First experience with GT

Gereonb

Gereonb
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Jul 7, 2011
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Bought an immaculate example of the GT (29 euro on ebay), great condition almost collector material.
In my opinion it is not the best looking camera and it is very big to hold, holding it and focusing is truly unergonomic, i feel like everyone notices it, certainly not unobtrusive for street photography.

But .. the lens ... the glass ... it blows me away, what finely engineered optics this thing has ... it makes up for all the rest in the quality of the pictures it takes.
 
After you get used to the GT, get a GL. Slightly smaller, with a 40mm lens, and the meter port in the lens barrel, like the MG-1. Has a nicer feel to it, and of course, you don't have to compute filter factors anymore. Then, go for the GX, a truly proper sized Yashica, with all the features of the GL in an even smaller package.

PF
 
Hey, the Electro GT is a great camera! As for the ergonomics, any camera takes getting used to. My GT/GTN feels good, as does the GX. I do like the black cameras more than the silver.

Gereonb, watch out for the light seals if they haven't been replaced. And, congrats on getting a fine camera.
 
The GT is big, but I have seen street shooters using Graflex 4x5 cameras, size is obviously not an issue with them. I did a little street shooting last month with a Pentax 67; it was big, noisy, and the buttons, knobs, and dials were not in the familiar places, but I did get some decent pics with it.

The GT was designed for serious amateur photographers (it was the D300 of it's time) and it's bulk contained quite a few great features. It was eventually trimmed down in size, with the last, best (and most expensive) incarnation being the GX. There are people on this forum shooting cameras and lenses which cost more than a nice car (regretfully, I am one of them) but with regard to image quality, a properly functioning and properly used GT will hold it's own with any of them.

Have fun with your GT, and post some photos here.
 
The GT was designed for serious amateur photographers

Weren't Lynxes more suited for serious work? Electro line, I realize, were leap towards "camera does it instead of you" movement and eventually replaced Lynx series but lack of manual control makes it less attractive. Well, probably Yashica didn't think so many will use Electros 45 years later so they would make them aging better :)
 
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