Its beauty lies in its simpleness.

so easy to control

so easy to shoot

and so light to carry.

 

The Yashica A was a basic model, both cosmetically and spec wise similar to the late versions of the Yashicaflex A-I (first released in 1954) but with the top speed of the Copal shutter upgraded from 1/200 to 1/300. The 1960 Olden Camera & Lens Co catalogue lists the Yashica A at $29.95 and the Yashica D at $49.95. With a number of cosmetic chnages, it continued in production until 1969. Not many were sold in later years.

Although usually a black camera, cameras produced between about 1957 to 1959, like the Yashica D, had grey leatherette with either black or grey metalwork or cream leatherette with brown metalwork (rare).

The Yashica A features twin Yashimar then Yashikor 80mm f/3.5 lenses, and has a Copal rim-set shutter, with shutter speeds of 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, and 1/300. It has a PC connection for flash sync, and because it uses a leaf shutter, it is capable of X sync at all shutter speeds. It was offered with black or grey coverings. The picture size is 6x6cm.

Operation

Shutter speed is selected by rotating the shutter speed dial. Aperture is set by adjusting a lever on the outside of the shutter speed dial. Film advance is performed by manually turning the advance wheel until the next frame number appears in the red window on the back of the camera.