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on Oct 15, 2019 19:29:02 GMT
Posted: Oct 15, 2019 19:29:02 GMT
Hi folks,
Just a simple piccie to share but I have no explanation for this. As we know, all FX-3 types were designated by Yashica to be black and the silver versions were FX-7s. So the camera below is just plain wrong.
FX-3 Super 2000 Silver
I've seen FX-7 and FX-7 Super cameras in silver as one would expect though I don't recall seeing a FX-7 Super 2000. Why was the convention abandoned with this camera? Do any of you have a silver FX-3 Super 2000?
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on Oct 15, 2019 20:09:53 GMT
Posted: Oct 15, 2019 20:09:53 GMT
One thought that comes to mind is that it might have been meant to be an anniversary edition of some type. The problem is that they would have an anniversary inscription if they were a Contax, but then, Yashica didn't 'do' anniversaries that I know of. Maybe it's from the very last batch and it had a design change, but they halted production before they could be properly introduced. Any clues with the serial number?
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on Oct 15, 2019 20:41:50 GMT
Posted: Oct 15, 2019 20:41:50 GMT
One thought that comes to mind is that it might have been meant to be an anniversary edition of some type. The problem is that they would have an anniversary inscription if they were a Contax, but then, Yashica didn't 'do' anniversaries that I know of. Maybe it's from the very last batch and it had a design change, but they halted production before they could be properly introduced. Any clues with the serial number? It is an oddity. It has a 840xxxx serial number which makes it sequentially earlier than your black version with a serial number starting with 9. I think a clue may exist in the Kyocera logo - if both your ones have the larger, standard version with the red on silver element, then I would suspect that the silver one was manufactured in a different facility or at a different time. Corporations, if they decide to change their look, tend to simplify their logos (I once was head of communications for one of the world's leading identity consultancies) which would lead me to think that the silver one is a later model than the black ones. I would suggest that this is the case because the corporation reversed its brand identity such that the motif is now on the left (as with the silver camera) and the name on the right; that it's all mono is probably to save cost. That however, brings up the issue of serial numbers; with some marques that use multiple 3rd party manufacturers, the initial digits or letters can signify the actual producer or production facility and the later digits are the sequential serial numbers (think Vivitar Series 1 lenses - Cosina, Komine, etc.). I wonder if Yashica was doing that in its later years? That might explain a later model with an 'earlier' serial number...
Perhaps another of our members has a silver FX-3 S 2000 - if so, let's hope they can share the first 3 digits of the serial number.
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on Oct 16, 2019 4:55:23 GMT
Last Edit: Oct 16, 2019 5:02:02 GMT by lumiworx
As far as Yashica-made lenses go, I can make 3 observations on serial numbers... The Yashica compact "c" prime or zoom models I have (which were all reportedly made by Cosina) use a "C" as the first character in the serial number, and not the usual "A". The AE versions of my Zeiss C/Y lenses start with a 6, but the MM versions start with "7". There's one exception, and that one's a MMJ Planar 50mm f/1.4, which starts with a "5". The Yashica AF lenses I have all start with an "F", but the only Power Zoom I have (28-70mm) has no letters at all. Contax SLR Body numbers that I have all seem to start with a "0" or a "1", and are a total of 6 numbers. I don't have a G1 or G2, so those are a mystery for me. My Yashica bodies are all over the place. An original version FR has '70404209', while a 103 is "176101", so the only consistency I see is that they are all numbers, with no letters or symbols. There doesn't seem to be anything obvious beyond the 1st character with lenses for either branding. I'm not sure what type of numbering scheme might apply for SLR body numbers for either one, but that might be something that pauls could shed some light on.
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on Oct 16, 2019 10:39:14 GMT
Posted: Oct 16, 2019 10:39:14 GMT
As far as Yashica-made lenses go, I can make 3 observations on serial numbers... The Yashica compact "c" prime or zoom models I have (which were all reportedly made by Cosina) use a "C" as the first character in the serial number, and not the usual "A". The AE versions of my Zeiss C/Y lenses start with a 6, but the MM versions start with "7". There's one exception, and that one's a MMJ Planar 50mm f/1.4, which starts with a "5". The Yashica AF lenses I have all start with an "F", but the only Power Zoom I have (28-70mm) has no letters at all. Contax SLR Body numbers that I have all seem to start with a "0" or a "1", and are a total of 6 numbers. I don't have a G1 or G2, so those are a mystery for me. My Yashica bodies are all over the place. An original version FR has '70404209', while a 103 is "176101", so the only consistency I see is that they are all numbers, with no letters or symbols. There doesn't seem to be anything obvious beyond the 1st character with lenses for either branding. I'm not sure what type of numbering scheme might apply for SLR body numbers for either one, but that might be something that pauls could shed some light on. As for the Contax G camera numbers, it's slightly odd in that the G1s I have start with 04 and 08, yet my later G2s start with 02. Contax camera numbers are bemusing as I have for example, an Aria starting 00 and a RTS starting 124. Some of my RTSIIs start with a 3. All the digital Contaxes have the same 6 digit rule, starting with 0, but are preceded by letters CL, DX, DR or EB. The RTS Gold Anniversary cameras have 3 very different systems for numbering plus some with standard 0 numbers for those that were promotional specials or non-territory specific.
