Yashica Electro 35 GSN

by Karen Nakamura

Overview and Personal Comments

The Yashica Electro 35 GSN is a coupled-rangefinder, leaf-shuttered 35mm camera with aperture-priority automatic exposure. It retailed in 1973 for ¥29,500. The exchange rate was approx ¥292/US$1in 1975 so that comes out to US$119. Taking inflation into account with the AIER calculator, that's $400 in 2002 dollars. By the end of the model run in 1980, the yen-dollar rate had plummeted to about ¥200/$ but inflation in the U.S. intervened which made it $175 in 1980 or $381 in 2002 dollars. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

The Electro 35 GSN was released in 1973 by Yashica. The serial number of my first body is #H6913xx and it has a "Made in Hong Kong" stamped on the bottom. The lens is a Color-Yashinon DX 1:1.7 f=45mm lens made in Japan. The lens on the camera really sparkles and is excellent in low-light.

I purchased my GSN in excellent condition on eBay for $175 in October of 2001. I then found one at an antique store in early January 2003 and compulsively bought it as a backup. If that wasn't bad enough, I bought a third one in late January 2003 as part of a lot with a Yashica Lynx and Electro GX that I wanted.

The Yashica GSN traces its lineage to the Yashica Lynx of 1960 (actually the Yashica 35 of 1958 is earlier, but the family resemblance is further). With

the Electro 35 in 1968, the series added the new Copal-Electro shutter, which was electromagnetically controlled. The GSN is the last of the large bodied Electro series. There was a series of compact bodied Electros - the GL, GX, and ML1- but these were relatively short lived. Only the GSN enjoyed the tremendously long run of 17 years. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

Interesting quirks

The Copal leaf shutter is entirely stepless from 1/500 to about 30 seconds. The camera is aperture-priority -- that is, you set the aperture from f/1.7 to f/16 and the camera will choose the shutter speed from 1/500 sec to 30 seconds automatically for you. It does not use through-the-lens (TTL) metering, the CdS cell is located to the right of the rangefinder, but it still does a great job. With negative film, I rarely have any imperfect exposures.

Because it's a leaf shutter (the shutter diaphragm is located inside the lens unit rather than at the rear of the camera), the Yashica has all the benefits of leaf shutters:

Very quiet. The Yashica gives only an inaudible "click." Much quieter than even a Leica M6 or M7 (I know, I own an M7). Because the shutter timer is electromechanical, there is no whirring during long (> 1 sec.) exposures. Just a near silent click as the diaphragm opens and then a second one when it closes.

Very stable. Diaphragm shutters have much less inertial mass than a focal plane shutter. And with leaf shutters, the inertial mass is centripetal, so it has no net effect on the entire camera body, thus transferring very little vibration to the camera. With a focal plane shutter, the intertial movement is unilinear and (think Newton's Law) it causes the camera to jerk slightly sideways (horizontal shutter) or vertically (vertical travel shutter).

Can flash sync at all speeds - even the maximum shutter speed of 1/500 sec. This is great for daylight sync photos.

If you're curious, the disadvantages of leaf shutters is:

The maximum shutter speed is usually 1/500 sec. Compare this to 1/1000 sec for horizontal travel shutters (e.g. Leica) and up to 1/8000 sec for vertical travel (all contemporary SLRs, etc.).

Diaphragm leaf shutters are complex and building one into each lens is prohibitively expensive. The shutter units are large. Thus, the only current interchangeable lens cameras with leaf shutters are medium and large format (Mamiyas, Hasselblads, etc.). The Voigtlander Bessamatics and Kodak Retina IIIC/Reflexes had interchangeable lenses, but the leaf shutter design limited the maximum aperture of the lenses.

But for fixed-lens rangefinders, leaf shutters are perfect.

The rangefinder on the GSN is not only fully coupled (i.e., focusing the rangefinder focuses the lens) but it also has built-in parallax compensation. The common problem with rangefinders is that they aren't fully What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get because of the small amount of parallax difference between the rangefinder window and the taking lens. With the Yashica, as you focus closer, the viewfinder gridlines actually move to compensate for

the amount of parallax. This is important when taking headshots or pictures of found objects. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

GSNs take one 5.6v PX32 mercury battery, unfortunately these have been discontinued as have their PX32A alkaline counterparts. Fortunately, you can use a 6v PX28A (aka 4LR44) alkaline battery which is readily available at any Walgreens or Radio Shack. The Yashicas can handle the slightly higher voltage without any difficulty. The smaller PX28As last about a year of heavy use in my experience. The GSNs have a

built in battery check feature which is very handy.

