Here are some of the recent images taken with the Yashica Electro 35 GT and Kodak Ektar 100. For more information about the camera you can see these posts October 2010 and the more detailed April 2012 Yashica Electro 35GT
I’ve owned several Yashica Electro 35 models but I’ve pared them down leaving me with the Electro 35 GT and GX. The GT stands out in the Electro line with it’s all black body. It is a great looking camera as well as performing. The lens of the 35 GT is a 45mm f1.7 stated to be 6 elements in 4 groups. It’s strictly aperture priority with no shutter speed indication beyond the slow speed or over exposure warning arrows. The shutter speed is determined electronically during the exposure rather than being predetermined. In practice this means that during longer exposures the camera reacts to changing light conditions, extending or shortening the exposure time.
Originally when the camera was released in 1969 batteries containing mercury were prevalent with there characteristic of maintaining a constant voltage throughout there discharge life. Now mercury batteries are unavailable so an alternative is required. My solution was to use a 6V alkaline battery with a home made adapter of a similar size to the original TR164 battery. This difference in voltage is likely to cause some variability in the exposure but as I shoot colour negative film with a large latitude and the fact that I scan all my film rather than printing optically I don’t really see it.
Being a rangefinder the camera has a small diamond shaped focus patch. A rangefinder works by linking the focus of the lens to the position of the patch relative to the main viewfinder, so as you change the focus of the lens the rangefinder patch moves horizontally. When the item in the main viewfinder and the patch are horizontally aligned the lens is focused to that distance. This works well with views that have vertical elements but can be difficult with small repeating patterns or horizontal lines. A field of flowers can be a difficult thing to focus within because of all the similar elements. Here is an animated view through my Yashica Electro 35 GT however because you are able to actually place your eye closer there is a lot more area around the frame lines that would be visible. You can also see the built in parallax correction as the frame-lines move down to compensate for closer focusing.
It becomes a bit more difficult to find subject matter during that time of year when everything is brown and drab. But rather than giving up or fruitlessly looking for what isn’t there I think you should embrace the winterlude and look to new subjects. Your images may not be as pretty but they could be as good. Where in the spring you might take a grand sweeping landscape shot now maybe you notice that one last leaf hanging on, or maybe you can take a moment longer on a composition. Some subjects such as industrial and city shots might better suit the winter or evoke a different feeling that you could not get on a bright spring day. In fact the extra challenge of finding subjects can help to make you a better photographer. I’m looking forward to taking some photographs in the snow but I’m not waiting for it. Of course this isn’t the same across the globe and I feel fortunate to have distinct seasons even if it can be cold sometimes.
UPDATE : Sometimes I write something and it gets pushed back for some reason and that’s the case here. Since I wrote this post it has most definitely snowed and is now melting.
Well it’s official this is a great camera. This little rangefinder is exceptional and may be the best fixed lens camera I have ever used. It was the peak of the Yashica Electro 35 line and in retrospect probably the peak of the small rangefinders that came out of the 1970’s.
Samples – Here are some sample images shot with the two cameras as well as with the Pentax K-7. With the K-7 I used the FA 28-70 f4 lens at the 28mm focal length which equates to about 42mm in terms of 35mm film. I could have used the SMC A 28mm but I wanted to have other focal lengths available when I wasn’t taking test shots.
So what did I find. Well they are very close in output, so much so that more difference occurs during scanning and editing than from the actual image capture. However the Yashica did seem to get the exposure better in more cases resulting in cleaner negatives with less grain after processing. This could simply be down to the specific cameras and batteries I have though as the cameras are now undeniably old. So which one would I pick? Well I do really like the ability to shoot manually with the Canon and I do like the flexibility of the shutter on the Yashica, so I have to give them both a place on the shelf. I will definitely be trying some better film in the Yashica and it’s rarity makes it a conversation piece. I have to say that even though I used cheap Kodak 200 I was pleased with the look of the images. It takes some work to get the digital files to have a similar look because not all the differences between colours are equal. I didn’t in this case make any changes to the digital files just for the comparisons.
Operation and handling
While these cameras where state of the art in their day, compared to a modern digital camera they are extremely simple devices. The Canon uses a electro mechanical system to set the aperture. It is a simple galvanometer needle that’s position is trapped when the shutter is pressed, this is then translated into an aperture through a linkage. I found that the metering is very susceptible to underexposure due to back lighting. With the Yashica you set the aperture and the camera sets the timing of the shutter, where one of the variables in the circuit is how much light is falling on the silicon sensor. Beyond that they really are a lens and a system of moving the film forward. A small but noticeable difference is in the film advance lever. The Canon requires a longer throw of the lever while the Yashica advance is just a small flick of the thumb. I much prefer the Yashica in this respect. On the other hand the focus control on the Canon is superior, it includes a knob off to the left that makes focus adjustments effortless. The Yashica’s focus however is adjusted with rubber patches around the lens barrel near to the camera body and I find that I almost have to reach around the camera to change it making it difficult to focus and shoot without a slight hand position change. Update: A change in how I hold the camera, with my left hand underneath, has made them about equal for focusing.
Both camera’s are rangefinders with focus patches but they appear very different in operation. The Canon is more subtle with it’s square focus patch not impinging on the scene through the viewfinder. The Yashica has a very contrasty diamond shaped patch that I find too intrusive but slightly easier to confirm focus with. The Canon viewfinder is much brighter than the Yashica’s but they both have frame lines that adjust for parallax error. They also have the exact same magnification, I verified this by holding them to my eyes at the same time, An interesting effect of doing this is that you can see in 3D despite looking through them, a not interesting effect is that this can make you feel queasy.
So all that remains is to get my negatives back and do a comparison. I do have a sense that the Canon metering was off in some circumstances as it seemed to be selecting too small an aperture for the conditions. This isn’t normally a large problem though as under other conditions I would use this camera in full manual mode, which is not an option for the Yashica.
Finally the answer everyone has been waiting 35 years to have. Which is better the Canon Ql17 GIII or the Yashica Electro 35 GX? Really no one, just me?
So you can see that they are very similarly specified with the greatest difference being that the Canon is Shutter priority and the Yashica is aperture priority. The next phase of testing will be to run some film through each of them. As I can’t determine precisely the shutter speed or aperature for each of them I may not record any info but just take matching pictures.
The Yashica T3 sports a Carl Zeiss T* 35mm f2.8 lens and uniquely a waist level viewfinder labeled an NA scope (New Angle). Using this viewfinder is a great way to compose images while holding the camera in unconventional positions even overhead. You can override the flash but it re-sets after each shot which is an annoyance. But really this camera is all about the lens which is very good.
The Yashica Electro 35 rangefinders are wonderful cameras with an electronically controlled shutter and aperture priority. The f 1.7 lens allows plenty of light for low light shooting, however there is no shutter speed indicator beyond the basic over exposure and slow shutter warning. If you can live within those limitations it provides sharp well exposed images. I shot these images using Kodak professional plus-x. Kodak describes the film thus ” PLUS-X 125 Film offers a combination of sharpness and fine grain that makes it the ideal film for beautifully printable negatives in moderate-to-bright light.” I would agree and because it has been used for so many years it has a particular look that many people expect when they view a B&W image.
Here is a detail from one of the images.
This was taken with my Yashica setup to create the distortion. http://wkoopmans.ca/notebook/?p=200
The imagery I think is clear even if the image isn’t. The steps in the cemetery look like a ladder which seems to be there to help achieve some form of ascension, even a tree has been removed to clear the path.
