Yashica 230AF

<p><strong>Yashica 230AF</strong> <br />Kadlubek Nr 047070<br /><br />Lens: Yashica AF 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5 <br />Kadlubek YSH5060<br /><br /><br />from K.K. Yashica ( 株式会社ヤシカ ) <br /><br />Yashica had been having some difficulties after a bloom of success in cooperation with Contax, and its marketing had been taken over by Kyocera after 1983.<br /><br /> The Minolta Maxxum 7000 and the other AF cameras that soon followed seem to have caught Yashica by surprise, and their somewhat belated response was first shown as the Yashica 250F at Photokina in 1986 and was released as the Yashica 230AF in 1987. A de-featured Yashica 200AF was also offered for a cheaper price. The original list price for the 230AF was over $600 US in 1987. Within a year, however, B&H was selling the camera and flash module (CS110AF) for $355 and other vendors were offering a plain 230AF for $290. At the latter time, the 200AF was offered for $225. Modern prices for the body range from $10-30.<br /><br />Two more AF cameras were offered, in 1991 - the 230AF Super (270 Autofocus elsewhere) and in 1993, the Yashica 300AF. Having not found a strong market demand for these, Kyocera switched its production to 'point and shoot' cameras made in Hong Kong.</p><div></div>

<p>Here is a summary page from a Popular Photography special issue on then-current AF cameras from December, 1987:<br /><br /></p><div></div>

<p>This camera had a new mount, called the Yashica AF bayonet mount, that was different from the preceding Contax/Yashica mount. However, in an interesting twist, a 1.6X teleconverter was offered that converted existing C/Y lenses into autofocus lenses! I haven't seen this in action, but the adapter shows up on eBay for around $100. Given that I only have a couple of C/Y lenses, this is more than I care to spend to see how it works. <br /><br />Here is the lens mount and the rear of the Yashica AF 35-70mm lens to match. Note that the AF motor is in the body like the earlier Nikon AF cameras -- in fact the little screwdriver and screw head look identical to those on Nikons.</p><div></div>

<p>My copy of the camera did not come with the slide-on flash head (CS-110AF), so I was not able to see how it worked out, but one little strangeness about it was that when the flash was mounted it obscured the distance and other scales on some lenses. The solution (a definite kludge) was to shift the lens over sideways when mounted, so the scales were at a roughly 40-50º angle from the normal vertical scales found on most cameras. When I got the camera, I tried very hard to find a way to mount it so the scale was vertical, gave up, and then discovered why it was bent over.</p><div></div>

<p>Contemporary reviews were mostly so-so, except that much attention was given by Yashica and the reviewers to the "Trap-Focus" feature. This was an automization of the old practice of pre-focusing and triggering the shutter when the subject reached the point of focus -- except here, the AF mechanism trips the shutter when it senses the focus point is in focus. It's a nice work-around for the generally not-up-to-professional-sports-shooting AF speeds in these early AF cameras. From the manual, using this feature seems to require some kind of a release cable; but I found out, by some experimentation, that just holding down the shutter release with the fingers works, although that would be more awkward than a cable-hold on a tripod, obviously.<br /><br />Here is the <em>Popular Photography</em> review of June, 1987, for the camera.<br /><br /></p>

<p>n actual use, the camera is unexceptional compared to the other early AF cameras I've been shooting except for the trap focus. It seemed harder than on most of the others to actually get the focus system to "grab hold" on something, although it was clearly adequate for most purposes where rapid focus was not required. Both spot metering and center-weighted metering were available for exposure control, and backlight compensation is also present.<br /><br />I would have loved to have seen how the camera would have handled my Vivitar Series 1 C/Y mount anaglyphic 3-D lens with the 1.6X AF adapter, but honestly, using the camera did not inspire me to invest more than the $30 I have in it so far. I think anyone who uses it will probably understand why there are no Kyocera/Yashica AF mount dSLRs these days. Not bad, but not good enough either.<br /><br />However, the weather was pretty nice out, and I had to go over to the county seat to pay my real-estate taxes and I voted at the same time. Also got some of the marvelous 17th Street Barbecue (one of the world's best in competition http://www.17thstreetbarbecue.com/Home.aspx ). Unfortunately, since the marvelous weekend, a strong wind has been blowing so the fall color is largely already gone. So here, to start, are some pictures of the scenery in Murphysboro, IL with some fall color.<br /><br />First a closed up building across from the courthouse.<br /><br /></p><div></div>

<p>Then, the obligatory brick wall to show off the lens - not too much barrel distortion, as it happens.</p><div></div>

<p>The "Trap Focus" feature is to be used to capture items that come into focus, as a runner or whatever, but it works equally well if you prefocus, move back and then move in toward the object - click goes the shutter when the item comes into focus. Very neat actually. Here I am coming up on my carport, capturing the rapidly moving wooden screen. <br /><br /></p><div></div>

<p>And finally, how would it be for me to post without the campus lake being involved.</p>

<p>The runner would have been ideal for trap focus, if I had only been set up for it. The rather slow AF managed all the same.<br>

<br />The film on these is all Kodak 800 C/N film.<br /><br /></p><div></div>

<p>That's all folks!</p>

<p>I remember having read many reviews of this camera on the (Italian) photography magazines of the time. Never seen one. Thanks for the memory refresh :-)</p>

<p>As always, I read about the 1.6 converter with much interest, and went right to ebay to find the thing. Why not, I have a half dozen Zeiss C/Y mount lenses...</p>

