Yashica’s Model A TLR – a camera you should collect

April 12, 2022April 12, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Hi all… if you’re looking to get into medium-format film photography may I suggest you look for the Yashica Model A as a good starting point. The camera is super simple to operate and is very affordable compared to other Yashica models. The better price doesn’t get you an inferior camera though as the Model A uses high-quality Yashica lenses made by Tomioka Optical of Tokyo. Here’s an example of a Model A. This one was made in 1966 and is in mint condition.

Here’s a link to the instruction booklet. http://www.yashicatlr.com/PDFs%20User%20Manuals%20(new)/Yashica%20A%20(LoRes).pdf

The right side has a large focusing knob in feet and meters and a smaller film advance knob (upper left).

This camera’s left side features an accessory shoe.

A red viewing window indicates which exposure you’re on.

Film loading is simple as is unloading. The camera uses easy to find 120 roll film. I like using film from Fujifilm.

Both the viewing lens (top) and the taking lens are Yashikor f3.5 80mm made by Tomioka Optical. The shutter is made by Copal and features speeds from B (Bulb) to 1/300. The shutter is cocked by moving the lever (with a green dot) downward after advancing the film. The shutter release is the silver button on the lower left of the faceplate. The aperture is set by the silver lever to the right of the taking lens.

Instruction booklet from the first version of the camera (1956).

Why I love the Yashica-A. It’s simple to use and simple to operate and with less fussy features it’s likely to operate for decades to come and it’s easy to chase down on the online auction and buying sites (eBay, Etsy, Mercari). What’s the downside? Like any camera that’s over five decades old, fungus and mold on the lenses are the biggest issues. The good news is that it’s relatively easy to get at the lenses and give them a good cleaning as long as the fungus hasn’t etched the glass lens elements. I find my Yashica-A’s lens is just as good a picture taker as my much more feature-laden Yashica-Mat EM with a Yashinon lens. For much more on everything related to Yashica TLRs, stop by my good friend Paul Sokk’s site at http://www.yashicatlr.com – Thanks for stopping by, 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.

New items in my camera shop

March 29, 2022March 29, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Hi all – I’ve added some very interesting items to my online camera shop hosted by Etsy at http://www.ccstudio2380.com

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Happy SUNday! – Yashica friends

March 13, 2022March 13, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

New items in my camera shop!

February 27, 2022February 27, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Hello all – it’s been a while since I’ve shared a few of the items I have in my online camera shop which is hosted by Etsy at http://www.ccstudio2380.com

As always, everything in my shop is of the highest quality and in some cases, quite rare or at least very hard to find. Lots of stuff to add a nice touch to your camera collection. If there’s something you’re looking for and you don’t see it please drop me a message here or at ccphotographyai@gmail.com as I just may have what you’re looking for. Thanks for stopping by and please keep the citizens of Ukraine in your thoughts and prayers. – Chris

throwback Thursday – Yashica Classics

February 24, 2022February 24, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Yashica-635 twin-lens reflex, dual-format film camera from 1958 and the Yashica Pentamatic-S (with no model number exposure meter) from 1961.

Both were groundbreaking cameras for Yashica in the late 1950s and early 1960s as Yashica made steps to broaden its offerings.

At least they caught their mistake.

February 15, 2022February 15, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

This errata sheet was included with the Yashica brochure (pictured below) from 1974.

Yashica’s “Infallible” System needed to be corrected.

There aren’t too many of these sales brochures still floating around so I ended up buying one that is a bit rough condition-wise (but complete). It even has some prices written on the cover as a bonus.

The date code (lower right corner) is **E074** which I take to be July 1974. It’s one of the few brochures from this period that both the English and Japanese versions use the same images inside.

The sales brochures for the Yashica Electro AX and FFT cameras are pretty hard to find online here in the US on eBay and Etsy or through the Japanese auction sites. The owner’s manuals are even harder to find!

