As announced in my earlier blog post, today I will share a couple of pictures taken with my recently acquired rangefinder camera: the Yashica Electro 35 GS. To get used to the camera, I chose the very flexible Ilford HP5+, which I shot at box speed of ISO 400. The day I’ve spent in the streets was somewhat unusual as I actually had three cameras on me: my Rollei 35 S with around 10 pics left to shoot with the Ilford Pan F 50 (see the results here), the Yashica with the HP5+, and my digital Lumix GX80. Due to the light conditions, I started the day with the 10 pics or so left on the Pan F roll. Once finished, I changed the Rollei for the Yashica and have to say that this is quite a change in the hands: the Rollei is tiny and discrete where the Yashica is rather bulky and attracts some more looks from people passing by. As a consequence, I had to adapt my selection of subjects. As the weather was great – blue sky with no clouds at all – and the winter/late fall sun permitted to experiment with backlight and shadows. Not all of those experiments were a success – quite the opposite – but there are a couple of photos I like and that are presented below.

The Yashica is really fun to use and I enjoyed the first roll of film with it a lot. The Yashica is a pure aperture camera as shutter speed is automatically set by the camera. Lights on top of the camera and within the viewfinder show if the picture will be over- or under-exposed and recommends (with arrows) to adjust the aperture settings. What is a bit odd with this camera is that the shutter release needs you to push the button quite far down. For the first pictures of the roll, I really needed to get familiar with that. Another thing is that I am left eye dominant, but am starting to train myself to shoot with both eyes open. The Yashica is my first (and only) rangefinder camera and while quite intuitive, I might need some time to get use to it.  After this first experience, I can’t wait to get out and shoot another roll with the camera. By the way, when I opened the box of the Yashica ordered through ebay, there was a very nice surprise: the camera came with a release cable. I will probably try to work with this one of the next times, I will be out with one or both of my film cameras.