canon p or canon 7?

There are differing opinions regarding the meters on the 7 series. The (selenium) meter on my 7 works just fine, although it's not as sensitive in very low light situations. My understanding is that the cds cells on the 7s and 7sZ are not all that great, and fail more readily. If Brian Sweeney is reading this thread perhaps he can comment; I recall some posts of his from earlier threads expressing a preference for the meter on the 7.

There is no doubt, though, that a 7 w/ a dead meter can be a real bargain as a user. My impression is that clean 7 bodies these days are going for $200-250 w/ working meters.
 
Bingley said:
There is no doubt, though, that a 7 w/ a dead meter can be a real bargain as a user. My impression is that clean 7 bodies these days are going for $200-250 w/ working meters.

That's just the point I was trying to make earlier (although looking at my post I'm not sure it was clear).

Here in the UK Canon Ps and 7s (selenium) tend to sell for roughly the same price, with the 7s and 7sZ models commanding a premium (unless you get lucky and find a dealer who doesn't know the difference). The way to grab one of these cameras for bargain money is to go for a 7 with a non-working selenium meter: here at least they almost always seem to go for a fraction of the price of working examples, and it's debatable if it's really that much of a loss anyway.

Whatever model of Canon rangefinder you buy, provided it's in good shooting order, you're getting an exceptional rangefinder.
 
sitemistic said:
So what's a fair price for a clean Canon 7?

I've seen them go for $200-300 in the past few months on Ebay. P's are expensive, seen those go for over $500.


I have a Canon 7, never owned a P so I cannot compare. However, I do enjoy using the 7. It is supposedly unusual to find one with a working light meter, and without wrinkles/dents in the metal curtain. My light meter actually works very well, which is nice. It is a bulky thing, "stationwagon" like I guess 😛 But don't we all like those solid bodies? Heck yeah.
 
KoNickon said:
I recently got a 7 and I don't think it cedes anything in terms of finish to the P. The switchable framelines of the 7 are moreover quite an achievement, and as a glasses wearer I prefer the lower magnification of the 7 over that of the P. (And on the meter readout I keep seeing that little number ".95" staring at me -- having seen gdi's great NYC nighttime pictures on another thread I fear I will need to get the Dream Lens at some point!)

Yes the 0.95 monster is a great argument for any Canon 7. A Canon 7 is cheaper than a lens conversion to M-mount.

Although a 50/1.2 looks also great on a Canon P. And of course, the best and latest 50mm RF lens of Canon, the 50/1.4.
 
Sonnar2 said:
The selenium meter of my 7 still works great in daylight and will never ask for a battery, in particular for a mercury cell (1.35v)

The Se meter in my 7 still works great as well. In fact, all the Se meters in my cameras still function properly. I have a 1955 Zeiss Ikon Nettax, a Canon 7 and even the meter on the 1937 Contax III is still very light-sensitive (it only needs to be tuned). Also the Weston Master V is working great as is the dedicated Canon P meter.
 
Last edited:
Bargain P

Bargain P

I got a good deal on a clean fixer Canon P from Pacific Rim Camera.
I sent it to Karl Bryan and he repaired it for a very reasonable price.

Chris
 
Back
Top Bottom