Yashica half 17 half-frame

[scott_davis5]

Anyone know anything about this little camera? I saw one on ebay that

looks cute and sounds like it might actually be capable of taking

half-way decent pictures (pardon the pun). Are there any known

serious issues with it, is it serviceable or should I avoid it like

the plague?

[jon_goodman1]

Hi, Scott.

I don't think I would buy one unless I could see actual pictures taken with the camera in various lightings. This camera uses a selenium cell to establish shutter speed and aperture setting, so no battery is needed. Not that a selenium cell is bad, but they can lose their effectiveness (or go dead) over time, and my experience has not been good with this model. Also you might want to avoid the "rapid" model...it uses the odd rapid casettes you can't buy anymore. I've had better luck with the selenium cells in the Olympus Pen half frame cameras. Not that they have been that great, just more predictable than some. Have you considered a Canon Demi (like the EE17)? It will probably need light seals replaced, but I can help you with that.

 

Jon

[claudia__]

i agree about the olympus. the pen EE has the ability to be used manually (has f stops for flash mode) if the selenium ring around the lens is shot. they go pretty cheaply on ebay.

[franka t.l.]

I shoot loads of Half frame on slide, and IMHO almost all of the good old Pen, Canon Demi, Minolta repo, Konica eye, Yashica & Fujica are all but expired. They are all decades old and their selenium or CDS cell are all worn out and it would be needing a miracle ( or a replacement part ) to make them perform linear. Their exposure are in most case off.

 

I must admit that most of them take a decent picture, but used them with caution and tolerance. As for a half frame compact. I am using a Soviet Agak-18 ( which is pure mechanical and no meter ), Olympus Pen-FT SLR, & the Konica Autorex SLR

[awahlster]

WOW I had no idea my DEMI S and DEMI EE-17 were in such bad shape. I guess the 9 rolls of 72-75 exposure color prints I got in Europe with the DEMI S was just lucky. And the beautiful slides I have taken with the EE-17 must have been just luck.

 

Both of my DEMI S's take great photos the meter being dead on with Kodak Elitechrome slide film and Fuji Superia 100 and 400 print film.

 

The EE-17 (My favorite) Is like wise excellent when it comes to exposure.

 

And either can be serviced by most any old school camera repair shop I completely CLA'ed one of the S's from info found on the web.

 

If you go at the camera you are interested in as a new toy something to enjoy and play with then just don't pay more then your new toy is worth to you and you will end up happy.

[mark_overton1]

Even when they were working, the Selenium meters were poor because they assumed an average level of scene-reflectance that's violated all too often. So I only shoot cameras with a full manual mode.

In the half-frame world, that means the Canon Demi EE 17, Canon Demi with single exposure control that sets both speed and aperture, or the Olympus Pen (I) or D or S. Plus other models. The important thing is that you have the ability to set exposure yourself.

[steven_clark]

My olympus Pen EES (II?) seems to have a fully functional selenium meter.

[scott_davis5]

so in other words what y'all are saying is, unless I want this as a cute little thing to sit on my camera collection shelf, don't waste my money :)

[franka t.l.]

what I would say is any of these half frame VF cameras, when employed, serve reasonably welll and give decent result. Just know that they are pretty old, and respect their age as well as mindful of their capability; learn their indifference and work within their bounds.