Serial Number: Cam0098
Type:
35mm View Finder Camera
Manufacturer:
Yashica
Country of Origin:
Japan
Production Period:
1964
Approximate Price:
US Dollars 130.00
Reference:
camerapedia.wikia.com
Status: Display
Description:
The Half 17 is a half-frame 35 mm
viewfinder camera made by Yashica in about 1964. It
has a six-element 32 mm f/1.7 Yashinon lens (a wide
maximum aperture for a popular camera of the time)
and a Copal BR shutter. There is a selenium meter,
with the cell arranged around the lens, and the
camera is normally used with automatic exposure,
which follows a program between 1/30 second at
f/1.7 (EV 6½) and 1/800 second at f/16 (EV 17½). The
metered shutter speed (but not the aperture) is
displayed in the viewfinder. There is also a setting for
'B' shutter (the aperture is then set to f/1.7), and
manual aperture settings for use with flash. There is a
PC socket on the left end of the body, and a cold shoe
on the top. There is a film speed dial on the top plate,
allowing speeds from 12 to 400 ASA.
The lens has scale focusing down to 0.8 meter, and
zone-focusing symbols are displayed in the viewfinder (for a head-and-shoulders portrait at 0.8 m, a
half-figure portrait at 1.2 m, a group at 3 m and a
scene at infinity). The viewfinder has a brightline
frame, with markings for parallax error correction
when focused close.
The film is advanced with a toothed wheel at the
bottom of the back. The rewind release button and a
folding rewind crank are on the base.
Two similar cameras, the Half 17 Rapid and the Half
17 EE Rapid were made the following year, for Agfa's
Rapid film cassettes rather than regular 35 mm
cassettes. The Half 14 for regular 35 mm film, with an
f/1.4 lens, followed in 1966.
