Canonet Giii QL17 - Meter without film?

[jamesbf]

I Just purchased my first rangefinder! Already loving it. I shot a roll of film today using the sunny 16 rule, still need to get that developed. This evening I went to a camera store and bought a Weincell MRB675.

Camera is set to A mode and nothing. I tried vinegar on a Q-Tip trick last night, even though the battery compartment seemed quite clean. I haven't put another roll of film in there yet because I wanted to check out the results from earlier today, which was my Test roll. Should the meter work without film loaded? OR should I put film in the camera and then check the meter? The battery check button doesn't work either.

The seller sells a lot of vintage cameras around my city, he told me that he's tested out the camera with a battery and everything works as should. I don't think i'm doing anything wrong here. The batter is in correctly. As a matter of fact, i've tried putting it in both ways.

Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[celluloidprop]

Film won't matter, the Canonet's electronics don't know if it's loaded or not.

The meter only works with the aperture set to A (shutter-priority) and won't appear to work even then if your shutter speed is too fast for f/1.7.

 

[jamesbf]

Well I guess electronics are shot and the seller was possibly lying about it working. Sunny 16 it is.

 

[JayM]

Mine has the same issue. Battery check light won't work, neither does the meter.

There's continuity to the battery check light. I cleaned the terminals, etc. Also tried shimming the battery in case it wasn't making proper contact. That didn't help either.

Can't get the name plate off the lens, seems to be welded on.

 

[kuzano]

Wein Cell MRB675 Incorrect!!!

Wein Cell MRB675 Incorrect!!!

Wein Cell MRB625 is correct. I have two GIII's and the 675's don't work

MRB625's do. I can't find 625's locally and buy them (MRB625) on eBay.

I think the difference is the lack of a collar that creates the proper fit, as is located on the 625 battery.

The crossover chart for the old PX625 mercury battery on the Wein Cell chart is MRB625.... Not MRB675.

 

[JayM]

I put a rubber ring around the 675 to get it to fit. Still doesn't work despite proper voltage

 

[FrankS]

Often the wire attached to the battery chamber is corroded off.

 

[JayM]

You can check with a multimeter.

The big tab in the battery chamber goes to the chasis.

The little "dimple" connects the + side of the battery to all sorts of things (including the battery check light.) When you press the battery check button it connects the + side of the battery to the hotshoe (through the bulb of course. center pin I believe, could be outer part.)

 

[Bill58]

Do you have to turn off the meter by taking it off "A" in between uses?

My meter works great with a Kanto/ CRIS adapter and SR43 batteries.

 

[john neal]

Won't the rubber O-ring stop the battery from contacting the side contact in the camera?

You need a 625 replacement to get correct continuity - the Cris will work for the meter, but may not pass enough current for the test light to show up. There is a limit to the current that the Cris device will carry and it is quite low - so low that in some applications (e.g. Nikon F) the Cris won't work at all. I'm not familiar with a Kanto adapter, must research that.
[edit] - ah, I see, Kanto is the maker of the Cris, so same comment apply.

I only know this as I used to make a high-current adapter for these and other applications (one actually ran 2A for a minute before failing!). Many hours spent researching battery life curves, voltage decay, etc, etc, and I finally found the answer in a particular Shottky diode, but then the EU outlawed lead in solder and the higher melting point of silver based solder kills 80%+ of the diodes during soldering, so I gave up.

 

[Bill58]

John:

The Kanto and CRIS are the same (I think Kanto is the mfg.).....and the test light doesn't work. BTW--the Kanto people in Japan were a great deal more friendly/ helpful than the jerks at CRIS.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Well I guess electronics are shot and the seller was possibly lying about it working. Sunny 16 it is.

The battery doesn't last very long if you tend to store your Canonet in a way that pushes on the battery test button.