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on Jan 13, 2019 17:22:50 GMT
Posted: Jan 13, 2019 17:22:50 GMT
 Yashica on Yashica. by Mike Novak, on Flickr Yashica TL Electro X ITS with Yashinon DX 50/1.4, captured with Yashinon DX 50/2 on Sony A7II. The DX 50/2 is, in my estimation, the best of the Yashinon DX lenses. |
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on Feb 4, 2019 15:15:24 GMT
Posted: Feb 4, 2019 15:15:24 GMT
Nice camera and it's interesting you think that about the Yashinons as the ML 50/2 is my favourite from the later ML lenses!
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on Feb 5, 2019 19:08:59 GMT
Posted: Feb 5, 2019 19:08:59 GMT
nice capture
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on Apr 7, 2019 17:55:21 GMT
Posted: Apr 7, 2019 17:55:21 GMT
The Yashica ML 50/F2 is also a fine, almost pancake-alike normal nifty fifty lens, with great IQ.
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on Apr 14, 2019 18:40:21 GMT
Posted: Apr 14, 2019 18:40:21 GMT
The Yashica ML 50/F2 is also a fine, almost pancake-alike normal nifty fifty lens, with great IQ. And talking of those lovely 50 f2s, don't forget the DX 50 f2 in a C/Y mount which is also very sharp even though it has a slightly different construction when compared with the ML type.
DX 50 f2
And yes, the DX 50 f2 with a C/Y mount is not supposed to exist but there are dozens out there...
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on Apr 14, 2019 20:34:38 GMT
Posted: Apr 14, 2019 20:34:38 GMT
You do really own the FX-A?  Wow. It was much better than the FX-D, alone from the Handgrip. |
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on Apr 15, 2019 12:55:20 GMT
Posted: Apr 15, 2019 12:55:20 GMT
Hi lenslover,
Yes - I managed to grab a few of them, indeed one from a member of this Forum. It's a fabulous and very clever camera but Kyocera killed the marque so only a few reached the market. It was introduced alongside the Contax 137AF and 3 dedicated hybrid Zeiss AF lenses - journalists were amazed by both cameras at the 1982 Photokina but the Contax never made it beyond the prototype stage; at least the Yashica FX-A with its Honeywell focusing system made it into limited production and it seems those mysterious DX 50mm f2 C/Y lenses were part of the FX-A package sold to the US Government. Mercifully a couple of dozen cameras made it to Europe - mostly via the old Yashica network in Germany.
Yashica had a superb camera in the FX-A - the ultimate member of the FX-series - but the market was moving to full AF and not just AFC (Automatic Focus Confirmation). I suspect Kyocera's decision to dump the entire AF project must have really upset Honeywell as they'd invested quite a lot in the FX-A's hybrid system. Having handled the FX-A, I always wondered why a decade later when they were finishing work on the Contax RX, they didn't use the Honeywell AF system in that camera as having focus confirmation appearing in the centre of the screen would have been a big ergonomic improvement. Somehow, I doubt that Honeywell felt like risking being shafted for a second time...
So, in conclusion, if you come across a working FX-A, grab it, and if you find a C/Y DX 50 f2, grab it too! Those ML/DX 50 f2s are among the most under-rated Yashica lenses... |
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on Apr 16, 2019 8:02:36 GMT
Posted: Apr 16, 2019 8:02:36 GMT
I'm not sure Japanese companies would have been keen to work directly with Honeywell again after the Minolta Lawsuit?
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on Apr 28, 2019 13:18:57 GMT
Last Edit: Apr 28, 2019 13:28:23 GMT by lenslover
Hi lenslover,
Yes - I managed to grab a few of them, indeed one from a member of this Forum. It's a fabulous and very clever camera but Kyocera killed the marque so only a few reached the market. It was introduced alongside the Contax 137AF and 3 dedicated hybrid Zeiss AF lenses - journalists were amazed by both cameras at the 1982 Photokina but the Contax never made it beyond the prototype stage; at least the Yashica FX-A with its Honeywell focusing system made it into limited production and it seems those mysterious DX 50mm f2 C/Y lenses were part of the FX-A package sold to the US Government. Mercifully a couple of dozen cameras made it to Europe - mostly via the old Yashica network in Germany.
Yashica had a superb camera in the FX-A - the ultimate member of the FX-series - but the market was moving to full AF and not just AFC (Automatic Focus Confirmation). I suspect Kyocera's decision to dump the entire AF project must have really upset Honeywell as they'd invested quite a lot in the FX-A's hybrid system. Having handled the FX-A, I always wondered why a decade later when they were finishing work on the Contax RX, they didn't use the Honeywell AF system in that camera as having focus confirmation appearing in the centre of the screen would have been a big ergonomic improvement. Somehow, I doubt that Honeywell felt like risking being shafted for a second time...
