Shutter stays open on f16 only

[Brack]

I have two Yashica Electro 35 GSNs, one in very nice shape and the other one is unused (until now) in the original box and they both have the same issue. The cameras operate perfectly fine in all regards except when you set aperture to f16 on Auto mode, the shutter stays open forever and does not close. If you move the aperture ring to f11, it snaps shut. The shutter speeds are correct at all other settings on the camera. I have disasembled the lenses and cleaned all the contact and checked for loose wires, etc and still no dice. My 1965 Orignal Electro 35 (stoplight model) never had this problem. Any suggestions?

 

[owlsplace]

I have two Yashica Electro 35 GSNs, one in very nice shape and the other one is unused (until now) in the original box and they both have the same issue. The cameras operate perfectly fine in all regards except when you set aperture to f16 on Auto mode, the shutter stays open forever and does not close. If you move the aperture ring to f11, it snaps shut. The shutter speeds are correct at all other settings on the camera. I have disasembled the lenses and cleaned all the contact and checked for loose wires, etc and still no dice. My 1965 Orignal Electro 35 (stoplight model) never had this problem. Any suggestions?

I presume you are testing under very low-light conditions. If you do the same test in full sunlight it closes, right?
Yashica modified the electronics on the later cameras. I don't think they were as concerned about the low light performance at f16. If you need a camera that does that I suspect it will be less expensive to buy one than modify your existing cameras. Otherwise I doubt you will notice much difference between low-light photos at f16 and f11. You can check the resistance of the diaphram resistor but unless you have a full test bench you are rather limited. Factory repair for a similar problem today would mean changing out the circuit board....Roger

 

[Wayno]

Hmm, I've got one that does the same thing (plus additional quirks). Here's what I wrote about it over at the Classic Camera Repair Forum:

"I've recently acquired a Yashica Electro GSN which looks to have seen very little use. The old battery was very corroded, so the battery compartment required quite a bit of cleaning. I then did all of the typical things to get it working - replaced the negative wire and the 'pad of death' (which had completely disintegrated) - but I'm still having some problems. In auto mode it works fine and seems accurate except for f16; for longer exposures (say more than 1 second) the shutter stays open at this aperture. It closes if I turn the ring to f11. Long exposures are correctly timed for f11. The slow/over lights also work correctly. In B and flash modes the shutter also stays open and won't close unless the dial is turned back to auto or the advance is moved until the 'Yashica clunk' is heard (ie. shaft is released from the down position). I've cleaned all of the contacts in the lens barrel, but this hasn't made any difference".

Sounds pretty much the same as yours, although mine also has the problem in bulb and flash modes. I never did get to the bottom of it and would be interested to see what replies you get.

 

[Brack]

I presume you are testing under very low-light conditions. If you do the same test in full sunlight it closes, right?
Yashica modified the electronics on the later cameras. I don't think they were as concerned about the low light performance at f16. If you need a camera that does that I suspect it will be less expensive to buy one than modify your existing cameras. Otherwise I doubt you will notice much difference between low-light photos at f16 and f11. You can check the resistance of the diaphram resistor but unless you have a full test bench you are rather limited. Factory repair for a similar problem today would mean changing out the circuit board....Roger

Thanks Owlsplace....it does it under full light conditions using any ASA selection.

 

[owlsplace]

Thanks Owlsplace....it does it under full light conditions using any ASA selection.

I haven't run in to that yet and you have two of them! I would look at the diaphram resistor. Could be a problem with the switch slider...Roger