Yashica Electro 35 GTN Issues

[ipsofactory]

Hello peoples

I just bought my first RF, the Electro 35 GTN for £100 off ebay. It's a charming brick, though heavier than I expected!

By the looks of my first roll I suspect the seals are broken as there's alot of light leak. What's weird is one or two pics came out perfect.

There's also an issue with the winder, it's not resetting after I load a film. That's not a biggie but some of the pics look like it's getting stuck half way.

Framing's going to take some getting used to! Half my pics are way off.

I'm sure I can replace the seals but I'm wondering if it looks like there are other less repairable issues too?

Thanks!
Dan

 

[ipsofactory]

A few more examples attached

 

[ipsofactory]

This one also doesn't seem to have any light leak

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Send it back.
100 Pounds is WAY too much to pay for one of those not in perfect condition.
You can buy probably 10 or 12 of them from goodwill in the US and include shipping for that much.

Phil Forrest

 

[farlymac]

I see two issues here. First, the red leak is from the back, usually along the take-up spool. Common effects are it is red because it is shining through the back of the film, and the anti-halation layer of the film then causes the red layer to get the most of the exposure. Secondly, it moves across the frame because as you wind on the film the roll gets bigger on the spool so the leak hits it at a slightly different spot with each advance of the winder.

Now as to what looks like a white leak (striking the front of the film), one would think this is cause by shutter curtains not closing properly, but the Yashica G series has leaf shutters, so that is an anomaly. One source can be from the rewind shaft which has a seal just under the top cover. The reason you might not get a leak on every photo has to do with time between exposures, and whether you are using the ever ready case that usually comes with them.

Neither of these is a hard fix to do, and since it appears there is no problem with exposures then the rest of the camera is operating fine. You can buy seal material and do the job yourself for little money, and there are plenty of tutorials online for doing repairs on Yashica Electro G cameras.

I'll agree with Phil Forrest that £100 is a lot for one of these, even in excellent condition, which yours is not. At least seek out a partial refund if you used a site like eBay, or if bought locally then take it back and request the seals be replaced. If they don't want to do that, or can't, then I'd seek a refund and return of the camera.

PF

 

[Deleted member 65559]

Send it back.
100 Pounds is WAY too much to pay for one of those not in perfect condition.
You can buy probably 10 or 12 of them from goodwill in the US and include shipping for that much.

Phil Forrest

£100 ?? Definitely far too much for a Electro....especially for the condition it's in.

 

[tbhv55]

From the posts on this thread, it sounds as though US prices for the Yashica Electro 35 are much lower than in the UK.

Here, current prices for the Yashica Electro 35 tend to range between £50 and £100 (maybe £120 for a mint-condition one), so the OP's price wouldn't have been so bad, but for the fact that it isn't in great condition. 🙁

 

[Deleted member 65559]

From the posts on this thread, it sounds as though US prices for the Yashica Electro 35 are much lower than in the UK.

Here, current prices for the Yashica Electro 35 tend to range between £50 and £100 (maybe £120 for a mint-condition one), so the OP's price wouldn't have been so bad, but for the fact that it isn't in great condition. 🙁

tb, The OP states he bought the camera off Eb*y. Many of the least expensive Yashicas on the Eb*y UK site are actually in the UK.... & a number are listed at as much as 50% less than his £100 price

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...tleDesc=0&_odkw=yashica+electoex+gt&_osacat=0

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

See this thread, your leaks look just like mine.

In my case:
- Leak at the hinge on film door, by take-up spool
- Leak affects a frame previously shot, not the frame behind the shutter
- Leak is biggest when nothing is happening, camera idle
- Look at your film edges to see it's a light leak across the whole of the film dimension, not just the image area.

New seals at the hinge did the job for me.

 

[Pál_K]

Since other people have addressed the light leaks, I’ll ask about this:

…
Framing's going to take some getting used to! Half my pics are way off…

Do the images in the photos you’ve shown match the composition you saw in the viewfinder? When focusing close, closer than 2 meters, there is the issue of parallax (difference in point of view between viewfinder and lens), but the photos you show are further away and should pretty much coincide with what you saw in the viewfinder.