To the right, you can see the size difference between the PX28 and PX32. The spring that makes up the difference can be bought at any hardware store. I wrap the PX28 in a small cardboard tube (cut from a cereal box) to make up the diameter difference, put the PX28 in the camera, then follow with the spring to make up the difference in length. The camera handles the slight difference in voltage. More details are at Matt Denton's page.

Please note that I have noticed some unscrupulous vendors on eBay and MercardoLibre are plagiarizing this page. If you notice this page on eBay under anything except my eBay ID (nasukaren), please notify me and I will have eBay cancel the plagiarizer's account. It's plain fraud as they are not selling the cameras pictured (obviously since it's my camera).

Yashica GSN Gallery

This photo was taken 2002.11 at a country auction in rural Minnesota with my original GSN (camera #1 above). The film used was Fuji Superia 200, not particularly noted for its fine grain. The camera was handheld and the aperture was f/2 or 2.8. As you can see, the GSN excels in handholdability and has very fine resolution even with the aperture close to wide open. The

shutter speed must have been 1/30 or 1/15 as one of the figures exhibits motion blurring. Because there is no mirror, you can handhold the camera with much slower speeds than an SLR.

Color accuracy is good despite the ugly fluorescent lighting and the bokeh or out of focus highlights are creamy smooth. This is why I like this camera so much.

I enlarged a small portion of the photo. This would be the approximate equivalent of a 30cm x 45cm (13" x 19") enlargement. As you can see, the detail is incredible. You can make out the color of the individual spools in the spool case behind the auctioneer. I should reiterate that this is handheld! We're approaching the limits of the grain of the consumer grade film as well as the resolving power of my Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED scanner (I have infrared cleaning on medium, which also reduces resolution). For available light photography, the GSN can't be beat. It even beats other rangefinders such as Leica and its clones because their focal plane shutters cause more vibration and noise than the leaf shutter.

Broken GSN?

Many GSNs haven't been used in over two decades. So it should come to no surprise that if you find a bargain GSN in a flea market, that it may not work. But often this is just because the internal contacts have oxidized from inactivity. Despite the gold contacts (the G in GSN), dust and evaporated oil can prevent good connectivity. A little exercise can often fix them.

Put the batteries in, then turn the aperture ring back and forth, back and forth multiple times. Also many GSNs have a very strange shutter trigger where the meter only turns on sporadically when you're pushing the shutter down. Try pushing the shutter button down veeeeerrrrrryyy slowly and see if the meter turns on at any point (you'll hear it more than see it). Do this multiple times until the contacts have self-cleaned and the camera should be fine afterwards as long as you regularly use it.

Technical Details

Camera Name Electro 35 GSN Manufacturer Yashica

Place of Manufacture Body: Hong Kong Lens: Japan

Date of Manufacture 1973.4 ~ 1987.1

Focusing System Fully coupled rangefinder with built-in parallax compensation Lens use helical focusing

Fixed Lens 45mm, f/1.7, Color-Yashinon lens (6 elements in 4 groups) Minimum focusing distance = 0.8 meters (~2.6 feet) Right focusing (infinity on right side) 55mm thread for filters, 57.5mm lens shade

Shutter Copal shutter 30 (?) secs - 1/500 B and "flash" settings X-flash sync at all speeds Self-timer on lens mount

Metering System

CdS cell mounted above next to rangefinder Aperture priority electronic exposure

Lights on top of camera / rangefinder warn of under/over exposure conditions

EV ? - ? (at ISO 100) Apertures f/1.7 - f/16

Flash External hot-shoe + PC cable connection

Film type / speeds Type 135 film (35mm standard) ASA 25 to 1000

Battery type 5.6v PX32 (battery check feature) -compatible with 6V PX32A; or 6V PX28 alkaline, with 40c adaptor

Dimensions and weight 697g Retail price ¥29,500

Use of this chart, text, or any photographs in an eBay auction without permission will result in an immediate IP violation claim with eBay VeRO. Violators may have their eBay account cancelled.

