YashicaT3 Super

Released into the early 1990s, when premium compacts and motorised zooms split the market in two, the Yashica T3 Super is a autofocus compact built around a Carl Zeiss Tessar 35mm f/2.8 T*. For context, added weather sealing to the T3 formula — the bridge between the T3 and the iconic T4.

Format

35mm

Year

1990

Lens

Carl Zeiss Tessar 35mm f/2.8 T*

Min. focus

0.6 m

Flash

Built-in auto multi-mode

Battery

1× CR123A

The Carl Zeiss Tessar 35mm f/2.8 T* sits in the daylight sweet spot: sharp wide open, well-corrected against flare, and small enough to disappear in a jacket pocket. Standard 35mm keeps it compatible with whatever Kodak, Ilford, Fuji or CineStill stock you find on the shelf today. A single CR123A lithium cell powers everything including the motor; still cheap and stocked at most camera shops. 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. A quirk worth flagging up front: also sold as the T-AF Super in some markets. Best for street, travel and environmental portraits — 35mm is the all-rounder documentary photographers default to.

Reputation is doing a lot of the price work on the Yashica T3 Super; the camera is good, but pay for the camera, not the legend.

• §1Added weather sealing to the T3 formula — the bridge between the T3 and the iconic T4.
• §2Also sold as the T-AF Super in some markets.