Film News: The Yashica Plot thickens
Yashica was one of the great names in the heyday of Japanese film cameras. But times change and companies fade into the sunset. So it came as some surprise when a Hong Kong based trading company announced that they were reviving the Yashica brand name. Plenty of people (myself included) were very excited by this news.
That is until we saw what little of the Yashica brand actually remained. At which point people realized that they had been misled and funded a camera that was objectively awful. Don’t believe me? Check the astounding amount of critical videos online.
Things couldn’t get much lower for this once admired brand, right? WRONG!
It seems now that through a series of cryptic posts on Instagram, ‘Yashica’ has announced they will be working on something called Project “Absolute”. But what is Project Absolute? Well, it seems to be either a supposed new film, or a new disposable camera, depending on which instagram post you look at.
If this post is to be believed then this is a disposable camera. Which is not anything new. But I would be a hypocrite to criticize them for this. But we are still left asking what Project Absolute actually is? The post was heartily mocked online by people hoping for an actual camera.
BREAKING NEWS: New Yashica camera announced. Stunning minimalist design from the same brand management that brought you the Y35. pic.twitter.com/5tAWJnlMlg
— EMULSIVE (@EMULSIVEfilm) April 8, 2019
Throughout this ‘Yashica’ has kept pretty quiet about the whole thing, which is probably a smart move as it gets people talking, but also means they don’t get involved with the shitshow that the comments have become.
In a previous post, Yashica released and image of a ‘new’ film canister, which was very quickly shown to be not as it would appear. The image was quickly found to be an image of a rendered film canister, with the incorrect ISO code and a fake film leader. This did not endear them to the film masses.
View this post on Instagram
There is a great deal of speculation as to what the film actually is, but no solid information. If it is a new film that would be remarkable. Mainly because making an entirely new film is a massive undertaking and they did this under the radar.
But if it is not a new film and simply rebadged dead stock then they are going to upset a lot of people. But we cannot really tell until we see the film.
So here ends the ‘Silence of Story’? Not quite.
‘Yashica’ then posted an image of shots on what they are claiming is a film called ‘Yashica Golden 80’s.
So it is a new film? Or something else? Nobody seems to know and ‘Yashica’ ain’t telling.
This has also been heavily dissected online and many have pointed out that this is actually Kodak film base, as the markings on the film are consistent with that of Kodak film. Which would imply that this is not a new film at all.
What is going on?
And this is where the plot thickens. A comment on the post made by sophiejdalston pointed out that these images and the text had actually been lifted from a Facebook page. And it isn’t the Yashica page either. It is actually a page for company by the name of Escura Camera, who ran a successful Kickstarter campaign for their Instant 60s hand powered instant camera.
On the Facebook page for Instant 60s we can see the same sample images, with the same text. Which raises so many questions I simply don’t know where to begin. Are these companies connected? Is the film real? Am I real? What is reality?
It is a sad state of affairs that the Yashica name now finds itself in. Having conned the public once, it seems that they are attempting to try the same thing again. And the thing is, they might just succeed as there are plenty that still admire the Yashica brand name. The company trading as Yashica has a lot to answer for, but I don’t think we will be getting any straight answers soon. Silence of Story indeed.
Can I get a #fakenews?
JCH
*UPDATE*
My moles have been digging and they have unearthed some more information.
It seems that Escura is in cahoots with Yashica on this ‘new’ film. Escura is making claims that this is a new film that is currently under development.
But unless my eyes deceive me that is still a Kodak base, which means it is a Kodak film. So if that disposable camera is involved it means it is expired kodak film, removed from disposable cameras and given the Yashica label. I hope for their sake and ours that this isn’t the case.
What do you think it is?
JCH
Don’t get excited, “Yoshica” was just a derelict brand name now owned by a holding company. Its next product could just as well be Yashica jeans or Yashica energy drink… whatever somebody will pay to license.
I think it’s a steaming pile of 🐎 💩
While I understand that nobody is satisfied with the previous Yashica product, let’s face facts – not all new products succeed & some ideas fail (after all, car manufacturers have had horrible failures & an airplane by Boeing has failed recently with fatal results).
It seems a film camera manufacturer is trying to revive a well-known name & line. Will it succeed? I don’t know. Maybe they deserve a second chance.
Sorry “amigo toro”, is not about succeeding or failing ideas, it is about an amazing brand that got destroyed to the point of no return, The excitement proves how much Yashica was loved.
The truth is, the people behind today’s Yashica are not up to the fame of this brand – just a gang of opportunists.
Yashica is no longer.
I miss my Yashica MAT-124 G
Sad, but unsurprising, given the current way of the world. I love my Yashica/Contax gear and to see the brand sullied like this is awful.
I’m guessing it’s Kodak Gold, expired in the eighties. And if it is that old, it has held up really well.