Auxiliary Lens Wide-Angle Lens Telephoto Lens

Manufacturer Yashica Place of

Manufacture Japan

Date of Manufacture ¿¿¿¿¿¿ 1973 ~ 1987 ???

Focusing System

Focus using GSN rangefinder, then use distance conversion table on lens mount to convert actual distance to focusing distance.

Mount 55mm screw-in lens mount (direct to GSN) 72mm screw-in filter mount

Lens Construction

37.7 mm effective focal length (0.8x) AoV = 61°

2 elements in two groups f/4 effective aperture

58.4 mm effective focal length (1.3x) AoV = 40°

3 elements in three groups f/4

effective aperture

Copyright © 2005 Karen Nakamura / Photoethnography.com. Use of this chart, text, or any photographs in an eBay auction without permission will result in an immediate IP violation claim with eBay VeRO. Violators may have their eBay account cancelled.

About Yashica/Kyocera/Contax

The Yashica Corporation began making cameras in 1957, releasing its first model in 1958 (the Yashica 35). They produced a very well regarded series of twin-lens-reflex (TLR) medium format cameras under the Yashica-Mat brand and 35mm rangefinders under the Yashica Electro name. Yashica became a subsidiary of the Kyocera Corporation in October of 1983. For the next two decades, Kyocera continued to produce film cameras under the Contax marquee, including a very nice 35mm Contax SLR series (which used Zeiss lenses), a medium format system, and the Contax G1/G2 rangefinders (also with Zeiss glass).The Yashica name was only used for a small series of dental cameras and point and shoots. In March of 2005, Kyocera announced that it would cease production and sales of film and digital cameras under the Contax marquee. Thus ends 30 years of a wonderful camera line. The Contax name will most probably revert back to the Zeiss foundation, thus who knows what will happen in the future. Right now, the name "Yashica" appears to have been bought by a Chinese company for their inexpensive digital cameras.

Page Updated June 5, 2010

Yashica 35mm Rangefinder Chronology & Specifications

Featured are the Electro 35, Yashica G, GS, GSN, GTN, GL, MG-1 and CC.

There are so many Yashica Electro 35 Rangefinder cameras on offer on the web, often with little in their description to differentiate them. Many of these offerings have supporting pictures of dismal quality or are partially cloaked in their cases. Site visitor Lindsey Harris, suggested that a chronology of these cameras would be useful, and kindly provided a sketch, which has been expanded upon below

....the original Model Yashica Electro 35 was introduced in 1966. It is shown here in the brushed satin chrome finish. This model was also available in a black enamel version, which was emblazoned on the lower right front with the emblem "Professional". The front view is depicted with the optional Tele Adapter and viewfinder. Two demarcation lines appear in this clip-on finder which show the field of view for the Tele or Wide Adapter. This camera has a battery powered aperture preferred automatic exposure system. The ASA range is from 12 to 400. To set the film speed for the automatic exposure control system, a dial which has both ASA and DIN settings is rotated to the required indicator. This round scale has a transparent plastic cover with a dimple that may have been designed to act as a magnifier, but does nothing on my example. Subsequent models only have the prevailing ASA standard on the scale and no protective dial cover. An ASA to DIN conversion table was printed inside the back door of

some of the later models.

A major Yashica innovation was a unique automatic all electronic step-less shutter, the speed of which is controlled by an Electro-Magnet. This gave rise to the model designation “Electro”. This technology is shared by some of the Polaroid Land cameras. In 1960 the Polaroid Land 120 made it's debut.... it was manufactured in Japan by Yashica.

The correct exposure is determined by turning the aperture ring until neither the red or amber lamps are lit. These are visible both on the top of the camera and in the view-finder. A small arrow visible next to the lamps on the top plate, indicates the direction in which the aperture ring must be turned in order to achieve the correct exposure range. It also warns when exposures time will be so long, that a rigid mount is required. The lamp covers on the top have a directional shape. The lamps as they appear in the finder however were round. Among the later design changes, having the shape of these lamps appear as arrows in the finder, was most helpful.

Few examples of the round 'traffic light' indicators survive. All of the other cameras in the series shown on this site display Arrow Indicators in the finder.

A shutter release knob threaded to accept a cable extension trigger, and a self timer with a nominal 8 second delay, add icing to the cake of the entire series. The fixed lens is the coated legendary Yashinon DX ƒ1.7 45mm constructed with six optical elements in four groups. The lens mount is threaded to accept 55 mm accessories.

