Yashica Minister III - Just aquired

[laudrup]

Hi,

I've just bought my first rangefinder cam. I managed to pick up a Yashica Minister III, which appears to be in really good condition. The inside of the camera is mint and doesn't seem to have been used. I picked it up in an ever-ready case for £30.

I wanted a 35GSN ideally but the ones at the shop seemed to have a variety of faults.

Does anyone have any experience of using this camera...any tips or advice would be appreciated.

I'm going to give it a run out tomorrow and will report back

Cheers

Laudrup

 

[RichardS]

If you haven't looked at yashica-guy's site yet, do so. He reviews all, as far as I know, Yashica Electros. The URL is http://www.yashica-guy.com/document/chrono2.html

Dick

 

[laudrup]

Thanks for the link it's really useful and pretty interesting! I appreciate it. 🙂

 

[juzo]

Hi, I just acquired a Minister III today at a camera market in Brisbane ($5 AU!). Everything seems to work okay - does anyone know where I can find a manual online for this machine? I looked everywhere but the D model is slightly different, my main issues are ensuring I load the film right. Cheers. It's a beautiful looking camera I must say!

 

[btgc]

I think Minister has advantage over GSN because you can't blame circuit for bad exposures. Now start holy war how much better GSN has 😀

 

[farlymac]

You don't have to worry about the dreaded P.O.D. with the Minister line.

PF

 

[Moto-Uno]

It's one of a number of excellent 35mm Japanese rangefinders I admit to having. After all these years the light meter still reads well!! And it's smaller than the GSN too.Enjoy it.
Regards,Peter

 

[btgc]

You don't have to worry about the dreaded P.O.D. with the Minister line.

And I find shutter release of Minister and Lynx lines more esthetically pleasing than on GSN - as it don't have extra linkage for AE - soft and smooth.

But mechanical shutter sometimes needs to be cleaned to work properly while electric shutter on GSN is rare to fail (POD you mentioned is another issue, but not shutter itself - though crucial for operation).

Choices, choices...where you win and where you lose.

 

[farlymac]

And I find shutter release of Minister and Lynx lines more esthetically pleasing than on GSN - as it don't have extra linkage for AE - soft and smooth.

But mechanical shutter sometimes needs to be cleaned to work properly while electric shutter on GSN is rare to fail (POD you mentioned is another issue, but not shutter itself - though crucial for operation).

Choices, choices...where you win and where you lose.

I think the reason I own so many cameras is the fact that no one has ever made a universally complete model. There is always some sort of compromise in the design and manufacturing, be it the size of the finder, or the amount of chrome applied to external parts. Some models feel good in the hand, but have poor mechanicals, while others are just the opposite. The search goes on.

PF