So, in conclusion, if you come across a working FX-A, grab it, and if you find a C/Y DX 50 f2, grab it too! Those ML/DX 50 f2s are among the most under-rated Yashica lenses...
Exactly, i do know about the "Prototype" Status from the FX-A, therefore, looking for ages about that SLR, but never had a chance to get one.... As for the C/Y "DX" 50 F2, it does look, like a earlier design, Testbed perhaps, what was being later released as ordinary "Yashica ML 50mm F2" Pancake-like Lens...i do own two copies, and that smallish 50 is a Gem....way small, handy, and great IQ. I The Contax RX is really a lovely piece of work, i do like my RX way much. Sadly, it does have mirror issues. I used before my ML 50/1.7, which is 95% the IQ from my Contax Zeiss 50/1.7, which is really a great 50mm Prime. But, the 50/F2 ML is really smaller, and F1.7 vs F2...what gives, for the reduced size? It's negligible, that difference.
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on Apr 29, 2019 11:09:38 GMT
Last Edit: Apr 29, 2019 11:12:15 GMT by matthiasausk
Mercifully a couple of dozen cameras made it to Europe - mostly via the old Yashica network in Germany.
So, in conclusion, if you come across a working FX-A, grab it, and if you find a C/Y DX 50 f2, grab it too!
Hi Biggles,
the FX-A was not officially sold in Germany, but (strange enough) in Austria.
They can be found from time to time on an austrian platform, called www.willhaben.at. I do not know, how many were sold there. And I do not know, how many are still working. I was lucky enough to catch one, but ist was defective - the shutter did not work at all. And I did not want to do any harm to this very special item with my poor screwdriving skills. So I sold it with some 5€ surplus. Maybe now you have my camera?
Anyway, I should change my avatar ... |
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on Sept 23, 2019 16:55:14 GMT
Posted: Sept 23, 2019 16:55:14 GMT
Hi lenslover, So, in conclusion, if you come across a working FX-A, grab it, and if you find a C/Y DX 50 f2, grab it too! Those ML/DX 50 f2s are among the most under-rated Yashica lenses...
Hi Biggles,
i can confirm that. The C/Y Contax Tessar 45/2.8 as typical, usual 4-Lens Elements Tessar, is being way overrated, and after all, "just" F2.8 In contrast, the ML 50/F2 is being an excellent lens, it's my go-to Lens for ages onto the 167mt, but soon, being back where it belongs - the Yashica FR I. ;-) It's almost a pancake like, prime....and it's image quality is very good, love it since decades.
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on Sept 23, 2019 19:47:16 GMT
Posted: Sept 23, 2019 19:47:16 GMT
Hmm, I have a Yashica 1.9/50C, which looks just like the 2.0DX ... but I don't know, if it's the same. Anyway, I like it very much.
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on Sept 25, 2019 11:38:15 GMT
Posted: Sept 25, 2019 11:38:15 GMT
Hmm, I have a Yashica 1.9/50C, which looks just like the 2.0DX ... but I don't know, if it's the same. Anyway, I like it very much. It's a very different lens. The ML 50 1.9C uses engineering thermoplastics for the mount and barrel assembly, so is much lighter, and has slightly different optics though an identical 6/4 formula; the DX 50 f2 is metal-bodied with a metal mount. Strangely, the DX also features very different internal components from the ML 50 f2 but has the same 6/4 optical formula and produces images that can't be told apart.
The 1.9 C, made by Cosina, is as it's name suggests the compact version of the ML 50 1.9 (which uses the 6/5 formula) and like a few ML lenses splits opinion. I have read rave reviews about centre sharpness and others complaining about overall softness which always hints at production inconsistency - not unknown at Cosina at that time. Bottom line, if you have a good 1.9 C, enjoy it and hang onto it!
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on Feb 4, 2020 19:22:32 GMT
Posted: Feb 4, 2020 19:22:32 GMT
The 1.9 C, made by Cosina, is as it's name suggests the compact version of the ML 50 1.9 (which uses the 6/5 formula) and like a few ML lenses splits opinion. I have read rave reviews about centre sharpness and others complaining about overall softness which always hints at production inconsistency - not unknown at Cosina at that time. Bottom line, if you have a good 1.9 C, enjoy it and hang onto it!
I would choose the ML 50/F2 anytime over the ML 50/1.9, and especially ML 50/1.9c, because it's the better Prime, of all these three. It's more contrasty, tad sharper, and cheap. I do own the ML 50/1.9 (non-C) but i do use only the ML 50/F2 vs the 50/1.9 Lens.
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Wow. It was much better than the FX-D, alone from the Handgrip.