Note the spartan design of the wind lever, a carry over from the earlier classic models. It too, was made over in short order with black trim which also added to the comfort of the user, and this improvement is found in all the other models of the series shown on this site

The published fully automatic exposure range capability of the system was from 30 seconds to 1/500 second as you can see in the accompanying graphic. Far longer accurate time exposures have been repeatedly reported.

The camera was designed to be powered by a Mercury TR 164 / HM-4N 5.6 Volt battery. Due to the hazardous nature of mercury, these batteries are long discontinued. An adapter to use available batteries is described in the link from the Main Page of this

site. It powers this model and all of the Yashica Electro G series which follow right through the GSN / GTN up to, and including the MG-1.

The success of this camera with it's incredibly fast lens at an affordable cost, spurred the introduction of the new model G [defining Ggrade-up] in 1968. There were changes in the cosmetics and it was delivered with a new Yashinon Color designation on the lens. This was added to re-assure the public that the lens was fully Color corrected, at a time when the use of colour film exploded. There was no change to the advanced original design of the lens itself, other than an internal modification of the focus gearing. The Model G is shown here in satin chrome finish. Starting in 1969 it was also manufactured in a black enamel finish, with the model designation GT. It can be viewed with a link to "Variations" below. The GT was supplied with an exclusive lens shade, which according to the manual, locks the setting in AUTO when mounted. It does that with all the other rangefinder cameras of this series that I have tried it on. There is no mechanical lock as such, depending instead on the fact that moving the setting under ordinary conditions is not easy, and with the lens hood mounted, one simply cannot get enough leverage to move this in error. The tell-tale identifier of the prior Electro 35, and the G and GT versions is the sculptured recess on the bottom plate. This is an ergonomic design to enable the door to be easily grasped and opened. [See link to variations for detail images and the origin]. This design could provide a means of positive registration on a hand grip / flash

bracket or other anticipated mount.

The Electro 35 and the G series viewfinders self adjust to compensate for parallax as the focus ring is turned, another welcome feature. Even the ancient Electro 35 makes focusing in the dimmest light a snap under conditions that would defy focusing an SLR. These models are readily identified, in that they have the rear door release operated by a tab mounted on the bottom of the camera. This is visible on the extreme left of the lower photo. Why this was changed is unclear because it was a trouble free design without the potential for problems that the later combo rewind / door release introduced.

The fold out rewind handle is attached to the shaft by a screw, which makes replacement of the

handle spring simple. A socket is provided on the side of the body for a flash extension cable. This is a PC socket [Photo-Flash Connector]. The term 'PC' is said to originate with Prontur Compur, the noted German shutter manufacturer who first introduced this connector, that became an industry wide standard. A cold flash shoe is top mounted. The ASA scale ranges from 12 to 500. The Battery Check Button & Indicator Lamp are framed in white. These cameras are so ideal for working in poor light conditions, that the battery test button also provided the means to light up the frame counter. The Slow / Over Indicator Lamps on the top are trimmed within a black template. The black skin is still a coarse cross hatch, which provides an excellent grip.

....the second generation Electro 35 G introduced the combo door release / rewind handle. One can only speculate that the move to a change in design was to emulate the SLR’s which were taking over the market. There is no hot shoe and it too has a PC socket on the side for a flash synch cable. The fold down rewind handle was still attached with a screw. Notice the flat bottom plate. Viewed directly from the front, it is indistinguishable from it’s predecessor

...the third generation Electro 35 was introduced in 1970. This was available both as the chrome satin Electro 35 GS and the Black enamel finish Electro 35 GT. Yashica also promoted this as the “Gold Mechanica”. All the electrical contact points were gold plated to increase the efficiency of the electrical current flow, and to prevent oxidation

from forming which could possibly impede that flow over the course of time.

The GS retained the white template around the battery test button, while at the same time doing away with the test lamp which adjoined it in the G....Why waste battery power with two lamps, right? Pressing the test button lights up the frame counter window only. The GT switched to a black template around the battery test button, which

looked so classy that it was adopted in all chrome and black succeeding models. They also heralded the switch over to a simulated leather grain skin.... The combination film door release / rewind handle on the GS and GT are attached to the shaft with a screw. The flash shoe is still not Hot. The ASA scale has been extended to range from 25 to 1000.

