The Yashica Electro 35 is a 35mm film rangefinder camera that was released in 1966. Its name refers to its then-innovative shutter mechanism, which used an electromagnet to control the shutter speed. Able to automatically compute for correct exposure via Aperture Priority and armed with a fast 45mm f/1.7 Yashinon DX manual focus lens, the Electro 35 was very popular in its day. Today, there are still a lot of Yashica Electro 35 (and its successors, the G, GS and GSN) cameras available. They’re already considered vintage cameras but many of them are either still in working order, or easily restored. They will still take great pictures. The problem lies in its reliance on electric power to function, as the 5.6V battery it was designed to use has been long out of production because of mercury content. The good news is that the modern 6V batteries available in the market today can power the Electro 35. The bad news is that none of them readily fits into the camera’s battery compartment.
