Yashica Unveils Three 35mm Cameras and Two New Films

Yashica’s Y35 digiFilm camera drummed up a great deal of excitement on Kickstarter but was universally panned by reviewers and early adopters when it finally launched in 2018. Apparently unfazed, Yashica just returned to Kickstarter with plans to launch three new film cameras and two new films.

The project is called “Absolute,” and it’ll be rolled out in three “episodes” for the three cameras.

The first episode is called Premiere, and it’ll feature the Yashica MF-1, a simple “Snapshot Art Camera.”

“MF-1 is our reminder to people of the fun and the lessons taught to us by film photography,” Yashica says. “It is an art of precision, patience, and mystery that requires meticulousness, experimentation, and bravery. MF-1 is […] suitable for novice photographers transitioning from the world of digital to that of film photography. For a great film photo, it requires a quality film and camera (a decent photographer as well).”

The MF-1 is an ultra-simple compact 35mm camera with a shutter speed of 1/120s, an aperture of f/11, and a focus range of 1m to infinity. The camera has a built-in flash that can fire about 120 flashes with a single AA battery. The flash itself is rated to have a lifetime of about 3,000 flashes.

Here are some sample photos captured with a Yashica MF-1 (on Yashica 400 film, which is covered below):

Being launched alongside the MF-1 is Yashica 400, a new 35mm negative film that the company started teasing this month.

As part of this launch, Yashica is also promising a limited edition Yashica Golden 80s film made exclusively for the company’s 70th anniversary. The ISO 400, 24-exposure film features strong grain and high saturation.

The second episode (set for around August 2019) is Novella, and it’ll be the relaunch of the Yashica MF-2 Compact Automatic Camera from 1980.

Finally, the third episode called Prestige is scheduled to land around December 2019, and it’ll involve the rebirth of the YASHICA-44 twin-lens reflex camera from 1958. This time around, the new Yashica 44 will shoot 35mm film.

Yashica says that the Yashica MF-1 is already ready for launch, but the company needs a minimum number of orders in order for it to go into production. Thus the company is turning to Kickstarter to essentially raise pre-orders for getting the ball rolling.

A pledge of about $22 and up will get you 4 rolls of Yashica 400 film, and a pledge of about $24 and up will get you one of the first Yashica MF-1 cameras (with a roll of Yashica 400 thrown in). Head on over to the Kickstarter page if you’d like to learn more.