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on Nov 24, 2022 18:51:42 GMT
Last Edit: Nov 27, 2022 11:10:19 GMT by biggles3
This week, another Electro 35 landed here in Wales with a silver Auto-Up attached. By chance, I had my other Electro 35 on the table and noticed for the first time that they are slightly different. Both are the original Electro 35, not the later G or GS, GT, etc. but their top plates do not match.  Electro 35 early modelsAs you can see, the camera on the left has a more primitive wind-on lever, a white trim for the exposure warning lights, and a film speed dial which shows both ASA and DIN numbers whereas the other has a plastic thumb-grip added to the wind-on lever, black trim around the lights (adopted by the later models too) and ASA speeds only on the dial. The cameras have serial numbers that are about 1000 numerals apart and obviously, the one on the left is the oldest. A better image of the new camera and its Auto-Up is shown below.  Original Electro 35 with Auto-UpOne other thing I like about these two cameras, plus the Electro 35 Professional shown in an earlier thread, is that they have the original, round traffic lights in the viewfinder for indicating correct exposure unlike all the later models which used arrows. |
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on Nov 27, 2022 2:09:14 GMT
Posted: Nov 27, 2022 2:09:14 GMT
Incremental improvements over the production cycle. Still has that diamond pattern covering though.
PF
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on Nov 27, 2022 12:31:00 GMT
Last Edit: Nov 27, 2022 12:31:19 GMT by Ariel
...I had my other Electro 35 on the table and noticed for the first time that they are slightly different. Good-looking cameras, and in great condition, congrats!... and nice finding, I think it is the first time I see one with a white trim around the lights. Incremental improvements over the production cycle. Still has that diamond pattern covering though. PF I am not sure if those were improvements, since the newer film speed dial has less information, the plastic thumb-grip added to the wind-on lever is just esthetic and not providing a much better user experience, and if lost will ruin both. |
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on Jan 31, 2023 8:05:09 GMT
Last Edit: Jan 31, 2023 8:09:16 GMT by nrparsons
The new one is indeed a G, as indicated before the "Yashica" on upper left of the front. Yashica began putting the model designation on the lower right of the front with the Professional and then with the GS and GT. The camera on the left is indeed the older of the two, but it's not the oldest Electro 35 model unless it has a rectangular rangefinder patch rather than the later rhombus (diamond-shaped) one.  Yashica Electro 35 by Noel Parsons, on Flickr |
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on Jan 31, 2023 11:51:43 GMT
Posted: Jan 31, 2023 11:51:43 GMT
Hi nrparsons Thanks for the image of the original Electro 35; there aren't too many of them around... Ouch, that's another model to hunt down. Thankfully, there are a few for sale in Japan so I may have to upset my bank manager again... |
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on Apr 24, 2023 17:31:59 GMT
Posted: Apr 24, 2023 17:31:59 GMT
OK - the Electro 35 range is now complete.  Original Electro 35 I can't help wondering why Yashica decided to change the shape of the rangefinder patch from a rectangle to a rhombus... |
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on Jul 9, 2023 12:58:20 GMT
Last Edit: Jul 10, 2023 19:12:28 GMT by biggles3
Oh boy! Just when you think you've covered all the bases, Yashica bites you in the bum yet again... I was checking my usual sites in Japan this morning and was keeping an eye out for those early version Electro 35s with the rectangular rangefinder patch and have discovered that there are further variations. Their serial numbers all fall within the 70xxxxx series.  Early version White Label variations res From left to right, only camera 3 is in my possession and it's already shown in the opening post of this thread. Camera 1 is most unusual as it has an ASA-only metering dial and tops out at 1000ASA!! Cameras 2 and 4 share the same ASA/DIN dials which top out at 400ASA but the over/under-exposure warning LEDs on camera 2 are coloured behind plane glass whereas all the others have plain LEDs under coloured glass; additionally, the label on which they appear is silver unlike all the others which are white. Finally, although the ASA/DIN dials on cameras 2, 3 and 4 appear identical at first glance, the DIN indicators on camera 3 are different from the other two from ASA100 onwards and it tops out at 500ASA. These variations are all in the first iterations of the Electro 35; it would interesting to know why they occurred - especially the first one with the 1000ASA setting. When it comes to Yashica, it pays to be observant... |
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on Jul 9, 2023 16:43:22 GMT
Posted: Jul 9, 2023 16:43:22 GMT
