Skip to main content

Film camera company Yashica is back — with a smartphone lens and an upcoming camera

Second teaser reveals new Yashica camera coming to Kickstarter in October

A resurgence in analog photography has already brought once-dead lenses back to life for pairing with digital sensors, like the options from Meyer-Optik, Glaukar and Voigtlander — and now one more company is joining the ranks of the re-animated. Yashica, a film camera company based in Japan that was actively producing cameras until 2003, recently launched a new website, a teaser video — and a smartphone camera lens.

A teaser video showing a girl using a film camera (easily identifiable by a back without a screen) launched earlier this summer, and now the Yashica website invites photo fans to “peep into our upcoming chapter” by subscribing to an email list. A second teaser video launched September 21, clarified that a camera is coming to Kickstarter in October.

Recommended Videos

While early details were slim, the company has now launched a 2-in-1 universal smartphone lens. The second teaser, however, suggests Yashica has more products up its sleeve in the form of a camera.

The lens uses a clip-on style that allows the camera to fit smartphones from several different brands with a resolution of 20 megapixels or less. The lens kit gives smartphone photographers a 110-degree wide angle lens with a 15x magnification macro lens. The company says that the lens is designed to eliminate the dark corners and blurry edges commonly associated with smartphone add-on lenses. Image quality, the revived Yashica says, is crisp and colorful with HD optical glass.

Yashica
Yashica

The website lists the lens for HK$368 — which roughly translates to about $50. The lens includes a clip bag that also doubles as a lens cloth and ships in a box featuring one of Yashica’s iconic twin reflex cameras.

The lens is only a Yashica in the way that the Kodak Ektra smartphone is a Kodak — branding rights have been sold, so the original Yashica isn’t actually designing and making the lens. After an acquisition, Yashica became part of the Konica Minolta company. The company then sold the trademark rights to the MF Jebsen Group in 2008. Without any company history information coming directly from Yashica, it’s unclear if the same group still holds those trademark rights — but the Jebsen Group is based in Hong Kong, which is also the country whose currency the new lens is listing in.

Yashica’s comeback is part of a larger trend toward bringing back vintage brands, in some cases by pairing classic lenses with digital cameras and in others by bringing back film cameras. Polaroid recently announced a remake of an instant film camera after sticking to digital cameras with built-in printers for several years.

Updated on Sept. 25 to include the second teaser video that says a camera is coming to Kickstarter in October.

Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
I used lots of great smartphone cameras in 2024. The Vivo X200 Pro is my favorite
Man holding Vivo X200 Pro with Zeiss lenses up to his face.

I have fancied cameras on phones for as long as I can remember. My fascination perhaps stems from the fact our phones, despite continued diligence from brands for almost 20 years now, haven't fully replaced actual cameras. Over the years, however, phones have come dangerously close to mimicking actual cameras, and Vivo is among the brands leading this crusade.

Vivo's flagship phone cameras -- primarily its X series -- have always successfully armed me with a sense of confidence in my skills as a photographer. Earlier devices have aced at taking portraits and disregarding any difficulties other phones might face in low lighting. The latest Vivo X200 Pro doubles down on that feeling with better hardware, improved processing capabilities, and a range of new modes to help you seize moments with much more ease.
What makes the Vivo X200 Pro's hardware special

Read more
This new Android phone almost beat my favorite smartphone camera of 2024
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra and Oppo Find X8 Pro's cameras.

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is my favorite camera phone of 2024, but the arrival of the Oppo Find X8 Pro impressed me enough during my first few days with it that I wondered if I’d chosen my winner for the year a little too early.

There was only one way to find out, and that was through a good old-fashioned camera shootout. I love doing them, especially when both cameras are this good.
The camera specifications
Xiaomi 14 Ultra Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Read more
My favorite smartphone camera of 2024 isn’t made by Apple or Google
A person holding the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

When I needed to take photos of a car for a series of stories this month, only one phone came to mind, and it wasn’t one of the top devices made by Google, Samsung, or Apple. It’s the fantastic Xiaomi 14 Ultra, and over the course of a few days, it cemented its place as my favorite camera phone of 2024. Here’s why.
Why is it the best?
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

I already held the Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s camera in high regard after having reviewed the phone and tested it out against other cameras. I especially loved the versatility of the brilliant Photography Kit accessory. But most of this happened earlier on in the year before other brands had the chance to release serious competitors. I knew I had to give it another try, just to be sure of my feelings.

Read more