Yashica’s Compact 50MP $420 City 300 Camera Aims to Fix Some Flaws
At the beginning of this year, Yashica announced the City 100 and City 200 compact cameras. The company has quickly followed up these two cameras with the City 300, which promises better imaging performance than its predecessors while maintaining a more compact, travel-friendly form factor.
When PetaPixel reviewed the Yashica City 100, we had some concerns with the camera’s build and image quality, but lauded it for its value and some of its fun shooting features. Yashica hopes that its new City 300 camera offers many of the same strengths of the prior City cameras, including its compact form factor and fun photography modes, while improving in some key areas, such as imaging performance.
To that end, the City 300 features a native 50-megapixel Type 1/1.56 image sensor and in-body image stabilization (IBIS). While this image sensor is still small in the grand scheme of things, similar to a smartphone image sensor, it is a step up from the small 13-megapixel sensor in the City 100 and City 200 cameras.
Like the City 100, the City 300 features a fixed focal length lens. In this case, it is a 24mm equivalent f/1.8 prime lens, although Yashica is quick to note that, given the higher-resolution image sensor, the City 300 works well alongside built-in digital crop modes. These enable photographers to capture 50-megapixel shots at 24mm (equivalent), 12-megapixel ones at 50mm (equivalent), and 8-megapixel photos at 60mm (equivalent). The built-in lens has a control ring that enables photographers to quickly adjust the digital zoom, like a typical focal length ring on a traditional zoom lens.
The camera has another advantage over the City 100/200 camera: RAW image capture. The prior two City-series models launched earlier this year are limited to just JPEG image capture. In contrast, the City 300 can capture DNG (RAW) photos, which should provide additional flexibility during post-processing. Of course, the relatively small image sensor will be a potential bottleneck when making extreme image adjustments during post-processing.
The Yashica City 300 also records 4Kp30 video. It can also shoot 2.7K video at up to 60p frame rates and FHD video at 120p.
The Yashica City 300 also aims to address another of PetaPixel‘s complaints with a new external flash, the QuickFlash Mini Camera Flash. The City 100/200 has a built-in flash, but it is pretty lackluster in real-world use. The new external flash aims to up the power, and fortunately, it ships alongside the City 300 camera itself.
As for its body design, the City 300 looks familiar, although there are some tweaks. The camera’s grip design is refined, and the camera itself remains very small and lightweight. The compact, pocketable camera weighs only 183 grams (6.5 ounces), which is nearly 40 grams lighter than the City 100.
Pricing and Availability
The Yashica City 300 is available now for HK$3,280, which is just under $420 at current exchange rates.
Image credits: Yashica
