Yashica MG-1
If you were to condense the Yashica MG-1 down to just two words, a case could be made for it being described as nifty and thrifty. Released in 1975, the MG-1 was the last camera in the Yashica Electro 35 series (made famous by the GSN and GTN models). Though the MG-1 doesn't have the familiar Electro logo, much of the camera's design will be instantly familiar to those who have used other models from the series.
At its heart, the MG-1 is the budget model of the series. It has been simplified for easier use and some features stripped out for reduced costs. The camera operates solely in aperture priority, with metering done by a CdS light meter with its metering cell located just above the lens inside the filter ring. That lens on the MG-1 is a Yashinon 40mm f2.8. A bit slower than some previous models but still a solid performer. Focusing is still done via a combined rangefinder/viewfinder window but framelines no longer automatically correct for parallax as focus is moved closer. Instead, pre-printed crop lines are always present in the finder and the user takes those into account when composing at close distances. The top of the camera sports the familiar two light system found on other Electro 35 cameras. In the case of the MG-1 these two lights signal a slow shutter speed or overexposure. Speaking of shutter speeds, the MG-1 uses an electrically-governed leaf shutter that is capable of stepless speeds between 2 seconds to 1/500 ( a modestly narrower range than on previous models). There is no finder display (or any other display for that matter) of what shutter speed the camera is going to use. The closest you get to that is the warning light when the chosen shutter speed is going to be 1/30 or lower. The MG-1 does add a flash mode switch atop the camera. Positioned between the warning lights and the advance lever, this switch allows the user to change from auto (aperture priority) to flash, where the shutter speed is a fixed 1/30 and meant to be used with flash bulbs or an electronic flash mounted in the camera's hot shoe.
All in all, the MG-1 is a pretty standard camera for its era. It is the kind of camera that doesn't turn many heads nor is anybody going to get overly excited about finding it at the thrift store for 5 dollars but it is a solid, everyday shooter and will take perfectly good photos. It can be a steadfast companion camera for sure. You just have to figure out a good battery solution for that discontinued 5.6v mercury battery (PX32) the camera was originally meant to use.
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