The Yashica TL Electro X

<p >I bought the Yashica from a charity shop for thirty pounds, mainly because it had a lovely Auto-Yashinon DX 50mm f1.4 lens. It dates from the early 1970's and is something of a transitional type, having an electronically timed vertical metal Copal Square shutter, but stop down metering, which includes what I think was the first electronic read out in the viewfinder, consisting of two red arrows which alternately indicate over- or under exposure. The direction of the arrow tells you which way to turn the aperture ring. When the exposure is correct neither arrow lights up, so there's no positive indication, which is a little disconcerting.</p>

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<p >Although it has an electronic shutter and electronic exposure indication, there is no automation as such, the exposure is set manually by the photographer. It is a manual camera which works via electronics, if you see what I mean.</p>

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<p >On the left are the self timer and stop down / metering lever. On the other side is the mirror lock up.</p><div></div>

<p >The top is fairly conventional, the speed dial is a bit odd though. The faster speeds have click stops, the slower speeds don't. There is a battery check (which doesn't work in my example). It takes a widely available 4LR44 6 volt battery in a hatch at the back.</p>

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<p >As usual the light sealing was a mess. I replaced them but the mirror bumper is difficult as there is a metal plate in front of it. I found it a bit easier after bending this plate forward slightly.</p><div></div>

<p >I loaded it with a York Photo (?) 200 ISO colour print film (Made in Germany) and took it to the Leicester University Botanical Garden, where there's an annual sculpture display. That was when the trouble started. It seemed to behave impeccably at home, but as soon as I put a film in the shutter speed sounded haywire, mostly much slower than the setting. Some exposures seemed OK, so I carried on and finished the film, but only a few frames were at all acceptable – I guess the out of date film didn't help. I had to to some adjustments to get the scans half right.</p>

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<p >When I got it home I cleaned the battery contacts, and it seemed to be behaving itself again. Hmmmm...</p><div></div>

<p>I realise its one of those early electronic cameras like the Minolta XE series, which are classic in form but modern in electronics, but because of the manual nature of the operation I've put it in this forum. I hope it doesn't start a war.</p><div></div>

<p>Well it looks like a hippo to me. Here's a detail of it, sadly they put this one under a tree, where it became a target for the birds.</p><div></div>

<p>This isn't a sculpture, at leas, I don't think so.</p><div></div>

<p>Another one</p><div></div>

<p>And another</p><div></div>

<p>Last one - some flowers. The F1.4 lens seems to be OK for close ups, although I think this was done at f16. After I got it home I noticed a couple of small fungus spots in the lens, so I left it in the sun for a few hours to try to kill it.</p>

<p>Thanks for looking.</p><div></div>

<p>It definitely looks like a hippo. I thought maybe you had bashed it w/ the Yashica and roped it up good, but I guess the camera isn't that heavy. Probably would have killed it w/ a Bronica S though.</p>

<p>Very nice shots John, and a contrasty little lens it is.</p>

I like the pictures but I'm not a Yashica

fan. I've owned various models,

including this one and they've never

really enthused me. The one that came

closest was the FR1, which worked

well for me with the 28, 50 and 135.

<p>The reason the shutter dial has no click stops at lower speeds is because it is continuously variable in that part of its range- you can set it at any in-between speed.</p>

<p>Back in the early 70s before I discovered Nikon, I lusted after the TL Electro-X. Couldn't afford one so I bought the cheapest SLR on the market at the time, a Russian-made Hanimex before eventually getting my first F2. But years later I had a girlfriend who wanted to get into photography and I saw a used TL Electro-X advertised locally and bought it for her. It had a little bit of light leak along the door hinge, apparently from weak foam light seal there, but it was easily fixed with a piece of black gaffer tape. Loved the camera and took many good pictures with it. Unfortuantely she kept the camera when we split.</p>

Looks like a keeper. When we had the family camera shop the Yashica M42 mount SLR's

were the next brand we added after Konica but before we picked Minolta. Great shots and thanks for posting.

