GIII Light Meter working ?

[Austintatious]

Hi !
I have finally cleaned up and replaced the light seals on an evilbay GIII. It looks pretty good so far. I now have a first test roll of film in it. It seems that the light meter does not move much as I change speeds. Just wondering how the indicater should look if it is working properly. ( may be stuck ? )
Also need to pop the top and clean the view finder. Is there a thread that describes this?

Thanks for any help on this !

Charles

 

[filmgoerjuan]

Matt's Classic Camera site has some repair tips for Canonets, including cleaning the rangefinder glass.

As for the light meter, the basic thing to do is to clean the contacts in the battery chamber with white vinegar (in case there's corrosion on them). Put in a fresh battery (various options, I tend to go with a Wein replacement for the outlawed original mercury version, others use the equivalent hearing aid battery with an o-ring to shim it in place in the battery compartment). Make sure the aperature dial is set to "A" (light meter doesn't work when you set the aperature manually), the ASA lever is set to the appropriate film speed and the lens cap is off (the metering cell is just above the lens). Adjust the shutter speed ring and the aperature setting in the viewfinder should change accordingly (assuming there's enough light). If you don't get any reaction from the meter no matter what the ASA or shutter speed you select, it's possible that the meter is dead or else there's a connection or other problem.

Greyhoundman is the resident Canonet repair expert on RFF and I'm sure he'll be around soon to give you some tips if you're still having problems with the meter.

 

[Austintatious]

Thanks Juan,

The contacts have been cleaned, new Wein cell is in place, but the meter needle seems to stay around the 2.8 mark. When you half press the shutter , the needle quivers a bit. Battery check light does not light up at all.
The aperatuer is set to "A" and I'm using some Afga asa200 film,but because of the meter not behaving I have been setting it on 500 for sun, 125 for cloudy and 30 for indoors , no flash. This is only a test ! we'll see what this roll looks like in a day or so.

Cheers!

Charles

 

[Austintatious]

Howdy G Man!

I just took it outside into good light, moved it off the "A" and the needle stays at 2.8. I changed the speed and moved to different f stops. It does'nt move, just wiggles a bit when the shutter is pressed. Stuck maybe ?

Thanks

 

[Austintatious]

I guess I'll finish this roll and then maybe send it in for some Greyhound Therapy. How booked up are you G Man?

Charles

 

[Kim Coxon]

Just a thought. I had one with a similar problem and the reason was that the linkage to the needle that is shown in the window had become disconnected. As soon as I "reconnected" it, everything worked perfectly.

Kim

 

[Buttershug]

Arrgghh!! :bang:

This is a quick question for the G-Man. I had the top off cleaning up my latest QL17 (GIII) (I've had a few of these and the general RF/VF clean and calibrate etc is routine now) feeling flushed with success at a bright new-looking finder, I thought the meter could use a tweek...

('psycho' music starts now...)

It seemed about a stop and a half off and so I twirled around with the little brass coloured screw on the meter assembly that faces to the front of the camera (thinking this was the calibration adjust). The needle moved initially - then stopped. And that's where it remains. And no amount of turning of the screw - in either direction seems to return it to its 'floating' self.

Okay, so give this monkey (as in 'monkeying' around) the bad news; what have I done and how do I fix it? Yarrghh. What do they say 'if it ain't broke...'

Thanks,

David.

 

[Kim Coxon]

Hi,
The meter adjustment is done on the pot behind the red/white film moving flag. That screw may just be a zero adjust as opposed to sensitivity but I think you may have just unscrewed the bearings to the meter movement! That is why it has stopped working. Not sure how you would fix it. There is nothing about that screw in the Canon repair manual

Kim

Arrgghh!! :bang:

This is a quick question for the G-Man. I had the top off cleaning up my latest QL17 (GIII) (I've had a few of these and the general RF/VF clean and calibrate etc is routine now) feeling flushed with success at a bright new-looking finder, I thought the meter could use a tweek...

('psycho' music starts now...)

It seemed about a stop and a half off and so I twirled around with the little brass coloured screw on the meter assembly that faces to the front of the camera (thinking this was the calibration adjust). The needle moved initially - then stopped. And that's where it remains. And no amount of turning of the screw - in either direction seems to return it to its 'floating' self.

Okay, so give this monkey (as in 'monkeying' around) the bad news; what have I done and how do I fix it? Yarrghh. What do they say 'if it ain't broke...'

Thanks,

David.

 

[Buttershug]

Kim....that's bad. That sounds very very bad...

 

[Kim Coxon]

Yup,
Had another longer look at the manual and any needle adjustmet is supposed to be done by bending the needle or rotaing the meter movement in the housing. It might be that you will be stuck with a handheld (which many suggest anyway) or trying to get a donor. Don't rush though, others may (and probably do) know a lot more than me.

Kim

 

[Buttershug]

Holy Crap! It's absolutely NOT repairable? I turned a screw 360 deg - and it killed the meter?? Shouldn't this have had red neon skull-and-cross-bones or something flashing over it???
(answer: you shouldn't have been in there in the first place... :bang: )

Oh, man that sucks. So what's my optioins then? Replace the entire meter assembly for the turn of one screw?

Whew! That's nasty...