As for the Zeiss numbering, it's much more straightforward as they started with almost all their AE lenses at 5xxxxx so, for example, all my 15, 16, 28 f2, start with a 5 and the more numerous lenses like 25, 28 f2.8, 35 f2.8, 50 1.4 start with a 5 and rattle up to late 6s (for example my highest numbered 50 1.4 AE is 674xxx) before we hit MM types starting at around 68xxxx. All my 50 1.7 AE lenses start with 6. They then simply ran incremental numbers regardless of the lens type until you hit 88xxxx which was as high as any of my C/Y mount lenses go - my 8xxxxx lenses include 50 1.7s, 55 1.2s, a Mutar III and 500 f8 Mirotars. I think I've seen a 50 1.7 MM with a 89xxxx serial number but I don't recall any starting with a 9 though that doesn't mean they may not be out there; they would have been the last of the line. The exception to the rule was the 1000mm f5.6 Mirotar which started with a 4. The N series lenses are unusual in that they have 8 digits.
Trying to work through Yashica's post-M42 lens serial number permutations is a real challenge! I have a few C/Y mount Yashica lenses that don't have a prefix letter, for example DSB 28mm & 135mm f2.8s - some have just numbers and others have 'No. followed by the 6 digits; also the 500mm f8 and 1000mm f11 Reflex optics. Some Yashica lenses have A followed by 5 digits, most have 7 but some have 8 and the C lenses you correctly identified as Cosina have 6. You are quite right about the AF Power Zooms - neither has a prefix which suggests a different manufacturer from the rest of the AF types. And I'll bet we've only just scratched the surface...!
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on Oct 19, 2019 11:15:53 GMT
Posted: Oct 19, 2019 11:15:53 GMT
One thought that comes to mind is that it might have been meant to be an anniversary edition of some type. The problem is that they would have an anniversary inscription if they were a Contax, but then, Yashica didn't 'do' anniversaries that I know of. Maybe it's from the very last batch and it had a design change, but they halted production before they could be properly introduced. Any clues with the serial number? It is an oddity. It has a 840xxxx serial number which makes it sequentially earlier than your black version with a serial number starting with 9. I think a clue may exist in the Kyocera logo - if both your ones have the larger, standard version with the red on silver element, then I would suspect that the silver one was manufactured in a different facility or at a different time. Corporations, if they decide to change their look, tend to simplify their logos (I once was head of communications for one of the world's leading identity consultancies) which would lead me to think that the silver one is a later model than the black ones. I would suggest that this is the case because the corporation reversed its brand identity such that the motif is now on the left (as with the silver camera) and the name on the right; that it's all mono is probably to save cost. That however, brings up the issue of serial numbers; with some marques that use multiple 3rd party manufacturers, the initial digits or letters can signify the actual producer or production facility and the later digits are the sequential serial numbers (think Vivitar Series 1 lenses - Cosina, Komine, etc.). I wonder if Yashica was doing that in its later years? That might explain a later model with an 'earlier' serial number...
Perhaps another of our members has a silver FX-3 S 2000 - if so, let's hope they can share the first 3 digits of the serial number.
Rather than repeat my post in the other thread, which I think is relevant here, here's a link yashica.boards.net/post/5212This camera is, what I would call, the later version of the Super 2000, based on the features identified in my other post. All I think has happened is, when the later variant of the Super 2000 was introduced, they dropped the FX-7 label and just called everything FX-3. Maybe because some marketing wallah thought it made more sense. Who knows? This variant quite often appears on ebay. There's one now at www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yashica-FX-3-Super-2000-Yashica-ML-50-1-9/303245375143?hash=item469ad536a7:g:65MAAOSwDH1dSJ4b and another sold recently at www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YASHICA-KYOCERA-FX-3-SUPER-2000-SLR-SILVER-CAMERA-amp-YASHICA-ZOOM-35-70MM-LENS-/283635170189. There was another I saw a few days ago but it seems to have disappeared. So not unusual at all.
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on Oct 19, 2019 17:29:29 GMT
Posted: Oct 19, 2019 17:29:29 GMT
A question comes to mind now that there are more examples found. The 2 in the post by peter_r are from the UK and Spain and biggles3 ... I would assume yours was from the UK or somewhere in the EU. Is it possible that this might be one outfitted in silver only for sale in Europe, or maybe even a 'Dixon's Silver Bullet Special Edition' type model? Not that I've been watching for them over the years, but I don't recall seeing one here in the US unless it was black, but you guys have several close to home.
