Canonet QL17 GIII with stuck shutter

[Justin Viiret]

Hello everyone,

I thought I'd better solicit some help from those here who are more knowledgeable than I . 🙂 Here's my tale of woe:

I've got a lovely little QL17 GIII that my girlfriend used for about 3-4 months -- it was an eBay purchase and worked beautifully. Not a scratch on it, battery check light works, meter is accurate, everything is great. Produced some lovely shots, too.

Then, one day, we were on holiday and the shutter jammed. Push the release, nothing happens. The shutter blades don't move at all, as far as I can see.

Now, thanks to the copious notes here and on other sites, I've had a look under the top plate and at the front element (though I don't think I have the tools to remove it), but haven't had the guts (or experience) to completely strip the thing. Since no repair person around where I live will touch it for less than twice its purchase price, though, I thought I'd have a go...

So, some questions. Does anyone know what the most likely cause is? My guess is that it's the shutter blades being jammed, or the self-timer. How can I isolate which? (or are they effectively the same thing?)

The aperture blades move OK, and they stop down correctly in 'A' mode when I push the shutter release. I can freely move the shutter speed dial, and I can hear a small whirring noise when I shift between speeds, with a slightly longer whir when I shift it to 'B' (with the tab pushed in).

What do I need to do to free the shutter, and how is it done? (in through the back, maybe?). Are there off-the-shelf tools I can use for this? (I've not attempted any camera repair before).

Can anyone lend me a hand? If there are any other questions I should answer to determine what's wrong with the thing, fire away -- I'd really love to fix it and give it back to my girlfriend in working order again. 🙂

Many thanks,
Justin

 

[dmr]

What do I need to do to free the shutter, and how is it done? (in through the back, maybe?). Are there off-the-shelf tools I can use for this? (I've not attempted any camera repair before).

Can anyone lend me a hand? If there are any other questions I should answer to determine what's wrong with the thing, fire away -- I'd really love to fix it and give it back to my girlfriend in working order again. 🙂

I recently repaired one of these. I'm definitely not a guru or camera repair person, so think of this as peer to peer encouragement and not expert to novice advice. 🙂 There are others here who have done this too.

I got mine un-stuck by massaging the shutter with a Q-tip soaked in Ronsonol (lighter fluid here in the States, "naptha", "petroleum distillates"). Once the shutter was un-stuck and exercised, it worked fine. Some people do a much more thorough flush with Ronsonol.

That's the easy part. Getting to the shutter is the hard part.

You will need a spanner wrench set. Some people make these out of pliers or dividers. I got mine from a co-worker who had one and didn't use it.

The most important thing you need, however, is patience. 🙂 Take your time and stop when something looks unfamiliar. Ask questions here if you need. The people are very good about answering them. 🙂

The proceduires for taking it apart are actually well documented on the web. The complete service manual is available on line. If you can't find it let me know as I have a couple different versions of it.

Good luck! 🙂

 

[Justin Viiret]

Hi!

Thankyou, ladies and gentlemen, for the quick responses and encouragement. 🙂 I shall go in search of lighter fluid later today, and see what I can find in the way of a spanner wrench tool.

greyhoundman: I think the self-timer on this one might be busted, unfortunetely -- moving it doesn't, er, do anything, and there seems to be quite a bit of "give" on the lever. Perhaps a symptom, though, as I've no idea whether it worked when we got the camera -- I didn't try it out. I shall try your trick first, though, it being the least invasive thing to try. Is there any chance that the fluid can make its way on to the lens this way -- i.e. should I hold the camera in a specific position, etc, to minimise the chance of leakage out of the shutter mechanism?

Next question: is it best to try getting to the shutter blades from the back, or the front? My guess would be the back, as then I don't have to deal with the aperture blades as well... correct?

(I quite enjoyed prising the camera open yesterday and poking around, though, doesn't seem too difficult at the moment. I'd guess that most of the difficulties appear once you try to get lens elements out. RFF is a great resource for this sort of thing, I've already mined the existing threads on the subject 🙂 )

jv

 

[dmr]

Next question: is it best to try getting to the shutter blades from the back, or the front? My guess would be the back, as then I don't have to deal with the aperture blades as well... correct?

If this is indeed the QL17 GIII model, the best way is thru the front. Once you get that middle lens assembly out you can reach the shutter blades. I just swabbed some Ronsonol on the blades and massaged them and all of a sudden it snapped and actually startled me. All it really needed after that was exercising a bit and then all the shutter speeds seemed to be in the ballpark.

Getting the middle lens thing out is tricky. I followed the advice of the gang here and drilled two very small indentations (using a Dremel tool) on the slanted sides of the top part of the assembly. The spanner wrench then fit right in and the whole thing came out in one piece. I seem to remember some talk about this sometimes coming out in two pieces, but I can't remember the details.

