With modern cameras featuring super fast burst shooting, it is nice to be reminded once in a while to slow down – not least to avoid being in the position of going home after shooting with an unmanageable amount of photos to sift through and edit. It is for the reason of slowing down that, despite having got rid of pretty much all my full frame gear, I have kept a Leica M camera in my collection. The full manual Leica M rangefinder is pretty much the epitome of having to slow down in the modern day of burst modes which can be up to anything like 50 frames per second!
I enjoy the whole experience of shooting with a Leica M and slowing down so much that I had, at one point, considered one of the -D models of the Leica M. Basically it is a digital Leica M rangefinder without an LCD screen, with some of the more recent -D models featuring a “film winder lever” which can be used as a thumb grip / rest. But with even less features and a higher cost than a normal digital Leica M, I will opt for being disciplined and not chimp so much after every shot instead (at the time of writing, a new Leica M11 retails for £7,800, whilst an M11-D retails for £8,100).
With the love of the simpler photographic experience and slowing down in mind, I was intrigued when I saw adverts on Instagram for the kickstarter for the Yashica FX-D series of cameras. The cameras on offer seem like they could be quite fun, with six different film simulations and the ability to create custom film recipes – sounds just like why people like Fujifilm X cameras. But the one thing which got my attention is the film advance lever. The publicity materials which Yashica suggest that the film advance lever is actually functional, with an animation of film advancing on the back LCD once you pull it. I’m not sure whether you actually need to use the film advance lever to be able to take the next shot though.
Yashica’s own website states that the new FX-D series is based on Yashica’s FX-3, and the FX-D series “captures that same tactile, weighted feel”. The two models of the new FX-D series are the FX-D 100 and the FX-D 300. I say two models, as that is what the Yashica website advertises. There is, however, a third model – the FX-D S300 – which is basically the FX-D 300 with an electronic viewfinder. What sounds like a potential camera which I would like to buy has me hesitating, however, when I delve into the details of the specs.
Intrigued by the model which Yashica says is “built for professionals”, the FX-D 300 features a 50-megapixel sensor with a 24 mm full frame field of view f/1.8 fixed lens. It also comes with IBIS. With the kickstarter price of 349 USD, I wanted to find out more! Delving into the specs sheet, I was a little disappointed in seeing that the sensor for the FX-300 is a type 1/1.56 sensor (the specs sheet does not state which model sensor is used, but the Photo Rumours site claims it is a Sony IMX766). The cheaper FX-100, priced on the kickstarter at 249 USD, is armed with a Sony IMX458, a type 1/3.06 sensor.
Whilst the idea of the FX-D 300 did make me do some serious thinking as to whether I wanted to add one to my arsenal (I’d probably have gone for the FX-D S300 with the electronic view finder at 459 USD on the kickstarter), the reality check is that the sensors are, in reality, just sensors which you would find in smartphones. The IMX766 of the FX-D 300 can be found in smartphones like the Xiaomi 12.
It is not the fact that I have an issue with smartphone sensors – I have previously explained that sensor size might not matter as much as I thought – but the issue arises for me when I take into account that my current smartphone, a Sony Xperia 1 VI, comes armed with the newer IMX888 type 1/1.35 sensor. Although the Xperia 1 VI usually shoots in a 12-megapixel pixel binning mode (producing either RAW or JPEG), it is also capable of generating 48-megapixel JPEG images with the main camera, which also has a 24 mm full frame equivalent field of view. It just feels like whatever the FX-D 300 has to offer, I pretty much already have in my Xperia 1 VI.
In the grand scheme of things, if I committed to the kickstarter for a Yashica FX-D 100 or 300 or S300, what I am, in effect, paying for would be to lug around an additional piece of kit which has a smartphone sensor, with the same full fame field of view equivalent as my smartphone, with the added straight out of camera JPEG convenience – I could probably get some film simulation look to my photos if I put in a little effort in post-editing. Not to mention that kickstarters do come with a risk that the “reward” (in this case, the respective camera an accessories) will not be fulfilled.
Despite the heart feeling that the Yashica FX-D might be quite a cool addition to my camera collection, the brain says a resounding logical no. This is not to say that you should not buy one if you are actually interested in picking one up. It is just me saying that logically, I am not sure why I would need a Yashica FX-D camera when, on paper, it sounds like I can do similar things with my smartphone and putting a little effort in post-editing. But if you are set on getting one, then do not let my opinion stop you!