Yashica's Funny Little M42
Mar 1, 2017 20:10:31 GMT
on Mar 1, 2017 20:10:31 GMT
Posted: Mar 1, 2017 20:10:31 GMT
Yashica's funny little J-P. The "not often seen" category applies to this Yashica SLR from late 1964 through 1965. Actually came out about the same time as the Yashica J-5.
The J-P was a "back in time" camera from Yashica... while the J-5 was drawing rave reviews from the press and the public for some of its advanced features, Yashica decided to bring back a stripped down 35mm. No built-in exposure meter... a focal plane shutter with a top speed of only 1/500... no attached cold shoe or hot shoe and they took away the ASA/Din dial.
On this model they (Yashica or another distributor) further added a rather primitive 5cm f/ 2.8 preset lens of extremely small size. The result was a lightweight 35mm SLR with a price point of around the $120 to maybe $140 price range? Not sure on that as this combination of body and lens does not show up in any sales brochure of that era. Could have been, with discounts, at or below $100!!!
We were lucky enough to add this mint condition J-P with the odd little lens to our collection. We've seen enough of them on various sites to believe that Yashica did in fact mate these two together although it may have been a regional thing and the possibility that one of Yashica's Trading Companies put the set together.
We will continue to search and hopefully we'll run across a complete set in its original box. We also are on the lookout for anything in print from Yashica about this combo. The lens is TINY compared to the body and compared to the other Yashinons of the mid 1960s. We're pretty confident that it was a Trading Company that sold these. I believe ours came to us via a Canadian seller and most of the others we've seen are in Europe. None in Japan that we're aware of.
The J-P was a "back in time" camera from Yashica... while the J-5 was drawing rave reviews from the press and the public for some of its advanced features, Yashica decided to bring back a stripped down 35mm. No built-in exposure meter... a focal plane shutter with a top speed of only 1/500... no attached cold shoe or hot shoe and they took away the ASA/Din dial.
On this model they (Yashica or another distributor) further added a rather primitive 5cm f/ 2.8 preset lens of extremely small size. The result was a lightweight 35mm SLR with a price point of around the $120 to maybe $140 price range? Not sure on that as this combination of body and lens does not show up in any sales brochure of that era. Could have been, with discounts, at or below $100!!!
We were lucky enough to add this mint condition J-P with the odd little lens to our collection. We've seen enough of them on various sites to believe that Yashica did in fact mate these two together although it may have been a regional thing and the possibility that one of Yashica's Trading Companies put the set together.
We will continue to search and hopefully we'll run across a complete set in its original box. We also are on the lookout for anything in print from Yashica about this combo. The lens is TINY compared to the body and compared to the other Yashinons of the mid 1960s. We're pretty confident that it was a Trading Company that sold these. I believe ours came to us via a Canadian seller and most of the others we've seen are in Europe. None in Japan that we're aware of.
