Yashica 35 CC electronics

[Jeroen]

Hello,

I have just acquired a Yashica 35 CC for not too much money. Seems like a very nice shooter, but it doesn't yet seem to react to the (fresh) battery. One of the contacts is a bit green.
If it doesn't react after a clean - is it worth getting it fixed, or would it be easy to do it myself, as in: how easy are the circuits on this machine? The rest seems fine and I'm handy enough with electronics.

 

[bmattock]

The Yashica CC is an excellent camera and probably worth getting fixed - depending on your desires. It is fairly rare, collectible, and takes great pictures (I have one). If you came by it cheap and have the ability to repair it yourself (presuming that it needs it), you could find it worth the investment from a financial point of view.

Most cameras - regardless of age - unless they are ultra-collectible or very expensive - are NOT worth restoring if your goal is to make money on them.

However, if you want to keep it as a shooter - it is a great little camera and more than worthwhile to have repaired for personal use.

It just depends on what your goals are.

I don't know how easy or hard it would be to fix. I can suggest the Classic Camera Repair Forum as being a good place to ask that question, though!

http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/forum/

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[JohnM]

Hit the contact with a q-tip dipped in vinegar - a tiny shining with a piece of very fine sand paper glued to the end of a pencil eraser after that should give you good contact. I assume you're using the Lithium L544 battery required.

If that doesn't work, you can disassemble the camera to check for broken connections if you're handy. I tend to find that most of the broken connections are caused by corrosion at or near immediate connection to the battery compartment.

If you're still at a loss after that, and you're very attached to the camera, it may be worth the effort to send it to Essex Camera or another qualified repair facility for repair and CLA.

With some of the rarer compact rangefinders like the CC, S3, 7sII, RD, etc., a CLA is a good investment as you tend to get the cost back with interest should you ever decided to resell the camera at auction. (At least that is my experience.)

 

[Jeroen]

I just got the same idea myself. Got some vinegar and it works. Now there's a 35 CC for 30 bucks. This one's coming to Paris in two weeks, along with a 'Mat 124G 🙂
Thanks!

 

[oftheherd]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the inexpensive buy and fix. Good luck in Paris. You have two good cameras there.

 

[Jeroen]

OH, I already knew about the 124G. Love that machine.
One more thing about the CC - shouldn't it have two LEDs, just like the GSN? I only see a yellow ('slow') arrow.

 

[bmattock]

I just got the same idea myself. Got some vinegar and it works. Now there's a 35 CC for 30 bucks. This one's coming to Paris in two weeks, along with a 'Mat 124G 🙂
Thanks!

I think you got a great deal! I thought I had a steal on mine, but paid twice as much. It is a great stealth camera - very quiet lens, not that big of a body, and black makes it pretty unobtrusive. I believe I have a shot in the Gallery of mine that I used the CC on - the boy on the Amtrack. Works really well for me. I'm sure you'll love it.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Jeroen]

Oh well - I did get it over here in the Netherlands (where I live), I believe it was a regular import item here. But compared to the prices mentioned at cameraquest.com, it definitely is a steal. Besides, I love the point of view of a 35mm (current favourite: Olympus Stylus Epic, dream camera: Hexar AF), so I guess I will have some fun.

 

[bmattock]

Oh well - I did get it over here in the Netherlands (where I live), I believe it was a regular import item here. But compared to the prices mentioned at cameraquest.com, it definitely is a steal. Besides, I love the point of view of a 35mm (current favourite: Olympus Stylus Epic, dream camera: Hexar AF), so I guess I will have some fun.

The Olympus XA is also very nice, and much smaller!

Here's the link to the photo I took with the CC...

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/147/password//sort/1/cat/500/page/2

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Welcome to the forum,
Man!!!! you got that one for a song! I have a 35CC and love it, it's smaller than my M6 and has a great lens. Mark Hama does repair on these and has alot of misc. parts available so keep him in mind. I put a square lens hood on mine and it works great, here is one shot with mine:

Todd

 

[Flinor]

Welcome to the forum,

Keep in mind that in Yashica's way of measuring light and communicating with the user nothing happens unless you are overexposed or slower than 1/30th and even then the lights can be fleeting. Ignore the battery check, put on the lens cap and slowly depress the shutter button. If the electronics are bad I also recommend Mark Hama. Good luck with a neat camera.

Gerry

 

[wlewisiii]

I'll just warn you that Yashicas of all stripes can quickly become habit forming. I love my 124G and my Electro 35 GSN is marvellous too. Now I have another GSN on the way and a Lynx 5000 I need to fix and have even been eyeing Yashica SLR's on ebay... Sweet cameras that seem to be rather underated by many; not around here though. I hope you enjoy your's even half as much as I have mine.

William

 

[Jeroen]

I think I'll just hang on to my CC, GSN and 124G for now. Got way too much stuff already...
Got my pictures back, am not too satisfied - I might have to do something about the rangefinder and a missing LED-light in the finder. Nice winter project!