Random Photos | KKH Photos -Off The Desk

I love to shop in thrift shops, second-hand stores, and even yard sales. You find some of the best stuff there!

One of the things that I kept seeing on the shelves, and in the dusty boxes of some of my favorite little shops were old cameras.

I finally decided that I just couldn’t leave them all there. Broken, abused, abandoned, and forgotten they deserved a place to retire peacefully; and I needed decorations for my new space.

As I type this I have just over a dozen such cameras in my new collection, some in worse shape than others, some fairly new, and some almost as old as I am.

The most recent addition to this little collection is also the oldest; I found a 1966 Yashica Electro 35. This is a nice looking camera and a heavy little thing too. It had its original “form-fitting” leather case complete with a cute little leather film canister attached to the strap. The body looks to be in great shape; it was obviously well taken care of. The focusing ring seems to work well, the aperture functions as it should, it even still has the lens cap. [Oh, and it still had an old mercury battery inside.]

The sad thing though is that the self timer lever seems to be sprung, the shutter release button is jammed, and the film advance lever is stuck tight. Poor old thing, I wonder, could this be the ”The Pad of Death” I’ve read about?

It now has a new life as one of my most prized decoration and it looks awesome sitting on the shelf.

Yashica Electro 35

1966 Yashica Electro 35

I wanted to know a little more about my new old camera so I put our friends Google and Wikipedia to work again and here’s what I found out:

Yashica was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras. The company began in December, 1949 in Nagano, Japan. Its eight employees originally manufactured components for electric clocks.Later, they began making camera components, and by June 1953 had introduced their first complete camera the Yashimaflex. In December 1965, Yashica introduced the world’s first commercially successful electronically controlled 35mm camera, the Electro 35. In October 1983, Yashica Company Ltd. was acquired by Kyocera. In 2005, Kyocera halted production on all Contax, Yashica, and other Kyocera branded film and digital cameras. In 2008, Kyocera sold the trademark rights of Yashica to Hong Kong-based MF Jebsen Group, and is under its subsidiary JNC Datum Tech International, Limited.
The Electro 35 was the first of a very successful line of 35mm rangefinder cameras with fixed Yashinon lenses. It uses aperture priority exposure with a stepless automatic shutter with speeds from 30 seconds to 1/500s. Metering is done by half depressing the shutter button. When the shutter speed for the aperture selected is lower than 1/30s, the viewfinder shows an orange arrow pointing left and an orange light is displayed on the top of the camera. Similarly, when the shutter speed would have to be faster than 1/500s the viewfinder shows a right pointing arrow and there is a red control light on the top. Either situation can often be solved by changing the aperture, but anyway the shutter will still fire. The camera is fitted with a Yashinon 1.7 45mm lens with a 55mm filter thread.
The Electro 35 was sold to the public in 1966. The one I have found is brushed satin chrome finished but it was also available in a black enamel version which was emblazoned on the lower right front with the emblem “Professional”.
A major Yashica innovation was the unique automatic all electronic step-less shutter, the speed of which was controlled by an electro-magnet. This gave rise to the model designation “Electro”. This technology was shared by some of the Polaroid Land cameras. In 1960 the Polaroid Land 120 made its debut… it was manufactured in Japan by Yashica.
This original Electro 35 has a “cold” accessory shoe and the meter accepted film speeds from 12 to 400 ASA. Light levels are measured using a cadmium sulphide (CdS) photoresistor and was powered by a mercury battery. The film speed adjustment is not implemented electronically; instead a simple twin-bladed diaphragm closes in front of the light sensor as the film speed is reduced. The light metering electronics works by accumulating the measured light level and only releasing the shutter when it has determined enough light has fallen on the film. This system allows the shutter speed to be completely step-less and to adapt to changing light levels. SLR’s would wait many years for a similar capability with off-the-film metering. The metering system can keep the shutter open for up to 30 seconds. Without a battery to power the meter, the shutter defaults to its top speed of 1/500 second.
If an Electro 35 has had proper care and handling all its life it may still be used today; however there are issues. 1) “The Pad of Death” Part of the internal mechanism involves a spring-loaded slider operating a set of switch points. As the film-advance lever is operated, this slider shoots up to its original position, hitting a small rubber pad at the top. Over time this rubber degenerates and prevents proper (internal) operation of the camera. 2) Mercury batteries have been banned due to environmental concerns; but a 6V alkaline battery with an adaptor will work. 3) Like many older cameras the light seals eventually break down and cause light leaks.

Well; now I’m going to have to keep my eyes open for more old cameras the next time I’m out thrift shopping! I had a lot of fun learning about this one and hope to find similar information on all the old cameras I find.