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on Sept 16, 2017 23:28:31 GMT
Last Edit: Sept 16, 2017 23:29:04 GMT by Deleted
I guess you could say I've had an on/off relationship with Yashica's AF SLRs. A couple of months ago I decided I'd had enough of the quirks and glitches of my 230 AFs (and that I had never been much of an auto-focus type in the first place) so I auctioned off my complete gear--cameras, lenses, accessories, everything. It was only then that I finally found the time to have a closer look at the last two slide films I had got back from the lab, one shot with a 109MP and the ML 28-85 plus ML 70-210 (the f4.5 version), and one from the 230AF w/h the AF counterparts of aforementioned lenses--that is, the ones I had just got rid of. Well, guess what? Both AF lenses turned out clearly superior to their ML cousins... So I decided to give it one last try and bought two 270AF bodies, a 230AF body and a decent set of lenses again and, when it comes to look, feel & handling, I found the 270AF much more to my liking than the 230AF. It is a downgrade in some respects (sparse finder information, slowest speed reduced to 8secs), but an upgrade in others. To cut a long story short, my summer holiday gear this year consisted of a Mat 124G, a 230AF and a 270AF, all loaded with Provia 100. The lenses I packed were the 24mm and 50mm primes and the 28-85mm & 70-210 zooms ( not the Sigma version labelled 'macro'). Only just today the slides came back from the lab, and I must say I'm really happy about the results. (I'll show some of them as soon as I find the time.) So--what is my personal bottom line? Let me put it that way: working with first-generation AF cameras can be a mixed blessing at times (but I guess that is true for the products of any other manufacturer). But some of those Kyocera AF lenses are such stunners that I have decided to stick with them for a while...
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on Sept 17, 2017 2:48:20 GMT
Posted: Sept 17, 2017 2:48:20 GMT
You've seen the light! I've always been happy with the results from my AF gear, Michael, though I kind of ignore the old 230. I like the handling of the 270 (230 AF Super in the States), and it looks a whole lot better too. Their only drawback is the flash units go bad quite often, but then one can ad a CS-140 in case that happens. But only as long as it wasn't the trigger circuitry that went bad, instead of the flash tube circuits.
PF
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on Sept 17, 2017 11:13:24 GMT
Posted: Sept 17, 2017 11:13:24 GMT
One hundred percent agreed, PF. I've made the same experiences regarding erratic flash behavior with both my 270s and, yes, this model does look way better than its predecessor. Plus, its design seems more ergonomic to me.
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on Sept 30, 2017 16:26:12 GMT
Last Edit: Sept 30, 2017 16:28:12 GMT by lenslover
Forgive me, but personally (i have had owned the 230 AF and 2-3 Lenses into her heyday) i can't stand the Yashica AF System. Technically, its way close to Minolta SR (MD) Mount, it does seem to...but the 230 AF (and 300, etc) are lightyears away from being a nice, cute SLR, instead, a "plasticky" something into your hand, and the design is especially ugly, the odd flash position onto the 230 AF not being forgotten, too. I've seen the few Yashica AF Lenses dirt-cheap on pawnshops, or at small advertising markets onto the web. I do can't believe, these lenses should being better than the fine ML counterparts, from the haptics, they're all plastic, not made out of metal. (the lens barrel & else) For instance, i've seen the 28-85 Yashica AF as low as 25 bucks, 2-3 years ago, it was even inside the package, mint condition. Nobody wants these things... Yashica's AF Series have been a huge failure - and because of 2 things: 1) their design aesthetics was really ugly by any means, and 2) it came way too late into the market, Minolta was first with their Dyxum 7000 AF Series...i would take my FX-3 Super anytime with ML Lenses or Zeiss C/Y Lenses over every Yashica AF SLR/Lens Combo... but that's my thought. Your mileage may differ....good Light! Marc
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on Sept 30, 2017 21:52:14 GMT
Last Edit: Oct 1, 2017 0:09:02 GMT by Deleted
Marc, I explicitly said that I preferred the AF270 to the 230, and I share most of your misgivings about the latter. When it comes to the low second-hand prices for those AF lenses I should not be so surprised, given the fact that this is a stone-dead system. BTW, I appreciate favourable prices when buying my gear, don't you too? Michael
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on Oct 1, 2017 3:14:03 GMT
Last Edit: Oct 1, 2017 3:19:32 GMT by lenslover