<p>Some of the cameras early in the Yashica line can be a little finicky, but their lenses are generally so good that the results outweigh the minor issues. I still have an Electro 35 GS rangefinder , with a similar lights on/off exposure system and iffy electronics as yours, but the lens takes great pics. Likewise I'm still working on my old fully manual 35 which was only made for a year or so and not sold in the US. My favorite go-to early Yashica SLR was the fully manual FX-2 which I refurbished and put some Zeis lenses on...what a great camera. I'd say yours is definitely a keeper, so use it and enjoy it...I do especially like your rope shot.</p>

<p>Nice old camera, <strong>John</strong>, and the DX-series lenses have to be some of the best-built Japanese lenses of the era. The f/1.4 is a fine performer, as you've demonstrated, and I regret that I can't use it on the Canon 5D's due to its prominent rear element. I've never been too keen on that new-fangled twin red arrow system, much preferring the old-fashioned match-needle. Thanks for the post.</p>

<p>The shutter speed setting dial has click stops to 1/30 only, however the shutter is fully variable throughout the <strong>entire range</strong> from 1/1000 to about four or five seconds, depending on the example (the dial is only marked to two seconds but you can get more delay than that) before the Bulb position. You will note that the flash sync of 1/90, as marked on the shutter dial, is actually in between the detents.</p>

<p>The shutter uses a variable resistor to adjust the current fed into a capacitor which, when charged, releases the electromagnets that engage the second shutter. This is probably the reason for the problems with the test film as any corrosion on battery contacts or the resistor wipers will affect the shutter speed accuracy. It is a fine 35mm SLR however it is battery dependant. Without a battery the default shutter speed is 1/1000 mechanical.</p>

<p>Having handled a number of examples of this camera and having been inside one extensively, from experience the shutter is usually reliable, although exercising the shutter dial before use to clean the resistor is definitely worthwhile. The metering however is another matter. It seems age related inaccuracy is quite common with the system drifting out of range and there is frequently insuffucient adjustment to restore proper function. Both lights working is not good enough, they have to be close to each other and also in the proper range. Get a good example with sound metering and they're arguably the finest M42 SLR ever made; otherwise you may end up with a serviceable camera that requires hand held metering for actual use.</p>

<p>They can have an appetite for batteries. Keep the shutter speed to 1/1000 when not in use to disengage the feed to the capacitor, and some say not cocking the shutter will also assist. Either way I've had well over 12 months from a battery to date so am satisfied it achieves longer battery life, measured in weeks otherwise.</p>

<p>Earlier this week my latest arrived; a near-mint black TL Electro X ITS with working, accurate light meter and original dealer brochure for 25 quid posted. I'm delighted to finally have one with a really good meter. It will need new light seals and the mirror foam replaced, both tasks a piece of cake.</p>

<p>Thanks to all for the comments. Steve, this is by no means a light camera, or little lens!</p>

<p>The comments by Jeff and Brett about the shutter speed dial are most interesting. Mine gives a speed of around six seconds set halfway between "B" and "L", although its hard to see how this feature can be used without calibration. I also suspected that intermediate fast speeds were available but again the distance between the click stops isn't great and it would be somewhat hit and miss.</p>

<p>John,<br />reference to the owners manual and also the Yashica publication "Yashica TL Electro X The Creative System of Photography" leaves no doubt the shutter values are infinitely adjustable all the way from 1/1000 down. And they have no choice but to be, given the electronically controlled delay of the second shutter curtain set being set by a fully variable resistor.</p>

<p>Regards calibrating the slower speeds. Although only marked to two seconds, every example I've inspected features a resistor that permits delays to at least four seconds plus. It's simply a result of the resistor fitted having sufficient value range to delay second curtain release by a longer delay than the dial is marked for. Whether this was intentional by Yashica, as: a by-product of the need to have enough adjustment range to correctly calibrate the mechanism; to provide some redundancy for wear; or just incidental; you can continue to delay the shutter closure until the wiper hits the end of the resistor track (at which point you'll end up back at 1/1000, until you turn the dial around to the Bulb position). Up to that point you can just keep on slowing the shutter...</p>

