Yashica Mat S1963

History

The Yashica-Mat line originated in 1957 with the simultaneous launch of the original unmetered Mat and the selenium-metered Mat LM. By the early 1960s Yashica was preparing the line for its next major step — the Mat 124 with 220-film capability — and the Mat S appears to represent a late-production or transitional configuration within the original Mat platform carrying a built-in selenium meter.

The line culminated in the Mat 124G (1970–1986), the most commercially successful variant. The Mat S occupies a narrow position in the lineage: a battery-free metered camera that offers practical exposure guidance while retaining the full mechanical fallback of the unmetered original.

Why It Matters

Selenium cells produce a voltage in proportion to incident light without requiring a battery, making the Mat S genuinely self-contained. Unlike later CdS meters (used in the Mat 124 and 124G), selenium cells do not suffer from the "memory effect" associated with some CdS units, though they can weaken with age and heavy exposure to bright light.

For contemporary users, a Mat S with a functioning selenium meter is a useful working tool for outdoor available-light photography without the need to carry a separate meter. When the cell weakens (a common age-related failure), the camera remains fully functional as a manual TLR — the optical and mechanical components are identical to the rest of the Mat line.

Lenses & Accessories

The Yashinon 80mm f/3.5 taking lens is fixed. Standard accessories shared with the wider Yashica TLR line include:

• Bay 1 filters — 30mm screw-in or Bay 1 slip-on filters for the taking lens
• Close-up supplementary lenses — for portrait distances
• Eye-level prism — clip-on prism for eye-level shooting
• Lens hood — Bay 1 shade
• Ever-ready leather case

References

• Camera-Wiki: Yashica Mat — covers the Mat line including variant production history