my first RF: yashica minister-d

[zdav]

hi,

I bought a minister-d a few weeks ago for 45€ on a belgian second-hand website. It's my first RF , first film camera,in fact first camera that's not a digital compact.

I was really amazed by the outcome of the first pictures, especially the b & w. Really sharp images, really nice 'out of focus' areas in the background.

I'm still getting used to the camera but I'm having a hard time getting my subject in focus. The yashica uses a yellow square in the centre of the viewfinder to focus. Unfortunately the square isn't very clearly visible. Unless there is bright light it's rather difficult to get the subject in focus. When you look through the viewfinder the image is kind of dark and "foggy"

Now, I wonder; Is this the case with all rangefinders and just something you have to get used to, or is it because the minister-d is already quite old technology, or is it maybe just my minister-d that is a bit worn down or has a defect?

Anyway, I love this camera for the images it produces and the way it is built. It's amazing to shoot images that are 100 times more beautifull than a digi-compact cam with a machine that costs way less and doesn't even need batteris (except for the meter) It's a really satisfiyng way of making pictues: metering the light, settingh the apperture/shutter combination ( the minister-d uses 1 ring that changes apperture/shutter at the same time ) , focussing and than if all went well being in time to shoot the picture you saw.

zdav

 

[Krzys]

I had a Minister-D. It broke during its first roll - complete mechanical crunch-snap-crack. I remember the rangefinder having a distinct lack of contrast which I think you are referring to. If I went down the Yashica route again id get a GSN

 

[zdav]

Thanks for your reply,

I did some more searching/reading on the rangefinder issue. I just read rangefinders are famous for being easy to focus , even in low light. So I figured something must be wrong with mine.

Then I found this tutorial on cleaning an electro GSN http://www.mattdentonphoto.com/cameras/electro_inside/index.html
As I understand, most electro's have the same problem and need to have their viewfinder/rangefinder cleaned.

I consider trying to open up the top of my camera to clean the interior of the viewfinder / rangefinder. As far as I can see the construction of the electro in the picture and my minister-d is quite similar, (the minister d looks less complicated as it has no electrical wires)

If anyone thinks this is a bad idea, please stop me ;-) I'll let you know how it went.

 

[zdav]

Since nobody tried to save my minister-d from my incapable wanna-be-camera-repairman-hands, I took it apart this weekend following the instructions on Matt Denton's site, and the camera survived!

I removed the advance-lever and the iso dial with a pair of tweezers, then used the back of the tweers to block the rewind lever and removed that too. Then removed the screws on the side and the top came of.

The problem seemed to be the big piece of plastic that sits in front of the rangefinder and the viewfinder opening. The big piece of plastic can be removed just by pulling it up (no screws needed).

The inside of the plastic seemed to have gathered a lot of dirt so I cleaned it, I also tried to clean all the parts of the viewfinder / rangefinder that I could reach with a wet Q-tip and dried them of with the dry side.

Then I put thewhole thing back together and focussing is a lot easier now, a lot easier than with my dad's yashica SLR that uses a split circle to focus. The rangefidner patch is very clearly visible again! Thanks Matt!