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The Yashica Yashica-Mat Camera is a 6×6 medium format twin-lens reflex (TLR) camera introduced in 1957 by the Yashima Optical Company (later Yashica), marking the company’s first attempt at a “premium” model. It borrowed heavily from the German Rolleiflex’s design and features, including an auto-cocking shutter and crank film advance, bringing those premium qualities to Japanese photographers at a more accessible price point, which helped open the rest of the world’s eyes to Japanese-made cameras.
The camera uses a Yashinon 80mm f/3.5 taking lens (a four-element design said to follow the Tessar formula), paired with a separate Yashinon viewing lens (f/3.2 or f/2.8 depending on production era) mounted above it for composing and focusing on the ground-glass waist-level finder. Earlier production examples instead used a 75mm f/3.5 Lumaxar taking lens and matching 75mm f/3.2 viewing lens before the switch to the 80mm Yashinon optics. The taking lens can be stopped down to a minimum aperture of f/22.
Shutter duties are handled by a Copal central leaf shutter (later the Copal MXV version), offering speeds from 1 second to 1/500 second plus Bulb mode, with flash sync available at all speeds via a PC sync socket and a switch to select between M- and X-sync flash modes. As a fully mechanical camera, the base Yashica-Mat has no built-in light meter (a metered version, the Yashica Mat-LM, was offered separately with an uncoupled selenium meter), requiring a handheld meter for exposure determination. Focusing is achieved via a side-mounted focusing knob, with a minimum focus distance of approximately 1m.
The camera loads 120 roll film, producing square 6x6cm (approximately 56 x 56mm) negatives, advanced via a folding crank lever that also auto-cocks the shutter with each wind. It accepts Bay I filters on the taking lens. Build quality centers on a solid, all-metal body available in a black finish with silver details and black leatherette covering, measuring approximately 142 x 97 x 95mm and weighing approximately 1,106g (some sources cite up to 1.2kg).
Key Features
– 6×6 medium format twin-lens reflex (TLR) film camera
– Yashinon 80mm f/3.5 taking lens (4 elements, Tessar-type design)
– Separate Yashinon viewing lens (f/3.2 or f/2.8, varies by production era)
– Copal (MXV) central leaf shutter, 1 sec to 1/500 sec plus Bulb
– Flash sync at all speeds (PC sync socket, M/X sync switch)
– No built-in light meter (fully mechanical; metered LM version offered separately)
– Crank film advance with auto-cocking shutter
– Uses 120 roll film (6x6cm square negatives)
– Bay I filter mount
– Minimum focus distance of approximately 1m
– All-metal body with black leatherette covering
– Approximate weight: 1,106g
