The Yashica FX-3 is a simple 35mm SLR built by Cosina and released by Yashica in 1979.  It is a no frills kind of camera with few controls. The FX-3 uses a vertical, metal shutter that has speeds ranging from 1 second to 1/1000 (plus Bulb), with its flash sync being a standard 1/125 (for a vertically-travelling shutter, that is). Other than that the FX-3 has a manual film advance, shutter button, manual film rewind lever, and a mechanical self-timer.  That is the laundry list of its features right there.  We suppose you could rightly point out that it does also have a TTL light meter, which uniquely enough is triggered by a button on the back of the camera instead of the shutter button.  

In addition to the relatively slim list of features, the FX-3 also used a fair bit of plastic in its construction.  While the internal frame of the camera is metal, its top and bottom plates are both plastic.  This does lend the FX-3 a cheaper feel but also helps make this a pretty light camera.  Combined, these qualities positioned the FX-3 best for the consumer market.  But while the FX-3 doesn't have a long list of accolades to boast about it is a workhorse of a camera that has gained a favorable reputation over the decades. The FX-3 is an easy camera to pick up and learn, making it a great student camera. It is light and easy to carry around, helping ensure it is frequently carried along. It has proven to be surprisingly reliable despite its use of plastic components and when repairs are required, the camera's simple design has made it easier to fix up and get working again.

Of course the first thing many will think of when laying eyes or hands on an FX-3 is the Contax/Yashica lens mount used by this camera. The Contax/Yashica mount, sometimes abbreviated as the C/Y mount, has become famous for the line of Carl Zeiss lenses made for it.  As such, many photographers see Yashica SLRs like the FX-3 mere as a means to an end, with that end being Carl Zeiss glass.

If we had one thing to nitpick about the FX-3 it is the light meter.  Like the rest of the camera, it is a simple affair.  A trio of LEDs in the form of a red plus, green circle and red minus clue the user in to whether they are over or under exposing.  This is a system used by other cameras as well, such as the venerable Nikon FM2.  It is a fine, but basic, display of exposure info and those used to match needle meter displays might be a bit irked.  But perhaps the quirkiest part of the FX-3's meter is that unlike most cameras which trigger their meters by depressing the shutter button, the FX-3 requires pressing a button on the back of the camera near the film wind lever.  We suppose Cosina did this to help insure that the meter was not unnecessarily triggered thereby draining battery life.  Our experience though was we kept forgetting we had to take the extra step of depressing this button in order to engage the meter.  It only hung us up for a fraction of a second but it happened multiple times over the course of our playing with this camera.  It is not a big deal but in a camera with relatively little else noteworthy, this quirk stands out.