Electro 35 GT ... Worth fixing?

[physiognomy]

Hey everyone!

This is my first post, so I hope I chose the right place.... I have been looking around and think I have a life-time's worth of reading to do....

I have a cosmetically "mint" (I am starting to dislike that word) Yashica Electro 35 GT that I am thinking about sending to Mark Hama... It's electrics seem shot and the aperture ring isn't working.

I know I can probably pick up another 35 cheaply, but I can't get over how ugly the silver ones are and don't want to shell out the $$ for a GTN (which is WAY over priced for a bit of black paint)... Anyone tried to paint a GSN and had some luck?

Sorry, getting side tracked.... Should I run the auction gauntlet again or pay the $85 and get my 35 GT refurbished?

Any advice is very much appreciated!

Cheers

Peter

[eric]

Send it to GREYHOUNDMAN. He'll fix it up like new. He did one of my GSN and my CC. Don't charge anything close to Hama time.

[wclavey]

Just my own opinion here, but my expectation is that unless I bought a used camera from someplace like KEH or a known personal source, my expectation is that I will need to have it CLA'ed sooner or later (probably sooner) by a releable service person. I have an Electro 35 GSN that I bought several years ago from the auction site and, luckily, it has worked well for about 5 years. But it is now acting flaky and I know it is time to send it to Mark Hama or the equivalent. Unfortunately, it is in line behind the Ansco Speedex 4.5 Special (going to Certo6) and the Zorki-4 headed back to mother Russia for some R&R. Since the Electro 35 is actually my son's back-up camera now, he can jump its place in line by agreeing to pay the CLA fee - - hey, it only fair...

Westley

[physiognomy]

Originally Posted by greyhoundman

How are you at DIY?

My DIY leaves a little to be desired... More through lack of courage and practice as I get a buzz from fixing things!

I took a look at geting to the aperture ring, but didn't get much past taking off the cosmetic lens ring. At the moment the aperture ring is fairly loose and is rotated too far, so that it starts beyond f16 and only goes to ~f8.

The other notable problem is that I got no response when I put a battery in the camera. I used one of the adapters available online + a 28L 6V battery... I haven't looked to see if it is a simple task of re-attaching wires.... I guess taking off the top cover would be a start?

Any advice as to whether this is something a reasonably dexterous person with young eyes could tackle would be appreciated!

Peter

[physiognomy]

Originally Posted by greyhoundman

The apeture ring has slipped it's notch, probably has a bent lever. Easy enough to fix.
The no power bit, is more than likely a corroded and detached negative wire at the top of the battery chamber.

Here is a good place to start.

http://www.yashica-guy.com/document/repair.html

Thanks... I have seen the site and will make use of the great info...

I think I need to get some more specialised tools to get at the aperture ring. Maybe I'll head to the hardware store tonight.

Peter