My Yashinon Family

Housebound in a stormy New Zealand spring, I thought I'd try to make a contribution to this lively new-found forum. I'm not too sure if the forum is solely about cameras, but here's a quick note about a subject which is certainly relevant to the manual SLR's of the 60's and 70's.

Ever since I picked up a minty Yashica Electro Rangefinder GSN at a church fair, about five years ago, I've had a love affair with Yashinon lenses and, as the collecting bug bit home and the occasional Yashica SLR found it's way into the house, I've kept an eye open at auctions and car-boot sales for the Yashinon DX lenses, beautifully built and so skilfully designed by the now legendary Tomioka glassworks. They seem to have been neglected by the collecting fraternity until relatively recently, overshadowed by Takumars and, of course, the great German lenses of the period. This seems to be changing; I'm pleased I amassed this little collection when I did! These days one can pay quite big money for a 50mm DX f1:1.4 on the world auctions..

While I have a small and very varied collection of M42 lenses, it's these DX Yashinons that please me most. Of all the Japanesa lenses, I find them right up there with the Takumars for resolution and colour rendition, though they tend to be a little colder than the Taks., somewhat "clinical" in their rendition, but easily warmed up a tad in ACDSee or P'shop. I use them regularly on the old Yashica SLR's, especially the beautiful Yashica TL Super, but they perform equally well on the Canon 40D. In the pic below, at the back is the 50mm 1.7 next to the 135mm 2.8, and in the front from left is the 35mm 2.8, the 50mm 1.4 and the 50mm 2.0. They're all fairly tidy; though the 135mm has seen slightly better days it can still give my 135mm 3.5 SMC Takumar a run for it's money. And my favourite? Probably the 50mm 1.7, so like the original 45mm 1.7 lens on the Electro Rangefinder; ultra-sharp, contrasty, nice bokeh...what more can one want?

I'd been keen to hear a few of your opinions on Yashinon lense, and Yashica in general. I've appended a few pics from the lenses; hopefully they'll be of interest. Incidentally, the pic of the lenses is the product of a M42 Chinon 28mm 2.8 strapped onto the 40D...ah, those old Chinon lenses! But that's another story..