Yashica was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, originally active from 1949 until 2005 when its then-owner,

Kyocera is a Japanese multinational ceramics and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori and renamed in 1982. It manufactures industrial ceramics, solar power generating systems, telecommuni ...

, ceased production. In 2008, the Yashica name reappeared on cameras produced by the

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

-based MF Jebsen Group. In 2015, trademark rights were transferred to Yashica International Company Limited and appointed 100 Enterprises International Group Co. Limited as Yashica Global Sole Agent.

History

The company began in December 1949 in

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, when the Yashima Seiki Company was founded with an initial investment of $566.Heiberg, Milton, ''The Yashica Guide, A Modern Camera Guide Series Book'', New York: Amphoto Press, , p. 10 Its eight employees originally manufactured components for electric clocks.Heiberg, p. 10 Later, they began making camera components, and by June 1953 had introduced their first complete camera, the Yashimaflex, a

twin-lens reflex A twin-lens reflex camera (TLR) is a type of camera with two objective lenses of the same focal length. One of the lenses is the photographic objective or "taking lens" (the lens that takes the picture), while the other is used for the viewfind ...

(TLR) medium-format camera designed for 6x6 cm

medium format film Medium format has traditionally referred to a film format in photography and the related cameras and equipment that use film. Nowadays, the term applies to film and digital cameras that record images on media larger than the used in 135 fil ...

. While the Yashimaflex used lenses labeled ''Tri-Lausar'', successive models used ''Yashikor'' and ''Yashinon'' lenses. All of these lenses were manufactured for Yashica by the

Tomioka Optical Works Tomioka may refer to: *Tomioka, Fukushima, a town in Fukushima Prefecture **Tomioka Station, a railway station *Tomioka, Gunma, a city in Gunma Prefecture **Tomioka silk mill *Tomioka Castle * (born 1964), professional shogi player * (1932–2007), ...

, beginning a relationship that lasted for many years. Late in 1953, Yashima Seiki Company became Yashima Optical Industry Company, Ltd. In 1957, Yashima founded Yashica, Inc., a subsidiary arm in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to manage marketing efforts in the United States. 1957 also marked the introduction of a popular new TLR camera series, the Yashica Mat line., as well as an 8mm cine movie camera. Yashima continued to grow, with 1,982 employees by 1958 when it changed its name to Yashica Company, Ltd, on acquiring the Nicca Camera Company, Ltd. The Nicca acquisition was fortunate, as the designs acquired assisted Yashica in expanding its product line into advanced 35 mm rangefinder cameras. The

Yashica Pentamatic Yashica was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, originally active from 1949 until 2005 when its then-owner, Kyocera, ceased production. In 2008, the Yashica name reappeared on cameras produced by the Hong Kong-based MF Jebsen Group. In 2015, tr ...

, an advanced, modern 35 mm

Single Lens Reflex A single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a camera that typically uses a mirror and prism system (hence "reflex" from the mirror's reflection) that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. With twin le ...

(SLR) camera with a proprietary bayonet-mount, automatic diaphragm (offered only with the ''Auto Yashinon'' 50mm/1.8 lens), and interchangeable lenses, was introduced in 1959. As before, Yashica continued to source its lenses from the Tomioka Optical factory. Around 1959–1960, Yashica acquired the assets of the bankrupt Zunow Optical Industry Co. Ltd. Though a small company, Zunow had become known for limited production of a very advanced 35 mm SLR camera, along with several high-quality, fast 35 mm camera and 8mm cine (movie) lens designs and a proprietary bayonet-mount lens system similar to that of Yashica Pentamatic. With the assistance of Tomioka Optical Works, Yashica adapted Zunow lens designs into its own 8mm turret cine (movie) cameras. Yashica frII

Like Zunow, Yashica found it difficult to gain market acceptance with its proprietary SLR lens mount, and redesigned its SLR camera line in 1962 to accept the

Contax Contax (stylised as CONTAX in the Kyocera era) began as a German camera model in the Zeiss Ikon line in 1932, and later became a brand name. The early cameras were among the finest in the world, typically featuring high quality Zeiss intercha ...

/Praktica

M42 lens mount The M42 lens mount is a screw thread mounting standard for attaching lenses to 35 mm cameras, primarily single-lens reflex models. It is more accurately known as the M42 × 1 mm standard, which means that it is a metric screw thread of ...

.Reynolds, Clyde, ''The Contax RTS and Yashica SLR Bayonet and Screw Mount Book'', New York: Focal Press (1978), , pp. 10, 24 The new SLR camera was introduced as the Penta J. In December 1965, Yashica introduced the world's first commercially successful electronically controlled 35 mm camera, the

Yashica Electro 35 The Electro 35 is a rangefinder camera made by Japanese company Yashica from the mid-1960s with a coupled and fixed 1:1.7 45 mm lens. It was the first electronically controlled camera, operating mainly in an aperture priority 'auto' mode. The ...

