Taking my black Yashica Electro GTN out of the trash can...

[Juan Valdenebro]

Yesterday I developed the only test roll I did a month ago with my (new) GTN. I was so disappointed, I decided -after an hour of a long face- to place it (gently, inside a plastic bag!) in the trash can and just forget about it, and accept it was my mistake buying one through ebay... In maybe five points of the roll (different frames, not equally separated) there was a spot of light (in different amounts, same vertical elliptical shape, a bit shorter than the whole frame in the strongest ones...) and the roll also seemed maybe a stop underexposed to me... I was so upset, I cut the roll immediately after washing it, using the scissors I use for cutting the film leader inside the bag, and threw it in the trash can...

This had never happened to me, ever, with any camera, so I felt really bad... I even thought maybe some forum member would like to receive the damaged camera for parts or anything, but yesterday I was so bored after checking that roll, that I thought I'd better keep all that crap away from any forum member because it had a damaged shutter and a damaged meter, and being $90, who would bother working on it?

Today, after a good sleep, while I was happily running in the morning I thought again: “Damn! It's a shame! That Yashica seemed great for ISO 1000 and/or really selective focus at 1.7 with its 45, and with that price, I could be taking it everywhere here in Colombia without any worry... If there's less light than I need for my XA stopped down, then the Yashica is always with me for cheap 1.7 shooting...”

Then, having lunch, I thought: “How must that shutter behave to produce such a strange light leak? Mmmm... It seems impossible...” So a moment ago I took the camera out of the trash can to open its back door and see the shutter act with the lens aiming at a source of light... The shutter works well! I was amazed! I had seen -the day I got it-the back door had no foam seals but the door's edges were bent metal that fits perfectly (and a bit deeply) inside the body, to avoid light leaks... So back then I assumed the camera used no foam seals, but today I started to take a better look to see what could have caused the big and changing light spots on my negative...

My first conclusion was the spots “happened” during the times (days) between the series of shots I did on different days... I shot at ISO1000 and at ISO25 (camera's ISO limits) with an ND64 filter: should have been 16 but who cares...) The underexposure I saw was worse than that... And it did affect both 1000 and 25 shots... But it was worse in some frames, so maybe those were the 25 ones...

Then I saw real close the place where the door swings (I don't know the word in English: where it touches the body when it's totally opened...) and in that 2 inches vertical line there's nothing, no foam, but in its extremes there is a millimeter of something black and creamy I touched and had not noticed before: I think that cream was foam decades ago, it's sticky and with some texture, and for sure it was a solid line of foam in the beginning, but it had totally disappeared except for the extremes of that line...

And I just checked the places where the bent metal parts of the door fit in the body: there's a very small amount of the same creamy residue of foam, both on the door borders (the bent parts) and inside the thin places where the body receives those bent door borders!

So I understood: the most dangerous light leaks because of all that foam lack, came from the vertical part of the door close to the body, just very few millimeters away from the place the already shot roll starts to be rolled...

So I guess I will have to restore the short vertical foam in the door's internal extreme, and also the two longer, deeper lines inside the body... I have never done it for any camera... Any idea on what kind of foam and glue should I use? I wish I was in Spain for this: I don't know what foam to look for... And no idea where!

After that, yet I'll have to check another roll to see if the light leaks disappear, and also check what's up with the meter... Maybe it's one of those meters that require “a bit more light/development” than others... By the way, I guess the power is OK: I am using the new battery that came with the adapter I got from Yashica Guy a month ago, and the battery check gives a bright green light...

Thanks for any tips on foam seals!

Cheers,

Juan

[buzzardkid]

Great story, Juan!

There used to be a guy called Jon Goodman on eBay for lightseals, but I cannot recall his eBay handle... Bet somebody else can.

"where the door swings" = hinges!

[Juan Valdenebro]

Hi Johan!

Hinges...! Great lesson!!!

Cheers,

Juan

[pobe]

He's interslice at eBay: http://myworld.ebay.com/interslice/

I once got a seal kit for a Pentax MX from him - perfect fit, easy to fix.

[Leigh Youdale]

I recently got two kits from Interslice to replace the perished seals in the doors and mirror damper on my two Nikkormats. Excellent product. In my case they came pre-cut, with the necessary small wooden shaped tools to clean it out.
All I needed extra were some cosmetic cotton buds, some denatured alcohol (white spirit) and a pair of tweezers from the bathroom cabinet.

[Juan Valdenebro]

Johan, pobe, Leigh, thanks for the great advice! I'll check his site!

Cheers,

Juan

[ColSebastianMoran]

It can be a great camera. Have you checked the POD by listening? You should hear a distinct "clunk" as you advance the film. If you don't, all kinds of unwanted behaviors are likely.

Light leaks? Ha. Seen lots. Seal it up. I'll second the recommendation for Jon Goodman's kits, but materials from an art store can work as well.

[Mr_Flibble]

Jon doesn't sell on ebay anymore, but you can contact him directly and he'll get you the seals you need, Juan.

I got my Yashica GSN fixed with a seal kit from Der Kamera Doktor "Victor Hälke": http://www.kameradoktor.de/

If you want to cut the seals yourself look for neoprene material with an adhesive side. 1.5 to 2mm thick tops.
The foam in the door channels on the back doesn't really need to be glued down, but better safe then sorry right.

I had a similar problem like you with my Yashica TL Electro. I had replaced the foam but there was a light leak visible in some of my photos. It took a few days to finally figure out what the problem was, On this SLR there's also a foam seal cushion under the lens of the eye-piece....if that goes, it lets light in in at the top just behind the shutter curtains.

[Juan Valdenebro]

Rick, Sebastian, thanks a lot for you comments!