The ASA dial and speeds shown in your pics got me curious. Of the two Electro 35's that I have out and have easy access to, they are both GSN models, and both have the exact same 1000 ASA dial as showing on your #1 camera. My 1st year Electro 35's are tucked away, so I'll try to dig them out to compare with later on. This might be another case where a previous owner wanted to keep their favorite camera serviced, and at some point in time a repair may have required the dial - or perhaps the whole mechanism - to be replaced, and no original parts were still available. It might just has easily have been a case of the repair person having a newer donor body already on hand, and used it for that/those parts instead of ordering new OEM parts, of whatever was on tap at the time. I'd also wonder if the detents for each speed actually existed over the full range -and- another oddity is in what one would assume to be noted in an original manual. The one online from Butkus appears to be for the 1st gen, and has the top speed at 500, so there might have been some incremental updating within them before they began the suffix designations. PDF link: www.butkus.org/chinon/yashica/yashica_electro_35/yashica_electro_35.htm |
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on Jul 9, 2023 18:17:59 GMT
Posted: Jul 9, 2023 18:17:59 GMT
The ASA dial and speeds shown in your pics got me curious. Of the two Electro 35's that I have out and have easy access to, they are both GSN models, and both have the exact same 1000 ASA dial as showing on your #1 camera. My 1st year Electro 35's are tucked away, so I'll try to dig them out to compare with later on. This might be another case where a previous owner wanted to keep their favorite camera serviced, and at some point in time a repair may have required the dial - or perhaps the whole mechanism - to be replaced, and no original parts were still available. It might just has easily have been a case of the repair person having a newer donor body already on hand, and used it for that/those parts instead of ordering new OEM parts, of whatever was on tap at the time. I'd also wonder if the detents for each speed actually existed over the full range -and- another oddity is in what one would assume to be noted in an original manual. The one online from Butkus appears to be for the 1st gen, and has the top speed at 500, so there might have been some incremental updating within them before they began the suffix designations. PDF link: www.butkus.org/chinon/yashica/yashica_electro_35/yashica_electro_35.htmAn interesting line of thought. Somebody help... I've found yet another variation of the ASA/DIN dial on a first iteration Electro 35 camera currently being sold on eBay...  Early Electro 35 film speed dialSurely there can't be more... |
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on Jul 10, 2023 13:33:19 GMT
Posted: Jul 10, 2023 13:33:19 GMT
Somebody help... I've found yet another variation of the ASA/DIN dial on a first iteration Electro 35 camera currently being sold on eBay... Surely there can't be more... Just another hunch, and it follows my earlier one... On the first version Electro 35's, the dial had 2 knurled lobes at the outer edge, and 2 flat ones. The GS and GT models had 4 knurled and 4 flat, just as your last pic does, and some of those would be available in black or chrome. None of the various Electro 35's shown in any of the manuals online had the speed markings in groups though, so that piece doesn't match from that perspective. |
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on Jul 10, 2023 14:20:35 GMT
Posted: Jul 10, 2023 14:20:35 GMT
Somebody help... I've found yet another variation of the ASA/DIN dial on a first iteration Electro 35 camera currently being sold on eBay... Surely there can't be more... Just another hunch, and it follows my earlier one... On the first version Electro 35's, the dial had 2 knurled lobes at the outer edge, and 2 flat ones. The GS and GT models had 4 knurled and 4 flat, just as your last pic does, and some of those would be available in black or chrome. None of the various Electro 35's shown in any of the manuals online had the speed markings in groups though, so that piece doesn't match from that perspective. That last image is intriguing as I can't (yet) find another one with that dial. That it too tops out at 400ASA does suggest that it's intended for the early Electro 35 models but beyond that I have no explanation. |
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on Jul 19, 2023 10:33:36 GMT
Posted: Jul 19, 2023 10:33:36 GMT
I decided to consult the Electro 35 oracle, Eugene Wolff, about these variations of the first iteration of the model.
His opinion is that such anomalies were not that uncommon. He explained that, according to Mark Hama, often the Sales Dept. would pressure the Production Dept. to launch the next model before all the new parts were available, leading to minor variations in finish. Also, when cameras were sent for repair, often like-for-like components were no longer available so whatever was to hand that could replace them would be used; that certainly explains the 1000ASA dial on an original Electro 35. Indeed, Eugene also pointed out that when you remember there was an additional production/repair line in Hong Kong, it could lead to a 'real Frankenstein situation' with any number of variations within the same model.
All that being said, and agreed with, I've just found a further variation of another Yashica model that I had thought was done and dusted. If I can get hold of it, I'll upload the image and confirm the additional finish of what was a popular model right at the start of the 1960s.
Yashica is the brand that keeps on giving...
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on Jul 30, 2023 13:37:47 GMT
Posted: Jul 30, 2023 13:37:47 GMT
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