YashicaAuto Focus Motor

The Yashica Auto Focus Motor comes out of the first wave of motorised, beeping, infrared-focusing pocket cameras that made parents finally retire their rangefinders. Catalogued as a autofocus compact, it pairs the Yashica 38mm f/2.8 with a 35mm film path. A bit of background: Yashica's first autofocus point-and-shoot — also marketed as the Yashica AF Motor.

Format

35mm

Year

1981

Lens

Yashica 38mm f/2.8

Min. focus

1.1 m

Flash

Built-in

Battery

2× AA

The Yashica 38mm f/2.8 is the everyday-light specialist — not a low-light hero, but contrasty, sharp and honest at every aperture. Film supply is a non-issue: any 35mm cassette from any lab works. It runs on common AA batteries — you can resurrect one on a Sunday afternoon with whatever the corner shop has in stock. The built-in flash will fire whenever the meter decides it should, so learn the override before your first night out. Minimum focus is 1.1 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: big, boxy, and unmistakably early-'80s; one of the pioneers of the AF compact category. Best for everyday life and half-length portraits — a 40-ish lens stays out of the way and renders people without distortion.

Quietly underrated, the Yashica Auto Focus Motor is the kind of camera people brag about owning five years from now and ten times the price.

• §1Yashica's first autofocus point-and-shoot — also marketed as the Yashica AF Motor.
• §2Big, boxy, and unmistakably early-'80s; one of the pioneers of the AF compact category.