Yashica Half 17

Half-frame cameras split every 35mm frame in two, so a 36-exposure roll gives you 72 shots — and in the mid-sixties Yashica built one of the best of them. The Yashica Half 17 carries a six-element Yashinon 32mm f/1.7, a genuinely fast lens for a camera this size, wrapped in a dense chrome-and-leather body that shoots in vertical portrait orientation by default. It is the classic travel-and-street half-frame: pocketable, cheap to run, and with an f/1.7 lens that handles low light better than almost anything else in the format.

Specifications

• Format: Half-frame 35mm — 72 exposures from a 36-shot roll, vertical orientation
• Lens: Yashinon 32mm f/1.7, six elements — equivalent to roughly 45mm on full frame
• Shutter: Copal leaf shutter, 1/30 to 1/800 across the program range, plus Bulb
• Metering: Selenium cell ringing the lens, programmed automatic exposure
• Focus: Zone/scale focus from 0.8m, with zone symbols shown in the viewfinder
• Aperture: Manually selectable f/1.7 to f/16
• Power: None required — selenium meter is self-powered
• Year: Approx. 1964

Condition

• Cosmetic: Excellent+ with minimal signs of wear. The lens is clean and clear — no fungus, haze or separation.
• Functional: The selenium meter is not working, so the programmed automatic exposure is out. In practice the shutter fires at a fixed 1/30 and the aperture ring remains fully controllable, so the camera still takes photographs — you set the aperture yourself against a fixed 1/30 speed. Film advance, rewind and focus all operate correctly.

Included

• Yashica Half 17 body with Yashinon 32mm f/1.7
• Pouch

Read the condition notes before buying this one. With the selenium cell dead the auto exposure no longer works and the shutter sits at a fixed 1/30, leaving the aperture ring as your only exposure control. That is still a working camera — pair it with ISO 100 or slower film and stop down in daylight, or open up to f/1.7 indoors and at dusk, where the fast lens and a leisurely 1/30 actually suit each other well. At this price it is a clean, excellent+ half-frame with a six-element f/1.7 lens, for someone happy to work within one shutter speed.