I haven’t discussed anything on this blog in years. During that naughty virus that I can’t write about, I picked up film photography again. I started buying cameras, fixing them, shooting film, and developing it as in decades past. It has been an intriguing experience. I still buy and sell film camera gear on a regular basis. As you may know, I got married a few months ago. Now that we are settling into life together, I have a bit of time to write again.

A few weeks ago, I bought a “LOT” of cameras on ebay. In that box of goodies was a very dirty Yashica MG-1 rangefinder. I cleaned it up, checked all the connections, made an adapter that you’ll need, put a battery in it, and took it out for a test run with a roll of AristaEdu Ultra 100.

The Yashica MG-1 came after the infamous Electro 35. There were over a dozen versions of the Electro 35 that was so popular over the years. It is still highly desirable. However, some of the models of the Electro 35 have the “Pad of Death” problem. Unless you are skilled at dismantling rangefinders, I wouldn’t recommend trying to fix it.

But, the MG-1 doesn’t have that problem. In fact, the problem was known and fixed by the time the MG-1 came out. The lens shocked me! It is tack sharp at 45mm f/2.8. I was utterly blown away by the sharpness and performance of the lens and the 1975 light meter was still spot on. These can be found on ebay for as little as $15! If you see one, pick it up and put some film through it. My beautiful wife has stolen this one, so it will not be going up for sale! Sample photographs should be below. If you have any questions about this camera or others I have reviewed or used, please leave me a comment. Thank you. 🙂