Questions About Yashica Electro 35 Gsn

Yashica Electro HALF question?

Neat camera! I used to be really into 1960's Yashica's and have used several over the years, particularly the Lynx and Minister series rangefinders. And I've never heard of this little guy!

What your question is really coming down to is who can do the most accurate/in depth internet search. This is far from a common camera and you're unlikely to find anyone who can provide information from personal experience here. All we're able to do is hit Google and Yahoo like you. And my efforts on this resulted similarly to others here. It doesn't help that there is a series of Yashica Electro and Yashica Half cameras that muddle up the search results!

It's possible that the manual for this camera has not been scanned at all and is nowhere to be found online. I checked eBay and all the usual sources for a copy you can purchase but this also turned up dry also.

I think that the best thing you can do at this point is post your question to a dedicated Yashica forum on Flickr. Taking close, detailed photos of your camera and posting it to Flickr can also attract attention from someone who knows about it.

You may have to trail-blaze and figure out the nuances of how this camera operates on your own and given the information you can find about similar Yashica models. It seems to be a close relative to the Half 17 with the electronics taken from the GSN Electro. The Electro does not have that funky set of dials/switches on the back top plate that your Electro Half features and I could only guess as to what those controls do. Outside of this, the Half 17 manual should give you a good deal of information about your camera.

Once you get a working knowledge of this rare camera, post a blog about it and pass the link around. You may become the main source of information for others interested in this model.

Best of luck with your efforts and don't forget to take some photos with this cool camera! Yashica optics are surprisingly high performance and their bodies are quirky and fun to use.

Take care and please remember to choose a best answer (if one exists!)

Zenit 11 vs Yashica electro 35 GSN?

The Zenith weighs around 8 hundredweight!! So pound for pound it is better value!

The Yashica 35 GSN was a classic - in the 1970's! My brother had one! His was the balck GTN though. Same camera different colour. It was a beautiful camera that worked as good as it looked! Wonder if he still has it :-)

BUT I would go for the Zenith because you can change the lens - the Yashica has a fixed (45mm?) lens. BUT the Zenith has more moving parts (mirror, shutter curtain) so is more likely to fail!

Hmmmm.... Difficult choice!! Go Yashica!

Yashica Electro 35 GSN pad of death?

You can find detailed explanation how the deteriorating "Main Switch Assembly Stop Pad" (also called pad of death) effects the workings of the camera and how to replace the pad on the Yashica Guy website:
http://www.yashica-guy.com/document/repa...

You are right, that the "clunk" sound indicates that the pad is starting to dissolve. Effects are e.g. incorrect shutter speeds, yellow light always on and some more as described on the above site. This means you will have to replace the pad sooner or later.

Most likely also the light seals will need to be changed with such an old camera. Jon Goodman is selling pre-cut kits and IIRC they also contain a replacement pad.
You can contact him at jon_goodman[at]yahoo.com mention light seal material in the subject line.
Ask if the kit also contains the pad. His light seal kits also contain detailed instructions on re-sealing your camera.

And before anyone complains: I don't get any commission or something by recommending the light seals - I have just used them and I'm happy with them.

EDIT: I just had it confirmed that the seals kit for the camera also contains the pad plus instructions on how to replace it without taking the whole camera apart.

Anyone know about Yashica Electro 35 GSN? Can it work without battery and what kind of battery is needed?

the Yashica Electro 35 GSN was introduced in 1973 based on earlier versions of the same basic camera. It is a top end rangefinder for its day, with 45mm f1.7 lens. It won't work without a battery, because it uses a step-less electronic shutter.

The original battery is no longer available, but there are ways of adapting current batteries to fit. The one that I am using in my 35GSN is from the Yashica Guy (see link below). It works like a charm, but it is simple, so I didn't expect that it woudl give any problems.

Yashica Electro 35, Smena 8 or Nikon FM10 ?

Going on a trip to Europe and i feel like shooting on film will be a bit more convenient than digital. I already on the yashica and the smena. I'm thinking about buying a brand new Nikon FM10 for $300. Do you guys think its worth or should i just shoot with the ones i have ? Should i take the Smena or the Yashica ?

How to Focus a Yashica Electro 35 GSN at Night?

There are 3 things you can do:

1) To enhance the focusing patch, stick a tiny piece of black tape on the front viewfinder glass, the same size as the rangefinder patch. Yes, it's a finicky job and it looks silly, but this trick does work. I did the same with my Canonet. More info here: http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-165....

2) Preset the focusing ring to the hyperfocal distance whenever practical. In the dark you'll mostly be using f/1.7, so that might not be an option. At f/1.7 that works out to roughly 40 meters. At f/16 however, if you focus at 4.3 meters you'll get everything from 2.2 meters to infinity in focus.

3) Use the distance indicator on the lens ring in combination with knowledge of a depth of field chart. In the beginning this equates to using the force, but with time your results will improve. Plug in the numbers for your camera here to see how much will be in focus at any given aperture setting: http://www.dofmaster.com/doftable.html