Yashica Electro 35 series of cameras was made between 1966-1977.
The GSN version that I test here where made between 1971-1977.

Specs:

Lens: Yashica Color-Yashinon DX 45mm f/1.7 (6 elements in 4 groups)
Closest Focus: 0.8m (2.6ft)
Aperture: f/1.7 to f/16 (5 bladed)
Filter thread: 55mm
Shutter: 1/500s to up to 3 min depending on the aperture used
Light meter: CdS cell above lens (Iso 25-1000)
Battery: One 6v PX32 or equivalent, can also use modern alkaline replacement battery
Flash: Hot Shoe and X-sync (can sync to all shutter speeds but the flash setting locks it to 1/30s)
Weight: 730g

Self-timer
Shutter settings: Auto, Bulb or Flash (1/30sec)
Manually set focus, aperture and ISO

Takes 135 film
24×36 mm negative size


Viewfinder:

Very good for the time, bright and a decent size.
Framelines are lit through a separate window and is easy to see, this also auto corrects for parallax as you focus closes.
The rangefinder is a yellow ghost image which is not the biggest by modern standard but works just fine.
Finding focus is pretty quite and easy for the most part and don't think I miss focused on a single image on the two rolls I took for this review.

It also has two warning arrows that can light up inside the viewfinder.
One lights up for overexposure and the other one for slow shutter speeds where you will need to use a tripod or a flash.
These only show up if you advance the film and half press the shutter button.
It don't have anything else that indicates the shutter speed.



Build quality

A very nice metal body that is well put toghether.
It's solid and everything come across as quality and has a nice feel it.



Usability

It can be an amazing camera for things like street photography.
Super quiet leaf shutter, can be fast to use while it still has some manual settings and control over the exposure.
However the shutter can only be set to Auto, Bulb or Flash (1/30sec).
Aperture and ISO is manually but thats all the exposure control it has.

So you are pretty limited on how you can effect the exposure.
- Can change the ISO setting.
So if you load it with ISO 100 film and want to add 1 stop then set camera to ISO 50.
This can work well if you use a filter and need to compensate for the filter factor.
But its limiting as the lightmeter only goes between ISO 25-1000.
Use a ISO 25 film and there is no room for these filters, ISO 100 film and you can't use a filter that goes over 2 stops.
Also changing the ISO setting is done via a little fiddly ring and is not something you want to changing back and forth ofter.
- The other way is that the aperture is set manually.
The camera has a warning light that lights up in the viewfinder and on top of the camera for overexposure.
So for example its a sunset and you want to add 2 stops to what the lighmeter gives.
Set the aperture just on the edge where the camera don't warns for overexposure.
If that for example is f/11 then set the aperture to f/5.6 and take the image.
This is can also be handy when you want to lock the shutter.
But there you just set the aperture on the edge, recompose and take the image.
However this of course only works with the fastest shutter speed (1/500sec).

So it has its limitations but think it works just fine for quick handheld use.



Sample images


Conclusion

In short a amazing camera as long as you don't mind its limitations too much.
Find it very enjoyble to use, has great image quality, love the bokeh and it handles flares pretty well.
Also top-notch build quality and feel of the camera.

However its not a camera I would use for landscape photography but can be close to ideal for something like street photography.


Thumbs up:
Build quality and feel
Great for things like street photography
Pretty fast and easy to use
Image quality
Viewfinder

Thumbs down:
Lack of shutter control
Must cock the shutter before you can get a light reading

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Technical Info
Scanner: Plustek OpticFilm 7600i
Film: AGFA CINEREX (X-ray film)
Developer: Rodinal