First Impressions: Yashica MG-1 and Fomapan 100 

Haha, fair enough. I tend to be a pretty laid back person, so I don't really build much hype usually, haha.

That's awesome! What a cool opportunity to find one new in the box. I hope you love shooting with it! Glad you enjoyed the video too, I was pretty impressed to see how good the lens on mine is.

Thanks for watching and dropping a comment! I'm pretty impressed with it so far. It was also pretty inexpensive when I bought it, though I haven't looked at the prices much lately.

@@jbradfordphoto You're welcome! That's definitely a plus these days, too. I'm going to look at prices right now, actually ...

Very cool! Always thought the Electros were cool. I'm a big fan of both of those films as well. Are you shooting 4x5 film as well? Cool last name, too 😂

Awesome! I really need to get mine out again. It's a fun little camera.

@@jbradfordphoto I love that you don't have to worry about shutter speed! Currently trying to figure out a working battery situation haha. I may go the route you went!

For sure! It makes it a lot like a high quality point and shoot with DOF control lol. So far I've been doing okay with my hodge-podge method on the battery, just keep in mind it'll be a little off on metering. I set mine a stop slow and it seems to work well enough. Eg, 100iso on meter to shoot 200 iso film, etc.

For sure! Glad you enjoyed it ☺️

Thanks Rico! Yeah, pretty lucky. The seals are likely not going to last long, but I have a sheet of self-adhesive craft foam waiting for that day, haha. Just resealed my RB67 rotating back with that and need to test it out now.

Thanks a lot! It's a pretty sweet and simple camera to use once you get used to the controls. I think I've also got that flash with mine, but I've never even put batteries in it. You'll have to let me know if you get it figured out!

Thank ya! 🙂

Hey there! I've never had the opportunity to use the Electro, but I've heard a lot of great reviews about it. The 2.8 on the mg1 hasn't bothered me for outdoor use yet, but I'd definitely want the faster lens if I were planning to use it indoors much. Even with 800 ISO film, indoors at 2.8 can be tough if it's not very bright or you don't have a flash.

Hey thanks for watching. Yeah, this camera has a lens built into it. If you can get one in good condition it isn't a bad camera for newer photographers. It is an aperture priority camera, so it does help if you understand at least a little how shutter speed and aperture work. It's super easy to use though! Even if you aren't very knowledgeable on the settings, it's not bad to get figured out.

Thank you! I will definitely give it a try now.

@@sureyyadogan6137 you're welcome! I hope you like it and have fun.

I like it pretty well. I was really impressed with the couple rolls of 100 that I shot. I've also shot a roll of foma 400 in my Yashica that I was happy with. It scans kind of like hp5, in that I remember it being a little less contrasty than tri-x. I like that, however, because it's definitely easier to add contrast than to remove it. If you watch my "shooting 35mm film with my wife" video, she shot a roll of foma 100 and I shot cinestill xx, for more comparison.

@@jbradfordphoto thanks, will definitely watch it

Awesome! I appreciate it and hope that helps a bit

Normally I would, however I was using modern batteries in my camera with higher voltage than the original battery. To compensate for that, I set my camera to 50.

It does need the battery to work as it is an aperture priority camera 👍

Thanks! Really depended on the subject. For some of the buildings and such, f/8 or F/11 if it was bright enough. For the portraits and cars where I wanted less in focus, f/2.8 all the way!

@@jbradfordphoto How about the zone focusing range on this camera? Can you give an explanation in detail, it will be helpful because I'm gonna bought this one! Thanks for your feedback anyway.

The MG-1 is actually a Rangefinder, so I just focused it by using the patch in the Rangefinder window. It will split your image and as you focus, the images will line up. Once the spot in your Rangefinder patch is lined up, it's focused and good to go! I'm not very great at zone focus, but I believe it does have a distance scale on the lens. Usually at around f/8 you can set the focus somewhere midway through the focus throw and get everything from maybe 8 meters to infinity.

It takes standard 35mm film. In the US, you can get it from about any camera store, pharmacy, or Walmart even. I'm not sure about anywhere else, however.

@@jbradfordphoto ooo thanks bro for that information and one more thing, is it use 6v batteries??

No worries man! I think I used two LR44 batteries and a CR123 in mine. They don't make the original mercury battery anymore and there isn't a direct replacement. There are some companies that make adapters for other batteries though. If you go the route I did, the meter will probably read about 1 stop off. So basically, I set the meter at 50 iso to shoot 100 iso film or 200 for 400 iso film, etc.

Yeah, the original batteries are almost impossible to find. You either have to find an adapter or mix a couple of batteries like I did.

The original battery is no longer made for them. I think there are some alternatives out there, but I ended up taping two LR44 batteries together and using a 3rd battery that (I think) is a CR123. In the video, I mention the specific batteries I use for mine and the downsides to using them. 😊

If I remember correctly, the camera will default to something like a 1/60 shutter speed without a battery. So it will shoot without it, it's just rather limited.

@@jbradfordphoto thanks a million for the response :)

@@Oisink3d no worries!

Thank you! I am glad you stopped by to watch and comment. 🙂