Yashica GSN vs Olympus XA

Q

qaiade

Guest
In your experience, how do the Yashica GSN and the Olympus XA compare?
 
Truthfully, although the GSN has the better lens and rangefinder, I prefer the XA. It has a needle indicator for the shutter speed. You can use the shutter speed needle as a guide when adjusting the film speed to override the aperture preferred AE. If only it had an exposure lock.
 
Very different beasts.

The XA can go anywhere easliy in your pocket. The images can be excellent with crisp focus. I felt more comfortable with the metering.

The Yashica can render excellent images in moderately lit situations. I found the metering vague, but never had a crumby exposure. I just didn't like not knowing what was being selected for the xposure. They are quite impressive in appearance when they are cleaned up and tend to draw attention, unless you have it's kin the GTN in black. The Yashinon f1.7 lens is very nice.

You might consider the Lynx, the predecessor to the Electro series. You can find one with a Yashinon 1.4 lens. With the Lynx models you have greater control over the exposure you select. Not the camera.
 
I own an Olympus XA and a few Yashica rangefinders. The Electro 35 CC compares better to the Oly XA than the GSN does.

35 CC:
+ :very nice lens (f1.8, 35mm) --> great combi of fast lens and nice focal length
+ :nice rangefinder
+ :very well build
- :no shutterspeed display
- :hard to find

Olympus XA:
+ very nice 35mm lens, though slower than Electro CC
+ very tiny and still a true rangefinder
+ nice rangefinder and shutter speed display (though sometimes hard to read)
- Mickey Mouse appearance

The Electro 35 CC is hard to find. I found one though :) for 25 euros. Both the XA and CC are great cameras. The CC is compacter than the GSN and has a 35mm lens (the GSN has 45mm). The GSN is bulky but it's still a great camera with a great lens and very well built.
I also own a Yashica Lynx 14E. It's a truly GREAT camera with its f1.4 lens, but it's totaly different from the XA. It's about 3 times bigger. In fact, my Pentax ME SLR with 50mm is small compared to the Lynx.
 
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