<p>Then it occurs to me I'd have to buy the camera as well...</p>

<p>Then it occurs to me that I have a Contax AX that autofocuses my C/Y mount lenses without the 1.6 multiplier...</p>

<p>Then it occurs to me I haven't had anything to drink this evening...</p>

<p>By the way, I forgot to mention that I had some difficulties with the scanning. Tried to use my old Canoscan 4000, but for some reason this film threw it for a loop, although I checked and it is still working with color slides. Then I tried Vuescan on my Canoscan 9000F, and it was better but still weak. Finally, I looked and found that the proprietary software that was supposed to come with the 9000 had finally been upgraded for Mac OS X Lion (which I am still running) and that is what the images above are from. As one would hope, it did a much nicer job in selecting oddball formats automatically on the scanner it was made for.</p>

<p>I bought my first SLR in 1983, and, by the time this model was released, had progressed to a Contax RTS II (curiously, it didn't improve my abilities). The craze for autofocus hit sometime in 1985, I recall; I wondered at the time why foregoing a twist of the wrist was worth giving up craftsmanship, metal, aesthetics, etc. It seemed like every manufacturer was in a race to produce the crappiest build; perhaps they realised that the new technology was advancing so quickly that it wasn't worth building the delivery systems with pride in ownership attached.<br>

Having had my old fart's gripe, nice shots!</p>

<p>Nice presentation thanks, interesting about the angled lens window. Its a shame Yashica dropped out of the party, they were a great if slightly off centre manufacturer.</p>

<p>I guess the high tech AF SLR's of this era have had just about the biggest fall in status and value of all film cameras, except perhaps the zoom point and shoots.</p>

<p>I fell in love with the 230AF when I saw it all those years ago. I wanted one but could not afford it. I liked that it had trap focus which was a feature no other AF SLR had but most manufacturers added in their next model. Of course, it is obsolete now but I confess if I were to find one in a yard sale I would buy it. I understand the later models had less features than the original model. I still remember the ad with the osprey landing in the tree and the explanation of trap focus which is what sold me on the camera since I was interested in wildlife photography at that time.</p>

<p>Speaking of the devil, here is the Yashica 230AF ad from <em>Popular Photography</em> 1987-12, p.57.</p><div></div>

<p>"The Minolta Maxxum 7000 and the other AF cameras that soon followed seem to have caught Yashica by surprise, and their somewhat belated response was first shown as the Yashica 250F at Photokina in 1986 and was released as the Yashica 230AF in 1987."</p>

<p>If the old Contax UK site is to believed, Yashica might have missed its chance to be an early leader in AF SLRs:</p>

<p>"The pressure was building over a long period of time for Yashica and Carl Zeiss to enter the Auto Focus business. Yashica was prepared to do this and showed a prototype at Photokina in 1982. This prototype was based upon the Contax 137 series of camera bodies and had an in-board motor drive coupling which mated to the installed Carl Zeiss 50mm fl.4 lens. This camera design, changed very little, eventually did appear on the market as the Minolta Maxxam 7000. There was resistance from Carl Zeiss to embrace autofocus technology because it was felt that the lenses would have to be made from lighter materials such as plastic. Needless to say, Contax did not go forward with the introduction of this 137 based AF camera."</p>

<p>The claim about the Maxxum 700 is surprising. Did Yashica sell its technology to Minolta, or does the article just mean that Minolta copied their design? There's a certain family resemblance between the Yashica and early Minolta AF bodies, though boxy designs like this were pretty common in the 80s. Minolta, of course, was later sued by Honeywell for infringing their AF patents (did Yashica ever license these?).</p>

<p>It's rather sad that none of Kyocera's 3 attempts at making an AF SLR (this one, the later Contax N system, and the AX) were terribly successful. It probably didn't help that the YAF and N mounts were incompatible with each other and with the C/Y mount - the Pentax/Nikon approach of maintaining compatibility as far as possible might have worked better for them.</p>

<p>As always JDM, thanks for posting. How would you characterize this vs. the Pentax SF1 you recently tried? Obviously Pentax has a bigger system but for you how do the basic kits compare on their own merits? Apparent build quality, ergonomics, particularly interesting/useful features or annoying flaws?</p>

<p>Which 800 Kodak film was this, Portra, Max, ..?</p>

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<p>Which 800 Kodak film</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I threw away the box (package of four at Walgreens), and the film cassette literally had just "<strong>Kodak 800</strong>" in big black letters.</p>

<p>There is not a lot of difference among the various early AF cameras I've been trying. That being understood, other than the trap focus, which I really like, it was not as nice as the Pentax SF-1-- less responsive in terms of the focus point than most of the others, or so it seemed to me. Not all of these cameras have survived the passage of years the same either, as there <em>were</em> differences between two Nikon N2020s that I had. For most of these, the statistical sample = 1.</p>

<p>When I started this whole thing, I expected more difference than there turned out to be. I was a Nikonista for many years and I found both the Nikon 8008s and the F80 (=N80) to be comfortable shooters. However, I've also, in an earlier series of posts, followed the EOS line from the first to close to the last of the film shooters, and I think somebody who tries them will come to understand how Canon came to pass Nikon in SLR sales in those years. Of course, my digital shooting has all been Canon since 2004, so maybe I have been "re-imprinted" on the EOS family characteristics.</p>

<p>Yashica never supported the 230 AF with the wide variety of lenses that Maxxum, Nikon, and Canon did, but the trap focus was a neat idea. Great results, BTW and thanks for posting.</p>

<p>Not the best looking camera for sure. By that time Yashica was just a marketing badge.</p>