1st Generation Canon Canonet GL19 Metering Question

[Lawrence Sheperd]

I've recently acquired a 1st gen QL19. I've searched online for a manual, but could only find ones for the 1st gen QL28 and later GIII QL17 at Mike Butkus' site.

My question is about metering. I'm using a 675 air-zinc hearing aid battery with a #9 o-ring. Metering and auto aperture selection works fine in AUTO, but there is no meter movement in manual mode. According to the QL28 owner's manual, metering should be active in manual mode also.

I had the top off to clean the glass and looked to see if there was a mechanical linkage to the meter that moved, etc. when switching from AUTO to manual exposure, but I saw nothing obvious.

If anyone has a 1st gen QL19, I'd love to know if your meter works in both AUTO and manual modes. Thanks very much.

 

[Lawrence Sheperd]

Finally found the answer at Dominic's Classic Cameras - http://www.myoldmap.com/cameras/canon_ql19.html - comparing the new QL19 with the QL17 GIII (I would imagine my 1st gen would be similar.)

"The shutter has the same range of speeds from 1/4 second to 1/500th and operates in exactly the same way with shutter speed priority and automatic aperture selection provided by the built in light meter, or manual operation where the photographer sets both the shutter speed and the aperture, in which case the light meter does not function. I must admit that I find this feature of the meter not providing a reading in manual mode rather annoying, although it does mean that one can switch the meter off simply by putting the camera into manual aperture mode, which is probably just as well as there is no off switch to reduce the battery drain."

A deep Google search is a wonderful thing.