• Type: Yashica FX-2
• Serial No: 71003798
• Manufactured: from 1976
• Manufacturer: Yashica
• Shutter: Focal pane curtain
• Shutter speeds: B, 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000
• Lens: Yashica Lens ML 50mm 1:1.7
• Aperture: 1.7, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16
• Lens Serial No: A20167514
• Lens mount: Y/C
• Last CLA: 01/2012

This quite underrated camera is a cheaper, mechanical and manual pair of the Contax RTS also made by Yashica. Big metal body, great ergonomics, no automation, fully manual shutter. Microprism in the center to help focusing, TTL metering with match needle. Simple, heavy, reliable. Not a beauty but not ugly either. A true workhorse.

To be honest, the only reason I’ve bought this one was the C/Y mount. Contaxes with C/Y mount are too electronic to my taste but I didn’t want to lose the possibility of using those famous Zeiss lenses made for them. So I ended up buying an almost new FX-2 with an f/1.7 Yashica lens and a jammed shutter. Getting it repaired, I wanted to try out the f/1.7 and ran a roll of film through it. It was a love for the first sight. I wasn’t impressed at all of the performance of the Yasinon 45mm/1.7 of my Electro 35 GSN but this lens is a completely different story. This lens has a soul.

On 1.7 the depth of field is really narrow so focusing is not easy. Better to take multiple shots to have one perfectly focused. But this is not the weakness of the lens nor of the camera. Manual focusing with narrow depth of field is always challenging.

So this is a big, heavy, fully manual camera which is easy to use. If you need something reliable: this is it. If you don’t want to struggle with the “specialties” of an old camera but want to go analog: choose this one. Cheap. Great lenses. If I must say something against it, there is only one thing: the shutter is inexplicably loud. But that’s it. Nothing else. I’ve tried it for night shots and it was very handy in the dark too.

Not much else to say about the camera itself  – but the Yashica ML lenses are really great! I don’t think I will buy those Zeiss glasses with C/Y mount.

Ed Kaz took the below concert shots in New Jersey with his Yashica FX-2 back in the ’80s. He allowed me to post them here. Thanks Ed!