Yashica Electros
A recent visitor to my photostream asked for my thoughts on the these two cameras. Random and rambling as they are, I'm posting them here In case they're useful to anyone else...
The GT was my first rangefinder and I've shot half a dozen or so rolls with it. I've been extremely pleased with the results, and I enjoy using it a lot. I've found its meter to be astonishingly accurate (I ran a slide film through in various lighting conditions and it was bang on every time). I haven't tested the CC's meter in the same way yet, but I've no reason to think it any different. I've shot black & white more with the CC and have been very pleased. The leaf shutters of both cameras are very quiet and unobtrusive. They are both solid, hefty cameras, the CC a bit lighter and more compact. Of the two, I find it more comfortable to grasp the GT, having long fingers. The lenses on both deserve their great reputation. Personally, I prefer a focal length greater than 35mm, so I lean towards the GT more. For me, the parallax-corrected framelines of the GT have the edge: the CC's uncorrected viewfinder is a bit disappointing after using it, with the end of the lens clearly visible at all focusing distances.
A few other technical things to be aware of:
- the CC has no depth of field markings on the lens barrel, unlike the GT
- the CC's ISO range is only 25-500 (the GT has 25-1000)
- the GT also has bulb and flash modes; the CC doesn't have either
- the CC accepts a "regular" filter size of 52mm, as against 55mm on the GT; I use 55-52mm reducer on the GT without problems
- relatedly, the CC meters through filters, whereas on the GT you must compensate manually.
Some quirks I've noticed:
- I find it easy to dislodge the lid of the CC's battery compartment, which is right next to my thumb when shooting.
- The short lens barrel of the CC means the aperture ring is close to the focusing collar, so it's easy to alter focus by mistake when changing aperture.
- Focusing direction: infinity is at the left hand end with the CC, but on the right with the GT.
Some mechanical niggles:
- The battery check buttons have been problematic on both, with the connecting wires breaking or coming unsoldered. But you don't really need them if your under-/overexposure lights work (though these only function if the shutter's cocked). I like the fact that on the GT, they're visible on the top plate, whereas with the CC they're only in the viewfinder.
- If you buy one that hasn't been serviced recently, its "Pad of Death" is likely to cause strange problems. If you're willing to have a go yourself, it's not too hard to fix. My two came to me with this exact problem, and I still managed to fix them myself. They were the first two cameras I'd ever taken apart, and I'm not particularly technical.
In summary, in terms of price and considering their age, I can't rate Electro 35s highly enough. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another GT(N)/GSN. I think with the CC you're paying mainly for scarcity as well as more compactness, but to my mind a lower spec overall. But then I would really like to try the still rarer and more expensive GX...
Yashica Electros
A recent visitor to my photostream asked for my thoughts on the these two cameras. Random and rambling as they are, I'm posting them here In case they're useful to anyone else...
The GT was my first rangefinder and I've shot half a dozen or so rolls with it. I've been extremely pleased with the results, and I enjoy using it a lot. I've found its meter to be astonishingly accurate (I ran a slide film through in various lighting conditions and it was bang on every time). I haven't tested the CC's meter in the same way yet, but I've no reason to think it any different. I've shot black & white more with the CC and have been very pleased. The leaf shutters of both cameras are very quiet and unobtrusive. They are both solid, hefty cameras, the CC a bit lighter and more compact. Of the two, I find it more comfortable to grasp the GT, having long fingers. The lenses on both deserve their great reputation. Personally, I prefer a focal length greater than 35mm, so I lean towards the GT more. For me, the parallax-corrected framelines of the GT have the edge: the CC's uncorrected viewfinder is a bit disappointing after using it, with the end of the lens clearly visible at all focusing distances.
A few other technical things to be aware of:
- the CC has no depth of field markings on the lens barrel, unlike the GT
- the CC's ISO range is only 25-500 (the GT has 25-1000)
- the GT also has bulb and flash modes; the CC doesn't have either
- the CC accepts a "regular" filter size of 52mm, as against 55mm on the GT; I use 55-52mm reducer on the GT without problems
- relatedly, the CC meters through filters, whereas on the GT you must compensate manually.
Some quirks I've noticed:
- I find it easy to dislodge the lid of the CC's battery compartment, which is right next to my thumb when shooting.
- The short lens barrel of the CC means the aperture ring is close to the focusing collar, so it's easy to alter focus by mistake when changing aperture.
- Focusing direction: infinity is at the left hand end with the CC, but on the right with the GT.
Some mechanical niggles:
- The battery check buttons have been problematic on both, with the connecting wires breaking or coming unsoldered. But you don't really need them if your under-/overexposure lights work (though these only function if the shutter's cocked). I like the fact that on the GT, they're visible on the top plate, whereas with the CC they're only in the viewfinder.
- If you buy one that hasn't been serviced recently, its "Pad of Death" is likely to cause strange problems. If you're willing to have a go yourself, it's not too hard to fix. My two came to me with this exact problem, and I still managed to fix them myself. They were the first two cameras I'd ever taken apart, and I'm not particularly technical.
In summary, in terms of price and considering their age, I can't rate Electro 35s highly enough. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another GT(N)/GSN. I think with the CC you're paying mainly for scarcity as well as more compactness, but to my mind a lower spec overall. But then I would really like to try the still rarer and more expensive GX...