If what you saw and composed was different than the results, then perhaps there is some alignment issue.

 

[farlymac]

Since other people have addressed the light leaks, I’ll ask about this:

Do the images in the photos you’ve shown match the composition you saw in the viewfinder? When focusing close, closer than 2 meters, there is the issue of parallax (difference in point of view between viewfinder and lens), but the photos you show are further away and should pretty much coincide with what you saw in the viewfinder.

If what you saw and composed was different than the results, then perhaps there is some alignment issue.

I think he's just experiencing what we all have when first using a rangefinder camera. It takes a while to get used to automatically concentrating a bit more on the framing than when using an SLR.

PF

 

[tbhv55]

tb, The OP states he bought the camera off Eb*y. Many of the least expensive Yashicas on the Eb*y UK site are actually in the UK.... & a number are listed at as much as 50% less than his £100 price

@Deardorff, I'm slightly puzzled. 😕 You seem to have repeated what I said! 😀

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Give me a week and I'll have 15 Electro 35 bodies in varying degrees of operation that I'll sell for $100 for the lot or $10 each. That is how inexpensive they are here. And every single one needs work. They were made by the million.
I think instead of buying an Electro off eBay, the better bet would be to get one or a few from local charity shops then have them fixed. The cost would still be below £100.
Phil Forrest

 

[Deleted member 65559]

@Deardorff, I'm slightly puzzled. 😕 You seem to have repeated what I said! 😀

🙂 I do see your point tb. It does seem odd to pay £100 for a mid '60 fixed lens camera that could be acquired for pocket change in a N American thrift shop or at a UK 'car boot sale'.

 

[tbhv55]

Okay, okay....... I get the message that you guys in the US get a better deal on Electros than we do, here in the UK! 😛 😀

However, just to prove that I'm not way-off the mark, here are some recent prices from the "sold listings" search on eb*yUK:

Electro 35 GTN.......................... £51
Electro 35 GSN (mint boxed)..... £130
Electro 35 GTN.......................... £30
Electro 35.................................. £66
Electro 35 GSN.......................... £77
Electro 35 GSN.......................... £91
Electro 35 GSN.......................... £88

​

So....... just consider yourselves lucky, over there! 😀 😀

 

[farlymac]

Okay, okay....... I get the message that you guys in the US get a better deal on Electros than we do, here in the UK! 😛 😀

However, just to prove that I'm not way-off the mark, here are some recent prices from the "sold listings" search on eb*yUK:

Electro 35 GTN.......................... £51
Electro 35 GSN (mint boxed)..... £130
Electro 35 GTN.......................... £30
Electro 35.................................. £66
Electro 35 GSN.......................... £77
Electro 35 GSN.......................... £91
Electro 35 GSN.......................... £88
​

So....... just consider yourselves lucky, over there! 😀 😀

Just saying, he paid too much for what he got. Prices for everything have gone up recently, but with over 7 million Yashica G series cameras having been produced, somewhere there has to be a true bargain to be had.

PF

 

[Phil_F_NM]

As of 11:04 EDT, 8/9/2021, there are 13 Yashica Electro rangefinders on shopgoodwill.
Surely, there must be a less expensive source than ebay, for these cameras in the UK.

Phil Forrest

 

[Deleted member 65559]

tb, For the record, I live in North America, but not in the USA. Considering that Yashicas (and the great majority of other 35mm cameras) were made in Japan, and there is a 'global market', £100 for a junker does seem over the top. Or is this an insular "Brexit" thing? 😕

 

[tbhv55]

As of 11:04 EDT, 8/9/2021, there are 13 Yashica Electro rangefinders on shopgoodwill.
Surely, there must be a less expensive source than ebay, for these cameras in the UK.

I've just checked on the three main UK film camera dealers that I use (not, of course, an exhaustive list), and I couldn't find a single Electro 35 - only a couple of Ministers.

If this is indicative of the general availability of Electros in the UK, I guess it might go some way to explain the higher prices. 🙁

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Like I said, charity shops.
Phil Forrest