Yashica's autofocus 35mm SLR system, introduced in 1987 simultaneously with the Canon EOS system. For a number of reasons, it failed to gain the same popularity and was discontinued already in the mid-1990s.
THE CAMERAS:
In the global market, the cameras and lenses were sold under the YASHICA brand, while in the Japanese domestic market, the KYOCERA brand was used (KYOCERA merged with YASHICA in October 1983).
The design of camera bodies and lens barrels was clearly inspired by Minolta autofocus models. Moreover, the Minolta A and the Yashica MA bayonet mounts are very similar, even the number of electrical contacts is the same.
THE LENSES:
Since the Yashica AF cameras were clearly aimed at beginners or those seeking to step up to a SLR from a point-and-shoot compact 35mm camera, Yashica did not find it necessary to release a comprehensive line of optics, and perhaps this was one of the reasons for the commercial failure of the system.
For those, who had Contax/Yashica lenses, an optional Yashica AF Converter 1.6x allowed to use them (provided they had a maximum aperture of F/3.5 or faster) with Yashica AF cameras as if they were autofocus lenses.
■Wide-angle prime lenses | |||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 24mm F/2.8 • ⌀58 | 1987 ● | ||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 28mm F/2.8 • ⌀49 | 1987 ● | ||||||||
■Standard prime lenses | |||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 50mm F/1.8 • ⌀49 | 1987 ● | ||||||||
■Macro lenses | |||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 60mm F/2.8 Macro • ⌀58 • 1:1 @ 0.235m | 1987 ● | ||||||||
■Standard zoom lenses | |||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 28-70mm F/3.5-4.5 • ⌀52 | 1991 ● | ||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 28-70mm F/3.5-4.5 PZ • ⌀52 | 1993 ● | ||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 28-85mm F/3.5-4.5 Macro • ⌀62 | 1987 ● | ||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 35-70mm F/3.3-4.5 Macro [c] • ⌀52 | 1987 ● | ||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 35-105mm F/3.5-4.5 Macro • ⌀58 | 1987 ● | ||||||||
■Telephoto zoom lenses | |||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 70-210mm F/4.5 • ⌀58 | 1987 ● | ||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 70-210mm F/4-5.6 Macro • ⌀52 • Push/pull | 1991 ● | ||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 70-210mm F/4-5.6 PZ Macro • ⌀52 | 1993 ● | ||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 75-300mm F/4.5-5.6 Macro • ⌀62 • Push/pull | 1987 ● | ||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 75-300mm F/4-5.6 Macro • ⌀55 • Push/pull | 1993 ● | ||||||||
Yashica / Kyocera AF 80-200mm F/4-4.8 • ⌀52 • Push/pull | 1987 ● |
No dedicated lenses for portrait photography.
No dedicated lenses for professional wild nature photography, architectural photography with perspective correction.
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