Yashica Electro 35 GL

[kuuan]

close to mint, refurbished, everything seems to work well, only a dent on one corner

now just shooting my first roll of film on it

I do not have any knowledge about flash photography. This camera seems to have quite advanced flash functions. Can anybody point out to me where I can learn how to use flash on it? And do I best need to use the flash that originally was designed for it, or which flashes would give me the full functionality?

some personal notes: it has only been 3 years or so that I really got into photography, so far all digital. On my first dSLR I use only M42 and some other old manual lenses, and being busy trying out those, though when buying the lenses I had acquired a few analog SLRs, I never yet got to shoot film . Since I am almost always on the road I must limit my luggage which is heavy with many lenses I don't carry any of the film bodies, but because I want to try out film I could not resist this beauty.

Hope to be able to add some photos taken with this camera to this post some time later

cheers,
Andreas

 

[LunoLuno]

GL's FPS (Flash Pulse Selector/ similar to TTL-flash-metering) is only functional with dedicated flashes, ES-20 or ES-220. But, I regret to say they are extremely rare, almost impossible to find.

Still, you can use ordinally flashes with the GL. One thing you have to be careful about is that the trigger voltage of the attached flash 'should not be too low'. GL's shutter speed is automatically changed to 1/30s when there is a trigger from the flash, and with some latest flashes with very low trigger voltage, GL works as if there's no flash attached, which usually results in long time exposure.

 

[kuuan]

thank you very much for your answer LunoLuno

it seems you know the Electros very well, so one more question:
in the same shop there was another close to mint and refurbished black Electro GX. I chose the GL for it's unique ISO 1600 setting. From what I have read I was assuming that these two cameras, besides the difference of highest ISO setting, are identical. However the body of the GX looks more similar to the one of the CCN, which now makes me wonder: Are there any other differences between the GL and GX besides body and highest ISO setting?

thank you,
Andreas

and P.S.: out of curiosity, what would you consider a normal or good price for a well kept GX?

 

[LunoLuno]

Other than higest ISO setting, I think their major difference is the finder magnification ratios. The GL got mag ratio of 0.7, which is the highest among all the Electros, while the GX got 0.6, which is slightly lower than 0.64 of the original Electros (non-G, G, GS etc.).

and there are some minor differences like,
- battery type
- filter thread size
- focusing pad design
- no black model for the GL

About the price issue, I'm afraid to say I haven't got a clue about how much is the proper price for a well kept GX, I'm not a colector guy. But if you ask me, I would not pay more than $30 for a black GX. FLRFs are so cheap in my country these days....

 

[kuuan]

oh, LunoLuno, also bigger viewfinder magnification..so maybe the GL really is the ultimate Yashica Electro, as somebody else had put in another thread.

................
In Japan prices for RF very like are cheaper than anywhere else. Lucky me will be in Osaka very soon but just for 2 weeks. Certainly will check out some used camera shops ( I had bought all my digital cameras, 4 in all, quite a few lenses, an analog SLR and a Yashica Electro CCN Wide during previous visist to Japan, all used but almost all in very good condition! Also, compared to what I would have had to pay in Europe, I saved quite some money. Chances are that I won't get my friend to bid for me online early enough - she hates to do that - to get some from auctions this time )

- which one will I hunt when there? A Konica S3, IIIA / M, or a Hexar RF, Contax or Bessa? Must research on interchangeable lens RFS...

best greetings,
Andreas

( oh..admin, maybe better put this thread in the Yashica RF forum? )