The Yashica 35-ME: an analogue point-and-shooter's dream come true

This nifty little number was introduced in 1972 by Yashica, the Japanese company famous for its still popular line of medium format TLR's. The 35-ME, though, is a nice lesser known 35mm model that manages to blend a great deal of lo-fi charm with a certain degree of legitimacy. That is to say, that despite its soft, low contrast lens and simplistic focus, the 35-ME is no Holga. Two 1.5V batteries operate a light meter, auto shutter and auto aperture, which can be adjusted to compensate for film speeds between 45 and 800 ISO. This means that the camera is user friendly and versatile.

The camera doesn't, however, trade any performance for ease of use. While it is just a cheap little rangefinder (mine cost me about $10), and you DO get what you pay for, if you're looking for a cheap lo-fi point and shoot camera this is your answer. Don't shell out $250 for a Lomo LC-A+ (also a great camera, but a barely mechanical piece of plastic ever worth that much?), try the Yashica 35-ME instead.

Here's what you can expect:


This one was taken with out the batteries, so the camera was stuck on 1/60 sec. (hence the blurring).




Even indoors, the 35-ME produces interesting contrasts, and dreamlike lighting.

 
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