C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Yashica Pentamatic (1959) was Yashica's inaugural 35mm single-lens reflex camera and one of the earlier Japanese SLRs to enter the export market. It uses a proprietary bayonet mount - the Yashica Pentamatic mount - which was not carried forward to any subsequent Yashica SLR line. Lenses produced for the Pentamatic are therefore usable only on the Pentamatic and its immediate variant (the Pentamatic S and Pentamatic II), making the system a closed ecosystem from its launch.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
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.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
Yashica's first 35mm SLR - a 1959 proprietary-mount camera that launched and almost immediately stranded a lens system with no future.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Mount | Yashica Pentamatic (proprietary bayonet) |
| Years | 1959 - ~ |
| Shutter | Cloth focal-plane: 1s - 1/500s + B |
| Flash sync | ~1/50s (X-sync) |
| Meter | None |
| Modes | Manual |
| Finder | Pentaprism SLR |
| Weight | ~ |
| Battery | None required |
In 1958-1959, the Japanese camera market was undergoing rapid transformation. Asahi had established the Asahiflex and then the Pentax as practical SLRs, Miranda had launched its own system, and Topcon was developing its RE Super. Yashica, better known at the time for TLRs (the Yashicaflex and Yashica-Mat lines), moved to enter the SLR segment.
The Pentamatic launched in 1959 with a small system of Auto Yashinon lenses - likely including a 55mm standard, and possibly 35mm and 135mm options. The proprietary bayonet mount offered faster lens changes than the M42 screw mount competitors, but the system gained no traction, and Yashica quickly pivoted. The successor Yashica J (circa 1960-1961) adopted M42, immediately granting access to the broad Takumar and Jena lens ecosystem.
The Pentamatic mount never saw third-party lens production and was effectively abandoned within a few years of launch. Today the camera is a transitional artifact - historically important as Yashica's SLR debut, but practically a dead-end system.
The Yashica Pentamatic matters primarily as a historical document of the competitive SLR landscape of 1959 Japan. Multiple manufacturers simultaneously bet on proprietary mounts - a bet that most lost to the universality of M42 and eventually Nikon F. Yashica's rapid reversal to M42 with the Yashica J illustrates how quickly market feedback corrected proprietary mount decisions in this period.
For collectors, the Pentamatic represents Yashica's SLR genesis - a rare and early piece of the brand's history that preceded its long run with the Contax brand and Zeiss optics. Complete kits with lenses are uncommon; the mount's dead-end status means few bodies were preserved in working condition.
Yashica Pentamatic proprietary bayonet mount. Auto Yashinon lenses were produced for this system; the full range is not comprehensively documented. A 55mm f/1.8 (or f/2) standard lens was the typical kit optic. Wide-angle and telephoto options were likely produced in small quantities.
No modern lens can be adapted to the Pentamatic mount without machining a custom adapter. Conversely, Pentamatic lenses cannot be easily adapted to other bodies due to the proprietary mount geometry and the near-total absence of adapter rings.
BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
View profile →Yashica Pentamatic
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