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Yashica was a Japanese brand founded as Yashima Seiki Seisakusho (Yashima Precision Works) in Nagano Prefecture. Established in May of 1945 as a military subcontractor, the company manufactured munition fuses for the Japanese Empire for just a few months before the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought the Second World War to an abrupt end. Without a war effort to support, the company began producing electrical components and eventually went public as Yashima Seiki K.K. (Yashima Precision Works Co., Ltd.) by the end of 1949.

In 1953, the company decided to head in a new direction, changed its name to Yashima Kogaku Seiki K.K. (Yashima Precision Optical Instruments Co., Ltd.), and branched out into the camera industry with the Pigeonflex, a twin lens reflex camera. The company continued to produce TLRs over the next few years, including some bearing the name “Yashicaflex,” “Yashica” being a contraction of “Yashima” and “Camera.” In 1958, the company finally changed its name to Yashica Co., Ltd.. Yashica soon expanded to 35mm cameras with the aptly named Yashica 35 (not to be confused with the Electro 35) and into the subminiature market with the Yashica Y16. In 1959, Yashica acquired Nicca—a struggling brand specializing in high-end 35mm rangefinders—and immediately rebranded two of their models for sale as the Yashica YE (the Nicca 33) and the Yashica YF (Nicca IIIL).

Yashica flourished in the 1960s, releasing notable cameras such as the Pentamatic, Rapide, the Electro Half, the aforementioned Electro 35, and even manufacturing an instant camera on behalf of Polaroid: the Polaroid 120. In 1973, Yashica entered into a business partnership with the famed German optical company Carl Zeiss and soon began manufacturing high quality 35mm SLRs under the Zeiss’s Contax brand starting with the Contax RTS. Accompanying these new Contax SLRs were a wide range of exceptional Zeiss-designed lenses which could also be used on new Yashica-branded SLRs like the FX-3.

Kyocera acquired Yashica in 1983 and began using the existing partnership with Zeiss to produce the wildly successful T* series line of compact 35mm cameras (which includes the popular Yashica T4) while continuing to manufacture the existing lines of Yashica and Contax rangefinders and SLRs. As digital cameras became more and more popular, Kyocera produced a series of uninspiring compact digital cameras under the Yashica name before abandoning it and pulling out of the camera market entirely in 2005. Three years later, Kyocera sold the Yashica brand to Hong Kong-based firm MF Jebsen which is now using it to market digital cameras.

Yashica ML Fish-eye 15mm f/2.8
Yashica Auto Yashinon-DS 20mm f/3.3
Yashica ML 21mm f/3.5
Yashica Yashinon-DX 21mm f/3.3
Yashica ML 24mm f/2.8
Yashica Auto Yashinon DS-M 24mm f/2.8
Yashica DSB 24mm f/2.8
Yashica DSB 28mm f/2.8
Yashica ML 28mm f/2.8
Yashica Auto Yashinon DS-M 28mm f/2.8
Yashica Auto Yashikor 28mm f/2.8
Yashica Auto Yashinon-DX 28mm f/2.8
Yashica YUS Automatic 28mm f/2.8 I
Yashica YUS Automatic 28mm f/2.8 II
Yashica YUS Automatic 28mm f/2.8 III
Yashica 28mm f/2.8
Yashica ML 35mm f/2.8
Yashica Auto Yashinon-DS 35mm f/2.8
Yashica Auto Yashinon-DX 35mm f/2.8
Yashica Super Yashinon-R 35mm f/2.8
Yashica Auto Yashikor 35mm f/2.8
Yashica Yashinon-DX 45mm f/1.4
Yashica ML 50mm f/2
Yashica Auto Yashinon 50mm f/2
Yashica Auto Yashinon-DX 50mm f/2
Yashica Auto Yashinon-DS 50mm f/2
Yashica ML 50mm f/1.9
Yashica Auto Yashinon-DS 50mm f/1.9
Yashica DSB 50mm f/1.9
Yashica AF 50mm f/1.8
Yashica ML 50mm f/1.7
Yashica Yashinon DS-M 50mm f/1.7
Yashica Auto Yashinon-DX 50mm f/1.7
Yashica Yashinon-DS 50mm f/1.7
Yashica Yashinon DS-M 50mm f/1.4
Yashica ML 50mm f/1.4
Yashica Yashinon-DS 50mm f/1.4
Yashica Yashinon-DX 50mm f/1.4

Yashica DSB 55mm f/2
Yashica ML 55mm f/1.2
Yashica ML 55mm f/2.8
Yashica Auto Yashinon DS-M Tomioka 55mm f/1.2
Yashica ML Macro 55mm f/4
Yashica Auto Yashinon 55mm f/1.8
Yashica Macro Yashinon Tomioka 60mm f/2.8
Yashica ML 100mm f/3.5
Yashica MLB 100mm f/4
Yashica Tominon Super Yashinon-R 100mm f/2.8
Yashica Auto Yashinon-DX 100mm f/2.8
Yashica DSB 135mm f/2.8
Yashica ML 135mm f/2.8
Yashica Yashinon DS-M 135mm f/2.8
Yashica Auto Yashinon-DX 135mm f/2.8
Yashica Super Yashinon-R 135mm f/2.8
Yashica ML 200mm f/4
Yashica Super Yashinon 200mm f/4.5
Yashica Auto Yashinon-DX 200mm f/4
Yashica ML 300mm f/5.6
Yashica Auto Yashinon-DX 300mm f/5.6
Yashica ML 300mm f/5.6 C
Yashica Reflex 500mm f/8
Yashica Reflex Yashinon-DX 500mm f/8
Yashica Reflex ML 500mm f/8
Yashica Super Yashinon 600mm f/8
Yashica Super Yashinon 800mm f/8

Yashica MC Zoom 28-80mm f/3.9-4.9
Yashica DSB 28-80mm f/3.8-4.8
Yashica ML 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5
Yashica ML 28-210mm f/3.5-5.6 Macro
Yashica AF 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5 Macro
Yashica MC Zoom 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5
Yashica ML Zoom 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5
Yashica ML Zoom 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5
Yashica DSB Zoom 35-105mm f/3.8-4.8
Yashica DSB Zoom 38-90mm f/3.5
Yashica ML Zoom 42-75mm f/3.5-4.5
Yashica Auto Yashinon 45-135mm f/3.5
Yashica DSB Zoom 70-180mm f/4.5
Yashica AF 70-210mm f/4.5
Yashica AF 70-210mm f/4-5.6 Macro
Yashica DSB 70-210mm f/4
Yashica AF Power Zoom 70-210mm f/4-5.6 Macro
Yashica ML 70-210mm f/4
Yashica ML 70-210mm f/4.5 Macro
Yashica ML Zoom 75-150mm f/4
Yashica DSB 75-150mm f/3.9
Yashica MC Zoom 75-200mm f/4.5 Macro
Yashica Auto Yashinon Zoom 75-230mm f/4.5
Yashica ML 80-200mm f/4
Yashica Yashinon-R 90-190mm f/5.8
Yashica ML Zoom 100-300mm f/5.6

(List important figures that played a significant role within the company, past and present.)

Founded: 1945 — Nagano, Empire of Japan (modern day Japan)

Currently: Yashica

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