As for that self-timer, mine works, but if I ever have to take the front plate of the shutter off I'll probably remove it, as I regard it to be more of a nuisance than a feature I will use. I'm currently working on another camera (Mamiya) with a very similar shutter and I am leaving that sub-assembly out.

Hope this helps. 🙂

 

[Justin Viiret]

dmr436, you're being very helpful, thanks. 🙂

I'm not sure what you mean by "the slanted sides of the top part of the assembly" -- could you be more specific? It may be that I'm not there yet -- I can't get the front lens element off.

I've attached a photo of the front of the camera, with the first couple of rings off. How do I get the front element out of there? I can see that someone else has added/enlarged a couple of small indentations on the metal ring holding the element there (you can see them in the photo), but I can't seem to twist it. Not applying much force, though. Which way does it go -- clockwise or counter-clockwise?

Sorry about all the questions -- I'm just trying not to damage the poor defenseless camera. 🙂

(By the way, I tried some lighter fluid in through the self-timer, no luck -- I'm guessing I need to actually get to the shutter)

thanks,
jv

 

[dmr]

dmr436, you're being very helpful, thanks. 🙂

You're very welcome. 🙂

I'm not sure what you mean by "the slanted sides of the top part of the assembly" -- could you be more specific? It may be that I'm not there yet -- I can't get the front lens element off.

I've attached a photo of the front of the camera, with the first couple of rings off. How do I get the front element out of there? I can see that someone else has added/enlarged a couple of small indentations on the metal ring holding the element there (you can see them in the photo), but I can't seem to twist it. Not applying much force, though. Which way does it go -- clockwise or counter-clockwise?

Those notches are put there by the factory. It does unscrew. Mine came out with very little force. Counterclockwise (anti-clockwise) to remove. "Leftie-loosie, rightie- tightie" as my late grandfather used to say. 🙂 It may take a bit of gentle persuasion to start turning. This is where you should use a spanner wrench, either a commercial one or an improvised one.

Once you get this out I think you'll see the slanted surface I mean. 🙂

Sorry about all the questions -- I'm just trying not to damage the poor defenseless camera. 🙂

If you take your time and be careful, you probably won't damage anything.

I'm not the expert. It's been a few months since I had this one apart and I hope I never have to do it again. I have another one I'm working on now and I would say that the Canon GIII is the more difficult of the two to disassemble.

I hope this helps. Just ask away here in the forum and you'll get more advice than you ever thought you would get. 🙂

 

[Energy]

Hi, I got the same problem with the stuck shutter on my QL-17 GIII, I allready disassemled the first lens. But how do I get the other lens-elements out, to get a free access to the shutter???

Regards
Marc

 

[jjthe2]

I just did this a few days ago, I think it's much easier to go through the back.

See here

 

[cralx2000]

Yes, but if you want to do really a good shutter cleaning you need take out front and back lens.

 

[cralx2000]

You can try this also. Just dont let anything touch the len.

 

[cralx2000]

good tip. thanks greyhoundman

 

[ftw1952]

Canonet G-III self timer problem remedies

Canonet G-III self timer problem remedies

Hi everyone

I have rebuilt hundreds of these Canonet's since 1975

They are a great rangefinder to use

If you have a self-timer stuck on your G-III or the older model with the same lens barrel you can refer remedy to this for repairing it and or disabling it

First try a few drops of Ronsonol as quoted by many here. It may free it up, although always keep the camera sitting on it's bottom plate when doing so. That will keep the fluid away from getting onto the optics.

If that does not free it most likely the gears are jamb up in the self timer mechanism.


How to disable the self timer without removing it from the camera

After the Ronsonol routine has been tried at least 3 times it is time to try this if you are willing..... I had done this about 30 times at least and it has always work to free the shutter to operate again.... Find yourself a tool such as a hammer. screwdriver, or wrench with a rubberized covered handle. With this you can push back the self timer lever back into the park position. In other words where it should be set at if not activated. If it was possible to do this the shutter should operate. I will guarantee the self timer will not operate no longer after performing this procedure. For some reason it does not operate you need to be a little more violent with the next step for this will work if you read on. You will produce marks on the lens barrel doing this so if you have a pristine camera think twice before going on with this procedure. I have many times done what I am about to explain and each time I was able to get the shutter to operate once again.

I had used a miniature set of needle nose vise grips for this job. I plainly grip the vise grip to the self timer lever. Then I forced the lever one way then back to the park setting. In most cases all shutter speeds will operate again. Sometimes the 1/25 film speed setting will not close until you turn the film speed dial. In other words if you have a user camera you want to use I would try this. Placing masking tape on the lens barrel may do some good to protect your investment if attempting this repair
Good Luck !!