Any hacks for high ISO with Yashica Electro CC?

[mrjr]

I like idea of buying an Electro CC, even though it seems like it is pretty inflexible in terms of film selection and lighting situations because of the limited 1/250s upper shutter speed and the 500 ISO cap. I can accept this as limitations or "quirks" of this camera—every camera has some.

Am I right I conclude that since the CC doesn't have manual control/override that there's just no way to get it to properly meter and expose ISO 800+ films? Or is there possibly some kind of trick or hack that I've overlooked?

 

[Brian Legge]

Hmm. Would taping an ND filter transparency over the sensor? Halving the amount of light hitting the sensor would make it overexpose by a step, effectively making an ISO setting of 400 act like 800?

Granted, you may hit sensor sensitivity limitations but maybe something like that would be worth trying?

 

[mrjr]

Hmm. Would taping an ND filter transparency over the sensor? Halving the amount of light hitting the sensor would make it overexpose by a step, effectively making an ISO setting of 400 act like 800?

Granted, you may hit sensor sensitivity limitations but maybe something like that would be worth trying?

Hmmm. Doing this would provide the opposite result from what I need, right?

Say we used the ISO 400 setting and ISO 800 film, and a 1 stop filter over the light meter. This would tell the camera that there is 1 stop less light than there actually is, and that we need 1 stop more exposure when in fact ISO 800 film needs 1 stop less exposure than ISO 400 film.

Isn't that right?

 

[Brian Legge]

You are correct. I realized as soon as I posted it.

 

[Rob-F]

Maybe you could try metering off an area about one stop lighter than average. Would that be possible?

 

[mrjr]

You are correct. I realized as soon as I posted it.

No sweat. It's like I have to think in reverse to figure it out.

Maybe you could try metering off an area about one stop lighter than average. Would that be possible?

Does the CC have AE Lock on half-press of shutter release?

 

[farlymac]

Pull processing.

PF

 

[f16sunshine]

Lower battery voltage. The CC takes a 6volt.
Not sure if it would run on 4v or 5v ... you could try it.
If yes that could do it. Maybe for a stops worth anyway.

 

[mrjr]

Pull processing. PF

I think this is the best solution.

Lower battery voltage. The CC takes a 6volt. Not sure if it would run on 4v or 5v ... you could try it. If yes that could do it. Maybe for a stops worth anyway.

That would be interesting to experiment with!

 

[btgc]

My 35FC underexposes 2-3 stops, depending on light so probably adjusting pots could be solution. But shooting at 800 and pretending it were minus one and processing accordingly would be easier, I agree and would go this way. ISO on camera is just convention.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

My solution was buying a (black) GTN instead...
It's not a 35mm lens, but it's a 45mm f1.7: better for back defocusing.
It's a bit bigger, but instead of 1/250th top shutter speed, it has 1/500th, and instead of ISO 500, it goes to ISO 1000. It's aperture priority, with automatic parallax correction: great for that focal length...
It's interesting that without batteries it shoots at 1/500th...
It's one of my 2 ultracheap cameras: when I go to places I can be robbed easily, I just take with me my Olympus XA with ISO 400 film at 800 for all my shooting at f8 and prefocused at 8 feet, and my Yashica GTN with slow film for f1.7 shooting exclusively, so I got everything covered for very fast shooting with both of them: I just hit the shutter.
If you want a low noise, fast working camera with a very good 35mm lens, I recommend you the Konica Hexar AF.
Cheers,
Juan

 

[btgc]

It's a bit bigger, but instead of 1/250th top shutter speed, it has 1/500th, and instead of ISO 500, it goes to ISO 1000. It's aperture priority, with automatic parallax correction: great for that focal length...
It's interesting that without batteries it shoots at 1/500th...

Then how about Lynx 5000 w/ 45/1.8 lens - same size or even smaller than GSN, it has 1/1000th top speed, f/22 minimal aperture and ISO goes wherever you send it, be it 25 or 6400. Manual exposure, VF with parallax correction, works without batteries.

 

[mrjr]

My solution was buying a (black) GTN instead... It's not a 35mm lens, but it's a 45mm f1.7: better for back defocusing. It's a bit bigger, but instead of 1/250th top shutter speed, it has 1/500th, and instead of ISO 500, it goes to ISO 1000. It's aperture priority, with automatic parallax correction: great for that focal length... It's interesting that without batteries it shoots at 1/500th... It's one of my 2 ultracheap cameras: when I go to places I can be robbed easily, I just take with me my Olympus XA with ISO 400 film at 800 for all my shooting at f8 and prefocused at 8 feet, and my Yashica GTN with slow film for f1.7 shooting exclusively, so I got everything covered for very fast shooting with both of them: I just hit the shutter. If you want a low noise, fast working camera with a very good 35mm lens, I recommend you the Konica Hexar AF. Cheers, Juan

Sensible advice on the GTN. I've really come to love the 35mm focal length within the last year especially, but I definitely realize that not every tool has to fit the same job. Even if I really like one particular type of toy-I-mean-tool. I don't generally get along well with focal lengths between 35 and 50, but maybe I need to be a little more practical and a little less picky.

