Tuesday, November 22, 2011

#39 Yashica 8-EIII

Yashica 8-EIII
My brother-in-law, Mário Gamelas, is one of the top contributors of my collection.
I have several of his old cameras as tenants of the:


He bought this one in the early sixties, when he was an officer of the Portuguese army, serving in the former African and Indian colonies.

This is a Yashica 8-EIII, made in Japan around 1959.
It's a movie camera using 8 mm film.
It as three lens mounted in a revolving turret, with matching viewfinders: 
Cine Yashinon  6.5, 10 and 25 mm, with an aperture range: f1.8 - f16 and three internal filters in the optical path: ND, C and H
The spring loaded motor delivers the following frame rates: single frame, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32 and 48 fps  
The dimpled window, above the lens turret, houses a selenium light meter, still working. Two needles are displayed in the viewfinder, playing with the frame rate, aperture and filters one makes them coincide to achieve a correct exposure.
ASA range 10 - 80
Cast metal body covered with grey leatherette and some plates of stainless steel.

It is complete with lens covers and the leather bag. Mário told me he had a pistol grip too but, he lost track of it.

Following TTV views of the different lens; 25, 10 and 6.5 mm:

TTV Yashica 8-EIII 25 mm lens TTV Yashica 8-EIII 10 mm lens TTV Yashica 8-EIII 6.5 mm lens

I find it very nice with that blue colour, outside capture zone.
Also visible the two needles of the light meter:
- Thinner: aperture control
- Thicker: fps control

Some more pictures of the camera:

Yashica 8-EIII

Yashica 8-EIII                Yashica 8-EIII

Yashica 8-EIII

Everything is working, all I need now is some film for it.

Stay tuned (o;

10 comments:

  1. Thank you for the information. I've just bought this exact camera for 25 Euros. It seems to be in a rather nice condition, but it didn't come with its leather bag. This is my first antique/film camera so I hope I made a good start.

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  2. Hi I wanted to know if you could explain more about the larger lenses on the camera? I found one at an auction and I got it. I understand all the features except the larger lenses. Are they for aperture, still photography or what is their purpose?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Adam,
      The larger lenses are the taking lenses, the smaller ones are the viewing lenses.
      As taking lens I mean: the lens that records the scene on the film.
      Viewing lens is the lens that shows us, on the viewfinder, the scene as it is captured by a given lens.
      So this lenses are paired in a way that what you see and what is being captured is the same.
      I hope I was clear in my answer.

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  3. This is the camera my parents had when I was a kid. We were talking about it the other night and trying to remember how the light meter and focus worked. I seem to remember you had to align the 2 needles in the centre? And I thought it was a fixed focus?

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  4. qual filme de 8mm esta camera usa pois pretendo comprar uma e não sei onde acha o filme obrigado

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  5. O filme que eu uso é o Fomapam R.
    À venda na Câmaras & Companhia, no Porto (www.camarasecompanhia.com)

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  6. hello! i just wanted to know if i cover the viewing lens with my finger would it be recorded on the film even though the taking lens was not covered by my finger?

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  7. wonderful! thank you for your knowledge! I have just brought 1 of these cameras and im just starting to use it now so your answer is very valuable to me. ANOTHER QUESTION. How should the two needles be lined up so your ready to film? Should they be lined up with each other inside the capture zone or lined up with each other outside the capture zone in the blue area?

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