1958 Yashica 35 - The Time Machine

[laservampire]

Haven't seen many discussions on this old gem (they seem much more common in Australia than in the USA) and the terrific lenses on them.

I have both a 45mm f2.8 version and a 45mm f1.9 version, all of the sample photos are from the f1.9

I can't exactly put my finger on exactly what specifically the lens does, but they seem to have a quality to them that reminds me of old dusty old photo albums and family slides from the 50s.

Not clinically sharp lens. Slightly muted colour contrast. Loses all contrast when you shoot into a light source. But something about it transports me back in time like no other camera I've used!

 

[johnf04]

I have one, but I've not used it - it's missing the rewind fork and lever, and none of the spares I have fit it.

Since I took this picture, I have replaced the front part of the lens with one from a Yashica J.

 

[yanchep_mike]

I have one; it's a great little camera, but I just don't use it enough. Will have to put some film through it.
Mine is the 2.8 cheapy....

 

[p.giannakis]

Nothing wrong with these cameras. The only problem is that their younger siblings are plentiful and have good reputation. As a result they stole all the fame.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

The late 1950s Japanese fixed lens rangefinders just reek quality!

Chris

 

[Ernst Dinkla]

Please, could one or more of the owners of the Yashica 35 with 4,5cm 2.8 lens check the rear lens cell reflections with the aperture closed? Either there should be 4 clear reflections or 2 clear ones plus possibly also a small faint one. Indicating resp. a Xenotar or a Tessar type lens.

 

[yanchep_mike]

Had a quick look, 2 reflections, i could not see a third (faint one), but maybe i just a little blind. Sorry.

mike

 

[p.giannakis]

For a 45f/2.8, it is highly unlikely to be a xenotar design. The 45 f/1.9 is likely to be some sort of double Gauss. A 45 f/2.8 of that period of lens manufacturing screams Tessar to me.

 

[Ernst Dinkla]

For a 45f/2.8, it is highly unlikely to be a xenotar design. The 45 f/1.9 is likely to be some sort of double Gauss. A 45 f/2.8 of that period of lens manufacturing screams Tessar to me.

Yashica ads and documents specify a Xenotar design for the Yashica 35 Yashinon 4,5cm 2.8.
Yashica pages by collectors etc mention the Yashica 35-YL as another rangefinder camera with a Xenotar type 4,5 2.8 lens. I bought one to check that but it has the same Tessar type my Yashica 35-YK had. The Minister 45mm 2.8 versions are probably all Tessars based on my own observation and replies on requests similar to what I did here. Meanwhile I think some Yashica rangefinder pages have to be rewritten. OR, a big OR, export versions of the 35 and 35-YL were made cheaper than the ones for the domestic market. Xenotar type lens diagrams referring to the Yashinon 35 and 35-YL exist .........

The Fujica 35-ML Fujinon 4,5cm 2.8 is a Xenotar. I gave it a CLA while converting it to Sony FE mount, so I am sure. I expect the 35-M to be similar. The aim was not so much to make faster lenses than the Tessar but to get better resolution up to the edges than a Tessar could deliver at 2.8. A faster camera model is often introduced next to it, then with either a 1.9 or 1.8 double gauss.

The first Canonet Canon 45mm 1.9 is a Unilite type, similar in design to the Canon LTM 50mm 2.2 lens. The C.G. Wynne designed Unilite for the Wrayflex dates back to 1944.

 

[Ernst Dinkla]

Had a quick look, 2 reflections, i could not see a third (faint one), but maybe i just a little blind. Sorry.

mike

Thank you! I still wonder why, in the near 70 years passed, nobody was aware that there is something fishy with the Yashica documentation on these camera models.

BTW, as Tessar types, given their exterior design, their precise helicoid mechanism and the image quality, there is nothing wrong with the YK and YL versions IMHO. The original 35 will be of similar quality.

 

[p.giannakis]

Yashica ads and documents specify a Xenotar design for the Yashica 35 Yashinon 4,5cm 2.8.

First time I hear that 😲

That sounds super interesting, Google search returns only a discussion in Photrio. Where can I find more info?

 

[agentlossing]

Such a beautiful camera, and I agree about the rendering.

I think Yashica took a lot of design cues from Contax.

 

[Ernst Dinkla]

First time I hear that 😲

That sounds super interesting, Google search returns only a discussion in Photrio. Where can I find more info?

https://yashicatlr.com/Yashica35.html as just one link, there is way more.

Butkus has a Yashica rangefinder manual describing more models including Ministers as having 5 elements 4 groups 45mm 2.8 designs.
In that case it is either Biometar/Xenotar/Unilite or the Super Xenar type (a Xenar with three separate elements in front of the aperture, so 6 reflections at the front).
The Yashica fixed 2.8 lens rangefinders I have seen and the ones I asked about in forums where neither Xenotar or Super Xenar type.

The common types in fixed lens rangefinders and good compacts above Triplet quality have mainly Tessar, Planar, Ultron designs. Xenotar/Unilite can be found in Fuji and Canon designs. Super Xenar in more brands, the later wider lens models often rely on that, either with one cemented doublet at the rear but also with 5 separate elements in total. Called Sonnar type but Schneider Kreuznach made a lens like that for the Korelle Reflex in 1935. Some Retinas seem to have one. Then there is an odd lens type in a Mamiya rangefinder, kind of Plasmat and both Ricoh and early Minolta had an even stranger one, a 5 element 2 group design. Not so long ago I noticed a kind of Zeiss earlier prototype that resembled the last. I think this sums up what was available in standard and semiwide primes for fixed lens cameras from say 1950 to 2000.

 

[Dralowid]

I had a Yashica once, in the dim and distant past, it had an interchangeable LTM mount lens and from memory I was very happy with it.

Was it a YF maybe?

I swapped it for a collapsible Summicron that I kept for years.

 

[mconnealy]

I had a Yashica once, in the dim and distant past, it had an interchangeable LTM mount lens and from memory I was very happy with it.

Was it a YF maybe?

I swapped it for a collapsible Summicron that I kept for years.

The YE was an early Leica compatible model. I borrowed one for a short time in the '60s and really liked it. Would love to find another, though I don't really want to look to Japan for one at this point.

 

[shawn]

I had a Yashica once, in the dim and distant past, it had an interchangeable LTM mount lens and from memory I was very happy with it.

Was it a YF maybe?

I swapped it for a collapsible Summicron that I kept for years.

The YF is a great camera. Very good viewfinder (better than any Leica LTM) and just very smooth overall.

 

[Dralowid]

That's it, the one on the right in your picture, I remember it and its viewfinder fondly, so modern when compared with my old Leica III (which I still have). Must have been in the early '70s.

 

[laservampire]

Please, could one or more of the owners of the Yashica 35 with 4,5cm 2.8 lens check the rear lens cell reflections with the aperture closed? Either there should be 4 clear reflections or 2 clear ones plus possibly also a small faint one. Indicating resp. a Xenotar or a Tessar type lens.

Can confirm, two reflections on the rear element group, four on the front group

Checked my 4.5cm f1.9 as well, four on the front group, four and one smaller reflection on the rear.

 

[Ernst Dinkla]

Can confirm, two reflections on the rear element group, four on the front group

Checked my 4.5cm f1.9 as well, four on the front group, four and one smaller reflection on the rear.

Thank you. Another Tessar type seen in the Yashica 35 Yashinon 4,5cm 2.8 then.

The 1.9 is a common double gauss 1-2 : 2-1 type. The cemented surfaces are often near invisible.