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.............................. Yashica
Logo and Trademark..............................
Yashica is a Japanese manufacturer of cameras. The company began in December, 1949 in Nagano, Japan, when the Yashima Seiki Company was founded with an initial investment of $566. Its eight employees originally manufactured components for electric clocks. Later, they began making camera components, and by June 1953 had introduced their first complete camera, the Yashimaflex, a twin-lens reflex (TLR) medium-format camera designed for 6x6cm rollfilm. The Yashimaflex and successive cameras used lenses sourced from the Tomioka Optical Works, beginning a relationship that would last for years. Also in 1953, the company’s name was changed to Yashima Optical Industry Company, Ltd. In 1957, Yashima founded Yashica, Inc., a subsidiary arm in New York City to manage marketing efforts in the USA. 1957 also marked the introduction of a popular new TLR camera series, the Yashica Mat line. During the next year and a half, Yashima continued to grow, with 1,982 employees by 1958. Later in 1958, Yashima changed its name to Yashica Company, Ltd, when it acquired the Nicca Camera Company, Ltd. The Nicca acquisition was fortuitous, greatly expanding the company’s market into 35mm film cameras.
The Yashica Pentamatic, an advanced, modern 35mm Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera with a proprietary bayonet-mount and interchangeable lenses, was introduced in 1959. As before, Yashica continued to source its lenses from the Tomioka Optical factory. Around 1960-61, Yashica made yet another important acquisition, the Zunow Optical Industry Co. Ltd. Though a small company, Zunow had become well-known for its limited production of a very advanced SLR camera, along with several high-quality, fast lens designs.
In December 1965, Yashica introduced the world’s first electronically controlled 35mm camera, the Electro 35, a popular rangefinder model that eventually sold 5 million units. The company continued to expand its international markets, and in August 1968, Yashica finally acquired its lens manufacturer, the Tomioka Optical and Machine Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (later re-named the Tomioka Optical Co. Ltd.). By this time, Tomioka was one of the largest and most reputable lens manufacturers in Japan. Sales of 35mm SLRs continued to grow steadily, and Yashica was quickly acquiring a reputation for both electronic camera expertise and high-quality optics. 1968 also marked the year of Yashica's last major TLR camera design, the Yashica Mat-124, a popular model which combined some of the best features of Yashica's earlier TLR cameras.
In 1973, Yashica the company began a collaboration with Carl Zeiss to produce a new, professional 35mm SLR with an electronically-controlled shutter, bearing the Contax brand name. A new prestige line of Yashica / Contax lenses designed by Carl Zeiss were introduced for the camera, with a common C/Y bayonet mount allowing lens interchange between all 35mm Contax and Yashica SLR camera models. The F. Alexander Porsche Group was hired to complete an ergonomic and styling study of the new camera. The new Contax RTS appeared at Photokina in 1974, and proved a success.
Yashica soon introduced several new 35mm SLR cameras beginning with the FX-1 (1975) and FX-2 (1976). Also in that year, Yashica developed the upscale Yashica FR. The FR was capable of using the entire range of Carl Zeiss T* lenses. This practice of ‘pairing’ similar Contax models with more affordable, less full-featured, but still high-quality Yashica models would continue for the next 10 years. The FR was quickly followed in April 1977 by the FR-I and FR-II. The FR-I was an 35mm SLR with electronic shutter and both manual and aperture priority modes, and marked the high point for the Yashica brand in competing with Nikon, Canon, and Minolta for the semi-professional SLR camera market.
In 1979, Yashica introduced a new inexpensive 35mm consumer SLR, the FX-3, intended for entry-level buyers. Like all Yashica manual-focus bodies, the affordable FX-3 would also accept Carl Zeiss T* lenses. This simple, lightweight manual-exposure SLR camera sold well, and stayed in production until 2002. In October 1983, Yashica Company Ltd. was acquired by ceramics giant Kyocera. Initially, the merger resulted in few outward changes. The manual-focus (MF) FX-103 Program, introduced in 1985, continued the ‘pairing’ tradition of high-end Yashica SLR models with Contax (Contax 159mm), and was the first Yashica SLR with TTL flash and full programmed exposure capabilities.
After 1983, all Yashica brand cameras were marketed by Kyocera (Kyoto Ceramics), which also made newer Contax cameras. By 1985, the company was facing intense market competition from other manufacturers, especially Minolta, which had introduced a competitively priced and advanced autofocus 35mm SLR camera. Yashica eventually introduced its own autofocus 35mm SLR camera line that was overpriced and poorly marketed in comparison to its competition. In response, Kyocera gradually repositioned the brand as a budget-priced 'point & shoot' line, moving production from Japan to Hong Kong, and discontinuing all high-end SLR camera production. In 2005, Kyocera halted production on all Contax, Yashica, and other Kyocera branded film and digital cameras.
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