YashicaT2 (T AF-D)

The Yashica T2 (T AF-D) comes out of the peak of bubble-economy Japanese design, when every brand had a flagship compact and the engineering budgets to match. Catalogued as a autofocus compact, it pairs the Carl Zeiss Tessar 35mm f/3.5 T* with a 35mm film path. A bit of background: sold as the T AF-D in Japan — essentially the original T with a databack.

Format

35mm

Year

1986

Lens

Carl Zeiss Tessar 35mm f/3.5 T*

Min. focus

0.9 m

Flash

Built-in auto multi-mode

Battery

2× AAA

The Carl Zeiss Tessar 35mm f/3.5 T* 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 0.9 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: same superb Zeiss Tessar as the rest of the early T-series. The 35mm field of view sits halfway between observer and participant; it suits anything where you want the viewer to feel in the scene.

Quietly underrated, the Yashica T2 (T AF-D) is the kind of camera people brag about owning five years from now and ten times the price.

• §1Sold as the T AF-D in Japan — essentially the original T with a databack.
• §2Same superb Zeiss Tessar as the rest of the early T-series.