Yashica Electro 35 GSN - A Cool Rangefinder

I tried out my Yashica Electro 35 GSN the other day with some Ilford Delta 400 35mm film. This camera has classic rangefinder lines. It's super solid & built like a brick. The camera has a 45mm f/1.7 lens. Perfect for street photography.

The camera is semi-manual. The variable is the aperture. Speed is automatic. You simply partially push the shutter button and there is a red or orange arrow in the viewfinder. You turn the aperture the direction of the arrow until the light turns off. If you are shooting on a tripod or from the hip there is a yellow and red light on top that does the same thing. The only option on speed is bulb, Auto & flash. 

The camera has a hot shoe if you desire a flash. Focus is like butter. There is a nice rest for your finger to aid in focus. ASA can be set from 25 to 1000. Also, there is a predominate battery check button on the back. Push it with a hot battery and the film counter window lights up!

The biggest issue with this camera is that you really need a battery. It fires without one but it goes to it's default settings. The battery is not standard. The Electro used a 5.6V mercury battery that has a unusual shape. A 6V 4LR44 works in a pinch. I was unable to find this battery at any store, so I bought a few off brand online. Seems to work fine.

 I really like this camera. The shutter is SUPER quiet which makes it excellent for street photography. The film advance is smooth and it loads easily. I'm a fan. Here are some photos from this past weekend.

Note, my Electro 35 GSN has a light leak that showed up at the end of the second roll. I gave it a good look and it appears some of the light seals have dried up and flaked off. No problems ... I'll seal the back with gaffers tape in the future.

Model Photos with a Yashica EZS Zoom 70

I picked up this Yashica EZS Zoom 70 at a Goodwill store.  A fairly straight forward, limited feature 35mm film point & shoot.  It's got a cool look and fits easily into my hand.  A bit bulky for my taste for a point & shoot, but I wanted to give it a go.  I've always had good luck with Yashicas.

The camera was super clean when I got it.  Battery compartment completely clean, lens clean and operated smoothly.  I probably paid less than $3.

I decided to take it to a recent model test studio shoot.  I've gotten into the habit of bringing a film camera during my test, fashion and model shoots and popping off a few frames.  I've started a series on my Facebook page called "Girls On Film".  Get it, the Duran Duran song...??

Anyway, I shot about 1/2 roll of Ilford XP2 Super 400 film during my shoot with model Anastasiya Finogenova with LModelz Model Management.  I just had her pose casually against various backgrounds.  In all cases the flash fired (set to auto) which gave it a somewhat blown-out look which was cool.

I developed the film myself and scanned it using my cheapo Epsom V370 scanner.  I REALLY like the results.  Totally surprised at the quality and vibe from the film camera.  I'll definitely use it again (this weekend maybe??).

A couple of photos of Anastasiya...just cropped in Lightroom and a touch of Clarity added.

NYC Street Photography

I'm in NYC attending to some family matters, and guess what?  I have all day Saturday free.  Hmm, what to do? What to do?  I know, street photography.  I came prepared.  I'm primarily going to shoot film, but am bringing digital too.

I was going to take a small kit, but I decided to bring 4 cameras.  Here's what I brought.  One note, I did switch out one camera from the photo at the last minute.  The kit

• Nikon D810 with a Nikon MB-D14 vertical battery grip
• Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 & Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 lenses or the D810
• A bunch of 32GB memory cards
• Olympus MJU-1 point & shoot film camera
• Pentax K1000 film camera (I was originally going to bring my Yashica Electro 35 GSN but wanted an SLR without a light meter (my K1000 meter is dead)
• Yashica 44 TLR
• Luna-Pro light meter (for the K1000)
• 2 rolls of Rera Pan 100 127 film for the Yashica 44
• 9 rolls of various Ilford B&W film including 1 roll of Lomography 400 color film

I know it's a lot.  Most people will bring only one camera / one lens, but I wanted to play with film with an SLR, a point & shoot and a TLR.  I also wanted to bring a workhorse digital camera (that I use in the studio)

I plan to spend about 10 hours just walking through the city.  Once I run out of film, I'll switch to digital....

Here we go!  I'll report back with pictures.

Photos I've Taken - Yashica MAT-124G

A photo of my backyard during a foggy morning using a mint Yashica MAT-124G that I purchased this summer at Roberts Camera's used section.  This is a classic designed TLR.  Very Vivian Maier-like camera.  This photo was taken using Ilford XP2 400 Super B&W film.

The camera takes some getting used to if you've never shot a TLR.  However, I've shot about 5 rolls through it and really digging it.

What I'm Shooting - Yashica & Minolta

I had a trip to Cincinnati the other day so I brought a few cameras for some street work.  2 of these were not stealthy, but except for one person I didn't get a second look.  I was shooting with my Yashica Electro 35 GSN rangefinder, a Yashica MAT-124 TLR & a Minolta Maxxum 700si, a mister SLR.  Not a single toy camera here.

Pictures I've Taken - Yashica Electro 35 GSN

Over a year ago I purchased a Yashica Electo 35 GSN on eBay.  Not sure how much I paid for it, but I recall it was a good deal.   It's a fun rangefinder, but it tends to be a bit light leaky.  But only occasionally.  Here is a photo I took a few weeks ago with a roll of Ilford XP2 Super 400.  The fun thing about this roll is that I added a yellow filter that I purchased on eBay for $4.  I wanted to punch up the B&W images.  I took about 1/2 the photos with the yellow filter on and the other half without. It was a fun test.