, a popular

rangefinder camera A rangefinder camera is a camera fitted with a rangefinder, typically a split-image rangefinder: a range-finding focusing mechanism allowing the photographer to measure the subject distance and take photographs that are in sharp focus. Most var ...

that in various model subvariants eventually sold 8 million units. The company continued to expand its international markets, and in August 1968, Yashica acquired its lens manufacturer, the Tomioka Optical and Machine Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (later renamed the Tomioka Optical Co. Ltd.). By this time, Tomioka was one of the largest and most reputable lens manufacturers in Japan. Sales of 35 mm SLRs continued to grow steadily, and Yashica was quickly acquiring a reputation for both electronic camera expertise and high-quality optics. 1968 also marked the year of Yashica's last major TLR camera design, the Yashica Mat-124, a popular model which combined some of the best features of Yashica's earlier TLR cameras. In 1968, Yashica introduced the TL Electro-X 35 mm

single lens reflex A single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a camera that typically uses a mirror and prism system (hence "reflex" from the mirror's reflection) that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. With twin le ...

(SLR) camera and produced it until 1974. It had a

screw thread A screw thread, often shortened to thread, is a helical structure used to convert between rotational and linear movement or force. A screw thread is a ridge wrapped around a cylinder or cone in the form of a helix, with the former being called a ...

lens mount A lens mount is an interface – mechanical and often also electrical – between a photographic camera body and a lens. It is a feature of camera systems where the body allows interchangeable lenses, most usually the rangefinder camera, singl ...

, the

, for its interchangeable lenses. It also had an all-electronic

through-the-lens In photography, through-the-lens metering (TTL metering) refers to a feature of cameras whereby the intensity of light reflected from the scene is measured through the lens; as opposed to using a separate metering window or external hand-held light ...

exposure meter A light meter is a device used to measure the amount of light. In photography, a light meter (more correctly an exposure meter) is used to determine the proper exposure for a photograph. The meter will include either a digital or analog calcula ...

in the viewfinder using lighted arrows (not true LEDs, which were first introduced with the Fujica ST801). The

Copal Copal is tree resin, particularly the aromatic resins from the copal tree ''Protium copal'' (Burseraceae) used by the cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as ceremonially burned incense and for other purposes. More generally, copal includes re ...

Square SE shutter, a vertically-travelling metal blade focal plane shutter made by Copal Corporation, used in the camera, was electronically controlled. In 1970, Yashica introduced their final TLR camera, the Yashica Mat-124G, perhaps the most evolved of the TLR variants.
Brooklyn Film Camera: Yashicamat 124G
', retrieved 14 May 2022 Like several of the earlier versions it featured a built in light meter. Settings to the shutter speed and aperture had to be made manually but it allowed the camera to be used without an additional handheld meter. The 124G allowed conversion from 120 roll film to 220 roll film. Another improvement was the film advance lever, which now controlled both shutter and film advance. In 1972, Yashica introduced the TL Electro 35 mm SLR camera which was similar to the

Pentax Spotmatic The Pentax Spotmatic refers to a family of 35mm single-lens reflex cameras manufactured by the Asahi Optical Co. Ltd., later known as Pentax Corporation, between 1964 and 1976. All Pentax Spotmatics used the M42 screw-thread lens mount which w ...

camera made by the Asahi Optical Company (

Pentax is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company Ricoh for DSLR cameras, lenses, sport optics (including binoculars and rifle scopes), and CCTV optics. The Pentax brand is also used by Hoya Corporation ...

). The TL Electro also used a lighted exposure meter display similar to that in the TL Electro-X, as well as the M42 screw threaded

for its interchangeable lenses. In 1973, Yashica the company began ''Top Secret Project 130'', a collaboration with Carl

Zeiss Zeiss or Zeiß may refer to: People *Carl Zeiss (1816–1888), German optician and entrepreneur *Emil Zeiß (1833–1910), German Protestant minister and painter Companies *Carl Zeiss AG, German manufacturer of optics, industrial measurem ...

that produced the

RTS RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...

