Talk:Yashica
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[edit] Copyright status
A short series of edits by a single IP on 17 July 2006 culminating in this version turned "Yashica" from a redirect into a substantial article with a remarkable resemblance to the 21 June 2006 version (then the most recent) of the Camerapedia article on Yashica.
The plot thickens. The Camerapedia article itself had a stunning resemblance to part of "A History of Yashica 35mm SLR Cameras", a page that is signed "Glen" but that also says "Copyright (C)2000 Cees de Groot -- All rights reserved." The Camerapedia contributor (and occasional Wikipedia contributor) Rebollo fr asked about this. You can see the exchange here, but it's summarizable as "I wrote the article, I'm free to do what I want with it, and I chose to contribute it to Camerapedia, knowing that I was thereby releasing it under GFDL, so you can ignore the original copyright message" (my words, not Glen's). -- Hoary 05:16, 25 February 2007 (UTC)
(just a quick note - that copyright notice from me is a standard footer on the whole site. Of course authors on my wiki's keep their copyright, I'll adapt it -- Cees de Groot 13 August 2007)
[edit] $566
- "The company began in December, 1949 in Nagano, Japan, when the Yashima Seiki Company was founded with an initial investment of $566"
Is the $ the currency in Japan? As it isn't to which dollar are we referring? Avalon 02:22, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
- Excuse me? The Youess dollar is the currency of the entire known universe and you'd better believe it or you risk having freedom and democracy inflicted on you [smiley].
- The article says $566 because that's what the Camerapedia article said when it was taken, and what it still says. Despite the bits of Japanese littering the current version of the Camerapedia text, most of that article seems to have been created by somebody who didn't use Japanese-language sources, and may well have used sources (none of which are specified) that talk in terms of dollars.
- Actually it's not so silly to use US dollars for this purpose, because the yen was very unstable in the 1940s. Offhand I'm not sure of the chronology, but I think it had stabilized by 1949 (thanks to Bretton Woods, etc.); but even if it had stabilized, this was only after inflation so serious as to render yen prices of 1945 or 1946 meaningless to anyone who (like me!) doesn't know their economic history.
- Now, it could be objected that much of this article contravenes Wikipedia:Attribution, but that's a slightly different matter. -- Hoary 05:16, 25 February 2007 (UTC)
- I believe that there is are a couple of errors in this article. While I cannot speak to the name of the company as it was founded, the name of the company at the time that it produced its first camera in 1953 was actually Yashima Optical Seiki Co. And the statement, "Also in 1953, the company’s name was changed to Yashima Optical Industry Company, Ltd." is incorrect as you are confusing Yashima with another company founded in 1953, Yashina Seiki Co. LTD. and they made one camera, the Pigeonflex, which was similar to the Yashimaflex (also made in 1953 and Yashimaflex's name was changed to Yashicaflex in 1954), but both were reproductions of Rolieflex. I've never seen any references that would validate that, "In 1957, Yashima founded Yashica, Inc., a subsidiary arm in New York City to manage marketing efforts in the USA" nor that "Later in 1958, Yashima changed its name to Yashica Company, Ltd, when it acquired the Nicca Camera Company, Ltd." What I know is that in 1956 Yashima introduced its first camera under the name Yashica (the Yashica Rookie) and between 1953-1957 they manufactured the cameras under Yashimaflex (1953) and Yashicaflex (1954-1957). But when they started the name change to Yashica with the Rookie in 1956, and the name of the company was then in 1958 formally changed to Yashica Co. Ltd. Later in 1958 they acquired Nicca Camera Company, Ltd. and we know that this was late 1958 because the 1959 Yashica YF actually still had "Nicca" on the front name plate. I've been a Yashica collector for 40 years, and one of my primary reference sources is "McKeown's Price Guide to Antique & Classic Cameras" and the same information is referenced there. (Drdan01 20:37, 11 July 2007 (UTC))
- The early Yashica history IS partially contained in Milton Heiberg's book, The Yashica Guide, A Modern Camera Guide Series Book by Amphoto Press, published in 1979. Heiberg had access to Yashica company files and its press office, and presumably obtained the information from them. Yashica established Yashica Inc. in New York in 1957 specifically to set up a marketing office in the U.S. as were many other Japanese camera makers at the time, anxious to bypass prior limited Western importing channels with plans for large scale U.S. sales. (Don01 15:18, 22 SEP 2007 (UTC))
- One other thing -- this article lists Yashica as defunct, last producing in 2005. I just confirmed this - their web site still lists current production digital cameras. I say current because one model (EZ-7030) says that it is USB 2.0 and that wasn't available until 2006. (Drdan01 20:35, 13 August 2007 (UTC))
- That really doesn't mean anything, just that it's an old webpage . Yashica used to list 35mm cameras on their website years after discontinuing the models. In 2005, Kyocera definitely announced an end to all digital and film camera production, even turning over repair/warranty claims to a third-party contractor. (Don01 15:18, 22 SEP 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Yashima vs. Yashica
Two of the distinctly different iterations (of the three I have been able to identify) of the Yashica 44 are marked "YASHIMA OPT. IND. CO., LTD." on the trim plate between the objective and viewing lenses. The third iteration is marked "YASHICA CO., LTD." in the same location, as is the later Yashica 44LM. As the three iterations of the Yashica 44 are nearly identical it is extremely unlikely that Yashina Seiki Co. Ltd. used the name "Yashima Optical Industries Company, Ltd." as it clearly was one of the early corporate names for Yashica. Please note that I am specifically not referring to the Yashica 44A and Yashica 44LM as being iterations of the Yashica 44, they are separate models in their own right.
Was able to acquire an original Yashica 44 camera with its original box, and a (matching) serial numbered original sales receipt. The camera is labeled "YASHIMA OPT. IND. CO., LTD." as noted above, the box is marked "Manufactured in Tokyo By Yashima Optical Ind. Co., Ltd.", and the sales receipt is dated 3/8/1959 from Henry's Camera Corp. in Los Angeles. --Wdance 14:24, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
In the December 1957 issue of Modern Photography (page 133) there is a full page advertisement for the Yashica-Mat and Yashica LM. The ad lists "Yashica Inc., 234 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, N.Y. for the company name and address. It is very likely that the deadline for advertising submission was at least 2-3 months ahead of the publication date (there was not desktop publishing in those days), so this would have meant that Yashica Inc. was in place by mid 1957. --wdance 21:03, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
