Yashica debuts EZ F521 digicam / webcam / snoozefest
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Oct 7th 2009 12:19PM
posted Oct 7th 2009 12:19PM
Poor Yashica. The once classic camera company is now nothing more than a brand name used to flog cut-rate digital point-and-clicks. At least its latest, the EZ F521, resembles a cool retro camera (you know, as long as you don't look too closely). Unfortunately, the specs don't make us feel any better about the whole proposition: 5 megapixel sensor, 2.4-inch LCD, automatic ISO, 42.5mm optics (with macro and landscape options), 640 x 480 video, 32MB internal memory, and SD/SDHC card support, and power provided by three AA batteries. But hey -- it can do double duty as a webcam! Yours for ¥7,980 (roughly $89), if you dare.
[Via Crave]
[Via Crave]
First
Ass.
lol
Really.. Is it even worth mentioning this here on Engadget?
Absolutely. I didn't even know the yashica was still used for anything. I used to have one of their medium format twin-lens-reflex cameras.
Why not?
- Its cheap
-5 Mpix is not much, but sufficient for most (however i doubt that the sensor will be premium good)
- it runs on AA batteries!! that alone makes it worth getting
- it has an optical viewfinder!! again: that alone makes it worth getting
- it looks cool
-oh, and did i mention that its cheap and runs on AA batteries?
Do you really picture yourself carrying around this camera with you??
If i would be able to get it, and the image quality would be sufficient: probably yes.
Ever tried using a camera in the cold?
you need at least 4 sets of batteries (which will make you a poor man with most proprietary ones) and you can forget about using the LCD.
Where is it cheap? You should be able to get a branded camera for the same price, with a zoom lens and probably better quality. Yes, it looks somewhat cool, but optical viewfinder? I have yet to find a non-DSLR where it was well executed... my Canon framed everything but what the sensor saw.
$89 is way too much to pay for that crap.
Cheap? Like hell. $89 puts this in competition with factory-refurbished Nikons and Canons. You know, good cameras.
most useless article since 'ipod connector fed through a dreamcast controller' ?
That was good. And so is this :D
Wow, this would qualify for Walmart bargin bin
I like this post, I like the looks of the camera, its cool that it's also a webcam, seems sufficient for my needs.
Yes. Also, odds of you actually buying one: 0
I don't know why people think this looks cool... I remember when they had cameras that looked like this and I never thought it was cool even back then. It's fugly as hell.
Seems like a cult hit to me.
It's a great "street shooter" as 5mp is not a bad sensor size, optics are basically hyperfocal @ 3m. It's cheap and it runs on batteries. It's not something that mom's going to be getting for Christmas, but I know a few shutterbugs that will seriously consider picking up something like this.
The big wildcard for this camera is ISO performance and I can't find any reviews of the output.
The 5Mp resolution has nothing to do with sensor size and at this price and by the looks of it, I'm sure the sensor size would be tiny. I would expect mobile like 5mp quality pics from it or may be marginally better.
Optics matter as much, if not more, than resolution or sensor size. There is not enough information online to make an educated guess as to output quality.
for $90 I'm even afraid to ask if this is a rangefinder, because if it is, I'd get like 20 of them.
From the looks of that plasticy "lens", I'm assuming this this is just using a mobile sensor. A high-end cell phone (Samsung or Sony Ericsson) would probably best this in photo quality...
Darn it, where can I get an affordable rangefinder??? Epson's camera is the cheapest I've seen and that's starting at $2,000
This is targeted towards a very, very specific segment I believe.
Let's start with:
1) retro design - nostalgic camera users
2) normal length (nearly exactly sqr(36^2 + 24^2)) - again, in the dawn of the SLRs most were sold with normal lenses (50mm mostly)
3) focus-free / hyperfocal preset - to appeal to street shooters that don't wan't to raise the camera to eye level
4) plastic lens - holga/pinhole/alternative photography lovers
Basically, a camera targeted toward film users with plastic lenses cameras
these come in handy if you forgot to charge your other camera.
I always wondered what a digital Holga would look like!
I was thinking the same thing. If it leaks light I might just be in love.
Shit I almost believed in this.
Why don't they try to fit a sensor in an old-school camera?
this would be awesome but no.
Actually, as cheap as it is, this kinda looks nice. I would like to see some pictures shot with it.
Proves the addage, that you make a crapgadget, there are 10,000 suckas worldwide that will buy it...
So that's what a digital Holga looks like.
The body is reminiscent of the old Yashica GS series of fixed-lens rangefinders. You could buy one of those for about $50 right now and it will deliver incredible images. The lens on those things is amazing, I think it's a 45mm/1.7 and sharp as a tack, and it has aperture priority. Manual focus. They're great old cameras. As to this thing, looks cool, but I don't know.
i thought we knew by now that megapixels don't mean anything. hey, if the sensor size on this thing is decent, and the sensor is decent quality, and... well... $89 doesn't suggest that...
Ohh, it has a screen on the back. That's a plus
If it also shoots silently I think I might have to get one.
Dear Sir or Madam
I would like to ask you a few questions about classic electro 35 Yashica GTN. I would be most grateful if you could answer them. The questions are as follow:
1. are you still building this camera, or it has been discontinued?
2. I bought my camera in Bristol, England in 1975. At the time I could provide "closeup" and "wide angle" lenses, but could not get any telephoto lens for this camera. Do you provide this lens?
3.If the answers to above questions are positive, I desperately need it. I would be thankful if you could inform me the conditions for buying the telephoto lens for Yashica electro 35 GTN in Iran. I will accept your conditions and pay you according to your regulations.
Yours sincerely, N.Razvizadeh
I pre-ordered one from here: http://www.japanexposures.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=349
Hopefully navigating the menus in Japanese isn't too daunting and that I don't format my SD card by accident.
Does anyone know if you can put a fisheye adapter on this camera? Basically I'm looking for a digital version of the Lomography Fisheye camera and am hoping there is an adapter out there that'll work with this Yashica. Or if anyone can recommend any cheap alternative? Any help would be tremendously appreciated (and would save me a lot of money). Thanks.
I think the idea of a digital Holga/Lomo/toycamera/crapcam is pretty good and should be viable economically, considering how much people spend on the original toy cameras.
It could have been made much more compact though, and the lens should have been more crappy. Some built in film emulation/digital crappifyers would have been nice. Like that Chase Jarvis app for the iphone, but as shooting modes, not post-processing. That would make the images much more interesting and bring back some of that uncontrolled randomness that made toy cameras big sellers.
idea: 8
execution 5