The image is along Washington Street in Indianapolis's west side around 6pm.  Sun west of me, but hidden in the clouds so I had a soft box effect.  More photos and a blog post about the camera to follow.

Stuff I've Purchased - Ilford Film

Mmmm, tasty.  Purchased some yummy film yesterday both for my Yashica Mat-124G & one of my higher end 35mm cameras.  I normally shoot Ilford XP2 400 in my medium format cameras, but this time I'm going to try a roll of Ilford HP5.  Nice.  I also purchased a 35mm roll of Delta 3200 ASA.  This is the highest ASA film I've EVER purchased.  I'm looking forward to try this out with an lower light street photography shoot.  Not sure which camera I'll use it in yet.  I'll let you know.

Success With Old Cameras - Film Is Back

I stopped over at Roberts Camera today and picked up some film that was processed.  This is the camera store where I normally taking in my film for processing.  This time I had film in from my Yashica Mat-124G (a TLR), a Kodak Easy Load KE30 point & shoot and a Prinz Alternative EZ-200 point & shoot.  I'll write a post on each.

In the meantime all the cameras appeared to work.  There were some moderate light leaks with the Prinz, but the film I'm using is expired and I suspect wasn't stored in a refrig, so there's that.  More than likely however it's the camera.  Here's a photo from each

The Yashica Mat-124G:

Downtown Indianapolis from the top of a parking garage

The Prinz Alternative EZ-200 (in the "panorama" mode - oh yes, it does panorama also):

Outside my studio

The Kodak Easy Load KE30 (the infamous film eater):

On a sad note, I learned Roberts will stop processing 120 film in the very near future.  That was the last place in Indianapolis to process 120 that I'm aware of.  Yes, that's correct, one of the largest cities in the USA and there is no 120 film processing readily available.  Oh well either I have to do it myself (I'd prefer not...been there done that) or send it out someplace.  We'll see.

Yashica MG-1

The next camera up for review is this beauty.  The Yashica MG-1, black version.  I really enjoy this camera.   I have both the MG-1 version and the Electro 35 GSN.  More on that camera later.  The Yashica MG-1 is a big 35mm film rangefinder.  I consider it a poor person's Leica.  Super cool camera.

I picked the MG-1 up last year at the Irvington Flea Market in Indianapolis.  I bought it for $20.  It was super clean, but it didn't have a battery so I couldn't check the light meter or check if the speed properly set.  However, I was willing to take a flier.

The battery is a 5.6V mercury type.  Not made any longer so I bought an equivalent at BatteryPlus, and POW it works.

So here are the specs.  The camera totes a Yashinon 45mm f/2.8 lens.  A perfect street photography lens.  This is an aperture priority camera.  You simply set the aperture and the camera sets the speed.  There is a simple light meter with red & yellow exposure arrows in the viewfinder on the top.  You simply 1/2 push the shutter release and if no lights come on you are good to go.  If the red arrow comes on, simply turn the aperture ring the direction of the arrow (or you will be overexposed).  If the yellow arrow is illuminated open the aperture or you will be too dark.  There are corresponding lights on the top of the camera.  ASA range from 25-800 which is set on the bottom on the lens.  Aperture is f/2.8 through f/16.  Shutter speed from 2 seconds to 1/500 second.  

There is a hot shoe and when you set the little knob on the top from Auto to flash you have a 1/30 sync speed.  I find this weird because this is a leaf shutter so you'd think it would be faster.  One good thing about the shutter...yep, super quiet.  No mirror slap on this camera...no sir.

Everything else is manual.  Just set your ASA based on the film, focus (there is a focus center spot in the viewfinder), set your desired aperture and click the shutter release.  The light meter will tell you if you need to open up or close the aperture.  Thats it.  Easy.  Another cool thing is that there is a shutter release lock.  This is important to avoid accidental shutter releases since the shutter release button sticks out pretty far.

Here is a photo of the top of the camera and the back.  Very clean

I've run multiple rolls of film through this camera.  It does have a few light leaks that appear now and again.  However, the camera works fine.  At first I thought the light leaks were due to the film but it always happen so I imagine there is a seal issue.  I've taped the camera up a few times with electrical tape and that seems to help, but that's a pain.   

Bottomline, this is a sweet, cool looking camera that's simple to use, but not much setting flexibility.  Perfect for street photography.

I recently ran a roll of Mitsubishi MX-III 400 color film through it and had good subtle colors.  Here you go:

Construction equipment in full sunlight

Construction equipment in full sunlight

Aiming the camera at the sun just as it dipped below the trees

Hey look, it's me

Yashica Mat-124G

Finally found a TLR, "Twin Lens Reflex" camera for my collection.  The Yashica Mat-124G.  I'm a fan of Yashica's rangefinders, so I wanted one versus a Rolliflex.  This camera is extremely clean and appears to be in outstanding working order.  Got it yesterday and will be reading the manual in detail & watching YouTube videos on the best way to use the camera.  I have a few cameras already loaded with film so they come first, but hope to run a roll of Ilford 400 B&W through it soon.

Stay tuned to this channel for a review.