Yashica atoron: Bauhaus style on the outside, precise subminiature mechanics on the inside

The Yashica Atoron is more than just a camera; it’s a testament to the precision engineering and timeless design of mid-century Japanese optics. This subminiature camera, a contemporary of the Minox B, offers a unique blend of portability and image quality.



Owning and using a Yashica Atoron is more than just taking pictures; it’s a journey into the history of photography. Nowadays you can buy the atoron (Porst KX50 and Revue Mini Star are identical) cheaply (working cameras from 20 $). I have been working intensively with this camera over the last few weeks and am fascinated. If you have an atoron yourself, please post sample pictures. I would be very interested in your experiences.

You can find an overview and tips on the camera here: https://moments-of-now.com/yashica-atoron/

If you are interested in the inner functions and repair instructions, you will find them here: https://moments-of-now.com/inside-yashica-atoron/

Excellent writeup and images!

ic-racer said:

Excellent writeup and images!

Click to expand...

Thank you. This would not have been possible without your information on the atoron here in the forum.

Update:
In the meantime I have exposed the first films and realized: this camera takes really good pictures.

The trick is to use a fast film - I had Kodak Portra 400. Since the atoron has a fixed lens that is set to 3 m, I want to stop down as far as possible. I accept the coarser grain of the film in favor of the depth of field. I get rid of the grain well in digital post-processing. Remember, we're talking about tiny 8x11 mm negatives here.

The photos are here:

The Atoron is a superb shooter, and Yashica (Tomiinon) had plenty of experience with submini lenses on early cameras, such as the Y16.



The metering system on the Atoron is fine, as long as the selenium meter still works. For manual control, you have to like working with the EV scale.

For anyone wishing the Atoron had a focusing lens, there is the Atoron Electro model -- which also adds a more sensitive CdS meter, but unfortunately drops any manual adjustment (except for the film speed).

New photos added:

I have added three more videos on how the shutter and escapement work, which can be found here:

In addition, all images in this article and in the camera presentation can now be enlarged by clicking on them.

Camera presentation: