Best yashica ?

conradyiu

conradyiu

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I'm not sure any similar thread - which is your favorate Yashica fixed lens rangefinder?

I got GX but think there is better one.
 
The GX is very rare and illusive (<- edit: make that "elusive" heh. Mustn't post before morning coffee). It's Karen Nakamura's (great site/camera resource) favorite fixed lens rangefinder - period, at photoenthography.com. I find the GX and the GL the rarest of the Yashicas. I don't own either, though I've tried. I don't know if you can say which is best. I like the Lynx 14 because it's all manual, has the fastest lens of all the fixed lens RFs made by anyone (f1.4). I have a CC, which is nice, and of course a GSN. I like 'em all. But if I had to choose one, it would probably be the Lynx 14IC.
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Which is your favourite food ? I doubt there's best camera, at least, best for all and in all times. When I got Electro, I thought "this is top", later, Lynx 5000 bought me because it's manual, next would be Nick's mentioned 14e because of fast lens and again, manual operation. Some folks adore MF because 135 is "too small".

Not knowing what kind of "better" one wants is straight path into GAS :D
 
Tough to choose. The GSN is great of course. as is the lynx 14 and 5000e for being manual. Been searching for a CL myself. Really tough to find. When i did going price is pretty high, so i passed. Just got a GT i want to try out. I have a GS available if anyone is interested, just needs seals.
 
The Lynx 5000 remains my favorite. Easy to use, simple to repair, built like a tank, I prefer manual over AE, smaller than the 14 but big enough to handle comfortably, sharp optics...

Just a nicely considered shooter.
 
lens and meter on the gsn is excellent. And the shutter too. :D
Now that i think of it, i liked my CC as well!
 
If you can live with f2.8 max aperture the yashica minister-D is a far better camera then the electros, in my opinion.
 
NickTrop said:
The GX is very rare and illusive (<- edit: make that "elusive" heh. Mustn't post before morning coffee). It's Karen Nakamura's (great site/camera resource) favorite fixed lens rangefinder - period, at photoenthography.com. I find the GX and the GL the rarest of the Yashicas. I don't own either, though I've tried. I don't know if you can say which is best. I like the Lynx 14 because it's all manual, has the fastest lens of all the fixed lens RFs made by anyone (f1.4). I have a CC, which is nice, and of course a GSN. I like 'em all. But if I had to choose one, it would probably be the Lynx 14IC.
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Hi Nick,
I am glad to see you around. As for the Lynx 14, I am still waiting for you to bite:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52885

Cheers,
Ruben
 
I can agree that shutter button on Electro's (well, at least G%35) has a long travel. This is not what I like in this otherwise nice cameras. This is because of construction - as button travels, sliding switch goes through exposure checking phases, so it has to be reasonably long.
 
The Yashica GSN is one of the easiest cameras to use. A little large but light weight. Very sharp lens & add a softie and you can shoot down to 1/30 maybe even a 1/15. Easy to find filters and shade & cap. With the battery adjustment easy to find batteries.
 
shadowfox said:
Nick, I'm drooling over the wide-angle CC. But the prices of those on the 'bay is just silly.
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I won't part with my, but I think the Konica Auto S3 is a better camera though its build quality is not as nice as the CC. The CC peaks at 1/250 shutter speed, so the "over" light is always going off even with 200 speed film on sunny days. You need an ND filter, a bit of a pain. It has no hot shoe, and using a flash sets the shutter speed at 1/30 - no way to override for fill flash. It only meters to 500 ASA, so higher speed films are a bit of a prob.

The Konica's lens is awsome. The CC is very good too, but I would rank the S3 as one of the best 35mm lenses I own. There is hardly any difference at all between the coveted 35mm focal length of the CC and the 38mm focal length of the Konica.
 
NickTrop said:
I won't part with my, but I think the Konica Auto S3 is a better camera though its build quality is not as nice as the CC. The CC peaks at 1/250 shutter speed, so the "over" light is always going off even with 200 speed film on sunny days. You need an ND filter, a bit of a pain. It has no hot shoe, and using a flash sets the shutter speed at 1/30 - no way to override for fill flash. It only meters to 500 ASA, so higher speed films are a bit of a prob.

The Konica's lens is awsome. The CC is very good too, but I would rank the S3 as one of the best 35mm lenses I own. There is hardly any difference at all between the coveted 35mm focal length of the CC and the 38mm focal length of the Konica.
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Fair enough, thanks for the mini-review. It saved me from a certain creeping CC gas :)
 
MG-1 is the only one I've used, and I like it as an easy Aperture-priority camera but I would love to use a more manual Yashica rangefinder.
 
On Flickr, the first "interestingness" photos came from my very first (but now missing) Minister D. I recently bought a replacement Minister D from you know where, but haven't tried it out yet. Great lens! I think I like it better than any of my Electro 35s.
 
My favorite is the Lynx 14. Reasons:

1) The high-quality lens even beats the vaunted GSN.
2) Faster lens.
3) Manual shutter speeds.
4) No Yashica 'clunk' on wind-on.
5) Can be used as a club in an emergency. Or to hammer in tent stakes.

Despite being more rare, they also tend to be cheaper. The word "Lynx" frequently falls off, leaving only the nameplate "IC" remaining. So that's how they get advertised on eBay (or "1C"). Search for both.

They tend to have frozen shutter syndome but also tend to respond well to the old lighter-fluid fix. They are quite prone to lens flare and require a lens hood at all times for maximum contrast - many people who have used a Lynx 14 without a hood are convinced they are terrible cameras due to this. Kalt makes a 58mm screw-in metal lens hood that does not obscure the rangefinder / viewfinder as the rubber toilet-plunger types do.
 
bmattock, I agree - Yashica IC and Yashica 1C are most underrated Yashica rangefinders :) I just saw one 1C, advertised as Yashica SLR with "stuck lens" - probably, seller unsuccessfully tried to detach lens before publishing listing. That were 5000e.

Jokes aside, most 14's I saw last month were going off at US$50 and more. Even one with bent rewind crank. One has to be lucky to snatch Lynx 14 for less.

Now having Lynx 5000, I love manual control and fantastic shutter release - so informative. Electro's trip is somehow too long, too stiff. I should put another roll through Electro.
 
btgc said:
bmattock, I agree - Yashica IC and Yashica 1C are most underrated Yashica rangefinders :) I just saw one 1C, advertised as Yashica SLR with "stuck lens" - probably, seller unsuccessfully tried to detach lens before publishing listing. That were 5000e.

Jokes aside, most 14's I saw last month were going off at US$50 and more. Even one with bent rewind crank. One has to be lucky to snatch Lynx 14 for less.

Now having Lynx 5000, I love manual control and fantastic shutter release - so informative. Electro's trip is somehow too long, too stiff. I should put another roll through Electro.
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I have two 14's and one 14e. I actually bought one by accident, not knowing I had one already. None cost more than $9 plus shipping. Patience...

No, they are not for sale. They are in boxes in storage and I cannot find them. I must buy another.

EDIT: My one and only complaint on the Lynx 14 - it is bright chrome. I intend to gaffer's tape my next Lynx 14 until it resembles a cloth-covered brick.
 
conradyiu said:
I'm not sure any similar thread - which is your favorate Yashica fixed lens rangefinder?

I got GX but think there is better one.
Click to expand...


---------------------------------

By coincidence, a young lady offered me a Yashica the other day and, because I don't follow them as much as other cameras, I looked it up and this is what Stephen
Gandy has to say:



http://www.cameraquest.com/yaslyn14.htm
 
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