Simplicity, Light weight, ability to take Zeiss lenses

Feels very plastic

I was looking in my LCS for a tripod head when I noticed an FX3 Super in their second hand cabinet for £18 complete with Yashica 50mm ml f1.9 lens. Both camera and lens in pristine condition and fully functional . As I already own a Contax RTS, Contax 139 and the original FX3, together with a couple of Zeiss Lenses, 50mm f1.7 and 45mm f2.8 the temptation was too great to resist.
The camera itself is a simple very light weight model with no frills. Its so light weight that it is marginally lighter than my FX3 and feels slightly more plastic, but does not give the impression that it will break anytime soon. Pros over the original FX3 are the fact that the leatherette goes not disintegrate, a faster top shutter speed and the meter switches on with a press of the shutter button rather than a little button behind the viewfinder. Cons are that the shutter gives more of a slap due to the increased speed. I think I prefer the separate shutter button meter but its no big deal either way. I have also replaced the leatherette on my original FX3 and as a consequence it also feels very slightly better in the hand than the Super model IMO.
For the money you pay for these cameras you cannot go wrong. The ability to take Zeiss lenses, mechanical simplicity, light weight, good reputation for reliability are all very solid reasons to get one. When combined with my 45mm f2.8 it is the lightest SLR/lense combination in my collection, just 534gms. Compare that with a Pentax ME Super and 40mm f2.8 another very small light combination which I really love, which comes in at 590 gms!

-Simplicity
-Reliability
-Accurate meter
-Access to Zeiss Lenses
-Studio work

If you are doing street photography then this is not for you.

I love this camera. It is really reliable when I do studio work when I am looking for a certain look in my portraits on film. I usually use a digital camera for metering and use the Yashica for my overall work.

I compete with DSLRs that cost around $3,000 dollars or more and I show up with a $10 dollar camera I bought from a flea market.

The secret is not the body but the lens that it can hold. The Yashica FX-3 or Super 2000 is the gateway to awesome Zeiss Lenses! Zeiss lenses that are often used with adapters on Canons and Nikons digital cameras.

Even when electronic Contax cameras are breaking down or digital SLRs become dirt cheap because of yearly updates of models.

The Yashica FX-3s holds it value on reliability and mechanical simplicity. It can be fixed and repaired easily since it was mass produced with quality materials

I used it on assignment on far reaching places in the Philippines, Vietnam and Tibet. The camera has been to harsh conditions and is still working and reliable. The battery last forever and it is tough as nails when it comes to overall reliability

Customer Service

The company does not exist anymore but Mark Hama repairs Yashica Cameras superbly = )

Similar Products Used:

Hasselblad 503CW, Leica M6, Canon 5D Mark II

Look beautiful,light,pleasant to use,reliable in spite of is age,makes beauriful images.

None found

This camera is very pretty,sturdy, not sophisticated and reliable. When I bought it
at a flea market I was not sure that it will work very well, but for 30 euros it was
worth to buy it. The lens is a zoom Tamron 28-70 f:3.5. After the first tests I was
surprised and delighted by the results of this quite old camera : sharp image and
very precise meter.

Similar Products Used:

Mamiya Sekor

I got my Yashica FX-3 2000 back in 1981 when I was in 8th grade as a gift from my parents. It came with several lens. I have taken litterally thousands of pictures over the years with it. All my kids leanring photogaphy on the same camera just as my dad taught me. This camera has been all over the US with me and recorded my whole live. Next year the carmera will be 30 years old if you can believe that and it still works just as good as it did when it was band new. I have a digital carmera now, but I still use my 35mm yashica when my family goes on vacation becuase it like part of the family now. I can not believe a 30 year old carmera could still work perfectly, but it does.

Have had the camera since 1989 brand new and it still works the same as in day one. Money well spent.

Can be found on Ebay (Olympus OM1 as well) for the cost of a steak dinner. Glass has roots in Zeiss ( I think) designs. Very under rated.

I got this camera around 1980. All through the years, without repair and need for an overhaul this camera performed flawless. Meter worked well and the 50mm f/2 glass ws plenty fast enough for most applications. I gave away recently. I like my Olympus OM1 which has mirror lockup. Both brands can be found very cheaply on ebay and I would buy another as a camera to throw in the car and shot as I see fit. A great solution when I don't want to lug my Nikon gear around.

* Simplicity. As with most simple designs, the less complication, the less there is to go wrong. In 25 years, nothing has gone wrong. Nothing. After thousands of rolls. * Has worked superbly with non-dedicated flash units. *Yashica lenses are very good for the money. Zeiss lenses, of course, are without equal. Perhaps too good for most human eyes. If one is willing and able to put up large sums for Zeiss, it's as good as any manual 35mm system out there. Outrageous clarity and color definition.

* The lens choice, oddly. Yashica at the low end and Zeiss at the high end; the latter are phenomenally expensive. I also tried some third-party lenses over the years and they were all--no exceptions--dreadful. Some middle-priced choices would have been appreciated back when I had little money. * Also--let's face it now. In 10 years, 15 at the most, film will go the way of glass negatives and vinyl LP's. Digital SLR's are improving too fast, and their advantages in development costs and turnaround time are simply too great.

I bought this camera in 1980 at the age of 18; more than 20 years later, I taught my son the basics of manual film photography on the very same camera. In the meantime, my FX-3 has literally been all over the world, beaten, dropped from considerable heights, abused by customs officials, baggage handlers and above all myself. It's still going strong. It's a superb camera for patient and exacting people. Owing to its lack of automatic and other features, it is a poor camera for impatient, sound-bite oriented, instant-gratification types.

Customer Service

Never needed any in 25 years and thousands of rolls. What does that say?

Similar Products Used:

Minolta X-700, Canon Rebel G, Nikon FM2, Nikon D-1x.

mirror lock up with self timer, light, compact, meter uses cheap batteries.

no motor is attachable, dof prev., mirror prism instead of glass prism.

very robust camera, i used it in +40c to -25c degrees but worked flawlessly. i use zeiss lenses which compete with leica.

Small size, mechanical operation, metal lens mount. The metering is excellent!

Heavy mirror bounce, loud shutter.

An excellent camera, it's small and easy to use, with nothing complicated. The best part in my opinion is the meter. It's your standard center-weighted metering, but I'm impressed with the accuracy. It's also fairly durable; leave it in the car and take it everywhere. Don't bother with 3rd party zooms for this camera: get prime (fixed focal length) lenses and you'll be much happier. Most zooms for this camera were designed and made long before zooms could deliver really decent quality.

Similar Products Used:

Various mechanical Pentax cameras.

inexpensive, can be Zeiss lens fitted, lightweight but heavy-duty,portable, all-manual,"half-click" light meter, sharp pictures, up to 1/2000.

no depth-of-field preview focusing manually at night

This is a very good camera. Excellent! Great! Outstanding! I got it as a second-hand, but it still performs perfectly! Heavy-duty and durable but lightweight.It's fully manual though it's so easy to operate! All you have to do is set the aperture, shutter speed, and adjust the focusing! And i bought this for $130 with an 85-300 mm telephoto lens with built in macro lens already! Just buy it!

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

none