Yashica J-Series | Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris

In case you missed it, here’s another look at our post about the “J” Series from Yashica.

The Yashica ‘J’ series of 35mm SLR film cameras. Top body is the J-7, next is the J-4, then the J-5 and finally the first one in the series the J-3. These were heavyweight cameras in their day…the best (for the most part) that Yashica produced from their factory in Nagano Prefecture (Shimosuwa).

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Produced in 1962 to around 1967 to early 1968. The black body J-3 was Yashica’s first 35mm SLR ‘Pro Black’ camera. They were released in the following order… J-3, J-5, J-4 and J-7. These cameras feature lots of brass and glass. They also represent Yashica’s first SLRs with built-in exposure meters. TTL exposure metering was just around the corner for Yashica after the release of the J-7 in the form of the TL Super.

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16358708177_7df772c4d4_o The J-5 was super popular in the mid 1960s.

15954848841_c16d47ab60_o Another tough one in the series to find complete and in mint condition.

17389471134_d7a33a381e_o One…

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The Yashica J-7 was the last camera in Yashica’s popular J-Series of 35mm SLR cameras that ran from about late 1962 to early 1968. They were: the J-3, J-5, J-4, and the J-7. You could throw in the J-P but the J-P was closer in design and function to the Penta J and not the J-Series. All of these SLRs featured the famous and common M42 screw mount lens camera bodies.

The J-Series featured a CdS exposure meter which was built into the camera body on the camera’s left front top plate (see images below). The disadvantage of this type of meter was that the exposure readings did not accurately reflect the amount of light passing through the lens. Adjustments needed to be made if filters were used. The Yashica TL was Yashica’s first SLR to feature an exposure meter built inside of the camera and took readings through the attached lens (hence the “TL” for through the lens). As Yashica stated in the instruction booklet for the TL – “The two CdS resistors measures the average degree of light entering through the lens and directed to the focusing groundglass. In other words, the average value of light directed to the film plane is accurately computed”. This was a giant step for Yashica and would lead them to pioneer the use of electronics in photography as each new SLR made major advances towards the goal of accurate “computer controlled” exposure readings. The Yashica TL Electro-X and the ITS were the pinnacles of these accomplishments by late 1969 and early 1970.

A close-up view of the CdS exposure meter on the J-7.

The last SLR in the famous J-Series of cameras.

The J-Series of 35mm SLR cameras from Yashica. The J-3 was the only one to be released in a pro-black finish.

The “Best of the Best” – Yashica’s ITS model of the TL Electro-X.

And there you have it. A very short history of Yashica’s early 35mm SLR cameras.

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Tag Yashica J-Series

Yashica “J” Series of 35mm SLRs – 1960s

Yashica J-7 and Yashica TL – the last of a series and the start of a new era