Ricoh R1 and Minolta TC1

Ricoh R1

Ricoh R1

This little 35mm film camera was an interesting landmark and a new concept for its time. It was very thin and a fine performer.

It sported a dual range objective with two settings 30mm F3.5 and 24mm F8 (cropped to panoramic 16:9). Not SLR-like but image quality was well above the average and very sharp.

The autofocus was extremely precise, with 7 AF points and the viewfinder one of the best in this camera class. The AF system can also be used in spot mode.

The viewfinder is very interesting. It has automatic overlay LCD masks for close up, cropped panorama mode and focus point. No compact at that time got even close of this.

This little gem also accepts an infrared remote control.

It's also a very silent camera. 

Minolta TC1

Minolta TC1 (unknown author)

This is a camera I really regret selling it. It's simply the best pocket camera I had in hands. It's titanium made and very, very small. The closest rival was the Ricoh GR21.

It's an autofocus, aperture priority exposure marvel, with a stunning G-Rokkor 28mm F3.5 objective. It's razor sharp from corner to corner and on pair with my Leitz Elmarit 28mm 2.8, believe it or not. To complete, there are NO diaphragm blades. There are 100% circular holes, drilled on a rotating metal plate. 

The light meter is very precise and can work in two ways, two segments ESP and spot metering!

The viewfinder is small BUT... It shows the speeds and focus distance !

Their price can go very high on e-Bay but considering you will have an SLR quality pocket marvel, it's fair.

More about this fantastic camera here (a must see) and also on Karen Nakamura's website, and on Konica-Minolta one.

Olympus 35 SP

Olympus 35SP

Olympus 35SP

The Olympus 35SP was the last prosumer grade rangefinder from the brand. It's a true rangefinder with a very decent telemeter and a sharp and bright viewfinder. There are framing lines and a scale showing the light level in EV numbers, from EV3 to EV16.

It's a very interesting camera with fully automatic exposure mode with center-weighted and spot metering. It can be also used in manual mode but you'll need to read the EV value on the viewfinder scale and set the shutter and aperture values in the proper way. This means that the light meter is uncoupled when the camera is set to manual mode. To be honest, the spot meter is kind of meh, due to the parallax.

The lens is a razor-sharp (from F2.8) G.Zuiko 42mm F1.7, with 7 elements. It's one of the finest lenses ever fitted to a prosumer rangefinder and delivers stunning results. It's coated but my advice is to fit a 49mm lens hood because it's not flare proof.

The shutter is an all mechanic, 10 speed Seiko FLA going from 1s to 1/500s plus B. It's automatically set by the light meter when in Auto exposure mode, but can be used in manual. Not a great quality shutter, but it does what is needed. 

The battery is needed to operate the light meter, not the shutter itself.

Be careful: The camera has automatic program and manual mode ONLY. You can't select shutter or aperture priority setting one of the "A"s and using the other ring. You must set both rings on A or neither one ! There is NO WAY to use it in aperture priority or in shutter priority.

I'll not be going deep on specs and details. The only drawbacks I found on this camera are:

• No depth of field scale. 
• Rangefinder not the best.
• Parallax affected spot meter.
• The light meter sensor is beside the viewfinder, not inside the filter thread, so you need to remember to compensate the exposure if you plan to use filters with densities higher than 1.
• The light meter is not coupled when in manual mode
• Of course, it uses that dreadful MR-9/PX13 mercury cell, keep things simple and use a Zinc-Air from Wein one instead.

The good things:

• Stunning lens
• Has a rangefinder
• Auto exposure and manual override
• Flashmatic* system. Fantastic !

I prefer the Olympus 35RC over the 35SP. It's smaller, has a CDS light sensor inside the filter thread area (allowing automatic factor compensation) and works in shutter priority or manual mode (again, unmetered).

More information here:

https://www.cameraquest.com/olysp.htm

http://www.kenrockwell.com/olympus/35-sp.htm

* The Flashmatic system allows you to use a manual mode flash in a truly automatic way. All you need is to set the flash guide number on the proper camera dial and the camera will choose the correct aperture according to the focused subject distance. 100% foolproof.