Hello Michael, yes, the 270 AF isn't all that horrible by Design. For instance, i also dislike the Minolta X300, X500 and X700 Series, can't stand these plasticky bodies, and especically many buttons & knobs with questionable design, too. That also doesn't mean they're bad - i just dislike their haptics. It's the same with the old Minolta AF Body Series, Dynax 7000, etc. I am a fan of my SRT-101, XD7, etc. The Yashica AF Lenses seemed to be developed into a hurry, and by Design, The Developer of the Lens Design might have had the order: "Just fit in the Lens Elements, create it as cheap as possible from Materials, and don't care about the Aesthetics". It looks to me...but i must admit, the AF Lenses are of fine quality, i was happy with my Pictures (IQ-wise), but not from the System looks & haptics. Shortly after this AF Skirmish, i went back to my Yashica FR, and ML Lenses (and Contax) and i simply felt "at home"...i can't explain it better. And nowadays, i do really miss this focusing split-screen type for my EOS 5D. Why can't things being this simple that way... It's always this feeling, you try within the years a new camera, it doesn't matter if it's being a rangefinder, a SLR, a DSLR, a Mirrorless...you take it into your hands, feel the weight, try the knobs and buttons, then point it to your eye...and you already have that feeling "suits me perfectly" is alright...so-so...or no-go. For the Yashica AF, it was this way. For myself, a Camera is more than it's sum of parts, or even picture quality. I feel secure that i've sold my AF Yashica System, but i don't know if i'd have still that 230AF and 28-70 floating into the basement...well, i'd check it out, within the next couple months, i'd guess. Anyway, have fun with the System! It wasn't by any means bad meant - Michael. Just my (personal) Opinion. Marc
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on Oct 1, 2017 11:15:03 GMT
Posted: Oct 1, 2017 11:15:03 GMT
Some interesting remarks turning up on the YAF series!
Like gentlegiant, I was struck by the high quality of images from YAF lenses. I bought into the YAF system only as a curiosity, as I simply wanted to have it for the sake of completeness in my collection of things Yashica. I bought the 230AF, and that body turned out to be a dud being offloaded by an eBay seller, using the ‘no battery to test’ trick. He was reluctant to take it back, and offered me a 270AF, assuring me that it did have a battery. First lie exposed : all the YAF bodies take the same battery. It cost me the two-way postage and taught me a lesson.
Eventually I found another 230AF, fully working, paired with the ubiquitous 28-70. I bought a second 230AF body, as I like to have a backup, which can be loaded with a different film. In the months that followed, I bought a few YAF accessories, and the 50 prime lens. I'd exchanged a few photo-gear related pleasantries with the seller, and out of the blue, for only the cost of postage, he offered me a 270AF body, free. It was the camera he kept in his car, but had been made redundant by a digital camera kept in the car for the same purpose, and he figured a fellow enthusiast could make better use of it. He cautioned me the pop-up flash no longer worked - a common occurrence in that model I learned - but as I never use on camera flash, that never bothered me. When it came, it was as well-used as he'd described, scuffs and scrapes, but everything else working perfectly. Signs of use can be a good sign of a reliable working camera.
A little later, I acquired the 300AF, and then a range of lenses, the 24 prime, a few more 50s, 35-70, 35-105, 60 macro, 70-210, 80-200, and assorted accessories. It was a kind of magpie phase.
One day, I mounted a 50 prime on the 230AF, and took it and a couple of small zooms on an outing with my wife to the Royal Horticultural Society gardens at Wisley. On a sunny day, this is the place for dazzling colour. It was Velvia 50 I'd loaded. Uncharacteristically for me, after we came home, the film was left unprocessed for months. By then, I'd returned to my normal Contax or FX3 plus ML pairings.
When I eventually got round to having the Velvia processed, I was stunned by the image quality of the YAF lenses - and the accuracy of the focus system. If had it in my head that the lenses, in their plasticky housing, might be just DSB types in disguise. No sir! I think these are at least as good as the best of the ML range. The slides pretty much had that ‘Zeiss look’.
I'm going to agree with most about the looks of the 230AF. It's not sleek. It's got that chunky ‘three box’ look of cars from the sixties, like the Vauxhall Viva. It's pre-retro retro. But I have to say that I prefer it to all the others in the range, because it has the best function set, and knowing how good the lenses on the front are, I'm not bothered about its looks. And given the propensity of the otherwise excellent 270AF workhorse for its built in flash to stop working, it has the advantage that its detachable flash can be replaced.
I'm pretty sure the resemblance to the Dynax is no accident, and I've a feeling that there was a licensing project with Minolta that fell through.
If the Yashica ML lenses have been a well kept secret (at least until it was discovered they were great for mounting on Canon digital bodies), the YAF have been even more so.
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on Oct 1, 2017 22:47:50 GMT
Posted: Oct 1, 2017 22:47:50 GMT
I think I know full well what you mean by this, Marc, as I usually feel precisely the same way about plasticky, brick-like cameras. It's just that, in this one particular instance, I feel the quality of some (mind you, not all) of Yashica's AF lenses* might kind of offset whatever reservations I have as to look and feel of the camera bodies. *(I should expressly want to exclude the Sigma-made versions from this enthusiastic assessment...)
