Yashica

Yashica

Yashica Brand Overview

Yashica logo

Founded: 1945 — Nagano, Empire of Japan
(modern day Japan)
   
Currently: Yashica

Yashica Brand History

Yashica was a Japanese brand founded as Yashima Seiki Seisakusho (Yashima Precision Works) in Nagano Prefecture. Established in May of 1945 as a military subcontractor, the company manufactured munition fuses for the Japanese Empire for just a few months before the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought the Second World War to an abrupt end. Without a war effort to support, the company began producing electrical components and eventually went public as Yashima Seiki K.K. (Yashima Precision Works Co., Ltd.) by the end of 1949.

In 1953, the company decided to head in a new direction, changed its name to Yashima Kogaku Seiki K.K. (Yashima Precision Optical Instruments Co., Ltd.), and branched out into the camera industry with the Pigeonflex, a twin lens reflex camera. The company continued to produce TLRs over the next few years, including some bearing the name “Yashicaflex,” “Yashica” being a contraction of “Yashima” and “Camera.” In 1958, the company finally changed its name to Yashica Co., Ltd.. Yashica soon expanded to 35mm cameras with the aptly named Yashica 35 (not to be confused with the Electro 35) and into the subminiature market with the Yashica Y16. In 1959, Yashica acquired Nicca—a struggling brand specializing in high-end 35mm rangefinders—and immediately rebranded two of their models for sale as the Yashica YE (the Nicca 33) and the Yashica YF (Nicca IIIL).

Yashica flourished in the 1960s, releasing notable cameras such as the Pentamatic, Rapide, the Electro Half, the aforementioned Electro 35, and even manufacturing an instant camera on behalf of Polaroid: the Polaroid 120. In 1973, Yashica entered into a business partnership with the famed German optical company Carl Zeiss and soon began manufacturing high quality 35mm SLRs under the Zeiss’s Contax brand starting with the Contax RTS. Accompanying these new Contax SLRs were a wide range of exceptional Zeiss-designed lenses which could also be used on new Yashica-branded SLRs like the FX-3.

Kyocera acquired Yashica in 1983 and began using the existing partnership with Zeiss to produce the wildly successful T* series line of compact 35mm cameras (which includes the popular Yashica T4) while continuing to manufacture the existing lines of Yashica and Contax rangefinders and SLRs. As digital cameras became more and more popular, Kyocera produced a series of uninspiring compact digital cameras under the Yashica name before abandoning it and pulling out of the camera market entirely in 2005. Three years later, Kyocera sold the Yashica brand to Hong Kong-based firm MF Jebsen which is now using it to market digital cameras.

Interested in starting or growing your own collection of Yashica cameras?
Check eBay to see what’s available.
References:

McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown’s Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 2001-2002. (Grantsburg, WI, USA: Centennial Photo Service, 2001), p 701-707.

“Yashica Cameras Return from Grave,” Wired, https://www.wired.com/2008/02/yashica-cameras/

“Yashica,” Camerapedia, http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Yashica

Related Brands

Yashica Rapide

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The Yashica Rapide (also sold as the “Rapid”) is a vertically oriented 35mm half-frame camera introduced by Yashica in 1961. The launch of the unusually styled Rapide completed Yashica’s entrance into all segments of that era’s consumer camera market with the exception of medium format SLRs. The only other camera that I know of that looks like the Rapide is the Taron Chic. However, since they were both introduced in 1961, it’s unclear as to who copied who or if there was indeed any intentional copying at all.

Yashica Auto Focus Motor

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The Yashica Auto Focus Motor (also known as the Yashica 5-Star Auto Focus Motor) is a compact viewfinder camera with autofocus introduced by Yashica in 1981. Yashica underwent many changes during the Auto Focus Motor’s three year production life including being bought out by Kyocera and the beginning of Yashica’s departure from the consumer SLR market to focus on budget point and shoot cameras.

Yashica EZ-Matic Electronic

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The Yashica EZ-Matic Electronic is a viewfinder camera made for the 126 film cartridge introduced by Yashica in 1969. Its older brother, the original Yashica EZ-Matic, is pretty high-end for what it is with two exposure modes (automatic and aperture priority), accessory shoe, and self-timer. Unfortunately, this EZ-Matic Electronic variant has none of those things.

Yashica FX-3 Super 2000

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The Yashica FX-3 Super 2000 is a variant of the very popular Yashica FX-3 which was introduced in 1979. With its mostly plastic body weighing in at only one pound, many photographers favored the FX-3 for its lightweight, compact design coupled with its ability to mount a wide range of exceptional optics including a superb lineup of legendary Carl Zeiss T* lenses.

Yashica T4 Super D

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The Yashica T4 Super D is one of the last models of the T* series of compact cameras made by Kyocera (who owned Yashica at the time) in partnership with renowned German lens manufacturer Carl Zeiss AG. All cameras in this series used high quality Carl Zeiss Tessar lenses with the legendary T* coating which meant superb image quality in a small package. The Yashica T4 and its variants were also sold as the Yashica T5 and the Kyocera T Proof.

Yashica T AF-D

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The Yashica T AF-D is a high-end 35mm compact camera introduced in 1985. Shortly after acquiring Yashica in the fall of 1983, Kyocera took advantage of its existing licensing agreement with renowned German lens manufacturer Carl Zeiss AG and began production of the T* series, a successful line of compact cameras that use high quality Carl Zeiss Tessar 35mm lenses with the legendary T* coating. The very first model was the Yashica T AF which was closely followed by this data back-equipped AF-D variant.

Yashica Electro 35 GS

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The Yashica Electro 35 GS is a variant of the wildly popular Yashica Electro 35, the first ever camera with full electronic automatic exposure. The GS model you see above also sports gold-plated electrical contacts and boasts a “Color Yashinon” 45mm f/1.7 lens which is completely identical to the standard (greyscale?) Yashinon but was named as such by their marketing department to capitalize on the growing popularity of color film at the time.