High ISO on a Yashica Electro 35

[shermlindcastle]

Hi all, I've got a Yashica Electro 35 GSN, and I want to shoot some ISO 3200 film with it, but the film speed dial only goes up to 1000. How would I compensate for that? Does it even matter?

Thanks,

-m.

[TPF Sponsor]

[compur]

Assuming you wish to shoot B&W film at ISO 3200
in an Electro that is working properly:

Since your Electro does not have TTL metering,
just set for ISO 1000 and use an orange filter
and you should be fine. Alternately or for
shooting color at ISO 3200 you could use an ND
filter having a factor of 3 instead.

OR-

Shoot your ISO 3200 film at ISO 1000 with no
filter and process accordingly.

[Early]

Does it have an exposure compensation dial? If so, merely set it at iso 800 and set the dial to -2 stops of exposure. Or, if you have manual mode, take your reading in auto, and then make your adjustments in manual to reduce exposure by 2 stops.

[Actor]

Hi all, I've got a Yashica Electro 35 GSN, and I want to shoot some ISO 3200 film with it, but the film speed dial only goes up to 1000. How would I compensate for that? Does it even matter?

Thanks,

-m.

Yashica Electro 35 GS Instruction Manual

1. Use manual mode.
2. Set film speed to 800.
3. Adjust exposure so neither right arrow nor left arrow is on.
4. Stop down two stops. Ignore the arrow.
5. Take the shot.

E.g., if normal exposure is 1/125 sec at f/4, then either set the shutter speed to 1/500 sec or set the aperture to f/16. Or you could even set the shutter speed to 1/250 sec and the aperture to f/11.

I would not recommend using an ND filter. It would work but, if you do that, what's the point of using ASA 3200 instead of ASA 800? I use 3200 for three reasons:

1. I want a really fast shutter speed.
2. I want lots of DOF, i.e., a really small aperture.
3. There's simply not enough light.

Using an ND filter defeats all three of these.

[compur]

1. Use manual mode.
2. Set film speed to 800.
3. Adjust exposure so neither right arrow nor left arrow is on.
4. Stop down two stops. Ignore the arrow.
5. Take the shot.

The Electro doesn't have a manual mode. It has 3 mode settings: "B,"
"Auto" and "Flash" so the above sequence can't really be done on that
camera. It is basically auto-exposure only. That's why the filter approach
is the only practical choice.

If you use your method of metering a scene and then stopping down,
the camera will re-adjust its shutter speed automatically in accordance to
your new aperture setting so you'll still be shooting at the ISO setting
you've chosen with no compensation.

[Dwig]

Hi all, I've got a Yashica Electro 35 GSN, and I want to shoot some ISO 3200 film with it, but the film speed dial only goes up to 1000. How would I compensate for that? Does it even matter?

Thanks,

-m.

Yes it matters.

First, what type of ISO 3200 film are you going to use?

Second, the Electro 35 GSN is an aperture priority automatic with no manual exposure mode and no EV compensation dial. There is no way to get the camera to take proper advantage of ISO 3200 film. In most instances, you would be far better of staying with a film within the ISO range of the camera.

The only way you can use ISO 3200 film in the camera is to add a neutral density filter to the lens. A 2 stop ND would effectively drop the ISO to 800, a speed available on the ISO dial. IF AND ONLY IF you were using B&W, you could use a colored filter (orange or red perhaps) that has a filter factor of 4x or more (2 stops or more) while setting an appropriate ISO.

If you are using an ISO 3200 color negative film, you might get away without using any filter and just setting ISO 1000. The resulting negatives would be overexposed almost 2 stops (1 2/3 stops if the meter and shutter are perfectly accurate). Most of the time, usable images can be printed from such overexposed negs, though there will be some lost of highlight detail.

[compur]

Does it have an exposure compensation dial? If so, merely set it at iso 800 and set the dial to -2 stops of exposure. Or, if you have manual mode, take your reading in auto, and then make your adjustments in manual to reduce exposure by 2 stops.

The Electro GSN doesn't have an exposure compensation control.

[Actor]

The only way you can use ISO 3200 film in the camera is to add a neutral density filter to the lens. A 2 stop ND would effectively drop the ISO to 800, a speed available on the ISO dial. IF AND ONLY IF you were using B&W, you could use a colored filter (orange or red perhaps) that has a filter factor of 4x or more (2 stops or more) while setting an appropriate ISO.

I've heard (but I can't quote chapter and verse where I heard it) that Kodak's P3200's "true" film speed" is 1000 (and I can't tell you the meaning of "true film speed"). If so then you should be able to set the camera to ASA 1000 and shoot away. Just make sure the lab knows what speed the film was exposed at. Kodak's data for D-76 gives time and temperature for processing P3200 as ASA 400, 800, 1600 and 3200. You should be able to extrapolate for ASA 1000.

If you are using an ISO 3200 color negative film...

I could be wrong but I don't think anyone makes 3200 color film. The fastest is Kodak Portra 800 pushed to 1600.

[compur]

The fastest is Kodak Portra 800 pushed to 1600.

Fuji makes at least one ISO 1600 color film (Superia 1600) and has recently
made others, Press 1600 and Natura 1600 which may still be available online
from Japanese retailers. All are claimed to produce good results when under-
exposed (i.e., shot at higher ISOs).

[bhop]

Basically the short answer is.. you can't.

[shermlindcastle]

First, what type of ISO 3200 film are you going to use?

Thanks everyone for your ideas.

I was thinking about Ilford b&w. I haven't actually bought any yet.

So would the 'setting it to 800 and stopping it down 2 stops' plan definitely not work? It seems like the filter option kind of defeats the purpose of using 3200 film in the first place (I was hoping to shoot in very low light).

I'm hoping to buy an slr soon, so I could probably wait to experiment with higher ISO film.

-m.

[bhop]

(I was hoping to shoot in very low light).

Just wondering if you'd even be able to see the focus patch in very low light? I know with my Electro it's hard to see at night as it is.. all my rangefinders don't seem too great at night, even the M6.. I like using my F100 with 3200 film. The af system seems to work pretty well in even the darkest environments.

[shermlindcastle]

(I was hoping to shoot in very low light).

Just wondering if you'd even be able to see the focus patch in very low light? I know with my Electro it's hard to see at night as it is.. all my rangefinders don't seem too great at night, even the M6.. I like using my F100 with 3200 film. The af system seems to work pretty well in even the darkest environments.

Yeah, it would be difficult...Autofocus would be a good solution, but unfortunately I don't own a film camera with af at the moment. I was thinking about getting an old manual focus slr soon, probably a Minolta.

Thank you very much everyone for your suggestions!

[compur]

So would the 'setting it to 800 and stopping it down 2 stops' plan definitely not work?

Correct. It won't work.

It seems like the filter option kind of defeats the purpose of using 3200 film in the first place (I was hoping to shoot in very low light).

The filter won't defeat anything. Your camera will be set for ISO 1000
and you'll be shooting ISO 3200 film. The filter is just there to correct
for the difference. But, if you don't want to use a filter then don't use one
and hope the film's latitude will produce acceptable results (it may).

[Actor]

The fastest is Kodak Portra 800 pushed to 1600.

Fuji makes at least one ISO 1600 color film (Superia 1600) and has recently
made others, Press 1600 and Natura 1600 which may still be available online
from Japanese retailers. All are claimed to produce good results when under-
exposed (i.e., shot at higher ISOs).

I think Superia 1600 has been discontinued, at least it seems to have disappeared from the offerings of on-line suppliers like Freestyle and BH.