The price was right, and sometimes that is the only reason I pull out my wallet. I knew this camera had a cult-like following, but I wasn’t sure why. It looked like a plastic point-and-shoot to me. Still, its reputation intrigued me, as did the “Carl Zeiss” on the front. Despite the lofty pedigree of its lens, does the Yashica T5 live up to the hype?
Let’s have a closer look at the machine. This is an autofocus point-and-shoot camera with high quality optics. It has a secondary “Super Scope”viewfinder set into the top of the camera that allows the photographer to frame the image while looking down. Weatherproofing allows it to be used in conditions considered inhospitable to other cameras. It is also close-focus capable.
Let’s look closer at the top viewfinder. This is reminiscent of the “Brilliant” viewfinders often found on vintage folding cameras of the early-to-mid 20th century. That’s certainly not groundbreaking technology, but it’s an interesting adaptation of old tech. I suppose street photographers could find this useful to some extent to avoid being obvious.
IR autofocus, programmed exposure, motorized film loading, advance and rewind, automatic flash, and DX coded film detection are all typical to point-and-shoot compact cameras of the era. So why the hype? Why the high prices? Is it just about the lens?
The lens has a maximum aperture of f3.5 and will stop down to f15.5. Shutter speeds range from one second to 1/700. That’s a respectable range for this type of camera. It can focus down to 0.35m (1ft 2in). That’s also impressive. Its Carl Zeiss Tessar 4 element 3 group lens is unquestionably a great design.
I’ll just apologize now for offending the die-hard T5 fans. I didn’t find the experience any different than shooting any other decent plastic point-and-shoot. I didn’t find the images to be significantly better than any other decent plastic point-and-shoot. Please understand that I wasn’t necessarily disappointed, but I wasn’t overwhelmed by some transcendent experience either.
As far as the SuperScope viewfinder, I could find little use for it. I am very particular about composition and framing. It is rather tiny and imprecise. As for the lens, the images I took with the camera didn’t scream “Carl Zeiss T*”. They were fine, but not extraordinary.
Build quality appears to be unremarkable to me. It’s simply plastic, and although it is weather-sealed, it doesn’t seem very robust. I have had other weatherproof compacts that feel much better built. Perhaps the cult-like status isn’t about the camera itself.
This would not be the first camera with prices inflated by a brush with celebrity. A once-famous, now infamous fashion photographer was known to use the T5. The informal snapshot aesthetic, with saturated color and hard shadow from on-camera flash was his signature. While I don’t share that aesthetic, I will allow that it had its day in the spotlight, as did the photographer.
When taking into account the typical price, are the benefits worth the extra investment? I suppose that’s an individual decision. A quick cost/benefit analysis would cause me to look elsewhere. That said, I would not denigrate anyone’s camera choices when pursuing one’s art. You do you.