Sebastian, I have no idea what POD means... There's a thing I felt strange, or unusual to me the day I got the camera: when there's overexposure or too much light, I get the red indicator soon: just as I start pressing the shutter... But if the case is underexposure / too low light, the yellow light comes a lot later: after pressing the shutter almost completely... The shutter can be pressed down more than any other camera I've used... Is this the normal way it works on GTNs? It works perfectly, though: both the meter lights and the shutter...

About advancing film, I hear a constant sound as I advance, and there's another sound -but not a loud one / mechanical clunk- I can hear for an instant while I advance and in the middle of the constant advance sound... It's a tiny click just after the middle of a prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, say at two thirds of the advance lever movement/sound...

Cheers,

Juan

[nparsons13]

Juan, the Electro 35 "clunk" is demonstrated on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7ZmzL3ojZc. The clunk comes at less than halfway through the wind motion.

The red and yellow lights on your camera appear to be coming on at the right times: red near the top of the push and yellow further down.

[Juan Valdenebro]

Originally Posted by nparsons13

Juan, the Electro 35 "clunk" is demonstrated on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7ZmzL3ojZc. The clunk comes at less than halfway through the wind motion.

The red and yellow lights on your camera appear to be coming on at the right times: red near the top of the push and yellow further down.

Thanks for the link... So it looks like I should place my Yashica back in the trash can!

Cheers,

Juan

[ColSebastianMoran]

Juan, what's the problem? Hate to throw the baby out.

Your descriptions (#9 above) sound OK. Did your camera not match the demo linked above?

[Juan Valdenebro]

Well, Sebastian, I just read several sources and the information is contradictory... Hey, that's a spontaneous definition of internet...

Some sites including yashicaguy say the loud sound or clunk can be heard when the pad is worn out... It's originally placed there to absorb springs' forces... But some sites also say a click (not loud) should be heard. I don't have that click on my camera. And worse, I just tried to make the camera shoot at slow speeds: it doesn't... If I have a scene without red or yellow lights, and I stop down a few stops until I get the yellow/low light signal, the shutter remains open as long as I keep the shutter pressed (B) as it should be, but if I open a stop from there and the yellow light doesn't come anymore, The shutter sound is IMO a fast one... That would explain the underexposure I found in my roll: I read some cameras shoot at 1/500 always...

[Juan Valdenebro]

Can you hear the double click of the shutter if you shoot at the previous f-stop (wider) than the one that gives you the yellow light? I can't: it sounds like a very fast speed... And then goes to B if I stop down, but I can't hear low speeds... Normally (in other cameras) 1/30th can be easily distinguished...

Cheers,

Juan

[gb hill]

Juan I suggest you read up on the GSN on Yashica Guy's site. I doubt the camera is in bad a shape as you think. My GSN doesn't 'clunk' & works fine. If you read on Y.Guy's site a clunk means the POD is deteriorating. People get this confused. When I got it I put new seals in it, very easy to do with Jon Goodman's seal kit.
http://www.yashica-guy.com/index.html

[Juan Valdenebro]

I can't believe a seller in the UK can say he did test the camera with film and it was perfect... People are amazing...

Cheers,

Juan

[Juan Valdenebro]

Thanks Greg! Do you get to hear slow speeds? And do you have any kind of clunk or click?

Cheers,

Juan

[gb hill]

My shutter is almost as quiet as the shutter on my QL17 GIII so I hear a light click. As I adjust the aperture on the lens I can hear the change of speeds. The defaut is 1/500th from what I have read.

[Juan Valdenebro]

OK, and do you have any click while advancing film?

Cheers,

Juan

[gb hill]

When I bought my GSN the seller gave me a parts GSN. The only thing missing was the battery cover. I took the cover from my good GSN & inserted a battery just to see if it worked. It works, but unlike my good GSN it clunks so loud when I press the shutter I can feel the insides moving. Never have put a roll of film through it.

[Juan Valdenebro]

I just did another test:

While my camera senses the light is OK (more than yellow light) I hear no changes in shutter speed. I think that's a problem.

BUT:

In the first f-stop the yellow light comes, the camera shoots at B if the underexposure is enough, but if I aim just to the point where lights are going lower on a wall, just as the yellow warning appears, the camera shoots at low speeds: I just heard the double click... But it doesn't do it if the yellow light has not just activated...

Cheers,

Juan

[Juan Valdenebro]

Maybe I should put some foam seals and do another roll to test meter and shutter... But it's not easy to do it with an AE only camera... If it shoots at 1/500th only no matter the f-stop I set, I'll have no solution...

Cheers,

Juan

[gb hill]

Originally Posted by Juan Valdenebro

OK, and do you have any click while advancing film?

Cheers,

Juan

Haven't used it in awhile but I think it makes a click & ratchet sounds as it winds. I need to shoot with this camera but I have so many with film in them I hate the thought of loading another camera.

[gb hill]

Originally Posted by Juan Valdenebro

I just did another test:

While my camera senses the light is OK (more than yellow light) I hear no changes in shutter speed. I think that's a problem.

BUT:

In the first f-stop the yellow light comes, the camera shoots at B if the underexposure is enough, but if I aim just to the point where lights are going lower on a wall, just as the yellow warning appears, the camera shoots at low speeds: I just heard the double click... But it doesn't do it if the yellow light has not just activated...

Cheers,

Juan

The yellow light is your slow speeds indicator light. If the light doesn't come on then the correct faster speed will be chosen. Sounds right to me Juan.

[Juan Valdenebro]

All I have apart from the continuous advance sound, is an almost imperceptible sound of a spring or something that moves a little bit -for a clear instant- inside the camera... And it happens at the same time always: a bit before the end of the complete advance action...

Do other members own well working Yashicas without clear clunks at the beginning of the film advance?

Cheers,

Juan