C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Yashica YE-2 (~1959) is a direct successor to the YE, carrying forward its M42 screwmount chassis and selenium photocell meter while addressing known ergonomic and mechanical refinements from the first-generation body. Like its predecessor it requires no battery for any function: the selenium cell generates its own current from ambient light, keeping all exposure functions active regardless of cell age. The shutter runs on a cloth horizontal focal-plane design from 1 second through 1/500s plus Bulb.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
A refined iteration of Yashica's earliest metered M42 SLR, tightening the YE formula before the J-series took over.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Mount | M42 screwmount |
| Introduced | ~1959 |
| Shutter | ~1s - 1/500s + B, cloth horizontal focal-plane |
| Flash sync | ~1/25s (X sync) |
| Meter | Selenium photocell, no battery required |
| Modes | Manual only |
| Battery | None required |
| Mechanical fallback | Full |
Yashica (still transitioning its corporate identity from Yashima Seiki in 1958-1959) issued the YE-2 as a running improvement to the YE within its first few years of M42 SLR production. This pattern of rapid point-revision was typical of Japanese camera manufacturers of the period, who iterated quickly in response to feedback and competitive pressure from Asahi Pentax, Miranda, and the growing German exports.
The selenium meter design was consistent with what competitors including Voigtlander and early Topcon bodies were offering in the same window. By the time CdS metering became commercially mainstream in the mid-1960s - anchored by the Pentax Spotmatic's TTL metering (1964) - the external-cell approach of both the YE and YE-2 was being phased out across the industry. Yashica's own response was the TL Electro series, which brought TTL metering to the M42 platform.
The YE-2's production run was brief and its successor, the YJ, moved the naming convention toward the alphanumeric J-series that defined Yashica's consumer SLR range through the early-to-mid 1960s.
The YE-2's significance is inseparable from its position in the sequence: it is the link between the original YE and the more familiar J-series, representing the moment Yashica was consolidating its early SLR experience into a reproducible product line. For historians of Japanese camera manufacturing, the YE and YE-2 together document the compressed learning curve between Yashica's TLR roots and its eventual maturity as an M42 SLR producer.
For collectors, the YE-2 is of interest primarily as a series piece. Photographers looking for a practical shooter will find the meterless J-3 or J-7 far more convenient: more common, more likely to be in working condition, and without the complication of an ageing selenium cell.
M42 screwmount gives access to the broadest interchangeable lens ecosystem of the manual-focus era:
The absence of any battery dependency means accessories and external meters are supplements rather than necessities.
BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
View profile →Yashica YE-2
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