jammed canonet ql17 giii

[ola.b]

So, was out today taking some photos and playing around with the canonet.

Then out of the blue it refuses to take any photos.

The film is advanced, the indicator on the back is red and the winder stops if I try to wind. According to the counter, it's at frame 13 on a 36 roll.

The meter works.
shutterspeed selector works.

When I try to press the shutter release it just goes straight down to the bottom, no resistance or anything.

Putting it in manual mode does not help either.

Anyone ever experienced this? What could be wrong?

 

[tritiated]

One thing that happens on mine, and find really annoying; I slightly nudge the self timer when changing aperture. The self timer is a bit sticky and so it seems as if it is jammed - until I remember to nudge the self timer lever down..

 

[ola.b]

hmm, It's not that either.

The meter blocks the shutter release if I try to make an under exposed frame, but it still won't fire in either automatic or manual.

edit: bulb mode doesn't work either.

 

[sweathog]

It might be best to cut your losses, rewind the film, put a spare roll in and see if it still happens.

A couple nights ago I was shooting, and wondered why my Ql17 was not advancing beyond 26. Only when I had rewound and popped the film out did I remember that I was sooting 24 frames, not 36... Doh!

 

[ola.b]

guess i'll have to..

A guy on flickr suggests it can be a stuck shutter. He had the same issue and he could spot a smudge of oil on the shutter blade. Same story with my shutter blades.

 

[ola.b]

just took out the film, and the shutter is well and truly stuck.

Is there any way I can fix this, or is my canonet a paper weight?

 

[btgc]

Cleaning blades is answer. You can go "easy lazy" way which may work may not - cleaning blades just removing front element, and can go "way of samurai" - dismantle shutter, clean each blade with naphthalized buds, clean and work mechanical part and have perfectly running camera.

Sure if something isn't mechanically inside barrel/mechanisms or leafs damaged beyond "worth repair" point. This things, although not Leicas and such, are helluva durable from digicam's point of view.

 

[ola.b]

just googled a bit, and the "easy lazy" way looks pretty damn scare to me.. Not going to think about taking the whole lense apart.

here is a pic of the lense. You can see some striations on the top shutter leaf. I'm not sure if it's oil or it's real scratches in the blade.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

It can be scary- but if you are resigned to the alternative of having a paper-weight, what do you have to lose?

You can use a pair of fine needle-nosed pliers as a spanner, remove the chrome ring that holds in the nameplate, and remove the front optics module. If you want to try it, several of us can post pictures.

 

[btgc]

I have found that daughters rubber boot makes enough grip to unscrew rings in front of lenses 🙂 Glass usually sits deep enough not to make contact.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Sometimes the front retaining ring comes off before the entire group unscrews. In this case, the needle-nose pliers allow you to reach in and grasp the slots on the inner retaining ring.

 

[ola.b]

brian, a wery good point there. Nothing to loose really.

If you have any pictures, tips, pointers and general advice, I'd be most appreciative

 

[btgc]

brian, a wery good point there. Nothing to loose really.

Just give a finger to demon of tinkering and watch how he grabs both your hands - you are warned !

Just don't hurry not to do irreversable steps and you will be fine with your Canonet.

And next wrong thing will be getting them more and more to repair and enjoy how they come back to live 😉

 

[Harry S.]

Exactly the same thing has happened to my Canonet. Mine is now just a paper weight, my camera never took all that nice photographs anyway.

 

[januaryman]

Sorry, Harry, but you had me chuckling at the line "my camera never took all that nice photographs anyway" -- You think the camera was to blame for not taking nice photos? I've had cameras go bad, stuck shutter like the subject topic, curtains that are in bad shape, things like that, but I never owned a camera that stopped me from trying to get nice photos. 😉

 

[sweathog]

Sorry, Harry, but you had me chuckling at the line "my camera never took all that nice photographs anyway" -- You think the camera was to blame for not taking nice photos? I've had cameras go bad, stuck shutter like the subject topic, curtains that are in bad shape, things like that, but I never owned a camera that stopped me from trying to get nice photos. 😉

A bad workman...
I've had cameras give bad results, but not bad photographs. The bad photographs are all my fault.