135compact.com 35mm half format cameras Yashica 72 E
The
Yashica 72 E appeared in 1962 as an answer to the Olympus Pen. It
had all the features of the Pen, but had a built-in meter added. So it
had all you need to get top quality results from your film. There was a
successor, the Yashica Mimy with automatic exposure, but with a
fixed focus lens and then a Mimy S which can be focussed again.
The camera's main features are:
35mm film half-frame camera, picture size 24 x 18 mm Yashinon 28mm f/2.8-22 lens, min focus 0.8m Shutter speed B, 1/8- 1/250s Size 108 x 70 x 43 mm, Weight : 370 g ISO 10-400, selenium meter, PC flash socket, tripod socket, cable release socket
Front with cap.
Front. Big selenium cell around the lens. PC flash socket on the body.
Back
view. Meter ISO adjust, finder and film advance at the bottom.
Seen from above. Exposure meter. The scale has to be preset according to the film speed by turning the small silver knob near the finder,
the exposure needle will indicate exposure values, EV. Accessory shoe.
Shutter button with cable release thread. On the lens barrel: time and
aperture scale with little window for the EV value (13 in the picture).
Distance setting on the smaller, inner ring aroud the lens.
Seen
from below. Rewind handle, exposure counter with tripod socket in its
center, rewind unlock button. Back opening tab on the right edge.
Camera back open
open.
Camera and its original leather pouch.
Camera with tiny shoe meter. The selenium meter is dead on mine, as on quite
many of these cameras. If you want a working one, check with the seller
before you buy.
The shoe meter doesn't add much to the size.
The Yashica 72 E is
well designed, its handling is very easy. It has a very good lens for
crisp photos and there are 72 photos on a 36 exp. film. The meter is
quite handy. As there are many cameras with dead meters, check with the
seller that the meter really works. The camera is relatively small, but
modern full format cameras are not bigger and they
weigh less. So this is a beautiful vintage camera and
it's fun to use it.