Yashica Electro 35 GTN and CC

Yashica Electro 35 GTN

This is probably the best rangefinder camera you can get considering the price/performance ratio. The Electro 35 family has many models and subtypes and it's beyond the scope to comment about all of them here. Please check Yashica Guy's website for detailed information about this subject.

The beautiful camera above is a GTN, the last subtype of this model. You can see the massive Yashinon DX 45mm F1.7 objective. Believe me, this lens is VERY sharp. How sharp ? More than you'll ever need for film if properly focused. It's razor sharp.

It's very silent, thanks to the Electro leaf Copal shutter, capable of exposures from B up to 1/500s. The light meter is simply formidable and extremely precise. It calculates the exposure even during the exposure itself. If the light conditions change it will adapt.

The exposure range is from 16s (sixteen !) to 1/500s stepless. There are two warning lamps (not LEDs), visible on the top plate and from inside the viewfinder. The red one tells you there is too much light for the camera to make a proper exposure, and the yellow one just tells you that the shutter speed will be slow (below 1/30) and there is a risk of blurred photos. No lights on means a good exposure

The only drawback of this light meter is about the sensor cell position, outside the lens, near the "atom" symbol. If you use a filter, you'll need to remember to compensate the filter factor by adjusting the ASA setting and decreasing the film speed by the same factor.

For example, if you're using an ASA 400 film and an ND2 filter, you'll need to set the ASA to 400 minus 2 points, or ASA 100. That's it, just remember to set back to 400 if you take out the filter. The filter size is 55mm.

The lens/shutter combination gives you a very wide EV range. Think about 16s at F1.7 - 1/500s at F16

This is an aperture priority exposure camera. No manual mode. You set the aperture and the camera calculates the proper exposure time.

There are two other shutter settings, bulb and flash. The bulb mode, obviously will keep the shutter open while you press the shutter release button. It's not a mechanical system and it needs battery power. The flash setting fixes the shutter speed at 1/30s. This low speed is because the old flashes, but it's possible to use any electronic flash with this camera.

The viewfinder is very clear but not very bright, with a green tint. There's a nice yellow coincidence rangefinder spot for proper focusing and the parallax compensation frames that move automatically according to the distance set. Clever and functional.

The original battery is the now outlawed PX28 5.6V mercury, but it's very easy to adapt a 4LR44 6V alkaline battery and it works perfectly. The meter accuracy is not voltage-dependent.

There are many battery adaptors on market, but honestly, you don't need them. A good solution is to find a spring with the proper size to compensate the battery length difference and two turns of 3m double sided foam tape to match the original battery diameter.

Types:

GS = Chrome case, transistor electronics
GSN = Chrome case, integrated circuit electronics
GT = Black case, transistor electronics
GSN = Black case, integrated circuit electronics


Attention!

Please DO NOT mix one CR2/CR123 lithium battery with two LR44 alkalines. This combination is not balanced and may cause some problems in the short term. The LR44s will deplete much earlier than the lithium cell and then they will be in charging configuration with the lithium cell. This can cause leaks and even explosion of the alkalines. Never mix battery types. 

Yashica Electro 35 CC

Yashica 35 Electro CC

I love this small version of the classic 35 GTN. The differences are just the size, the lens type, now a Yashinon DX 35mm F1.8, fixed parallax compensation frames and no bulb setting. Flash speed is set when the flash PC-Sync contact is plugged. No hot shoe :(

But the lens quality is superb and the light meter cell is just over the lens, inside the filter thread, allowing automatic filter factor compensation.

Metering is very precise and good for positive film. Exposure compensation can be done by changing the film speed setting.

This is one of my favorites for street photography. A perfect match with a Kodak Tri-X film.

Works with one 4LR44 (same as 476A) alkaline battery.

More about the 35CC on Mike Eckman's wonderful website

Some images of the GTN rangefinder/viewfinder =)

Yashica Electro 35 rangefinder