Yashica Samurai X3.0 – Half Format SLR

I don`t know where I first heard of this camera, but it must be something like love at first sight. But it could have also been something like “This thing is so ugly, I got to have it!” Most people will think you have a film camera because of its futuristic look.

The film will be transported vertical instead of horizontal, which gives you the normal landscape format. Other half frame cameras must be turned to upright format to get the result of an landscape format. Confused?

This one is really a SLR-half-format-camera but you can`t really adjust everything like you are used to of your SLR. Shutter speeds and apertures are automatically set by the camera, there`s nothing you can do about that. Here is what you can do: built-in-flash: on, off or automatic mode. Action mode for continous shooting: on or off, Date and time: on or off. Oh, forgot almost about that: There is an automatic release as well. The Autofocus covers from 25mm up to 75mm which should be similar to a range from around 35mm to 105mm in 35mm full frame. Your film will I was lucky and got it with grab handle, an additional „screw-on“ hotshoe and a Cullman flash unit.

So what is this „half- format“ all about? First of all you`ll get 72 pictures on a normal 36 pic roll. But the most interesting is to team up two frames like it is a normal 24mm x 36mm frame.

written by lomodirk on 2008-11-15 #gear #yashica #35mm #review #slr #half-frame