Yashica J came in at least two forms

I have an original 'Yashica 35' rangefinder, and the lens shown on the black-nose J looks identical. It also has the same knurled ring and focus 'grippette' focus pad. With the '35' being their first ever 35mm camera, I suspect Yashica made a choice to reuse the same lens on different body styles as they expanded their first 35mm offerings over time. I don't know if that would be for cost savings, using a proven design, or being economical about spending the time/effort in re-engineering a different design on yet another 35mm rangefinder with a 4.5cm f/2.8 lens.

There's no letter prefix on my copy of the '35', and it has a 5-digit serial number... 81957. There's one other distinguishing feature that may or may not match the one on the J. The '35' has a Copal MXV shutter (MXV in red), with it's own separate serial number, of 58258016.

Assuming that both the J and '35' sport the same lenses, I suspect that the black-nose J would be the earlier one. I base that guess strictly on the possibilty it's a transitional lens they'd carryover from their first ever 35mm. Yashica was no stranger in reusing parts in later iterations of differing products. Case in point would be the 'DSB trim' that was later used on the first versions of ML lenses. The older bevel/polished-end barrels, and the elongated diamond grips were clear holdovers.

bobblehat ... You have a PM -and- a new gallery account :)

I'd forgotten about the 'gold' version, and missed out on one not too long ago, so I must be getting one of those 'I'm-ancient' diseases.

While I'm thinking about my earlier post, it also strikes me that the J might have been a little more transitional than I'd thought, if there were some versions that had lens-mounted Copal shutters (assuming the '35' lens and the black-nose J's lens are in fact identical), and other/later versions may have had 'internal' shutters (like the Electro's, w/o seperate serial #'s). Do all/any of these have the same shutter setups?