Interestingly, the GS and GT as well as later models can be found both made in Japan and assembled in Hong Kong with the key elements, most notably the lens and optical finder originating in Japan. The insert shows a label from the Yashica box of the Hong Kong version.

For important variations of the Black Enamel bodies, including the PRO and Accessories, go to Variations & Accessories

. ....the fourth generation Electro 35 GSN and GTN did not appear until 1973. They were similar to the previous generation but finally received a hot shoe. The PC socket for a flash extension cable was fortunately retained. The problems resulting from overly ambitious tugging upon the door release / rewind handle, introduced the rivet head fastener. It is retained by a threaded nut but tricky to take apart to replace the leaf spring used to keep the rewind crank handle in place ....!

The flagship of the Yashica Rangefinders is the GTN, displayed here to illustrate the Black Finish. Like it's chrome partner, ASA film speeds to 1000 are supported. Mechanically it is identical to the GSN, but certain metal parts have been executed in plastic to simplify the manufacture of black parts.

The Yashica Guy Updated Manual which covers the 'G' through MG-1 Models and contains additional information not found in the Yashica publications, was originally formatted as an Adobe pdf file for me by Marco Tulio Alvarenga in Brazil. Click to View or Print

Thanks to Lee Scott for the scan of the famous Yashica Electro 35mm "Moonlight" ad, which ushered in a new era of automatic exposure control. To view or print it Click Here Close Browser file to return here from that link.

...the MG-1 is an interesting model. It appeared in 1975 and seems to have been the end of the line. The MG-1 was produced in both a chrome & black finish. The placement of the light sensor within the lens barrel made it possible as in the CC / CCN, to automatically adjust exposure with filters in place. This is visible as a small circle within

the top & center of the lens barrel. A feature of this arrangement which is overlooked, is the inability to obtain a correct exposure indication, if one forgets to remove the lens cap. Come on now, 'fess up....who hasn't lost a shot with an RF when a lens cap was mistakenly left on during an exposure. The lens has a maximum aperture of ƒ:2.8 with a focal length of 45mm. This highly colour corrected lens has 5 elements in 4 groups.

Flash synch is selected by turning a lever on the top plate.

A semi circle, terminating in a lightning bolt is visible next to the wind lever. To enable Daylight Flash fill with a Strobe, leave the lever in the Auto position. To totally disable Auto Exposure mode and set the shutter at a fixed 1/30 sec for use with Flash Bulbs, turn the lever to the Flash position. There is a Hot Shoe but no PC socket. Gone too, is a battery test feature, possibly an advantage, because compulsive battery testing runs the battery down.

The moving viewfinder mask feature found in in 'G' series is lacking in the MG-1. Instead of the finder mask moving as you focus, close-ups are aimed within an inner frame line C to compensate for the distance between the finder and the taking lens. Light passing through this dual frame line mask is projected into the finder by means of the semi transparent front surface mirror that can be seen positioned diagonally behind the mask. No linkage from the lens to the mask A is present in the MG-1, that can be clearly seen as a pin with a screw head B in the GSN / GTN and down through the original Electro G series. Thanks to Peter Smith at www.nikonsmith.com, for the MG-1 used for the tear down shots on this site.

The MG-1 decked out with a simulated leather skin. ASA / ISO Film Speed is selectable from 25 to 800, and the setting control has been placed on the lens barrel. Caution! One needs to depress this ASA setting lever in order to move it. All in all, a nifty and thrifty little camera to accompany your SLR on assignments.

......Okay.......so which was it? Did the design team take the GL designation from the luxury car of the day, [wink, wink ] or was it vice versa? There is certainly no mistaking

the "Euro" look influence by the design salons on the Continent.

This 1973 introduction is more than a re-skin of the G series. The GL a.k.a. the AE / AF incorporates major changes from the Electro 35 GSN / MG-1 models.

Made in Japan and presumably targeted at that market it has a Yashinon DX Color ƒ1.7 40mm lens great for tight spots, but hard on the subject of portraits. The light sensor is located within the lens barrel and can therefore compensate for any filters in use. A very posh looking Slow / Over window indicates exposure balance and a larger easy to read frame counter presents a "No Film in Camera" red bar alert. This is a thoughtful addition, because the camera can be cocked and fired without film, as it does not link this function to the film sprocket. Sure the logo visible on the right front bottom designates AE for Auto Exposure, but it seems

the designers got a little ahead of themselves when they partnered this with the AF designation. The First Yashica Auto Focus was still years away! This False Alarm designates "Auto Flash". Sorry guys!

If you look closely at the Hot Shoe, you will notice a third contact. When the Yashica strobe model ES-20 is mounted on the camera, with an ASA setting of 100 and the aperture is at ƒ 4.0, automatic exposure is enabled to a subject distance of 16 ft. [ 5 meters ] utilizing the camera's light sensor. The ASA setting lever when placed opposite the flash symbol, will bring the aperture to ƒ 4.0, in case you forget the setting. A side mounted PC socket is provided. The ASA speed setting spans a range from 25 to 1600. The selected speed is visible in a window on the top of the lens barrel, and the setting lever which must be depressed to change position is located at the opposite side of the barrel. A second set of levers on the lens barrel enable the self timer which has a nominal 8 seconds delay. To wind the timer, the extra flip down lever must be in the keyway position.

A feature exclusive to the GL and GX in the 'G' series Yashica rangefinder cameras, is a roller the the left side of the pressure plate in the door. This presumably is one more feature that sets the camera in the Luxury class, and earns it's GL designation. Other variations in design that set it apart are, the placement of the upper foam seal along the top of the camera body, with the lower seal being on the door. The door overlaps and interlocks with the latch mechanism to such a degree that no foam light & dust seal are required at that point, unlike others in the 'G' series.

The tripod socket is the conventional ¼" - 20 thread but removable for use with a heavier studio standard 3/8" - 16 thread as shown in the bottom view. The camera is a little shorter and narrower than the G GS GSN MG-1 family. Additional weight has been trimmed by removing metal wherever possible. Notice the solid rim of a prior G model shown for comparison in which the bottom plate mounting screws attach to the rim. In the GL those screws fit into posts. This profile requires the rear door to be open to remove the bottom plate which it partially covers. This weight loss program seems to have been more related to keeping the weight in line rather than a targeted reduction, as the GL is only about ¾ oz lighter, weighing in give or take, at 7.80 ozs without battery or strap. There appears to be no compromise in the reliability of the mechanism, in fact note the massive transfer bar used in the GL where it really counts.

The GL is the camera at the top. Note the mounting studs required where the body has been cut down.

The Electro 35 CC appeared in 1970 and was introduced in the US at the Photo Expo 71. Just a personal observation, I think that if Tiffany designed a camera, this would be it. The Yashica CC looks, feels and handles like a serious camera.

It combines features of the MG-1 in that it has the light sensor within the lens barrel, and borrows from the design of the shutter release lock as seen in the G through GSN. The Battery Check, lights up the frame counter window.

As you can see, it does not have a hot shoe. A cable synch socket [PC] is however provided and is visible on the top right end, as it is on the GL. A major inspiration while on the drawing boards, was the Automatic selection of 1/30 th second shutter speed, when a flash-gun is plugged into the PC socket. What must have been the "Cat's Pyjamas" in the jargon of the day, became the kiss of death. By the time it hit the market place, strobes were already in widespread use, and it's inability to synch flash at any speed, a highlight of the other Yash rangefinders, probably explains it's early demise and scarcity.

Fortunately Raoul Emin from Paris, France, found a simple fix for this problem. He writes that he noticed that the PC socket features a thin pin that pushes a copper contact behind the socket. If this pin is not pushed through, the circuit is not locked at 1/30. By just slightly engaging the plug halfway, the pin will not push the copper contact, yet the flash will still be engaged. At the end of the day without any modification, this little camera is even capable of nice fill-in flash in daylight.

The battery port is located on the back below the film advance lever and accepts a 6 Volt Lithium L544 or Alkaline A544 battery, also under some brands marked PX28A, or 4LR44, fortunately widely available. As far as we have been able to determine it was produced only as a black body.

A CCN model [ Compact Camera New ] was introduced in 1973, but does not appear to differ in any observable way other than that the shutter 's longest exposure is 8 sec vs the CC 15 sec. The ASA /ISO speed selector ranges from 25 to 500. The ƒ:1.8 35mm Color Yashinon DX lens makes this handy for taking pictures in extremely low light and tight spots. Due to the short focal length of the lens, be sure to observe the correct protocol when shooting portraits.