Yashica City 100 Review

credits: Yashica

The Yashica City 100 is riding the wave of the point-and-shoot comeback, aiming straight at photographers who love a bit of retro charm. Priced at $230, it looks the part: simple, stylish, and ready to deliver. But is that really the case?

Handling and Build

Weighing just 220 grams, it’s light enough to carry basically everywhere. The grip is decent, and features like a focus/exposure lock button and a magnetic lens cap sound great, until the lens cap’s metal ring starts falling off after a few uses, a problem plenty of users have flagged. The plastic build feels rather cheap, and while the USB-C port is a plus, the 2.8-inch screen is a weak spot: no touchscreen, barely visible outdoors, and prone to damage if you twist it the wrong way.

Shooting Experience

The City 100 offers shutter priority, program mode, and exposure compensation, giving newbies a bit of creative freedom. But autofocus is a major frustration point. It’s sluggish, unreliable, and struggles to lock on, especially with moving subjects. The zoom range (25–76mm equivalent) is versatile but rather slow, and the whole system feels laggy. Also: there’s no proper flash, just a dim LED that does almost nothing for low-light shots, actually a huge miss considering how many people want that classic party-flash look.

Image Quality

A tiny 1/3-inch sensor and 13MP resolution mean no one expects brilliance, but even by low standards, the City 100 can be hit or miss. Some praise the fun, gritty digital vibe it delivers, but issues like weak dynamic range, unpredictable focusing, and muddy details are hard to ignore. The 72MP upscaling option is basically a gimmick, most people agree in saying it just makes your photos look worse. Color profiles like Natural and Monotone hold up okay, but the Vivid mode tends to oversaturate in a way that looks more tacky than artistic.

Should You Buy It?

In a single word: no. While it’s tempting if you love the retro aesthetic, the City 100 just doesn’t justify its price. It feels like a toy dressed up as a real camera, with build quality and performance that fall short of expectations. It might be fun for a weekend, but it’s not something you’d want to rely on—or keep for long.

Alternatives?

For the same money, used Canon, Sony, or Fujifilm compacts offer way more durability and far better image quality. The City 100 leans hard on its nostalgic look, but when it comes down to actual performance, there are stronger, smarter choices out there.