Yashica YS and/or Nicca Fans?

I have quite a few Yashica 35mm cameras and lenses and a 124-G. I had been looking at the Leica Copy Yashica YE and realized that camera lineage can be traced back to Nicca.

That made me think back to 1974, when my friend was using his father's Nicca to take pictures for our Jr. High Yearbook.
I thought the camera was pretty cool and I used my camera to take a picture of his camera.

Here is the picture. I tracked it down in my print archive. Made in 1974 with a Burke & James "Solar" brand enlarger. The print is on Kodabromide and was dried on a Ferrotype Tin with Pakosol to a beautiful gloss. Almost no yellowing or staining.

Anyway, I never had a chance to use the camera and wondered if anyone here had a Nicca or Yashica YE and how they liked the camera.

I had a Nicca IIIs with the Nikkor f2/50mm. Had Youxin do a full CLA, new curtains, etc. I thought it handled very well, the mechanics and fit and finish are first rate. Unfortunately I just can’t deal with the squinty viewfinders all these old rangefinders have anymore, and I didn’t want an accessory one on top of the camera. No parallax correction either. I have a gorgeous Contax IIa but I always reach for a later model rangefinder with a big viewfinder when I go out.

I have mint, "made in occupied Japan" marked IIIa Nicca. It is no "improvments" direct copy of Leica III. It just as good as my Leica IIIc from same fifties, which has worn out exterior .
Both cameras were CLA'd with new parts earlier this year.
Both have not as good as my Zorki from same fifties RF patch. Even if one of them is with new half-mirror.
But Zorki has developed uneven exposures within less than year and been after very good service couple of years prior to it.

I have read that the Nicca cameras were as good or better than the Leica of the day. I have no way of judging that but I have two; one with the Nikkor 50 mm 2.0 and one with the 1.4. The 1.4 is a Dream wide open and sharp at F2. The damn loading of the film put me off. The last model the 3L had a back door.
I presume you have seen this
https://www.canonrangefinder.org/Nicca_Cameras.htm
Regards
Bill

cowanw said:

I have read that the Nicca cameras were as good or better than the Leica of the day. I have no way of judging that but I have two; one with the Nikkor 50 mm 2.0 and one with the 1.4. The 1.4 is a Dream wide open and sharp at F2. The damn loading of the film put me off. The last model the 3L had a back door.
I presume you have seen this
https://www.canonrangefinder.org/Nicca_Cameras.htm
Regards
Bill

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link; great site I had not seen. I had been looking at this site first, under a "Yashica YE" search.

Niccas are the the best Leica clones-- a properly working Nicca shutter is wonderful and precise in a way that even Leica shutters aren't. The back door loading on the later ones really seals the deal. Now I use a Canon P because nothing can fix those tiny rf windows.

Tower version of the Nicca 3-F Lever
This was my uncles first camera and now mine. Quirky but a nice camera. At first it was a pain to load. Then I tried some old film I had found and noticed that the leader was cut different. There is actually a diagram on the bottom plate as well that shows how the leader needs to be cut. Basically, string out how much film you need to reach other side. Then cut at a diagonal from where film is already short back towards the cassette. Once I figured this out, loading isn't a problem. I like the camera the more I use it. It is solid and looks and works like new. I also have a Canon VT. I like the VT a little better but not by much. The lens is the Nikkor 5cm 2.0.