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The Yashica Crew packs a retractable 6x zoom, 180° flip screen, and 4K60 video into a $168 compact. Pre-orders are open, with shipping expected in late October.
Yashica has jumped onto the compact bandwagon with the Crew, a new compact digital camera that looks to emulate point-and-shoot pioneers such as the Canon PowerShot and the Nikon CoolPix. In doing so it is also trading on its own heritage, the company making a mark with its Zeiss T* compacts in the 80s, before fading away and eventually being sold off.
The brand was relaunched under different owners in 2017 with the Y35 on Kickstarter, and seems to be firmly chasing the volume end of the market judging by its releases so far. The Crew is no exception, a $168 camera that undercuts its more storied antecedents and offers a retractable 6x optical zoom lens, a useful 3.0-inch 180° flip screen, and video recording up to 4K60.
Lens and sensor
The lens (F3.1-6.4, f=4.26-25.56mm) extends when the camera is powered on and retracts fully into the body when it is off. The camera also has 3x digital zoom. It certainly fits the compact brief, measuring a mere 10 x 2.6 x 6 cm (3.9 x 1 x 2.4 in) with the lens retracted and weighing just 126 g (4.4 oz) without battery.
The Crew has a 13 MP, 1/3.06-inch sensor. Yashica states it records native 2.7K video, with support for up to 4K (3840 x 2160) at 60 fps, while stills can be captured at up to 36 MP, with 24 MP and 13 MP (native) options. All this points to some upscaling taking place within the camera.
Power comes from a removable 700 mAh Li-ion battery, which is a nice touch, and recharges over USB-C. As PetaPixel points out, however, the flash is LED rather than xenon, which means it misses out on delivering a big part of the look that is driving the nostalgic boom in compacts at the moment.
Pricing and availability
The Yashica Crew is available in Black and Silver and for pre-order now at yashica.com, with fulfillment expected to begin in late October 2026. Suggested retail price is $168.
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