C41
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
View profile →half-frame
The Yashica Samurai (1987) is a half-frame 35mm camera with an unconventional form factor: it is held vertically like a camcorder, with the film running horizontally across the back (producing portrait-orientation half-frames of 24×18mm, 72 exposures from a 36-exposure roll). The Samurai was produced by Kyocera under the Yashica brand and was designed to exploit the camcorder aesthetic that was fashionable in consumer electronics during the late 1980s.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm-half-frame format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
View profile →C41
Kodak UltraMax 400 is a versatile consumer-grade ISO 400 daylight-balanced color negative film with T-grain emulsion, delivering warm Kodak colors, fine-for-speed grain (PGI 46), and wide exposure latitude. Currently in production and available globally as a single-roll and multi-pack.
View profile →BW
Develop 35mm-half-frame film
We're growing the lab directory near you. Browse all labs.
Before you buy used
About this camera
A half-frame camera styled like a compact video camcorder — the Samurai held the camera vertically in a portrait grip, making 24×18mm frames on standard 35mm film with a built-in zoom lens.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm half-frame (24×18mm, 72 exp / 36 roll) |
| Lens | Kyocera 25–75mm f/3.5–4.3 (X3.0); 25–100mm f/3.5–5.0 (X4.0) |
| Years | 1987–1992 |
| Shutter | Auto program, ~2s – 1/500s |
| Flash | Built-in auto |
| Focus | Passive AF |
| Body orientation | Portrait (vertical grip) |
| Weight | ~360 g |
| Battery | 2× AA |
Kyocera Corporation (which owned the Yashica brand from 1983) developed the Samurai as a consumer product capitalising on the camcorder craze of the late 1980s. Home video cameras — JVC, Sony, Panasonic — had popularised a vertical-grip, horizontal-operation ergonomic, and the Samurai applied it to a still camera. Marketing positioned it as a "video-camera look" for young consumers who wanted to appear current.
The half-frame format was a natural fit: holding the camera in portrait orientation produces portrait-oriented prints automatically, without rotating the camera, and the double frame count (72 from 36) made it economical for casual shooting.
The Samurai X3.0 was the main production model; the X4.0 followed with a longer zoom. Yashica also produced a Super Samurai variant with a higher maximum ISO sensitivity. The line was discontinued around 1992 as consumer tastes shifted and the novelty aesthetic faded.
The Samurai is a peculiar artefact of 1980s consumer electronics culture — the only major production half-frame camera to use a camcorder-style portrait-grip format. Its design has no direct antecedents and no successors; no other company produced a comparable half-frame camera in the same ergonomic idiom.
For collectors of unusual film cameras, the Samurai occupies a niche as a conversation piece and as a functional shooter. The 72-frame count and built-in zoom make it surprisingly capable as a travel camera, and the portrait-orientation format is useful for photographing people without rotating the camera.
Lens is fixed (zoom, non-interchangeable). No accessories beyond strap and case. Film: any standard 35mm DX-coded cassette from ISO 50 to 1600.
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →Yashica Samurai
Image coming soon