Just thought that I'd let everyone know the Yasuhara Co., Ltd. (a really small Japanese camera company) is designing a new camera that's supposed to be out by the end of the year. It's going to be a rangefinder for old Leica screw mount lenses. More details can be found at http://plaza10.mbn.or.jp/~yasuhara/index-e.html .

I'm not in any way affiliated with these people, and I don't see myself buying one anytime soon. Anyways, with all the new high-tech cameras being released this year, this one caught my attention.

From reading their webpage it appears that they never expected to get the attention they're now receiving. Anyone have any thoughts about this "niche" product, and it's chances of surviving (if think think it'll improve your photography feel free to explain).

-- Geoffrey S. Kane (grendel@pgh.nauticom.net), December 01, 1998

Answers

I applaud it as a method of getting those beautiful old lenses back into action.

But the market must be very small, and will depend heavily on the price. I can pick up a second-hand Leica screw for #100-200 (UK pounds), so I for one wouldn't pay more than this. Sure, the Yasuhara has a built-in meter, but this isn't a great selling point for me, and possibly not for others who also value old lenses. But then, perhaps the market is different in Japan.

-- Alan Gibson (Alan.Gibson@technologist.com), December 02, 1998.

According to the Yasuhara Co. website, the camera sells in Japan for 50,000 Yen, which, accoring to today's (12/4) quote, converts to $417.82. That does not include overseas shipping, duty or any other expense which would be part of importing into the US. The built-in meter is not a selling point for me either, and there would certainly be no cachet in owning it. Perhaps the reliability of a modern camera might be a plus over the fifty-year-old-plus Leica SM bodies, but this is not yet proven; new cameras usually have bugs that need to be worked out. I wish them luck, however. Maybe they'll come out with a body w/o the meter.

-- Peter Hughes (leonine@redshift.com), December 04, 1998.

Strictly as a user camera, I think I would be very interested if it had programmed exposure automation, reasonably easy film loading (not like the screw-mount Leicas), and a good viewfinder. And, if the price were right.

-- Dave Jenkins (ljenkins@vol.net), December 05, 1998.

As far as I know, by reading through the web site, Mr. Yasuhara would refuse to sell you his T981 if you are looking for some status symbol or premium on his camera. He claims it is strictly a user camera. Also, the selling price in Japan would be 55,000yen (not 50,000yen); so it is about $458 at 120yen/dollar rate.

The T981 is a TTL metered mechanical shutter, manual exposure, and manual focus camera. It does have a modern hinged back door. So, film loading should be easier than the screw-mount Leica. The viewfinder has 1:1 magnification (life size), and this is another selling point of T981.

Leica-style screw-mount cameras are getting old, and it is becoming hard to get spare parts for the camera; Mr. Yasuhara claims. You can buy a T981 new and will be able to fix it, if anything goes wrong, because it is built around today's technology.

-- Hiroshi Shigematsu (pooh02@earthlink.net), December 06, 1998.

Why dont they make the camera with the M-mounth?

-- Thomas Marker (svend@advokat-marker.dk), April 16, 1999.

Apparently Konica thinks it's a good idea. According to rumours and the latest copy of AP, they will coming out with a changeable-lens Hexar this fall with 3 lenses, 35,50 and 90mm f2.8s (with more to come). And Cosina has introduced an M-mount manual everything camera! Oh God, the '60s ARE back! Now if I can just remenber where I stored my tie-dyeds, flare jeans and my Ricoh 500.

-- Ed Nicholson (thenicks@mindspring.com), April 16, 1999.

According to their web page, the whole reason for Yasuhara is to give screw-mount lenses a modern camera to be used with (yes I know that there is an screw-mount to M mount adapter out there that works quite well).

If you're stuck buying Leitz glass, the body doesn't seem too expensive. Once you've already spent a lot of $$$ on M lenses you might as well stick a real Leica behind it. But just about every uesd camera store can get you a bunch of screw-mount lenses from Canon, Yashica, etc. at a good price. But it's tough to find a cheap reliable body to go with it (hmm, wonder if you can use an adapter on a Minolta CLE?).

-- Geoffrey S. Kane (grendel@pgh.nauticom.net), April 16, 1999.

I agree with the posts above that this new camera really has nothing more to offer if you already own a Leica M3 with an LTM to M adapter. However for me the main selling point of the Yasuhara is Mr. Yasuhara himself. In this day and age when auto everyting photography is run by global corporations, I applaud and will support engineering minded underdogs with balls like Mr. Yasuhara and will buy as many of his products I can afford.

-- ray tai (razerx@netvigator.com), April 17, 1999.