Canon LTM Canonet QL17 GIII

Canon M39 M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
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wooiloon

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Hi,
Im new to RF, and just bought a QL17 GIII for try. I have one question:
Is it normal that the meter dont work with manual shutter and aperture setting? The meter is working for the shutter priority mode (A), but not other than that.

Thanks.

Regards,
John WL
 
yes, unfortunately ...

yes, unfortunately ...

... that's normal. the meter only works in auto mode. sometimes a pain in the #$$, but mostly okay :)
 
Probably to avoid battery drain. From what I recall, the Canonet's meter is always on, and that's why a lens cap is vital (or else, the meter would be "reading" non-stop). At some point, you should be able to store the camera and prevent the battery drain in case the lens cap falls or something. Hence, the manual mode (or return to basics).

There are some people who use the camera that way, actually...

So long! :)
 
SolaresLarrave said:
Probably to avoid battery drain. From what I recall, the Canonet's meter is always on, and that's why a lens cap is vital (or else, the meter would be "reading" non-stop). At some point, you should be able to store the camera and prevent the battery drain in case the lens cap falls or something. Hence, the manual mode (or return to basics).

There are some people who use the camera that way, actually...

So long! :)
Click to expand...

Now what the heck would you know about Canonet QL 17 III's? :D :D :D

Before anyone jumps all over me. Francisco had one of the longest and longest running threads on the internet concerning his love of the Canonet QL 17 III.

And before you jump to defend him, he is the one who turned me on to RFF. So blame him. :D :D :D

Francisco, do you ever use yours anymore? I still use mine on occassion, but with so many cameras, it rests a lot more than it works.
 
Maybe a dumb question, but I'll try anyway: why should the meter stop reading when it's in the dark because the lens cap is on ? Wouldn't it still drain the battery, trying to read in full darkness ? Is it "triggered" to start reading somehow when it "sees" light ?

I think I remember reading somewhere that putting the shutterdial in a certain position would stop the battery from draining, but I don't remember what position that would be ...

STefan.

SolaresLarrave said:
Probably to avoid battery drain. From what I recall, the Canonet's meter is always on, and that's why a lens cap is vital (or else, the meter would be "reading" non-stop). At some point, you should be able to store the camera and prevent the battery drain in case the lens cap falls or something. Hence, the manual mode (or return to basics).

There are some people who use the camera that way, actually...

So long! :)
Click to expand...
 
Wow... someone remembers my "In praise of the Canonet" thread in the PopPhoto forum! :)

Mine is now taking a loooong nap. But I think I'll load it with one of my last rolls of Kodachrome and will take it for a walk... soon! :)
 
oftheherd said:
Francisco had one of the longest and longest running threads on the internet concerning his love of the Canonet QL 17 III.

And before you jump to defend him, he is the one who turned me on to RFF. So blame him. :D :D :D
Click to expand...

Francisco’s thread also turned me on to the Canonet QL 17 III rangefinder.

I rarely put batteries in mine because I primarily use them (I own two) in the manual mode.
 
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SolaresLarrave said:
Wow... someone remembers my "In praise of the Canonet" thread in the PopPhoto forum! :)
Click to expand...

By the way, I notice that someone (named Francisco) just bumped this long-running Canonet thread to the top of the Gear Guide thread list at Popphoto.com.
 
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I use mine for making light readings on the A setting then set to manual mode after making an asumption on the cameras reading. I like it that the meter only works on A mode. Used to bug me but I had to learn to cope. Also I don't have to worry about walking around & running the battery down because I didn't put the cap over the lens.
 
gliderbee said:
Maybe a dumb question, but I'll try anyway: why should the meter stop reading when it's in the dark because the lens cap is on ?
Click to expand...

Because of the way meter circuits with CdS photocells work. Basically the CdS cell is a light-sensitive resistor that gets less resistive if it gets light. If there is no light, there is no current through the cell, hence no battery drain.
 
narsuitus said:
By the way, I notice that someone (named Francisco) just bumped this long-running Canonet thread to the top of the Gear Guide thread list at Popphoto.com.
Click to expand...

Well why not. They need some life over there. :rolleyes:

I'll have to go look to see if that thread is getting legs again.
 
mabelsound said:
I'm kind of surprised there hasn't been a mod to make the meter work in manual mode. Can anyone say what the technical reason is for this limitation?
Click to expand...

There is no technical reason, but there is a reason: Canon wanted it to work that way.

The camera was designed primarily as an auto exposure, or one should say semi-auto as the user had to make one of the two settings, camera. There were only two reasons to set it manually:

1. You are using an auto-exposure flash or studio flash. In both cases the GN system is not usable.

2. You want to make an exposure at an f/stop different that what the meter thinks is the right choice for the ISO and shutter speed set.

In both cases, you don't need the meter to work. Turning the meter off when the f/stop is manually set gives the user a clear indication in the VF that the camera is in the "non-normal" manual mode.

If you want to take a meter reading and then shoot manually, its simple enough to put the camera back into auto-mode, read the f/stop in the VF, and then manually set the f/stop you want relative to the meter's suggestion.

I used these little beasties for quite a number of years and never found the "no meter in manual" behavior to be of any real hinderance. The trap needle exposure lock function served me for most problem metering situations, allowing me to leave the camera in automatic almost all the time. The situations where I used manual most were situations where the meter was useless anyway. These were mostly very low light situations with a mix of almost no light and visible light sources (e.g. street photography at night, bars, nightclubs, music venues, ...).

With the technology of the day, providing a match-needle type of manual metering would add significantly to the complexity of the camera (read: +$$). Turning off the meter is a far better indicator of being in manual than a simple flag of some sort. The various indicators of this type that have been used in camera VFs from time to time have a history of being overlooked and thus almost useless.
 
Ya know, if the GIII only had a match-needle mode in non-auto mode, it would be perfect.

Such is life, I guess ...

Oh well ...
 
I'm glad I read this thread. My Canonet has been sitting on the shelf for a couple of months with it on Automatic, running down the battery. I'd be pretty irritated if I had tried to use it and the battery was dead. Thanks for the tip, misteradams.
 
russelljtdyer said:
I'm glad I read this thread. My Canonet has been sitting on the shelf for a couple of months with it on Automatic, running down the battery. I'd be pretty irritated if I had tried to use it and the battery was dead. Thanks for the tip, misteradams.
Click to expand...

.....or you could take the batteries out to also eliminate the possibility of a leaking battery ruining anything inside.
 
Ultra normal. In practice, only the meter of the Olympus SP35 work in manual mode, in all other similar compact cameras of the seventies, in manual mode, don't work thde meter.
Ciao.
Vincenzo
 
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