Yashica T5 (T4 Super)

[Hamish Gill]

Edit - Since writing this, I have put together much more in-depth thoughts on this camera on my blog here

The Yashica T5 (same as T4 Super) is a compact 35mm camera. It has a 35mm 3.5 Carl Zeiss t* lens, is fully automatic, has a flash and and a "superscope".
The superscope is a little second viewfinder that allows waist level shooting.

I picked up one today for an very cheap £30 ... Here it is:


Yashica T5 (T4 Super) by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr


Yashica T5 (T4 Super) by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

Ive got my self half way through a roll of xp2 already, I hope to have it finished and deved asap!

First impressions are pretty positive:
Handling is nice, much nicer than the oly mju ii which I find a little small
The Position of the VF on the back seems odd, im not sure why, I think it might be more central than im used to.
The shutter is a bit sharp... it takes little pressure to fire it.
Other than that, I like it!

Photos to follow!

(Now I can be Terry Richardson! Terry Richardson with Yashica T4 - YouTube Terry Richardson's Diary)

 

[Brian Moore]

Quite a find, Hamish. I like that "super scope" idea. Looking forward to the foties.

 

[Hamish Gill]

and me Brian, Iv'e been taking photos of Hannah wrapping chrisymas pressies

...

Just another passing thought, I need to watch my finger and the lens ... as it moves when it takes a photo it is sometimes colliding with me :/

 

[Davie Hudson]

Terry Richardson does some marvellous things with his

 

[Hamish Gill]

A-GREE-D

 

[Hamish Gill]

Looking down through the super scope

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Oooo, that's a bit clever!

 

[Hamish Gill]

It is ... Perhaps a little less acurate than the folded out screen on the nex ... But I'm not sure that you can get any less unassuming than a 1990's quite cheap looking compact film camera?
its odd, I feel a lot more at more with it than I do the Oly mju ii already ... Which in many respects is probably a better camera (faster lens, few more controls)
i took 24 frames of Hannah and the dogs and stuff round the house last night... Just snaps, some with flash, some without.
going to finish the roll today and see if I can find somewhere to get them deved

 

[Hamish Gill]

First roll...
http://www.realphotographersforum.com/photos-taken/8816-first-roll-yashica-t5.html

I have to say, I am over the moon with this thing I've spent so long faffing with lenses recently its been really nice just to point a camera in the right direction and just push the button.
The results are very very sharp, with bags of contrast. For b&w sooc p&s work it seems you cant go wrong with this camera and a roll of xp2.
Its now loaded with a roll of 800iso fuji superior so we shall see soon how those come out after xmas!

 

[Hamish Gill]

Just loaded the mju ii with a roll of xp2 ... I shall post the results in due course ...
i had "Pete rx100" syndrome in the end with it ... As much as I wanted to get on with it, never felt at home with it... It's worth another try though ... And it means I can go balls out with the compact camera Christmas and shoot colour and b&w with two cameras

 

[Hamish Gill]

Christmas photos http://www.realphotographersforum.com/people-portraits/8872-yashica-t5-christmas.html

Ive still not used the oly...

 

[Hamish Gill]

Couple of weeks in and I bloody love this camera ... There is really something brilliant about having a camera that can be picked up and pointed in the right direction and shot with. I have found that it has really concentrated my mind on composition!
I would recomend shooting with a camera like this to anyone!

My experience of the yashica specifically so far is as follows
The autofocus has not failed me yet, not even once! 5 perfectly focused rolls of film in two weeks (ish)
in combination with xp2 it is a shoot and forget dream!
lower light without flash photography seems to turn out quite well... I'm not sure how as I have seen quoted lower shutter speeds as 1/4th ... My shots seem to have not used lower shutter speeds but have maybe come out slightly under exposed - which is idea in my books!
Shots with the flash also come out well exposed!

overall, it's been really nice just taking photos with the only concern being the framing ... It's a very liberating experience!

All photos I have taken with this camera can be found here - Yashica t5 - a set on Flickr

 

[Pete Askew]

Brilliant set Hamish. Love the kitchen shot.

 

[Hamish Gill]

I think that is going to be my fastest growing set on there for a while!

 

[Hamish Gill]

Ive just finished writing an article for my blog on this camera here - Yashica T5 – The Path to Enlightenment (Part 1) ...

 

[Pete Askew]

Great entry Hamish, I enjoyed that (and the link). Thanks.

 

[Nik Cannon]

As I might have posted somewhere else, just won a T3 for £22.50, the superscope intrigues me, will run a roll of Xp2 thru it when it arrives, and hopefully go somewhere interesting to put it, and the superscope thru it's paces, I wouldn't mind one of these to mount on the hot shoe of my LX3 so I can accurately shoot from the hip, I keep missing some good stealth shots when trying to photograph unsavory looking individuals discretely without looking! I'd rather not have my head punched in or knifed by some Feral Yoots for disrepec'tin dem.. u get me bro?
I wonder... why did they change the lens from an f2.8 to f3.5 after the T3?
I'll read your post now...

 

[Hamish Gill]

Haha, I gets ya ... Be interested to see how you get on with it!!