Bought a used Yashica off eBay and the shutter fires but the film never advances

Picked up a Yashica Electro 35 GSN last week for $45. Looked clean, turned on fine, shutter clicks. Loaded a roll of HP5 and shot 20 frames around downtown Portland before I realized the rewind knob wasn't spinning. Opened the back and the film never moved off the spool. Turns out the take-up spool gear is stripped. Anyone know if this is a common repair or should I just return the camera?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathan_bailey21d ago

The Electro 35 GSN is a great camera but that plastic gear on the take-up spool is a known weak point... a lot of them are cracked or stripped by now. A guy named Paul at something called "Yashica Guy" actually sells a brass replacement gear kit for about $25. It takes some careful soldering to swap out the old plastic gear. If you're not comfortable with that, I'd just return it and look for another one. The GSN is common enough that you can find a working one for around $60-80 if you're patient. The later Electro 35 GT has a metal gear from the factory too if you want to avoid the problem entirely.

dixon.willow21d ago

yeah I bought one of those brass gear kits from Yashica Guy and it's been sitting on my desk for like 8 months because I keep finding excuses not to solder a tiny gear onto a circuit board. my clumsy ass would probably end up gluing it to my thumb or something.