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on May 20, 2021 16:42:00 GMT
Last Edit: May 21, 2021 9:31:28 GMT by biggles3
I was going to include this Yashica Zoomtec in the thread for the Zoomtec 70 but it is quite a different camera. Yashica ZoomtecThe first oddity is its name: I've seen it listed a the Zoomtec 80, reflecting presumably its 38- 80mm zoom range, in the same way as the Zoomtec 70 refers to its 35- 70mm lens. The Zoomtec 70 offers a slightly wider-angle view but a more limited overall range. However, this camera simply shows Zoomtec and makes no reference to its focal length in its naming. This Zoomtec is a physically larger and heavier camera than the 70 (460g vs 329g) although the Zoomtec's weight includes a Date-Back. Curiously, there is no reference to a date-back in its name or indeed in the instruction manual and, unlike the Zoomtec 90D, it uses a CR2025 battery whereas the 90D uses the camera's 6v power supply. There is one thing that is unique to this Zoomtec and that is the provision of a 2.5mm electromagnetic remote socket (you can see its small cover on the side of the camera in line with the Kyocera logo). I think this makes it the progenitor of the Zoomtec line as later models used an accessory IR Remote Switch. I haven't noticed a similar socket on any of my other Yashica P&S cameras. It's 38-80mm f3.8-7.6 has an 8/7 optical formula and a minimum aperture of f27; it's reputed to be a good performer. I have yet to be able to remove the back's battery cover to check the state of the compartment but if it's clean, I'll pop in a CR2025 and see how far the dates go; is it another one that ended in 2019...
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on May 21, 2021 9:13:07 GMT
Posted: May 21, 2021 9:13:07 GMT
Strange that one of its successors, the Zoomtec 105, went back to 35mm at the wide end and 105mm at the other end, giving it a 3x zoom range. The Zoomtec range can be found named as Zoom Image, EZ Zoom, Sensation, and there are some "Revue" variants too.
Five years later, the Zoomates seemed to duplicate the range, starting off large bodied and gradually getting smaller .... as seen in another topic.
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on May 21, 2021 11:08:24 GMT
Last Edit: May 21, 2021 11:09:38 GMT by biggles3
Strange that one of its successors, the Zoomtec 105, went back to 35mm at the wide end and 105mm at the other end, giving it a 3x zoom range. The Zoomtec range can be found named as Zoom Image, EZ Zoom, Sensation, and there are some "Revue" variants too. Five years later, the Zoomates seemed to duplicate the range, starting off large bodied and gradually getting smaller .... as seen in another topic. I was just looking at your amazing Yashica Family Tree illustrated chart and note that four Zoomtec models: 70, 80 Wide, 90 and 105 were produced in the same year, 1991. For the modest differences between the 70 & 90, and the 90 & 105, I can't help feeling that Kyocera was over-egging the Zoomtec range. Only the 80 Wide, in sporting a 28-80mm lens, offered something truly different - and that camera is near impossible to find (Japan only?) - there has been one for sale in Japan for a staggering $465. That being said, with Zoomtec offering a Mini (28-50mm), 60, 70, 80, 80 Wide, 90 and 105 range, plus their Date-Back versions, that's nothing compared with the Zoomate series which over the course of 6 years from 1995 had umpteen variants of 70, 80, 105, 115, 118, 120, 140, 150 and 165 models. On top of those, you have to add the Elite, Campus, Powerzoom and EZS clones of the Zoomate and it would seem that the consumer market was being saturated with near-identically specified models - I wonder just how much stock was actually sold? Perhaps some of them were country- or region-specific but even if that was the case, the cost of manufacturing all those iterations of similar models must have called into question the viability of Kyocera's marketing activities. And that's only considering the Zoomate series and its clones... These and other compact film cameras were still being produced long after Kyocera had started production of digital cameras in Japan in 1996. Might this overabundance of compact film cameras in a changing market have contributed to Kyocera's demise in photography almost as much as the accepted mantra concerning the development costs and initial difficulties associated with the Contax ND...?
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Group: Moderator
Post: 2,042 (563 liked)
Join date: April 2014
Status: Long, long time Contax and Yashica user; glad to be here and hope to contribute.
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on Jun 27, 2021 18:57:47 GMT
Posted: Jun 27, 2021 18:57:47 GMT
I found this Zoomtec which I thought to add to this thread: the Zoomtec 90 Super. Yashica Zoomtec 90 SuperIt features a 38-90mm f7.8 2-speed power-zoom lens that uses 9 elements in 8 groups and some sophisticated coatings. We can assume it's the same lens as is found in the Zoomtec 90 but in the absence of a manual for the 90, I can't be sure as to what makes the camera shown above a 'Super' version. Unquestionably, the front and top plates are markedly different and this model comes with a Remote Control switch. The Step Zoom facility on the Super model may also be a point of differentiation from the standard model. Interestingly, there is a 3rd version of the Zoomtec 90 - the 90S. This appears to be the Super version shown here but with a date-back.
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