Yashica Atoron ?

I've been looking at the Yashica Atoron recently and it has piqued my interest. Does anyone have one or has anyone used one?

It seems there are two models. The original one looks to be tied to a selenium meter (I automatically assume that selenium cells are not working properly.) However, it uses EV numbers. Am I correct in guessing that this camera is still usable in conjunction with a light meter that displays EV values?

I can't see the controls in the links, but if you can set shutter speed and aperture then a bad selenium cell should not matter. I am in the middle of rebuilding a Yashica M(Early Minister I) and a bad selenium cell can be replaced by a silicon cell and a resistor in series with the old one. Looks like the later Ataron had a Cds light meter.

There are pictures of the top plate here and here, plus I read the instruction manual (specifically pages 9 & 10.) You can set the shutter speed (the aperture is fixed, like the Minox.)

I have one that was given to me but it does not work. I have a working Minox LX that I use instead. I'm not sure why anyone would want the Yashica over a Minox.

ic-racer said:

... I'm not sure why anyone would want the Yashica over a Minox.

Click to expand...

'Cause they're cheap on the bay and say Yashica on them I'd just like to try one out.

My question also:why a yashika instead of a Minox. I tried a yashika once. Not as comfortable to use and build quality certainly inferior to Minox. A Minox can be purchased quite reasonably nowdays. The III and IIIs without meter and the B with selenium meter prices are good. Because of better quality, the Minox meters usually work.

Havig an Atoron, several Minoltas, and several Minox it must said that that the larger format is a definite advantage over the Minox format which is not much larger than a hanging chad. You really have to be a masochist to use a Minox. They're cute but not very practical unless you can afford to also buy a Minox enlarger. Big bucks even if you can find one. Then there are the problems involved in developing a small strip of film without dust, etc Again a Minox tank helps but finding one is another matter.

BTW Minolta also made an enlarger specific to 16 format with a 28mm Rokkor lens. There are also 16mm (110 format) SS reels available for use in a Nikor tank. You will need 2 or will have to come up with some sort of spacer to avoid the reel from moving in the tank.

There is also a Russian "copy" of the Minolta 16, the Kiev 30. I have one but have never used it. It has a focusable lens. While it will accept Minolta cassettes the Russian ones are a tad too big for the Minoltas. Speaking of cassettes they are also in short supply and expensive $15 to $20 each last I checked. There used to a jerk who made and sold his own VERY BAD cassettes. Avoid these at all cost. You can tell them by their poor molding. You will need a supply of 16 mm cine film (single perforation preferred) or a film slitter. So all in all a bit more complex than just buying a camera.

Never mind.

I found an Atoron at a thrift store about ten years ago and "had" to take it out for a spin. I was impressed with the sharpness, though the grain and halation were just too much for my taste. It used the same film as the Minox.

You don't necessarily need an EV-marked exposure meter to find EV. Just remember that 1/125@f16 is the EV15, each stop less is one EV lower, and each stop faster is one EV higher