(for "Real Time System"), a new, professional 35 mm SLR with an electronically controlled shutter bearing the

brand. A new prestige line of Yashica/Contax lenses designed by Carl Zeiss was introduced for the camera, with a common C/Y bayonet mount allowing lens interchange between all 35 mm Contax and Yashica SLR camera models. The F. Alexander Porsche Group was hired to complete an ergonomic and styling study of the new camera. The new Contax RTS appeared at

photokina Photokina (rendered in the promoters' branding as "photokina") is a trade fair held in Europe for the photographic and imaging industries. It is the world's largest such trade fair. The first Photokina was held in Cologne, Germany, in 1950, an ...

in 1974, and became a commercial success. Yashica soon introduced several new 35 mm SLR cameras beginning with the FX-1 (1975) and FX-2 (1976). Also in that year, in response to the success of the Contax RTS, Yashica developed the upscale Yashica FR using some of the features of the RTS, including its electromagnetic shutter release. The FR was capable of using the entire range of Carl Zeiss T* lenses. In contemporaneous tests, the FR was described as being tougher in some ways than the more expensive Contax RTS, including better sealing against dust and contaminants. This practice of "pairing" similar Contax models with more affordable, less full-featured, but still high-quality Yashica models would continue for the next ten years. The FR was quickly followed in April 1977 by the FR-I and FR-II. The FR-I was a 35 mm SLR offering even more features of the RTS, including an electronic shutter with both manual and aperture priority modes, and marked the high point for the Yashica brand in competing with Nikon, Canon, and Minolta for the semi-professional SLR camera market. 500mmMirrorLens

In 1979, Yashica introduced a new inexpensive 35 mm consumer SLR, the FX-3, intended for entry-level buyers.''Yashica's FX-3: Basic, Black, And Beautiful'', Modern Photography, January 1980, pp. 116-120 Designed and manufactured to Yashica specifications by

Cosina is a manufacturer of high-end optical glass, optical precision equipment, cameras, video and electronic related equipment, based in Nakano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. History Cosina is the successor to Nikō (or "Nikoh"), a company set up as ...

, the affordable FX-3 still incorporated the C/Y lens mount that would also accept Carl Zeiss T* lenses.McKeown, James M., ''McKeown's Price Guide To Antique & Classic Cameras 2005-2006'', Grantsburg, WI: Centennial Photo Service (2004), This simple, lightweight manual-exposure SLR camera sold well, and with minor revisions, stayed in production until 2002. In October 1983, Yashica Company Ltd. was acquired by ceramics giant Kyocera. Initially, the merger resulted in few outward changes. The manual-focus (MF) FX-103 Program, introduced in 1985, continued the "pairing" tradition of high-end Yashica SLR models with Contax (Contax 159 mm), and was the first Yashica SLR with TTL flash and full programmed exposure capabilities. After 1983, all Yashica brand cameras were marketed by Kyocera (Kyoto Ceramics), which also made newer Contax cameras. By 1985, the company was facing intense market competition from other manufacturers, especially

Minolta was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated autofocu ...

, which had introduced a competitively priced and advanced autofocus 35 mm SLR camera. Yashica eventually introduced its own autofocus 35 mm SLR camera line that was overpriced and poorly marketed in comparison to its competition. In response, Kyocera gradually repositioned the brand as a budget-priced

point-and-shoot camera A point-and-shoot camera, also known as a compact camera and sometimes abbreviated to P&S, is a still camera designed primarily for simple operation. Most use focus free lenses or autofocus for focusing, automatic systems for setting the exposu ...

line, moving production from Japan to Hong Kong, and discontinued high-end SLR camera production. In 2005, Kyocera halted production on all Contax, Yashica, and other Kyocera-branded film and digital cameras.Djudjic, Dunja,
Yashica Teases A New Product Four Years After Y35 Digifilm Fiasco
', 3 January 2022, retrieved 14 May 2022

The New Yashica Corporation

In 2008, Kyocera sold the trademark rights of Yashica Inc. to Hong Kong-based MF Jebsen Group, and is under its

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

JNC Datum Tech International, Limited. In late 2017, Yashica announced a digital camera, the Y35 DigiFilm camera, which raised $1.28 million on Kickstarter. The Y35, styled to resemble the old Yashica Electro 35 film camera, incorporated 'digifilm' - interchangeable faux 35 film canisters that set a precise combination of ISO and size aspect ratios. However, many owners reported multiple issues with design and functionality. Yashica's products from JNC Datum Tech International have included digital cameras, digital camcoders,

digital photo frame A digital photo frame (also called a digital media frame) is a picture frame that displays digital photos without the need of a computer or printer. The introduction of digital photo frames predates tablet computers, which can serve the same p ...

s, portable DVD players, digital audio players, digital voice recorders,

binoculars Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held ...

, mobile phones,

SD card Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanDis ...

s, and 35mm films.

Camera models 1949-2005

TLRs

*Pigeonflex (1953) *Yashimaflex (1953) *YashicaFlex (1953) *MolfoReflex (1953) *Yashicaflex A, AS I & II (1954) *Yashica C (1955) *Yashicaflex Rookie (1956) *Yashica B (1957) *Yashica LM (1957) *Yashica-Mat (1957) *Yashica A (1958), D (1958) *Yashica 44 (1958) *Yashica-D (1958) *Yashica 635 (1958) *Yashica Auto (1959) *Yashica Mat LM (1959) *Yashica 44LM (1959) *Yashica 44A (1960) *Yashica Mat EM (1964) *Yashica E (1964) *Yashica 24 (1965) *Yashica 12 (1967) *Yashica-Mat 124 (1968) *Yashica-Mat 124 G (1970) *Yashica-Mat 124 B (1975) (Brazil-only export variant of 124G, no exposure meter)

35 mm rangefinder

* Electro 35 *Electro 35 FC *Electro 35 CC *Electro 35 MC *Electro 35 CCN *Electro 35 GL *Electro 35 GS *Electro 35 GSN *Electro 35 GT *Electro 35 GTN *Electro 35 GX *Yashica 35 *Yashica 35-f *Yashica minister iii *Yashica 35J *Yashica EE *

Yashica Lynx The Lynx is a family of rangefinder cameras made by Japanese company Yashica from the early-1960s with coupled and fixed photographic lens, lenses. Models The Lynx 1000 was introduced in 1960. It has a 1:1.8 45 mm lens with 6 elements in 4 ...

*Yashica MG-1 *Yashica Minimatic C *Yashica Minimatic S *Yashica Minimatic EL *Yashica Minister 700 *Yashica Minister D *Yashica Campus

35 mm SLR cameras

*Electro-AX *Electro-X *FFT *FR *FR-I *FR-II *FX-1 *FX-2 *FX-3 *FX-3 Super *FX-3 Super 2000 *FX-7 *FX-7 Supe
YASHICA FX-7 SUPER
*FX-8 (Only China) *FX-70 *FX-80 (Only China) *FX-103 *FX-800 Super (Only China) *FX-A (less than 1400 pieces Only US & Europe) *FX-D *FX-D SE *Penta J (and successors J-3, J-5, J-7 and J-P) *Pentamatic *Pentamatic II *TL-E *TL Electro *TL-Electro-X *TL Super *107MP/TR-7000/Revue AC-7/DAEWOO 107MP *108MP/Revue AC-8/YODOBASHI CAMERA (Japan Only) *109MP *200AF *210AF (Kyocera Brand Only) *230AF *270AF/230 Super *300AF *Dental Eye I *Dental Eye II *Dental Eye III/Medical Eye (Only Japan)

Compact 35 mm

*Yashica AF-J *Yashica AF-J 2 *Yashica auto focus *Yashica auto focus motor *Yashica auto focus motor D *Yashica Auto Focus Motor II *Yashica LAF *Yashica Lynx *Yashica MF-2 *Yashica MF-2 super *Yashica MF-3 *Yashica MF-3 super *Yashica 35-ME *Yashica 35-MF *Yashica 35-MC *Yashica MG-2 AutoFlash *Yashica Motor J *Yashica Partner *Yashica Partner AF *Yashica T *Yashica T-Zoom / T4 Zoom / Kyocera T-Zoom *Yashica T2 / Kyocera T *Yashica T3 / Kyocera T Scope *Yashica T3 Super / Kyocera T Scope2 *Yashica T4 / T4 (Safari Edition) *Yashica T4D / Kyocera Slim T / Slim T (Safari Edition) *Yashica T4 Super / T5 *Yashica T4 Super D / T5D / Kyocera T *Yashica Kyocera EZ Junior

Compact Digital

*Kyocera DA-1 (1996) *Yashica KC-350(1997) *Yashica KC-600(1997) *Kyocera VP-110 CMOS Camera(1997) *Yashica Samurai 1300DG (1998) *Yashica Samurai 2100DG (1999) Yashica 8

Super 8mm movie camera

* Yashica Super YXL-1,1 * Yashica Super YXL-100 * Yashica Super-40k * Yashica Super-50 * Yashica U-Matic Super 8 * Yashica Nicca Super 30 Electronic * Yashica Super 8 10 * Yashica Super-800 Electro

', retrieved 14 May 2022

Post-2005 Camera Models

*MF-1 *MF-2 *Yashica Y35

References

Sources

* *

External links

Yashica Electro 35 & Classic Rangefinder site

Yashica Rangefinder Camera Resource site

Yashica Cameras Price Guide
– completed auction prices.
Yashica's current website

Yashica TLR Site

Yashica Unveils Three Cameras and Two New Negative Rolls
{{Authority control Defunct manufacturing companies of Japan Defunct defense companies of Japan Photography companies of Japan Japanese brands 1949 establishments in Japan