Lenses We Love - The Yashica AF Primes

February 28, 2025

When autofocus took off in the 1980s, every camera manufacturer was eager to integrate this exciting new technology into their cameras. Yashica and Contax had been partners for years, producing some of the best glass and cameras. But it wasn't until Kyocera acquired both brands that they developed their own autofocus system.

From this transition, the Yashica AF mount was born, making its debut with the first autofocus Yashica camera, the Yashica 230AF. This camera introduced what became known as the Yashica AF mount (or the Kyocera AF mount in the Japanese market). It was a short-lived system, with only 10 lenses ever produced for the U.S. market (excluding zoom variants). These lenses are often overlooked, but that didn't stop Fotodiox from supporting the Yashica AF mount with our lens adapters.

Today, you can find various Yashica AF zooms and primes for as little as $30. I've shot with the 24mm, 28mm, and 50mm which offer the perfect balance of softness and low-contrast. When shooting on film, they have a very specific look to them. They can make your photos resemble something straight from a postcard or magazine page of the time.

Here's a collection of images I've taken with Yashica AF lenses on film using the Yashica 270AF:

The defining characteristic of these lenses come from their manufacturing quality. Kyocera aimed to deliver an affordable autofocus SLR system, resulting in a soft, low-contrast rendering up to about f/8-f/11.

This makes them ideal for lens adapting. The aperture is easily controlled via our standard mechanical aperture dial, while the short-throw focus ring on the Yashica AF primes ensures quick and precise manual focusing.