The camera came to me really quick, after a few days long travel from Ireland. I was shocked when postman told me he has something for me. š
First impressions were pretty bad. Plastic, plastic, plastic. And even not the best one. My Olympus AF-10 is better built, seriously. Then: the shutter button. Itās nearly impossible to ālock-and-recomposeā with this camera. I just touched button and BANG! Shoot is taken. I believe Iām used to Fed 5b, maybe thatās why I had this problem.
Next: the lens. I donāt know why, but I was sure that it has f2.8 lens. Sadly, it doesnāt. F3.5? Please, my Canon Prima has f3.6 and mentioned AF-10 f3.5ā¦
I was really disappointed.
I put a film in JaÅka (itās a feminine name, similar in pronunciation with āYashicaā ā JaÅka ā Jaszika). It is my favourite film ā the cheapest ā re-branded Konica VX200, expired in 2011. Iām shooting on it since 2011, so I can compare different cameras.
I took JaÅka to my fiancĆ©e, Ada. I shoot some pictures there, but I was still thinking: whatās this all about? This camera feels so cheap, so fragile, shutter button is too sensitive, winding the film isnāt the most silentā¦
I took it with me on my way to university. Shoot some *boring* photos.
Oh God, this camera is really boring.
The week was coming to the end. I needed to finish that roll (I had only 8 exposures taken). I told Ada that we are going to the park to take some pictures. She was pretty excited, as I told her this is the most expensive film camera from what Iāve ever had in my hands.
We shoot some photos, but after all I told her: āI donāt know if anything will look right from itā.
The next day Iāve send the camera to Ben and I drop the roll to the lab.
On Saturday Iāve had some time so Iāve scanned the roll.
And after first scan I was like āOH MY GOD I NEED THIS CAMERA BACKā.
The scans are gorgeous. I know thereās grain and colors are somewhat shifted, but itās fault of my old scanner (Canoscan 5000f) and cheap film. But! The lens is RAZOR SHARP, focus is spot on, so-called rendering is classical Carl Zeiss⦠Whoa, Iāve scanned second photo and I was already checking the prices of Yashica T⦠š
So Iāve spend 5 hours scanning and reading about Yashica T series. I reminded myself about Yashica Minitec and J series, which were the poor manās Ts⦠Iāve read everything what I could find about it (collection-appareils.fr is really helpful if you understand French!). Iāve found out that Yashica J2 is a T3 without some functions and with the lens from T2⦠And Iāve found one amazingly cheap, so Iāll be bidding! (huh, remember, Iām a student :d)
Itās all about the lens.
Thank you Hamish for the chance to try this camera!
And here you have the photos.
OF COURSE.
The hedgehog is our pet. She lives in Adaās house, but we take care of her together. š Sheās an African pygmy hedgehog. š Her name is Biscuit and she likes sleep š Biscuit was pretty interested in Yashica, look at her eyes!
Anyway, Iāve bought Yashica T-AF, the first one. š
To be honest Dominik I think Iāll stick with the Nikon AF600. Itās also quite quick to focus and even smaller than the Yashica. Yes, itās really cheaply made, but you can get it for less than 10ā¬. Pictures to follow.
These are just lovely! I am completely blown away by the photos I am seeing from this camera!
I love a story with a happy ending :Ā“)
When you say the cameras has the same lens as the T2 (which was also used in the 1, 4, and 5) do you mean that itās a clone of those lenses? I donāt believe this is a Zeiss, or at least that isnāt indicated anywhere.
It says it in two places on the front of the camera ā https://www.35mmc.com/18/09/2013/the-traveling-yashica-2/
āIāve found out that Yashica J2 is a T3 without some functions and with the lens from T2ā ā Same question as IAN. I have a Yashica J2 and am looking for some concrete specifications for quite some time. So is Dominic reffering to Yashica J2 or is it a typo? Cheers!
Just bought one for a very small amount and from your review looking forwards to getting some results as good as yours