TIL a simple CLA brought a 1960s Yashica back from the dead

I picked up a Yashica Electro 35 GSN from a thrift store in Portland last month for $15, totally seized up with sticky shutter blades and a dead light meter. Spent 3 evenings doing a full clean, lube, and adjust on it, and now it shoots perfectly with accurate exposure every time. Has anyone else found that a basic CLA fixes way more than you'd expect on older rangefinders, or is this just beginner's luck?

2 comments

2 Comments

blairstone5d agoMost Upvoted

Did the foam gunk cause any corrosion on the metal parts when you pulled it out, or was it mostly just sticky? I've read about old foam turning acidic over time and eating into the chrome on some cameras. Trying to figure out if I got lucky or if that's less common than people say.

tessa_hill865d ago

You know, I got a Yashica Electro 35 GSN from a thrift store in Portland too, but mine was a total basket case with a dented filter ring. The CLA thing is real, but here's an angle nobody else mentioned - sometimes the problem isn't even mechanical, it's that the old foam seals have turned into goo that jams everything up. I pulled out a glob of what looked like black tar from the back door of mine, and suddenly the film advance worked smooth as butter again. So yeah, a basic CLA fixes way more because half the time the "broken" part is just decayed rubber or plastic gunk from the 60s that melts into the gears. No way that's beginner's luck, it's just that these old cameras were built like tanks and need a bath more than a rebuild.