Yashica T4 settings help please!

Hi there,

I'm new to analog and new to the Yashica T4. What a wonderful camera to have for my first experience with film.

My question:

I was wondering if anybody who has/had this camera could please explain to me what the different settings at the top of the camera do. Unfortunately I don't have a manual and being new to it I am struggling a wee bit with the results. I would love to know how the different settings affect my shots.

Am I right that they control the flash and if so there lies the answer to my overexposing flash problem?

Much, much appreciated!

PS: It is a T4 and not a T4 Super / T5. Thanks.

Although the pictograms differ slightly each other between the T4 and its successor T5/T4super, their function are basically same. So, I think reading the manual of the T5 would give you really good understanding of how to use the T4 correctly.

Auto-flash Mode (defalt): T4/Flash Auto - T5/Flash Auto
Red-eye Reduction Auto-flash Mode: T4/Two Flash Auto - T5/Eye
Flash In Mode: T4 Sun - T5/ Flash
Flash Off Mode: T4/Moon - T5/Stop
Landscape Mode: T4/Infinity - T5/Infinity

neogreen.com T5/T4super Manual
http://www.neongreen.com/manuals_source/yashica/t4/super/

Thank you so much for the reply.

One more question regarding the Yashica settings:

If I turn off flash and shoot at night (thus night mode) will the camera shutter open long enough to absorb ambient light OR does it have a fixed shutter speed no matter what setting it is shot with?

hi alexandros

i haven't used one in a long time.
if you take off the flash the shutter has the capability
of staying open 2 maybe 4 seconds ( if i recall correctly )
if you put it on non-auto flash ( just the lightening bolt ) the
flash acts as a fill, and is sync'd at low speeds as well as high
and if you put it on auto-flash, it will shoot at a higher speed and blast the flash as needed.
we used to use ours on fill all the time, it took great photographs.
the ONLY problem the t4s have is that sometimes, after many many rolls are run through it ( 400 + ? )
the focusing mechanism gets tired and eventually will not work.

great camera though, i miss ours ..

john

jnanian said:

hi alexandros

i haven't used one in a long time.
if you take off the flash the shutter has the capability
of staying open 2 maybe 4 seconds ( if i recall correctly )
if you put it on non-auto flash ( just the lightening bolt ) the
flash acts as a fill, and is sync'd at low speeds as well as high
and if you put it on auto-flash, it will shoot at a higher speed and blast the flash as needed.
we used to use ours on fill all the time, it took great photographs.
the ONLY problem the t4s have is that sometimes, after many many rolls are run through it ( 400 + ? )
the focusing mechanism gets tired and eventually will not work.

great camera though, i miss ours ..

john

Click to expand...

Hi John, thanks for your reply.

I'm having a little trouble understanding what you are saying though.

There are 5 different settings - auto flash, red eye reduction auto flash, flash in, flash off and landscape - in that order.

Which is this non-auto flash setting you speak of? If you are meaning the flash in, the T5 manual states that the flash will fire regardless of ambient lighting. So I'm just a little confused.

Could you possible help me out a bit more?

Much appreciated,

Alex.

hi alex -

auto flash will burst the flash at whatever the high synch speed is, i think it is about 125 / 250/s;

red eye reduction will flash a few times to close the pupil so your subjects don't get red eye;

flash IN is ambient flash, so whatever the meter reads as the view without the flash the shutter will use, AND the flash will burst as a fill-flash;

flash off turns the flash off ...
and landscape from what i remember locks the focus on infinity focus, so if you are shooting out a window,
or are "obstructions" your camera might focus on, they will be avoided, and the landscape will be infocus..

i was suggesting just put it on flash-in ( the lightening bolt ) and using the flash as a fill flash,
regardless of ambient lighting.

have fun!
john

Perfecto John thanks for this! It's always quite hard to remember after 36 exposures what settings I used so this is a good reference.

Much appreciated