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on Nov 13, 2023 17:37:43 GMT
Last Edit: Nov 13, 2023 17:47:06 GMT by fab
Hello, Fabio here from Italy, i just made my profile here just to reply on this topic. I confirm here in europe there are some fx3 in silver version, but it’s still a very unusual version. I saw on ebay some time to time but never seen it in real life… until today. I saw it in a shop where i usually go and i purchased it immediatly (it’s my 4th fx3 lol). My own have a serial number starting with 840xxxx, so i guess it’s a small lot of cameras. Technically it could be a lot up to 9999 units, unless an other user will share with us a sample with 841+ initial units. I know it’s a topic from some years ago but i’d like to share my info and add an other piece to the puzzle, since on the internet it’s difficult to find information outside of this trend.
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on Nov 14, 2023 12:55:23 GMT
Posted: Nov 14, 2023 12:55:23 GMT
Hello, Fabio here from Italy, i just made my profile here just to reply on this topic. I confirm here in europe there are some fx3 in silver version, but it’s still a very unusual version. I saw on ebay some time to time but never seen it in real life… until today. I saw it in a shop where i usually go and i purchased it immediatly (it’s my 4th fx3 lol). My own have a serial number starting with 840xxxx, so i guess it’s a small lot of cameras. Technically it could be a lot up to 9999 units, unless an other user will share with us a sample with 841+ initial units. I know it’s a topic from some years ago but i’d like to share my info and add an other piece to the puzzle, since on the internet it’s difficult to find information outside of this trend. Hi Fabio and welcome to the Forum! Thank you very much for the information; if you can supply use with a photo of the FX-3 in silver that would be wonderful. It's great to see that you have 4 FX-3s, I don't think it's possible to have too many! The numbering of all three FX-3 types is quite confusing. My FX-3s run from 102xxx to 817xxx; FX-3 Super models from 103xxxx to 135xxxx and FX-3 Super 2000 from 110xxxx to 840xxxx. That suggests that FX-3 Super cameras were still being made after the introduction of the FX-3 Super 2000 which seems a bit odd. I am unable to confirm the serial number of the FX-3 Super 2000 Polaroid camera as the base-plate is not visible. I have only two silver FX-3 Super 2000s - one is 830xxxx and the other 840xxxx which shows that the silver version was being manufactured alongside the standard, black ones. Even more confusing is the number of your new FX-3 silver - all FX-3 models should only have 6 digits. It was only with the introduction of the Super version that 7 digits became necessary. I wonder if your new camera's base-plate had been replaced at some time? The other possibility is that all the silver finish models were connected with a different production facility.
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on Nov 15, 2023 10:36:35 GMT
Posted: Nov 15, 2023 10:36:35 GMT
Hi Graham ... I notice that on my Yashica Family Tree chart I have the silver FX-3 Super 2000 as introduced in 1998. Alongside that camera on the chart is a silver top version of the Yashica 109MP introduced the same year. The information to add these two cameras to the chart at the 1998 date came from the long defunct webpages ..... www.yashica.com/slr/fx3super2000/fx3super2000.htmlamericas.kyocera.com/news/index.cfm?key_division=4&listings=allI wonder if a search of any Contax/Yashica newsletters or Photo magazines from that era might shed any light on these two "silver" versions. It seems that there was some sort of promotion going on around 1998 with these two silver versions. I also made a note at that time that KY UK were promoting the sale of the FX-3 Super 2000 with a Zeiss 50/1.7 at a discounted price .... unfortunately I did not note if it was a black or silver body! Hope this helps!
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on Nov 15, 2023 19:52:45 GMT
Last Edit: Nov 15, 2023 19:58:18 GMT by biggles3
Hi Graham ... I notice that on my Yashica Family Tree chart I have the silver FX-3 Super 2000 as introduced in 1998. Alongside that camera on the chart is a silver top version of the Yashica 109MP introduced the same year. The information to add these two cameras to the chart at the 1998 date came from the long defunct webpages ..... www.yashica.com/slr/fx3super2000/fx3super2000.htmlamericas.kyocera.com/news/index.cfm?key_division=4&listings=allI wonder if a search of any Contax/Yashica newsletters or Photo magazines from that era might shed any light on these two "silver" versions. It seems that there was some sort of promotion going on around 1998 with these two silver versions. I also made a note at that time that KY UK were promoting the sale of the FX-3 Super 2000 with a Zeiss 50/1.7 at a discounted price .... unfortunately I did not note if it was a black or silver body! Hope this helps! Hi Bob, I wonder if they were for sale in all markets? I've just reviewed Kyocera's trade price lists in Europe for 1998 to the end of 2001 after which the 109 is no longer listed - there's no reference to an alternative colour. There's also no reference to the silver version of the FX-3 Super 2000 in any of the relevant trade lists. intriguing... I'm assuming the 109 is the champagne version or was there actually a silver one?
Yashica 109 Champagne I'll have a rummage through the disparate piles of old photo magazines lying about the place (how I now wish I'd put them in date order...) and see if anything pops up.
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on Nov 15, 2023 20:35:29 GMT
Posted: Nov 15, 2023 20:35:29 GMT
Yes, I think there is only the champagne or black 109MP.
I guess looking through 1997 - 1999 Amateur Photographer mags might just throw in some clues.
Good Luck!
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