.
This manual focus lens is from 1976 and is in excellent condition inside and out. Some of its most impressive features are the 15 elements in 10 groups, f3.8 to f22 aperture range, multicoated lens surfaces, and 16 inches minimum focusing distance at close focusing setting.
Length 112mm
Weight 550g
Mount Canon FD breech mount
This compact lens impresses with its ease of use and remarkable clarity and contrast. It’s relatively fast at f3.8. With the proper adapter for hybrid digital photography, it’s a clear winner.
Thanks for stopping by! This lens is available for purchase at https://www.ccstudio2380.com
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.
Copyright © 2015-2018 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
Samsung Galaxy S8+
It’s technically a bad photograph – I deliberately shot into the sun under breezy conditions so nothing is in focus. I love the shallow depth of field and the sun rays on the left of the image. I’ll check this morning after sunrise to see if the leaves made it through the night.
Do you explore your yard photographically? There’s so much to see. How about a mossy gate on a fence from a different viewpoint?
Samsung Galaxy S8+
The swirling patterns of bark on the pear tree.
Samsung Galaxy S8+
Technically all of these images are not properly exposed or focused and lack sophisticated techniques in their composition and received no post-production. They’re just shots taken on a whim – but we like them nonetheless.
Thanks for your visit and have a beautiful day!
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.
Copyright © 2015-2018 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.
Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris 