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i have a yashica camera that apx from the late 60s early 70's. is there a way that i can get a telephoto lens and is there a way to focus the camera other than that little orange square? it is so hard to see.

sweetsmile1 wrote:i have a yashica camera that apx from the late 60s early 70's. is there a way that i can get a telephoto lens and is there a way to focus the camera other than that little orange square? it is so hard to see.

Sounds like it may be a MG-1 or Electro GSN. These are fixed-lens rangefinder cameras, and no, there is no other focusing mechanism. There used to be telephoto and wide angle conversion lenses available for them. You might still be able to find them on eBay. They screw onto the front of the camera's lens.

You can also check http://www.keh.com which carries one of the largest selections of used gear.

The original, Yashica-made auxiliary telephoto lens for the G/GS/GSNs only provide for limited magnification over the built-in lens (an effective 58mm compared to the normal 45mm). Also, the auxiliary lens is normally used with a separate viewfinder, to account for the narrower field of view. I believe that you must first focus with the camera's rangefinder, then take the scale reading and convert it for use with a conversion scale engraved the auxiliary lens.

I have cleaned the internals of the viewfinder on my GSN, which improves the contrast a bit. But, by design, the viewfinder is on the dim side (blue/gray tinted) to contrast with the yellow rangefinder patch.

is there really any hope of me being able to use this camera to take great pictures? it says yashica GS on it, and it was bought by my friend in Japan when she lived there back in the day with her husband and new baby. it has everything that came with it originally. should i put money in it to buy some new lenses and such? or would i be better off getting another camera?

sweetsmile1 wrote:is there really any hope of me being able to use this camera to take great pictures? it says yashica GS on it, and it was bought by my friend in Japan when she lived there back in the day with her husband and new baby. it has everything that came with it originally. should i put money in it to buy some new lenses and such? or would i be better off getting another camera?

I wouldn't get a new camera nor extra lenses at this time. Try it out. Run a couple rolls of film through it. I have the Yashica MG-1 which is similar, and it takes perfectly fine pictures.

Ultimately the photographer determines the quality of output. Some cameras lengthen the time period from bad output to good.