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on Feb 28, 2022 17:08:37 GMT
Posted: Feb 28, 2022 17:08:37 GMT
This is an unusual find: a Yashica Europe 58mm Circular Polarising Filter.  Yashica 58mm circular polariserI have not the slightest idea as to who actually manufactured it; it states it's made in Japan so I'd probably bet on Hōya Kabushiki-gaisha. Despite the nonsensical blurb on the container (3D Image, 29.0MP Recording, 0 Lux Day & Night, 2160P. 8K Optical, etc.) this is actually a perfectly decent polariser. Like other Yashica Europe items, the packaging carries the legend: Lifetime International Guarantee but gives no details as to the company, its address or how you would lodge a warranty complaint. To date, this is the only Yashica Europe photographic filter I've managed to find; I'm sure there are others out there... |
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on Feb 28, 2022 20:09:07 GMT
Posted: Feb 28, 2022 20:09:07 GMT
Finding out the maker of filters may be difficult, but a few clues might help. I think there are only a select few Japanese companies that still provided solid brass rings beyond 2005 (the end of Yashica, proper), like Hoya (Kenko Tokina), with most of the others being made in the EU, like Heliopan, B+W (Schneider), and more recently PolarPro in the US. If the ring isn't brass, but is still a rigid but lightweight metal, it could be Tiffen or Marumi.
It is amusing that a fair amount of the information presented on the packaging has absolutely no bearing oh the efficacy of any filter.
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on Mar 1, 2022 10:40:21 GMT
Posted: Mar 1, 2022 10:40:21 GMT
Finding out the maker of filters may be difficult, but a few clues might help. I think there are only a select few Japanese companies that still provided solid brass rings beyond 2005 (the end of Yashica, proper), like Hoya (Kenko Tokina), with most of the others being made in the EU, like Heliopan, B+W (Schneider), and more recently PolarPro in the US. If the ring isn't brass, but is still a rigid but lightweight metal, it could be Tiffen or Marumi. It is amusing that a fair amount of the information presented on the packaging has absolutely no bearing oh the efficacy of any filter. This series of pointless and irrelevant product 'features' seems to be a characteristic of Yashica Europe items; you may recall the 16Gb 'hybrid disc' we featured last July - a micro-SD card (albeit it was missing) in a SD adapter. A further example of this can be seen on the packaging for the GD-258 A digital camera that was shown about a fortnight ago. |
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on Mar 1, 2022 10:59:17 GMT
Posted: Mar 1, 2022 10:59:17 GMT
Does it actually say made in Japan or just 'Japan'? All other Yashica Europe products seem to say made in PRC on them somewhere and I would guess that's where this was made too. And the endless, meaningless, claims are typical of Chinese products in my experience. Doesn't mean they are bad, just typical Chinese marketing.
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on Mar 1, 2022 13:05:25 GMT
Last Edit: Mar 1, 2022 13:05:51 GMT by biggles3
Does it actually say made in Japan or just 'Japan'? All other Yashica Europe products seem to say made in PRC on them somewhere and I would guess that's where this was made too. And the endless, meaningless, claims are typical of Chinese products in my experience. Doesn't mean they are bad, just typical Chinese marketing. It's a mixed bunch: The filter simply says Japan, the micro-SD card & SD Adapter states Made in Japan and the camera has no reference at all to country of origin. |
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on Mar 2, 2022 9:09:28 GMT
Posted: Mar 2, 2022 9:09:28 GMT
There may not be any solid evidence of it, but I'd have doubts that any filter rings made in China during the period would be brass, and personally I'd suspect they likely didn't make any in steel or heftier aircraft grade aluminum. If the ring seems to flex and it's very light in weight, @peterr might be right about the origin and the 'Japan' is part of the marketing with no ties to any plant it was manufactured in.
I hate to say it like this, but I get the feeling that by the time the whole Yashica Europe company was in full swing, Kyocera was well into its exit strategy for the Yashica brand as a whole, and were hard at work to low-ball costs to the cheapest possible 3rd party maker and squeeze out whatever remaining value from name recognition they could get.
A couple of questions also come to mind. Was MF Jebsen somehow involved at this point - and - was squeezing the last drops of profit on a closing company a business 'strategy' in the early 2000's in Japan?
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on Mar 2, 2022 10:56:17 GMT
Posted: Mar 2, 2022 10:56:17 GMT
There may not be any solid evidence of it, but I'd have doubts that any filter rings made in China during the period would be brass, and personally I'd suspect they likely didn't make any in steel or heftier aircraft grade aluminum. If the ring seems to flex and it's very light in weight, @peterr might be right about the origin and the 'Japan' is part of the marketing with no ties to any plant it was manufactured in. I hate to say it like this, but I get the feeling that by the time the whole Yashica Europe company was in full swing, Kyocera was well into its exit strategy for the Yashica brand as a whole, and were hard at work to low-ball costs to the cheapest possible 3rd party maker and squeeze out whatever remaining value from name recognition they could get. A couple of questions also come to mind. Was MF Jebsen somehow involved at this point - and - was squeezing the last drops of profit on a closing company a business 'strategy' in the early 2000's in Japan? The filter is actually very well made. It looks like it's made from top quality aluminium as it's light but won't bend at all. Also, the rotation of the ring feels almost like it's been damped as it's very smooth with just the right amount of resistance. Despite questions as to its provenance, this is one very well-made piece of kit. While Jebsen's involvement with the Yashica Digital Imaging and Yashica innovate digital brands was clearly demonstrated through its name-check on the packaging and sometimes the product, I suspect that Yashica Europe is a later commercial entity. Nowhere is there any corporate reference to anything other than Yashica Europe. |
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