Yashica EZ F521 - A new digital rangefinder from Yashica!!

Okay, I lied, but it's close enough to get me very excited. exemode announced a new Yashica branded digital camera EZ F521. It sports a fixed 42.53mm (35mm equivalent) f3.0 lens. That's my favorite focal length, though I wish the lens could be faster. Sensor size is small (1/2.5) but the resolution is a not-overly-aggressive 5 megapixels. The thing I like the most is of course the retro styling. They even kept the Yashica font that gives it the perfect classic feeling. The only problem is that the lens is fixed focused (1.5m to infinity). The EZ F521 will beginning selling in Japan for 7980 yen. Can't ask for much at this price I guess (some Pentax lenses have their prices almost doubled over this past year...). More details at the official site.

Yashica Electro 35 GX

The Yashica GX is the last of the fast-lens Electro 35 series. It has a Color Yashinon DX 40mm 1:1.7 lens, a hot shoe and PC connection, a 8-second self timer and shutter lock. The camera is aperture-priority ONLY: set the aperture, and the camera decides the shutter speed (stepless from 1/500 to several seconds). Over and under exposure arrows light up to warn the user if shutter speed needs to be higher than 1/500 or lower than 1/30. There is NO manual mode, which is a limitation. The shutter is an electronic Copal leaf shutter, which means flash sync at any speed (great for fill flash). Film speeds of ISO 25 to 800 are supported.

The GX is routinely referred to as the zenith of all the previous Electro 35 rangefinder cameras. It is basically the same camera as the Yashica GL (great camera), but quite a bit smaller (even better). The silicon meter new to the GL and GX is more reliable than Cds cells, and MUCH more responsive. The 40mm lens is slightly wider and easier to use than the usual 45mm lenses; though not as wide as the 35mm Yashica CC, it does not have the shutter and diaphragm compromises. The GX represents the best compromise between big, fast lens and compact design.

The GX features a Flash Pulse Selector auto flash system, if it's used with the ES-20 Auto strobe. It is close to the TTL flash systems today (more like ATL). The flash has an extra contact on the shoe to communicate with the light meter on the GX. As the flash fires, it uses the meter to learn when to stop output. If the flash exhausted its power and the image is still underexposed, the GX will automatically close the shutter at 1/30 to prevent blurred photos. With ISO set to 100, lining up the ISO lever and the flash symbol on the barrel corresponds to an aperture of f4, where the flash effective range is 5m. Unfortunately, this feature is not present with other strobes. When using a third-party auto flash, there seems to be no way to fix shutter speed at 1/30 easily, a feature I like very much on the GSN. If anyone have tips on how to do that, please let me know.

I love this camera. It is small and light enough that I can carry it all day. I did that with the GSN too but my shoulder would be sore afterwards. The GX takes sharp pictures and shines in low light situations. Recently at a friend's wedding, I shot a roll of Natura 1600 film at 800 and the photos came out better than my Panasonic Fz7.

There are a few issues though. The GX only goes up to ISO 800, which is a bummer. The ISO setting lever is very inconvinent compared to the dial design, makeing exposure compensation difficult. The camera is quite a bit lighter than the GSN, and overall does not fell as solid.

You can search for GSNs on eBay with keywords Yashica GX, or a broader search Electro 35 will get you the entire family.

Samples

(Yashica GX x Fujicolor Reala)

(Yashica GX x Fujicolor Pro 400H)
(Yashica GX x Fujicolor Pro 160S)



Related

• Yashica Electro 35 GSN
  
• Replacing the light seals on old cameras

Yashica Electro 35 GSN

Today let's switch gears and talk about a classic camera. The Yashica Electro 35 GSN is a manual focus aperture-priority rangefinder camera available since 1973 for 32500 Japanese yen. It is the last of the big Electro 35 cameras made by Yashica. It features a sharp Color-Yashinon DX 1:1.7 f=45mm Lens made in Japan with 6 elements in 4 groups. The front filter ring accepts 55mm filters or a lens hood. A Copal shutter provides quiet operations from 1/500 to 30 seconds. There is also a B (bulb) mode and a flash mode. The copal shutter is able to flash sync at all speed, but I haven't tried it as it's such a great available light camera. More technical information can be found at Yashica Guy, Photoethnography and Matt's Classic Camera.

