Yashica T4

Every so often, a camera comes through the door that makes you stop for a moment and appreciate what it is. The Yashica T4 is one of those. Recently we had one come in, complete with its original box and I couldn’t resist the chance to test this camera out. With its reputation as a classic point and shoot camera, thanks largely to its Carl Zeiss Tessar 35mm f3.5 lens, the T4 has long been admired for its sharp, clean rendering in a pocket sized body. Released in the early 1990s, it quickly became popular among both casual shooters and later, photographers who wanted something discreet but optically impressive.

For this test, I paired the T4 with a roll of Fomapan 400 and headed to Plymouth Hoe for Bike Night on a bright, sunny evening. The combination felt like a good fit, although a few clouds in the sky would’ve been nice for some extra detail! As well as the bikes, its always nice to snap a few photos of Smeaton’s Tower and capturing Plymouth Sound in the background.

Using the T4 is as straightforward as you’d hope from a point and shoot camera. It’s quick to turn on, quick to shoot and its autofocus does a reliable job of snapping into place. However, one annoyance stood out almost immediately… every time the camera is powered off and back on, the flash defaults to auto. For someone shooting in daylight and not needing the flash, having to manually turn the flash off again and again quickly became tiresome. It’s a small detail, but one that interrupts the otherwise smooth experience.

The film choice, Fomapan 400, deserves a mention. I don’t normally shoot black and white, but I wanted something with enough speed and flexibility to handle both the bright open spaces of the Hoe and the shaded spots between rows of bikes. Fomapan 400 turned out to be a great choice. It has a classic grain structure, but it also provides lovely tonal range and detail. The brighter details of the bikes have blown out in some places, while darker leathers and shadows have still held plenty of texture. It was a satisfying shift in perspective to shoot black and white film.

Overall, the Yashica T4 lived up to its reputation: compact, simple, and capable of producing sharp, characterful images with minimal fuss. Paired with Fomapan 400, it gave me exactly what I was hoping for, detailed, timeless black and white shots. The only real drawback was that nuisance flash which kept automatically turning on. Still, minor quirks aside, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience with a camera that feels every bit as special today as it did when it was first boxed up in the ’90s.