Yashica FR-1 – The Contax RTS for the budget-conscious

Hello again, dear 35mmc friends! If my research is correct, this is the first article about the Yashica SLR FR-1 in 35mmc. This shows that once again I have something more obscure in my many suitcases, bags, shelves and display cases full of cameras. It’s waiting to be used again, possibly to be sold as “tested with film” to make room for another camera. At the moment, it would be a Zenza Bronica SQ-B. YES, not an SQ-A or SQ-Ai, a “B” without electronics for light metering, which probably hardly anyone knows. No problem for me, external exposure metering is still the better solution for me, even today. YES, not even a LEICA with the distinctive red dot, to which, as we read more and more often, one of the many lenses from third-party manufacturers can be attached. Probably more for price reasons, since Leica lenses, responsible for the famous Leica colours, are the ultimate. Or am I mistaken? But that’s another story…

The Yashica FR-1 presented here is based on the Yashica FR, which in turn is a slimmed-down version of the Contax RTS. The Contax RTS was the first Contax model to be built by Yashica in Japan. In cooperation with Zeiss, a new bayonet system was developed, the Yashica/Contax bayonet, which was also used in the FR and FR-1. The Yashica FR has the same shutter and mirror mechanism layout as the Contax RTS. Unlike the FR, the Yashica FR-1 has aperture priority mode. Like the Yashica FR and the Contax RTS, it has a winder connection. Yes, it is not a CONTAX, just a YASHICA, from a company that manufactures the Contax RTS, was even chosen for this by Zeiss Oberkochen and was preferred over competitors such as Pentax. It also does not have a PORSCHE design, but it still looks very good and nowhere does it say Contax or Zeiss. I also have a Contax RTS with a Zeiss Planar 1.7/50mm. If I remember correctly, I bought the cheaper Yashica FR-1 with the Yashica ML 1.7/50mm just to compare them. Now, at my age, I can’t see everything so clearly anymore, I don’t do any lab tests, and I don’t like it when someone approaches me on my photo tours and says, “Oh, a CONTAX.” I just want to take pictures.

I am not an editor of a photography magazine who has only been taking photographs for a few years, who writes what the boss tells him to write or what readers who have spent far too much money on their “high-end cameras” want to hear so that they will buy the next issue or even take out a subscription. Not to mention the advertisements that are placed. I’m just an “old white man” with over 50 years of photography experience and a tendency not to see and do everything the way the mainstream does. I simply state my observations and opinions honestly. Some of my contemporaries often don’t want to hear them.

So I’ve had both cameras with similar lenses for several years now, and they’re not just sitting around gathering dust – they’ve been loaded with film and used. Not very often, given the size of my collection, but still. And now what? I can’t see any difference in the results. Nor in the build quality. The casing even lasts longer. What a surprise!

The photographs shown were all taken with the Yashica FR-1 and the Yashica ML 1.7/50mm, one roll of Fujicolor C200, exposed at box speed, developed normally in a minilab using the C41 process, and scanned with a Noritsu Koki professional scanner.

All photos were taken on one day in 2023 in the city of Düsseldorf, the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, located just under 30 km from where I live. The photos were edited slightly (gradation) in Lightroom Classic, and as always, care was taken to preserve the analogue character of the film.

Thank you for reading, and I would be very happy to receive your feedback.

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