One of the advantages of the GSN over other cameras in the same period is that it's aperture-priority. Most cameras at that time are shutter-priority, which I find not as intuitive to use. In a time when everyone is using their digital cameras, one of the biggest reasons to still use a retro 35mm rangefinder is shallow depth of field (DOF) for a very reasonable price. The sharp f/1.7 lens must be put to good use, right? Add to that a surprisingly accurate Cds meter, you got a great camera for street photography. Unfortunately, the aperture-priority implementation also happens to be the Achilles' heel; the GSN will not tell you the shutter speed it has chosen (probably because it's entirely stepless). It's possible to deduce the shutter speed by the aperture at 1/30 Slow or 1/500 Over, but it's too much trouble and you're better off with a fully-manual camera like the Canonet G-III QL17. If you're doing action photography, the GSN is definitely not the most convinent camera.

I got my GSN from eBay for $45 including shipping. It's slightly higher than other auctions but the seller stated that the electronics were confirmed working. This is quite important because if the electronics doesn't work, the shutter speed is stuck at 1/500. It came with an ever-ready case. I have personally seen two Made in Hong Kong Yashica GSNs, and their cases are made of different material. Just be aware that some cases are more flexible and thus more ready than others :) I bought a 55mm lens cap from eBay along with a lens hood. Without a lens hood, it's really easy to get flare when a strong light source is just outside the frame. Sometimes flare adds to the atmosphere, but most of the time flare covers up important details in the image. The problem with a lens hood is that it covers up the corner of the view finder, but I still recommend keeping the lens hood on whenever it's convinent.

My digital camera is a Panasonic Fz7, with a f/2.8-f/3.3 36mm-432mm (35mm-equivalent) lens. The zoom range is incredible, and it's a Leica :) The problem, common to most digital compacts, is its low light performance. At ISO 400, the color noise is quite annoying, and the lens isn't quite fast enough. Mega O.I.S. allows me to handheld at ISO 100 most of the time, but it doesn't help when the subject moves. This is where the GSN really shines. With 400 speed film, I can get sharp shots with beautiful bokeh at low night. To get this kind of performance with a digital, I would be paying at least 5 times the price of the GSN (maybe a Pentax K110 with a 50mm f/1.7 prime). For a casual shooter, GSN (and many other rangefinders in the same time period) really is the king of value when it comes to low light.

You can search for GSNs on eBay with keywords Yashica GSN, or a broader search Electro 35 will get you the entire family.

Usage Tips
You need battery to really use this camera. A US nickel is perfect to open and close the battery cap. It's easy to scratch and ding the battery cap, so don't use too much force. As stated in every other web site, the original mercury battery is not longer sold legally in the US. I use a 4LR44 6V battery, and it works fine. The battery is smaller and shorter than the chamber. I wrapped the battery with some facial tissue to keep battery from moving around in the chamber. The negative terminal of the battery sometimes does not line up well with the spring, so I made a bottom cap for the battery with aluminum foil to enlarge the contact area. I got a C battery holder from RadioShack and ripped out the spring to connect the positive terminal to the battery cap.

For those unfamiliar with old film cameras, it's easy to load film into the GSN. First, pull the rewind knob up until the back pops open. Put the film cartridge and push the rewind knob back in. Insert the film into the slit on the take-up spool. Line up the film with the sprockets. Wind the film once with the lever, making sure the film does not jump out. Fire the shutter once. Close the door, and turn the rewind knob in the direction of the arrow, until you feel a slight resistance. Wind the film forward once, fire the shutter again. Now you're ready. The film counter will not show 1 at this point, and it's ok. At least for Fuji Superia X-tra 400, if you wind till you see a 1 in the frame counter, you would have lost the first frame. Shoot until the counter shows 24. This way you'll get 25 exposure on one roll.

Samples

(Yashica GSN x Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 400)

(Yashica GSN x Fujicolor Pro 400H)


(Yashica GSN x Fujicolor Reala)

Related

• Yashica Electro 35 GX
• Replacing the light seals to prevent light leaks above in the Fuji Superia 400 photos