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on Oct 8, 2017 18:26:29 GMT
Last Edit: Oct 8, 2017 18:27:25 GMT by lenslover
alex So the YAF Lenses do really give some "Zeiss-iness" Look? Pictures from Flickr are looking good, indeed. ;-) Well, i would give it a try - again, into 2017. The Yashica AF System is now 30 years old - or 3 Decades, but still...there must be something special with it. If only, developing Film wouldn't be that expensive - and my fave b&w Films are not cheap, too. Greetings, Marc
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on Oct 18, 2017 18:37:35 GMT
Posted: Oct 18, 2017 18:37:35 GMT
Nobody says anything? Kinda strange here...i just want to know how good the Yashica AF 28-85 Lens is, but it seems, it is better than the 28-85 ML.
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on Oct 18, 2017 20:36:28 GMT
Posted: Oct 18, 2017 20:36:28 GMT
Yes and no, Marc. Yes, I think the AF28-85 is an excellent lens and yes, my sample was superior to the ML 28-85 that I own. No, based on having tested precisely one lens of each type, I wouldn't go as far as to say this is a universal truth. After all, there is such a thing as sample deviation (the owners of several ML 1.7/50 lenses will know what I'm talking about), or else my ML zoom, or the 109 MP body I tested it with, may have issues. Given such a slim basis of evidence, you can never be sure. Let me put it that way--I am quite confident that you will not regret buying the AF 28-85... Michael
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on Oct 19, 2017 14:30:20 GMT
Last Edit: Oct 19, 2017 14:41:51 GMT by lenslover
Thanks Michael. I've bought off ebay 2 (because it was way cheap) 230 AF Bodies - one of them looks really like new, almost...for sure. One is without that "Cyclop" Eye AddOn Flash, the other with. Both are missing their Original Eyecups, which is sad, but within 30 years, such a thing could get lost. :-) Yes, i do own serveral copies of the 50/1.7 ML, and do exactly mean what you thought....it's simply being described as "sample variation". Well, my 28-85 AF was around ~30 bucks, so i do think it's really worth it....i am curious about the results...i guess i'd shoot a roll of T-Max 400....without the attached, way prominent Flash onto the 230 AF, it's just being bulky, boxy, and ugly for a typical 80's SLR...but somehow i do like this style, it's unique... i remember quite well the time when i've had the Yashi 230 AF before, and i really have never ever put off that detachable Flash, therefore it was way ugly...and as i do never use flash (albeit only for some type of ebay product shots, but never for my own pictures otherwise). So my Lenses Lineup is the following: Yashica AF 35-70 (got it), Yashica AF 28-85 (waiting for this), Yashica AF 50/1.8 (still into delivery) and Yashica AF 70-300/4.5 (got it) then. I am really curious - because people do say, the Yashica AF System produces really nice quality pictures, well analogue, of course. ;-) Sadly, i don't have my slides back from the 80's from this System. Marc
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on Oct 20, 2017 1:50:19 GMT
Posted: Oct 20, 2017 1:50:19 GMT
With the proper lens on it, the 230 should be a good performer. My test however was done with an inferior lens. flic.kr/s/aHsk9VRF1pPF
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on Oct 21, 2017 17:23:48 GMT
Posted: Oct 21, 2017 17:23:48 GMT
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on Mar 29, 2019 2:18:02 GMT
Posted: Mar 29, 2019 2:18:02 GMT
Yes, this might be an old thread - but - I thought it deserved a temporary resurrection by a new owner owner of a 230 AF setup. I tip-toed into buying everything out of curiosity, just for the plain old question about quality and performance, and if/how can I make use of the lenses, if nothing else. Yashica 230 AF w/ Yashica 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 Macro Zoom, 50mm f/1.8, and both the dedicated CS-110AF and CS-250 AF shoe-mount flashes. Although it's fully working, it feels and operates like a very odd duck for me. Controls can be difficult to use and logically out of place for my big fingers, the weight balance is waaay off and very front-heavy with the 28-85mm on it. It screams 'fragile plastic', and the 110 flash is not easy to install or remove quickly. On the plus side, the AF is faster than almost everything I've tried or used and seems accurate in the finder, and it certainly doesn't hunt for focus which surprised me. I have yet to even free-lens the 2 lenses on my Sony mirrorless bodies, and obviously haven't run any film through it, so I don't have a sense of how good the glass is. Those images posted in this thread are at least encouraging enough that this kit might end up being more than a curiosity - but - that answer will have to wait for a while longer.
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