Really agree with the advice about the Hexar. Have one in my possession for the time being, and even though this copy is going back because of an issue, I definitely want to find another one as soon as possible. And I have an XA being delivered today. Between those two, I definitely don't need a CC; they're just so small and pretty. Maybe an Auto S3 would be a better alternative, but they seem to be only slightly easier to find than a CC.

Then how about Lynx 5000 w/ 45/1.8 lens - same size or even smaller than GSN, it has 1/1000th top speed, f/22 minimal aperture and ISO goes wherever you send it, be it 25 or 6400. Manual exposure, VF with parallax correction, works without batteries.

That sounds like it could be a good replacement for my Minolta Hi-Matic 7, which has electrical issues, in the medium-weight class with a fast 40-something lens. Bet the finder is nicer to use.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Another option is the GX: it goes to 1/500th and ISO800, and the cell is above the lens so filters are used easily... It has a 40 1.7 lens, and the camera is smaller than the GTN... Yet I preferred the longer lens of the GTN for more background defocusing, as I shoot it wide open mostly. You can find both silver and black GX's.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Juan

 

[LunoLuno]

ISO500 is just 2/3EV of a stop slower than ISO800, so I believe there's little to worry about the deficit, especially when you shoot print films under artificial light. If you really want to tweak the exposre precisely with the Electro, there are some tips, actually. Of course it has some limitations though.

When I want to tweak the exposure precisely, which is when I want to shoot slides with my Electro (in my case the GL), I usually remove batteries from the camera and shoot it with its default shutter speed (1/500s nominal, 1/400s actual). I sometimes use ND filters as well. I do this in order to allow me to precisely adjust the exposure setting for the optimum results. Even with print films I occasionally leave home without putting batteries in my Electro and shoot it manually until the dusk time alives. I use my Electro in this way because the process is straightforward for me. I always bring handheld incident light meter with me when shooting slides, but as I'm relatively good at estimating light, I don't bring it when I know I only shoot print films; just 1/3 a stop of estimating error is usually nothing for print films.

The problem is.... I presume that you must want to shoot a ISO800 film because you want to take pictures in a very low light condition....

 

[Frontman]

If you remove the bottom cover on the CC, you will see a pair of small switches which can be turned with a screwdriver, these are used to to tune the shutter speed at the factory. These can adjusted up or down a couple of stops.

The Yashica GL has a 40/1.7 lens, and accepts films up to 1600 ASA.

 

[f16sunshine]

The Yashica GL has a 40/1.7 lens, and accepts films up to 1600 ASA.

It's rare as hens teeth in North America. As well it seems the least robust of the Electros .... The two I have are both dead without any signs of trauma or failures 🙁

 

[LunoLuno]

It's rare as hens teeth in North America. As well it seems the least robust of the Electros .... The two I have are both dead without any signs of trauma or failures 🙁

Have you tried cleaning the comb-shaped electrical contacts inside the camera? A dead GL often can be resuscitated by just doing so. It's rather an electrically sensitive camera but it doesn't mean it's the least robust among the Electros.

Everytime I hear about the GL being rare in some countries, I always find it rather ironical. The GL is one of the most unpopular cameras in the second-hand market in Japan and the auction site here is always rife with GLs ending with no bidders, even if they are sold at a bargain price of 1 yen....

Here's the record of the recent 90 days deals of the GL on a Japanese auction site.
http://closedsearch.auctions.yahoo....=23636&slider=0&tab_ex=commerce&s1=cbids&o1=a

 

[Frontman]

Have you tried cleaning the comb-shaped electrical contacts inside the camera? A dead GL often can be resuscitated by just doing so. It's rather an electrically sensitive camera but it doesn't mean it's the least robust among the Electros.

Everytime I hear about the GL being rare in some countries, I always find it rather ironical. The GL is one of the most unpopular cameras in the second-hand market in Japan and the auction site here is always rife with GLs ending with no bidders, even if they are sold at a bargain price of 1 yen,

The GL suffers from two main problems. The first is that the connection to the battery wire is easily corroded, and can cause the camera to go dead. Second, it is prone to getting fungus between the two front elements. The lens on the GL is very hard to seperate, unlike other Yashicas, so getting the fungus out is very difficult.

If you get a good one, the GL performs just as well as the GX, with an extra stop of film speed to boot. The GL also doesn't suffer from the POD issues like the older full-size electros.