Where's your diamond focusing spot? (GSN & GTN)

[goldfinga888]

Hey fellow shooters,

I have a GSN and a GTN (No GAS here, I only have 1 of each 🙂)

I can't remember why, but since I had the GTN, I used a hood (the rubber colapsable type).

The other day I took the hood off and realised that the position of the diamond focusing spot is in a different position to that of the GSN 😕

The diamond in the GSN is almost, but not quite, in the center (the right-side point touches what would be, vertically the exact center).

In the GTN it is practically in the middle of the left-side half.

Horizontally, they are both in the middle.

Focussing both cameras from the same position to the same subject, the distance on the focus distance ring reads exactly the same.


Other slight differences : the diamond focusing spot 'appears' brighter in the GSN than the GTN.

Other MAJOR difference 😱 : Light meter ('Slow'/'Over' indicators).... see seperate thread!


L8r,
Chris

 

[sakebalboa]

On my GSN its pretty much dead center. Then again I'm so used to it being in that position that I just assume that is the center, if that makes any sense....

 

[goldfinga888]

Hi sakebalboa, thanks for the reply!
I know what you mean, your comment does make sense.

From the lack of replies I began to wonder if this post was just too banal, or if all of those who say they have a GSN or GTN, really have one!.. or even bother about minor details like this! LOL.

Chris

 

[undies]

I have two GSNs and the diamond is pretty much dead-center in both. One is brighter than the other though.

I hope this doesn't sound silly, but make sure you're holding your eye in the same place relative to each viewfinder. If you hold each camera differently the diamond will appear to be in different places even though it isn't.

 

[goldfinga888]

Hi undies... I know what you mean about holding my eye in the right/same place.. and you're right about the movement of the diamond.. however it still appears on the left side in relation the the VF frame (which curiously enough 'looks' smaller than the VF frame in my GSN.

I've tried to take some pics to illustrate the view through the VF but I just can't seem to capture it.. I wonder if anyone has any tips about this?

Apart from that anomaly, the GTN light meter is completely 'out of town' compared to my GSN, and Joe Wolff (Yashica Guy) kindly suggested that I take a look at the infamous P.O.D. - I removed the top, and sure enough the P.O.D. needs replacing.

I had a closer look at the set-up of the mirrors, their movements when focusing, etc. There's one small glass (on an 'arm') that moves when focusing (this appears to 'move' the image that is reflected from the mirror which is at 45º (+/-) to the diamond. This moving glass is in front of another larger glass - and appears to move mainly around the left-side (rather than in the middle). This (I'm thinking) could be the 'culprit'.. but I will have to compare it to my GSN.


Strangely enough, having opend up my GTN, I get the feeling that someone has 'tampered' with it before. Originally, a lot of the screws would have been 'sealed over' with a little bit of glue or liquid rubber (or whatever), and in a couple of places, it is noticeable that these 'seals' have been broken. Also, after peeling off the front leatherette covers to remove the whole front lens assembly, there was residue of two type of glue!


Anyway, in the case that it might interest anyone, I've taken pics of the whole sequence of events: Removal of the top and bottom covers; Removing the leatherette covering, removing the whole front lens assembly, etc...
Will post these up in my blog or flickr soon.

 

[ully]

My GSN is almost dead center, on my GT it is slightly to the left (about one third the diamond width). When focussed to 3 feet the frame lines are offset right by about the diamond width.

 

[sakebalboa]

hi goldfinga888 i would love to see those pics 😀

btw how faint is your diamond compared to other rangefinders? My mother, the original owner of the camera, said it was much brighter when it was new. My memory is a little fuzzy seeing as I was 4-10 when I last used the thing before adulthood.

 

[myoptic3]

You're braver than me to go inside that camera! But it sounds like youu know what you're doing. Just wanted to mention that I have used several GSN's and GTN's over the years and am very impressed w/ the lens on these cameras. I only recently got a Leica, and the lens hasn't arrived yet so I do not if it will live up to the Leica Lore, but the Yashica Electro lens has produced the sharpest pics in my portfolio (the box of photos under the bed). Those lenses made my pro Nikon glass and the Contax G lenses look average. The camera is not my cup of tea, but it is almost worth dealing w/ it's shortcomings to get those razor sharp photos. Happy shooting w/ yours. Steve.

 

[jan normandale]

This is a strange but fun thread on Yashicas. I've several of them Lynx, GSN, CC, Yashicamat etc.

I've definitely found the 'focusing diamond' to be an ongoing issue for most owners, myself included. I"m not certain I'd pay much consideration to the location if it's working accurately based on photographs that you take.

I"ve never felt the glass was overly sharp. Personally I find it a pleasantly soft lens not at all like the Zeiss glass's sharpness. The lenses also have an ability to give an overall 'Yashica glow' as I like to call it.

Lots of GSN and other Yashica images in my gallery. Don't forget to put some up in Jon Flanders long standing thread "Show us a sample picture from your Yashica"

RFF Link to Sample Picture

 

[goldfinga888]

Thanks for the input guys!

Getting the sequence of events (for taking the top, bottom & cover off) organised now and will put them up on my blog - first as a 'quickie' (within the next 24hours)

http://goldfinga888.blogspot.com

I'll be opening up the GSN to take comparison shots also.

I have space for my own 'web page' but have to get around to 'designing' (read, brushing up on my HTML!) so eventually everything will go there (with higher resolution pics, etc..)