I borrowed this Yashica T5D from my friend, Ahmad Lutfi.

I have heard many good things about Yashica T4 and T5. Their prices have gone up like those of Olympus mju ii, Contax T2 & 3, etc.

Yashica T5D

The body of Yashica T5D is made of plastic, similar to the Olympus mju ii I have used. But it feels slightly more dependable and sturdy than the mju ii, probably due to the size.

T5D is larger, typically the size like all the compact cameras you parents used to own.

Due to the material, the camera is light and is thus very suitable to bring during travels.

The important aspect of any camera is the lens. For T5D, it has Carl Zeiss Tessar T* f3.5 lens, with fixed 35mm focal length.

Auto-focus

Having used Contax TVS, Olympus mju ii and now this T5D, I must say T5D has the best auto-focus ability.

My photos from T5D are 99.9% in focus. Olympus mju ii has like a 70-80% efficiency whereas TVS is the worst.

Sharpness

I am extremely impressed with the sharpness from this camera, even though its maximum aperture is only f/3.5.

Data back

Data Back functions to imprint dates on your photos.

If you grew up with film cameras, I think you’ll understand the benefit of seeing a photo with a date imprinted. It shows you the date a particular event had taken place, such as your birthday party or your travels.

Unfortunately, the date imprinting effect of this camera is malfunction.

Waist-level viewfinder

This waist-level viewfinder called the ‘Super Scope’ is an improvement from the previous Yashica T4 model.

I think this is quite a useful feature especially when I want to take photo from a low angle point of view, such as when my cat is hiding under the sofa.

Flash modes

Other useful features include self-timer mode, several flash modes like auto-flash, red-eye reduction and landscape flash modes.

The landscape flash mode is for shooting distant subjects or through the glass. Activating such mode will produce sharper results.

More photos

Conclusion

Overall, I would be happy if I own the camera.

T5D is so easy to use, images are sharp and the flash is just nice, unlike the Olympus mju ii where the flash is too powerful and often overexposed my photos.

If you want a point & shoot, why not give T5D a go? At least it’s cheaper than Contax T2.

 

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