Canonet QL17 GIII film advance question..

[jbmia]

Hi guys,

Potentially stupid question here... is the film advance lever supposed to function if the shutter hasn't been fired? I've got one here that will advance even though the shutter hasn't fired.. Wondering if this one is malfunctioning or this is by design. As far as I recall, all other camera's I've used have a film advance lock if the shutter hasn't been fired.

If this is a malfunction, any idea what I should be looking for if I were to open it up? I've done stuff like clean and adjust rangefinders as well as ronsonol shutter cleaning, but no major repair work. Don't really want to sink bucks into it either..

Thanks for any insight!

jbmia

 

[stratcat]

In the Canonet QL17 GIII the film should not advance until you fire the shutter, that is, the film advance lever is 'locked' until the shutter fires.

 

[errorlogin]

Hi,

if it happens only the first 4 advances after the back plate was opened, it is OK.

It's the design, that you advance 4 times after inserting film to reach picture number 1 without firing the shutter.

After that, it should be normal function as like other cameras.

 

[rjbuzzclick]

As others have said, if it does this after the first couple of winds when loading there's a problem. Under the leatherette and metal cover on the left side of the lens (looking from the front, shutter button side) there's a little arm with a tab on it. This tab gets bent and then the camera will continue to wind. It's an easy fix, just bending the tab back, but getting to it is a pain. The leatherette (at least on mine) does not come off easily, or in one piece. I think Rick Oleson has information on this on his website somewhere.