Film photo from a Yashica GSN
This was taken with an old '70s or so rangefinder, the Yashica GSN. I used Fuji 400 color negative film. No photoshop, or cropping. Processing and scanning by Costco. I don't recall the aperture, and knowing what shutter speed used with the GSN is tricky. I do recall trying to narrow the DOF but I could not get to f1.7 as the film was too fast, and the light too bright, so probably f2 or f2.8, and likely close to 1/500.
posted by tedm at 11:59 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Hi Ted,
It looks like you got a good, working example of a GSN. The photo is tack sharp and well exposed. I have two GSNs. I bought the first one when I was exploring different rf cameras. It worked well early on when I first acquired it, but the last time I used it, I found that the rangefinder needed calibration (out of focus shots) and the AE was not working right. The camera and lens are in excellent condition, but it definitely needs some work in important parts. My second GSN was given to me by a friend who discovered that I loved old cameras. It once belonged to his father and it came as a whole kit including the wide and tele screw-on converter lenses with auxiliary finder and carrying case. This one is not as good cosmetically as my other one, and I never had a chance to actually shoot with it.
Just my own personal bias, but I find that while the lens on the GSN is excellent, I do not like the idea of an AE only camera. I much prefer the all manual operation of my Yashica Lynx 5000e.
Thanks for posting the sample shot, and I look forward to seeing more from this camera.
You gotta love it, a technically excellent photo from a vintage film camera following some excellent technical shots from the latest dslr :).
--Warren
Ted, how about posting a photo of your GSN. Some people may not know what it looks like. BTW, I agree with your mini review of the GSN on your blog.
--WT
Hi Warren, I too have mixed feelings about the AE only, but if you have time to think about it, you can actually estimate the programmed AE shutter speed to good approximation, by noting the limit lights at 1/30 low (yellow arrow), and high 1/500 (red arrow), and then compensate with the ISO dial (which ironically is where shutter speed dials usually are!), and then adjusting the ISO to put the shutter speed where you think it should be based on a handheld meter, or meter from another camera.
I realize that's a slow process, but it's kind of fun, for now, anyways...
I've also had a bad one, where the deck lights were intermittent, so since that one, I've always asked the sellers (except for the $1 one), not only if the meter worked, but if the deck and VF lights came on each and every time you pressed the shutter and weren't intermittent. These are definitely cheaper to replace than fix, if contacts are bad or the VF is bad.
I'll try to post a photo of my latest GSN. I got this one from Allan (Kaiyen) who you'll probably meet him at an RFF gathering sometime. The camera is in user shape, and has a crack in the window for the RF, but still meters fine, shutter seems fine, and VF is medium clean. I'm not sure if the focus is 100%, as I haven't shot many @ f1.7, but I have a roll of Reala 100 and can probably shoot indoors or in the shade with the 1/500 max and see if the focus is on, or front/back biased.
The other fast cheap RF is the Canonet QL1.7 G3 (or whatever) whose size I loved, but I didn't get on with the RF or lens quality, in my particular one.
BTW, except for a few tweaks, I used 320 ISO for my Fuji 400 Superia (Costco 3 layer). I couldn't bring myself to actually setting the ISO at 400, because I have been overexposing slightly with film for so long, so I don't get spots that need to be filled in with pp shadow enhancement. Not sure if that makes sense, as I always underexpose with digital, but somehow the films I use, often outdated, need a little more exposure than rated...
Will post a photo of the GSN soon.
I bought a Canonet G3 Ql17 from RFF. It was CLA'd and in great shape. I used it for a while and enjoyed its excellent lens, but I prefer Aperture Priority automation vs. Shutter Priority that's on the G3. Rather than sell it, I decided to give it to Eric for one of his birthdays (as I recall), and Eric has been putting it to good use. The G3 lens is really, really nice, and it's a very useful focal length. I also think that the build quality and materials use on the Canonet are better than the Yashica RF cameras that I've seen.
The saving grace for the Yashicas are their excellent lenses.
Do a search on this blog for "Canonet" and you'll find many shots by Eric, and a few by me, and also my original post about the Canonet (with picture) that I wrote right after I acquired it.
--Warren
Great photos from you and Eric, and a nice review. I like the size and styling of the Canonet, but it's got nothing on the GSN!! (plus the horrid PX625 battery issue) ;)
This is great, Ted - it reminds me of this article from Ken Rockwell that I found so interesting:
http://kenrockwell.com/tech/free-digital-camera.htm
BTW, for those old cameras that used mercury cells, you can buy a battery called "Wein cell" that has almost the same electrical characteristics as the mercury cell. It's more expensive (about 5 bucks) and only lasts about a year or so, but works very well otherwise - and no worries about meter calibration.
Thanks Steve, interesting article. I've used the Wein cells with my Canonets and Leica CL before, but usually ended up adapting to longer lasting cheaper 1.5V cells and dealing with the meter issues.
The GSN uses a different size and voltage battery than the 1.5V nickel sized PX625 Mercury types. It's a PX32 6V that was about the size of an AA batery, so it's a different type of battery than the 1.5V Mercury ones.
Fortunately, the metering circuitry of the GSN is regulated, so anything between about 4.5V and 6.3V works fine, and gives the same meter reading, even if you're using alkaline, lithium, or even mixing up 3V CR2s with a couple of LR44s, or using 4 LR44s stacked, etc.
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