YashicaAcclaim 100 Zoom

The Yashica Acclaim 100 Zoom comes out of the post-millennium hangover, when production lines wound down and unsold stock filled department-store shelves. Catalogued as a autofocus compact, it pairs the Yashica 24–100mm f/5.4–10.8 with a APS film path. A bit of background: An APS-format compact released right as APS was being phased out.

Format

APS

Year

2000

Lens

Yashica 24–100mm f/5.4–10.8

Min. focus

0.6 m

Flash

Built-in auto multi-mode

Battery

1× CR2

The Yashica 24–100mm f/5.4–10.8 covers wide-to-short-tele in one barrel — one lens, no decisions, point and shoot. APS film has been out of production since 2011, so you're shooting expired stock from eBay and sending it to one of the handful of labs that still handle IX240 — confirm both before you commit. It runs on CR2 lithium cells, still stocked online but worth ordering a pair before a trip. The built-in flash will fire whenever the meter decides it should, so learn the override before your first night out. Minimum focus is 0.6 m, close enough for a coffee cup or a face but stops short of true macro. One thing worth knowing before you load a roll: Yashica's branding by this point was firmly under Kyocera's consumer line. Built for family events, holidays and anything where you'd rather reframe than walk.

The Yashica Acclaim 100 Zoom sits exactly where you want a sleeper to sit: low prices, working examples plentiful, and a spec sheet that holds up against far pricier rivals.

• §1An APS-format compact released right as APS was being phased out.
• §2Yashica's branding by this point was firmly under Kyocera's consumer line.