First Roll With: Yashica Electro 35 GT by Zach Duurentijdt

My name is Zach Duurentijdt or Duurez for short. I'm a caregiver and a recent graduate of an arts degree program focused in abstract painting and illustrations but I've recently progressed into 35mm film photography due to a temporary loss of passion for the medium. By no means do I have any previous training or experience in photography, only experienced in compositions and layout through my paintings and illustrations. I stumbled into film photography because of a close friend Alex Whitbread who shoots Ilford XP2 on his dad's old Fujica STX-1. 

I purchased the Yashica on a whim from a Instagram account called @junktionnz with the intent to explore a rangefinder system on a budget. I didn't know much about the camera before I bought it, besides a few sample photos that I found online and that it's a budget rangefinder. Because of this my expectations were almost non existent. 

So far the camera is great, the body is beautiful and the lens being even better with a bonus of being easy to load. The 45mm focal length with 1.7 is superb in low light. Being so used to a Canon AE-1 SLR, the change to a rangefinder has been a sick learning curve. 

Due to the ease of use and a great lens I'm always tempted to take it out for a spin. The quietness of the camera is another cool aspect but again far different from what I've been previously used to. The size and weight is the only aspect that I struggled with, but if you wanted a smaller camera thats similar (like the canon canonet ql17) you'll have to pay more for it.  

 _____________________

Submit to "First Roll With"!

"First Roll With" is a new series we started dedicated to those initial moments spent with your camera or lens. "First Roll With" is open to all levels of photographers, whether it's your first film camera or your 100th, we welcome you to share with us your own unique perspectives and experiences!