yashica GSN - exposure

[LENS]

Hi guys,

I got a yashica GSN after service, and i took a roll of film. It looks pretty ok in the first place, but then when i tried to play those photos with photoshop, it seems some photos that under bright sun is over-exposed..

Anyone has same observation?

Or it is just simply my battery connection is loose?

It is an aperture priority camera, so how to i know the shutter do work correctly when i change the aperture?

Hope yashica GSN user share the opinion, i read that the exposure meter is on the top of the lens, will the exposure technique be different with SLR?

 

[KCLow]

I found that althought generally accurate, some situations do confuse the light meter and exposure goes off. But remember even modern cameras can be fooled by certain lighting situations, let alone one that is 30 years old. Just learn to make compensations by the iso setting.

If you change aperture, especially from largest to smallest, you should be able to hear the shutter speed change when you shoot.

 

[khairi]

the fastest shutter speed for a gsn is 1/500
thus in bright sun light...f16 or mayb f11 is the way to go...but it'll depend on the film ASA
that u use.

If you want GSN's correct exposure, just turn the aperture until the Over or Under LED
swithes off. However, KCLow's comment abt camera's built in meters are true. In tricky situations, sometimes it just fails.

 

[LENS]

ok, but i just quite surprise that it is a bit over exposed in some scenes, that i usually don't have problem with my nikon FM2. So i worry issit because the camera service didn't do a good job, and the meter or shutter isn't working well.

 

[KCLow]

I think the metering in the GSN and FM2 are generations apart! Prime lens technology may not have moved as much, but metering technology has moved leaps and bounds. Thus while the GSN still takes sharp and lovely pictures, learn not to depend on the metering under certain situations.

 

[ricohflex]

Were you taking slides or negative film ?

 

[LENS]

I took negative film for the yashica GSN test shots, actually i know that metering is just a guide but i just worry that the slightly over-exposure is caused by the aging circuit or incorrect calibration during service.

Since the yashica is aperture priority camera, so does it mean the camera thinks in this way.. ' you set aperture first, then the camera meter will detect the exposure level, and decide a right shutter speed, if the shutter speed is too slow, then the yellow light will be on, if i go ahead with the shot, the picture should comes out as a underexposured shots or a blur images that with slower shutter speed?

anyway to figure what is the shutter speed we are using for aperture priority camera?

 

[ricohflex]

The over exposure is not the camera's malfunction.
I know repairers.
One of them told me that in old days, people mainly use negative film. Few novices use slides which require more accurate exposure.
For colour neg film, either the camera manufacturer or the repairer usually set the camera meter to +1.5 more than the proper exposure. This is permanent calibration inside the camera.
You can take it apart again to recalibrate.
Colour neg film can take the overexposure. When the colour lab prints for you, they will adjust and you get good prints.
In many situations novice users under-expose, with auto-only cameras that have averaging meter cells, when at the beach or taking pic with bright background. Hence the reason why some of the manufacturers/repairers do this.
If your camera has a +1.5 or backlighting switch, it does the same thing. It boosts the exposure until you switch that function off.

 

[khairi]

unfortunately, the GSN do not have the +1.5 switch. I think the Oly XA has it.

 

[LENS]

wow Ricohflex, that's very informative to me. So it sounds like the calibration may have calibrated for a slightly over-exposure?

well, i paste my pic in a while.

 

[LENS]

The original photo:

The photo that i have added 50% 'multiply' layer.

By the way, do u find the original a bit over-exposured? sorry for the small photos, i don't have software to make my file less than 100k, for clubsnap gallery.

my friend prefer the original photo..

 

[ricohflex]

i do not think so :bsmilie:
the 2nd picture has more depth of field and difference is obvious in the details of faraway block
I suspect it is not a 50% multiply of 1st picture but is in fact another photograph taken with a smaller aperture

 

[LENS]

i do not think so :bsmilie:
the 2nd picture has more depth of field and difference is obvious in the details of faraway block
I suspect it is not a 50% multiply of 1st picture but is in fact another photograph taken with a smaller aperture

Ha, but it is actually a 50% multiply. The difference of exposure isn't really that obvious on webpage, but it does look more different on photoshop.

Look at the ground and you can see the darken ground on second photo =)

 

[ricohflex]

I used a GSN long ago. No longer have it.
Recently got a 35 GT (no hotshoe)
I have MG1 too. Just for fun. Do recall in late 1960s or early 70s cinema (before movie) will show advert of electro 35 with a nice catchy song. They stress low light capability of the camera, saying it does not need flash. But like most Sporeans at the time, too poor then to buy any camera. The metering of electro 35 can go to many seconds in low light.