GIII QL19 meter issue...

[Kyle]

I have a Canonet QL19 GIII with an erradic meter. It works absolutely fine in manual mode, but A is a whole 'nother story. It worked just fine a few weeks ago in A mode, but then I went to test it to sell to my friend and I couldn't get it to work in A. I replaced the battery and it didn't work, but then I got it to work after blowing out the battery compartment. Shortly after he took it home it didn't work. Then I tried cleaning the terminals and it worked fine. He now says that it works when you "warm it up" but once you set it down for a few hours it won't work anymore.

Anyways, what sort of problem am I looking at here? Thanks!

 

[anirbax]

Very likely reasons: dirty battery contacts or a broken wire near the battery compartment. Have you tried removing the bottom cover and cleaning the battery compartment and surrounding areas throughly?

 

[Kim Coxon]

It might need the wire replacing. If it has had any corrosion in the bat compartment in the past, this is the most likely reason. The "corrosion" creeps along the wire and causes problems over time.

Kim

 

[taffer]

When I owned this same camera (it was part of the G'man special auction) that was the most far I did go, I mean, cleaning the battery contacts, even then while in my hands I never really trusted that meter anyway 🙂

Let me know if I can help in any way though.

Oscar

 

[Kyle]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I figured it was probably going to be along the lines of what Kim said. Kim, is this a DIY job or is it too complicated for a beginner (I'm guessing it's not something I want to tackle, but I figured I'd ask anyways).

 

[Kyle]

When I owned this same camera (it was part of the G'man special auction) that was the most far I did go, I mean, cleaning the battery contacts, even then while in my hands I never really trusted that meter anyway 🙂

Let me know if I can help in any way though.

Oscar

Oscar, the camera has served me wonderfully for the months that I have owned it. It wasn't until last week that these issues arose, when I was selling the camera to my good friend as a birthday present for his girlfriend (she has been in love with the Canonets ever since she saw me shooting with one last year). When I brought it to him it just started showing these problems. I never used it in A mode, though, always in manual and eye-balling exposure or with a Sekonic hand held (I actually compared the results I got with the camera's meter to the Sekonic meter set to reflected and the camera's meter was pretty darn close the couple times I compared them). However, my friend is still new at manual photography and needs to use it in A mode to get her started.