Yashica Reflex 35

The Reflex 35 J was the first camera of the ‘J’ series Manufactured by Yashica Co., Ltd., Tokyo Japan. This was the second real camera I owned after the extremely heavy and tank-like Edixa Matt Reflex.

Shutter speeds ranged from 1/2 to 1/500 second, plus ‘B’ which are set by aligning the numbers on the shutter speed dial with a black triangle on the camera body.

*_{Close up of the sync sockets on a Yashica Reflex SLR}*

While there isn’t a hot shoe, the camera is equipped with two separate flash sync terminals. The uppermost marked FP is for use with ‘FP’ flashbulbs, while the lower terminal, marked ‘X’ is for use with either electronic flash or ‘M’ & ‘F’ flashbulbs. When using the ‘X’ sync terminal, the instruction manual indicates that the Shutter Speed Dial should be set to the red ‘X’ to obtain proper flash sync.

*_{Close up of the lens on a Yashica Reflex SLR showing the focus and depth-of-field scales.}*

The standard lens is a 50mm f/2 Auto Yashinon which fitted the M42 screw lens mount. F/stops are adjusted by turning the click stops on the aperture ring with a red dot indicated the selected f/stop. The lens has a diaphragm preset lever which allowed for “fully open” focusing with the lens only stopping down when the shutter button is pressed.

_{Close up of pentaprism on a Yashica Reflex SLR camera. The Yashica brand name can be clearly seen.}

Yashica produced a range of accessories for the Reflex 35 including a clip-on exposure meter, specially designed for the camera which allowed exposure readings to be taken automatically. Also produced were extension tubes, a right-angle viewfinder, and a lens hood. A range of filters was also produced; Y1, Y2, O2, G, R, B and UV for black and white films and 1A, 80B, 81B, 82A and 85C for colour.