<p><strong>Re: using these unmarked speeds</strong><br />At settings of these duration, a few milliseconds here or there are of no practical consequence. I intend to carefully mark the dial of my newest purchase with some additional calibration lines, which I will be quite comfortable ascertaining with nothing more sophisticated than a digital stopwatch. In fact, when I inadvertantly managed to adjust the wrong trim pot a couple of years ago (there is one each for the meter and shutter resistors, under the bottom cover), whilst trying to improve the meter accuracy of another example, and set all the shutter speeds right out of sync, it was by re-setting the slow speeds back to spec with the resistor and a stopwatch that I was subsequently able to make the faster ones fall into line, (as demonstrated by a perfectly exposed roll of Velvia 100). But that's another story for another time.</p>

<p>I'll do a nice job of the dial marks with some marking tape and sharp, crisp, lines, and will then have a X that can give me an almost Exakta-like range of slow speeds in addition to the "B" setting for extended opening times. If you should foresee a need to utilise additional slow speeds, you may wish to do likewise.</p>

I've told myself If I ever see one of this series relatively cheap.. I'd take it. This seems to be one of the top models. The photos are excellent.so the meter must be working for the most part. From the description Brett R. give, this could be a great M42 body! I would have punced on this fro that lens too!! Lucky You.. Please shoot more !

<p>Well, Chuck, nothing else in M42 gives you easy to read TTL exposure metering, even when fully stopped down, fully variable shutter speeds, and a true mirror lockup system. I acquired an M42 bellows recently, and can't imagine using it with any other body. A split focus screen would be nice to have but I suppose you can't have everything. Certainly, I'd love a Honeywell Pentax with the mirror lockup modification as I am a fan of Pentax and their lenses, but these don't exactly grow on trees, and when you do find one, they're rather pricey for what you get. In the absence of one of these rarities, the Electro X rates as the most affordable and fully-featured M42 body available. They can have their issues, mainly the metering drift, and occasionally, a broken or detached mirror (usually because of the mirror foam, easily replaced if you catch it early on before they break) but there are enough of them out there that with a little patience, a sound working specimen can still be sourced.</p>

<p>The older TL Super also featured mirror lockup in a fully mechanically speeded shutter with CdS TTL metering. If you can find one in good working order these are a less complex camera that require a battery only for the metering. Sadly, fully functional examples seem hard to find now as meters are rarely inoperative...</p>

<p>Brett your enthusiasm for, and in depth knowledge of this particular camera are a source of inspiration to me. Now the shutter speeds have settled down I'll definitely give it another spin, with a better film. The tip about saving battery life by setting it to 1/1000 is also appreciated.</p>

<p>Well I'm a fan of Yashica products and the Electro is a rather nice product. It has LED's and an Atomic symbol, how futuristic is that!<br>

Great shots with the Yashinon, which I'm sure is a Tomioka product, and they made great lenses, of which the 1.4 is one of the best. Keep up the good work!</p>

<p>Excellent work John that shows the detail the Yashinon is capable of! I have its manual sibling, the TL-E that shows the same red arrows as the Electro-X, but a standard cloth shutter and the speed range narrowed to 1/2 sec to 1/500th. I also have the TL-E's replacement from 1972, the TL-Electro which was a slight improvement over the TL-E with a full 1 second to 1/1000 sec. range and the green LED over/under lights. My TL-Electro was my first 35mm SLR and is one of my steady users. These are well-made cameras, built to last... good luck and have fun!</p>

<p>Nice work with a classic/classy-looking camera.</p>

<p>With its nice lines and all, I always thought the Gothic letter <em>Y</em> was a little out-of-tone, sort of Ye Olde Camera effect, however.</p>