Canonet Cold Weather Problems?

[GeneW]

I took a newly-acquired Canonet QL17 GIII for a test drive today. It was nippy out -- between -9 to -6C (~15-20F) -- and on several frames I could hear a delay of between 1-4 secs on the shutter before it closed. The next frame would sound fine -- just the little 'snip' you usually hear with the Canonet.

With the camera indoors and warmed up, I cannot reproduce the problem -- every shutter speed/aperture combo I try sounds fine.

What would cause this kind of intermittent problem in the cold? Has anyone here experienced similar problems using a Canonet in cold weather?

Gene

 

[Kim Coxon]

I would suspect that the blades are not quite clean. With a tiny bit of oil at room temperature, it is not causing a problem but in the cold it thickens causing the shutter to stick.

Kim

 

[GeneW]

Kim, GMan, thanks for the replies. Now, is this a difficult fix? (I'd have to send it out -- I'm 'all-thumbs' when it comes to repairs).

Gene

 

[Kim Coxon]

It is normally fairly straight forward. I think more RFFers have "cut their teeth" on camera repair doing this than any other. It depends a little on whether the front lens group comes out as one or splits. There are quite a few threads on how to do it on the forum. If you can't find them come back and I will try to find them for you.

Kim

Kim, GMan, thanks for the replies. Now, is this a difficult fix? (I'd have to send it out -- I'm 'all-thumbs' when it comes to repairs).

Gene

 

[GeneW]

It depends a little on whether the front lens group comes out as one or splits

Gack! This is exactly why I'm not a DIY repair guy 😀

Gene

 

[flashover]

It's not that hard. My first repair job was stuck shutter and app on a Canon 19.

 

[GeneW]

I found one of the repair threads and looked at it. The diagrams made me dizzy, then I read about the need for 'special tools' and a follow-up posting by someone who had to use a drill... nope... DIY repair isn't for someone as unhandy as me...

Gene

 

[BrianShaw]

I found one of the repair threads and looked at it. The diagrams made me dizzy, then I read about the need for 'special tools' and a follow-up posting by someone who had to use a drill... nope... DIY repair isn't for someone as unhandy as me...

Gene

It's good that you thought about it, researched the issue and did some soul-searching. Now send it out for repair!

 

[Kin Lau]

I've had a hard time trying to get the front group out from a GIII.

I've given up trying to use a 35mm leaf-shutter RF in the cold... all of mine are old, and have the same problem to a degree.

 

[GeneW]

Kin, so you use them as warmer weather cams? That's a good excuse (for me) to have an even larger collection 😀

It's good that you thought about it, researched the issue and did some soul-searching. Now send it out for repair!

No argument there.

Gene

 

[dmr]

and a follow-up posting by someone who had to use a drill... nope... DIY repair isn't for someone as unhandy as me...

Gene, I was probably the one who used the "D word" and I didn't mean to scare you. What I used is not a big heavy machine shop thing, just a little hobby shop type Dremel tool, like what you would use for jewelry making and stuff. It's very easy, and I would call what you have to drill "dents" and not holes. You could even do it with one of those little drill holder things that you twist between your fingers, I'm not sure what the actual name of that is.

A little bit of that high-tech solvent (Ronsonol) fixed it right up, and yes, mine does operate fine below freezing. 🙂 It's really not that hard.

 

[GeneW]

Ah, DMR, you're spoiling the image. I imagined you in a machine shop with the Canonet sitting in three different vises (at least), with a gonzo drill coming at it with great precision but great verve as well. Take that, you stuck lens mount! 😀

Still, I don't own anything like a Dremel tool (whatever that is) and I'm not sure what Ronsonol is, but I'm sure I don't want to drink any... I do actually understand a few things about particle physics, but it's not a hands-on kind of understanding...

Gene

 

[Kim Coxon]

A "pin vice" 😉

Kim

You could even do it with one of those little drill holder things that you twist between your fingers, I'm not sure what the actual name of that is.

 

[Rob]

Its not that hard to fix. If you can remove your own appendix left handed you can do it.
Just kidding. Its beyond my scope of repairs also. I would ask one of the repair gurus here for a price to make it like new.

 

[BrianShaw]

Its not that hard to fix. If you can remove your own appendix left handed you can do it.

Okay Rob, give me a hand here... I've made a 5 inch incision and I think I found the appendix. Well, I found some sort of a dangly thing. Should I cut it or not?

 

[filmgoerjuan]

Okay Rob, give me a hand here... I've made a 5 inch incision and I think I found the appendix. Well, I found some sort of a dangly thing. Should I cut it or not?

Are you crazy -- don't cut it!

Just lightly rub it with a Q-Tip dipped in Ronsonol 😉

 

[dmr]

Ah, DMR, you're spoiling the image. I imagined you in a machine shop with the Canonet sitting in three different vises (at least), with a gonzo drill coming at it with great precision but great verve as well. Take that, you stuck lens mount! 😀

LOL! 🙂

Still, I don't own anything like a Dremel tool (whatever that is)

It is the most handy thing you can imagine! It's like a mini electric drill. It runs on a rechargeable battery. You can drill, polish, cut, etc. Any hobby shop or hardware store will have these. You can zero right in on where you need to make that little dent and bbbzzzzzzzzzzz it's done and nothing got messed up. 🙂 Use the low speed for that.

and I'm not sure what Ronsonol is, but I'm sure I don't want to drink any

Uh, no you don't. 🙂

Ronsonol is lighter fluid. I would have to say it's an extremely light oil. I don't know how many still use it for lighters, but it's a great cleaning fluid and solvent. Otherwise known as Canon Shutter Un-sticker fluid. 🙂

Some people here report flushing the entire shutter with it, but as somebody said above, a bit of it on a q-tip works most of the time.