Here’s the back cover of the Japanese sales brochure. It uses the same date code ***074***.

Small stuff I know but I’m trying to document as much as I can on these last two models (AX & FFT) from Yashica in their M42 screw-in mount camera line (1972-1974). Thanks for stopping by! – 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

Paul’s awesome Yashica site!

February 11, 2022Chris and Carol 2 Comments

My good friend Paul Sokk from Australia has an absolutely awesome Yashica site that covers pretty much everything Yashica has made since day one (1953). Check out this recently updated section about Yashica’s 35mm SLR cameras. http://www.yashicatlr.com/Pentamatic.html#pentaj

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to tell Paul hello! – Chris

1975 – an important year for Yashica

February 11, 2022February 11, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

A dream collection of Yashica cameras – if only it was 1975 again! This photo is from the Yashica publication intended for US camera dealers and represents only a small portion of what was available from Yashica in 1975. Conspicuous in its absence is the flagship TL Electro-X ITS with its distinctive gold electron logo on the pentaprism.

From ‘Yashica A New Horizon’ – 1975 marketing brochure. If you look closely at the copy stand in the area just below the bulb on the right you can just make out a piece of black tape. On my copy stand, it says Yashica and since Contax didn’t make one (at the time of this image) they just covered up the Yashica name.
How cool would it be to own everything pictured?

My good friend Graham Buxton-Smither had this to say about the Contax image above – “It was an aspirational piccie back in the late 1970s – one could only dream about owning such gear – even more so when you added the Zeiss lens range. You are absolutely right about the copy stand – it’s Yashica’s Cope Stand II. Two other Yashica items are shown – the Microscope Adapter and the Magnifier. All is not as it seems with other gear too! The motor drive/250 back is the one later used by Olympus with the OM1n; the hammer-head flash is a lower-powered National, quite unlike the RTF540; the bellows is simply a basic Novoflex rebranded (the Contax Auto Bellows is far superior with swing/tilt), and the radio control kit is nothing like the actual one eventually produced under the Contax name. It’s still a great piccie though! I’m adding a photo to the Yashica Group showing the ML 55 2.8 + 27mm Tube on a Contax RTS Fundus that shows the true Contax 250 back and drive.” I’ve included an image of Graham’s Contax that he mentions above (see below).

This shows the ML 55 2.8 in 1:1 macro mode using Yashica’s 27mm Extension Tube. It’s attached to my lab kit – a Contax RTS Fundus with the Professional Motor Drive and 250 Back. I often use it with the AC Control Box when observing an item over extended periods of days or weeks.

If you’d like to visit Graham’s Flickr site which is just like visiting a Yashica and Contax museum you can find him at https://www.flickr.com/photos/164456136@N06/

Thank you for stopping by and hopefully, I’ve piqued your curiosity a bit! – Chris

wordless wednesday one

February 9, 2022February 9, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Thanks for stopping by. – Chris

Rare Yashica Minister-700 Camera Leaflet

February 6, 2022February 6, 2022Chris and Carol Leave a comment

I purchased this gorgeous advertising leaflet from a collector in Japan that is as fresh as the day it was printed back in 1964 (best guess of the actual date).

Yashica Minister-700 35mm rangefinder film camera.

The lower portion of this leaflet talks about a test that Asahi Camera magazine published in December 1964 praising the sharpness and speed of the f1.7 Yashinon 4.5cm lens and the accuracy of the built-in CdS light meter.

Yashica Minister-700 “DeLuxe” model 35mm rangefinder camera. There’s no mention as to what makes this a DeLuxe model other than the cost of a premium leather case for an additional 1,800 JPY.

The Yashinon f1.7 4.5cm lens has 6 elements in 4 groups. A lens like this would not normally be on a “simple” rangefinder like this at this price point of 18,000 JPY in 1964.

This model is not as common as the other models in the Minister “family” and it would be an excellent find for any collection. Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris

Yashica cameras and so much more!

Tag Yashica