YASHICA 72-E

The Yashica 72-E was Yashica's first half-frame camera to follow in the Olympus Pen "tradition". It appeared in 1962 and is the predecessor to the later Yashica Mimy cameras. It had the general features of the Pen but had the added benefit of a built-in meter. So although it came in a bare-bone package, it had all you need for top-quality results. It has a 28mm manually-focusing (f2.8-22) lens. It has close-focusing to 2.6 feet. There are two focusing scales on the tiny lens. On the top, it is marked in meters, with a foot scale on the bottom. The shutter has speeds of B, 1/8 - 1/250. The selenium cell which surrounds the lens accepts film speeds from 10 - 400. Once the film speed is set, the meter read-out on the top of the camera provides an EV number. This is transferred to the shutter speed and f-stop dials on the lens. Since the lens has f-stop and shutter speeds settings, as well as the EV settings, the camera can be easily used in non-metered manual mode as well. Like the Ricoh Caddy of 1961, the Yashica 72-E was one of the few half-frame cameras with everything you need -- a built-in meter and full manual control. Although this camera looks like many automatic half-frames -- like the later Yashica Mimy -- it does not offer automatic exposure. The camera does not skimp on the other features either. It has a cold shoe, tripod socket, cable release connection and a PC contact. Last, but not least, this was the first Yashica half-frame to use a new, unique film advance system -- used on many later Yashica models. The film is inserted upside down, so that the film can be advanced with a quick flick of a wheel than comfortably lies under the left thumb. Too bad this feature was not adopted by other half-frame manufacturers -- it would have helped sales of all half-frame cameras. Accepts 24mm filters.