Yashica Y16 Pocket Camera: price, specs, release

Pre-orders are open for the Yashica Y16 Pocket Camera, a 12 MP compact with a Xenon flash, optical viewfinder, and eight-filter dial. Shipping starts in late November.

Yashica’s latest exercise in studied retro is the Y16 Pocket Camera, a palm-sized digital camera based on the Yashica Y16 16mm film camera introduced as far back as 1959 (the “16” refers to the 16mm film format of the original).

We’ve become used to ‘70s and ‘80s nostalgia in camera design (the recent Yashica Crew is a nod to the 1980s itself), but harking back to the 1950s and a 67-year-old design is an impressive leap. It’s not full of top-end specs as a result, but this sort of thing is extremely popular with content creators at the moment who are scouting around for something low-cost and that little bit different.

As the company puts it in its PR: "Most people carry a smartphone. Far fewer carry something that makes others stop and ask, 'What is that?'."

Y16 key specs

It's very, very flat. The $119 camera has a 12 MP sensor, an F/1.8 lens with a 4.05 mm focal length, and a 4x digital zoom. Focus range is 45 cm (18 in) to infinity. The currently all-important integrated Xenon flash has three power settings, Low, Medium, and High, with a recommended shooting range of approximately 50 cm to 2 m (20 in to 6.6 ft). One neat trick that was certainly not available in the 1950s is that the optical viewfinder has an eye sensor that automatically turns off the rear 1.45" LCD when the camera is raised to the eye.

A filter dial gives access to eight filters, allowing users to quickly switch in different looks without having to dig through menus and settings.

One place where it wins out against some of the other retro-channelling pocket cameras is that it doesn’t throw out all the nice things about the digital era. So, you still get a rear LCD and a micro SD card slot and USB-C means you do not have to rely solely on an accompanying app for viewing and distributing the photos.

Those are adequate 12 MP jpegs by default in 4:3 or 16:9, though a 5 MP mode is also available if you’re looking to conserve memory. Video is MP4 at 4K 22 fps, 2.7K 30 fps, 1080p 60 fps, and 720p 60 fps/30 fps. ISO range is 100 to 6400 / Auto.

It is, of course, smaller than the 16mm original (compared above), measuring 9.1 x 4.5 x 2.9 cm (3.6 x 1.8 x 1.1 in) and weighing 93 g (3.3 oz) with the battery. Power is via a removable 800 mAh, 3.7 V lithium battery, with USB-C. It takes microSD cards from 8 GB to 256 GB, and an 8 GB card is included.

It comes in seven colorways: Baby Blue, Baby Pink, Butter Yellow, Green, Orange, Red, and Black, all with that definite 50s vibe.

Pricing and availability

Pre-order is open now at www.yashica.com, with fulfillment expected to begin in late November 2026. The suggested retail price is $119.