Does anyone have a Canon Canonet QL 17 GIII 40mm F1.7 here?

Great camera, fun to use, decent little lens and very pocketable and lightweight.

Unfortunately, the shutter in mine completely seized up without warning one day, and I haven't bothered to replace it. I did love it dearly while it worked, though.

The Minolta is a bit bigger and heavier, but has the advantage of interchangeable lenses.
 
Had one, hated it. Preferred the electro over the Canonet. Poor mans leica is an over statement. Doesn't come close to an M.
 
Love the Canonet QL 17.
Perfect pocket camera, great lens and very quiet shutter.

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BLKRCAT said:
Had one, hated it. Preferred the electro over the Canonet. Poor mans leica is an over statement. Doesn't come close to an M.
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To be fair, it's in a different league to the M's entirely. Nothing comes close to an M.

I've also used the Electros, and they're functionally very similar. Perhaps build quality is just a touch better in the Yashicas. I don't have either anymore, but if I were to buy it again, it'd be the Canonet. I just took more photos with it for some reason. The Yashica kind of annoyed me, although its images were perfectly good.
 
I have one.
It's pretty good for making b&w images.
I find the images a tad soft, however.
It's a good pocket camera.
 
To be fair the Canon does things a Leica doesn't, it has a shutter priority mode and a virtually silent leaf shutter. Be aware copies in good condition are not easy to find and I don't think I'd recommend buying one off ebay. If you want to do any surreptitious/street photography the Canon is the one to go for - nice focussing lever and short focus throw makes it good for hyperfocal shooting.

If you're interested in portraiture or shallow DOF then the X-700 is easier to use, you're also more likely to find one that has a reliable working meter. Wide open the X-700 should be easier to focus, plus Minolta MD/MC lenses are cheap (and mostly really good) if you wanted to try out other focus lengths.
 
Thanks for the suggestion :) They (local shop) have loads of ql17's and they're all in very good condition looking from the pictures on their website
 
I've got 6-7 of them here right now, including one I'm repairing for somebody I met through Instagram. Sticky shutter is pretty easy to fix.

I prefer the Canonet over almost all of the other small cheap RFs. The Electros might have a better lens but I would much rather carry the Canonet around all day with me. Just personal preference.

The X700 + 50/1.4 is completely different user experience, but I have one of those (albeit a different lens) too. Horses for courses.
 
Me too, I have several including black paint ones.

Closer focusing than other fixed lens RFs, and parallax correction, too, which most of its competitors do not have. The viewfinder is what sets it apart, assuming it's been cleaned up, most tend to be hazy after sitting for a couple of decades...
 
Be sure to check the foam light seals in the back, also.

I have one of these, too. I have used it and similar compact RFs for travel and living abroad, for which they were perfect. The Canonet is light, compact, easy to use, and it has always rendered consistently sharp, well exposed slides. Perfect for travel, but "back home" I never use it. I keep thinking I will, but now mine needs new light seals.

For shooting 35mm around home and traveling in a car, I always choose my SLRs. I like the through-the-lens viewing, closer focusing, the total lack of parallax, and the ability to change lenses. The SLRs allow me a lot more flexibility.

- Murray
 
I like the QL17 GIII for what it can do, same as the various Yashica models (GX and CC mostly). It all depends on what style of photography you will use it for. While the Yashica is aperture priority only, in a sense that is good, because you control depth of field. My biggest bug-a-boo about the QL series from Canon is when you switch to manual, it cuts off the meter circuit.

PF
 
It's definitely not as good as a Leica camera that will cost 10X as much :D

However, it's smaller, lighter (obviously cheaper) and has a good fast lens plus a built-in meter. If that's enough, then why not!

Can't comment on your alternative though - never had one.
 
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