Yashica Atoron
For every trailblazer who finds a new path and achieves glory, there are several more lost adventurers who are just lucky enough to have survived at all, having set out on a different course. Such is the case with Yashica's adventures in the world of subminiature cameras. After seeing the success of Minox's III series and the popular Minox B, Yashica sought a different tack to take on the subminiature market.
Yashica's first attempt was the Yashica Y16. This camera used a proprietary 16mm film cartridge and subsequently failed to gain any traction in the marketplace. Their next offering, the Yashica 16EE, used the same film cassettes as its Minox counterparts, and even with that change, the 16EE wasn't able to catch on with subminiature film users. In 1965, Yashica released the Atoron model; the combination of using Minox film cartridges and the selenium light meter helped make the Atoron a formidable competitor to the Minox subminiature cameras.
The Yashica Atoron features an 18mm f/2.8 fixed focus lens and focusing is done via a depth-of-field scale on the meter dial. The meter dial itself took some getting used to, as it was not labeled with the traditional shutter speed and f/stop numbers, but with an EV (exposure value) scale.
Although it took a bit to learn the system, Atoron shooters who mastered its oddities were rewarded with images made from a lens that was much sharper than one would expect. Additionally, the Atoron could be fitted with external color filters that helped produce photos with better contrast and, in the case of shooting color film under artificial light, more accurate color. Just like its Minox contemporaries, the Yashica Atoron was outfitted with a neutral density filter for making exposures in very bright settings.
While there are some very dedicated Atoron users in the world, finding working versions of this camera is easier said than done. As the selenium meters have lost their accuracy and qualified technicians have all but disappeared, the Atoron is more of a collectible camera than a reliable shooter today. In the end, and like so many explorers before it, Yashica seems to have discovered why that road off the trail of subminiature camera design was less traveled.
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