Got my Canonet QL17 G-III! And a question...

[daggerlee]

Hi all, I'm a newbie here who just bought a QL17 off of eBay. Can't wait to run a roll of film through it after I replace the light seals (I must thank the board for the recommendation of Jon Goodman). Anyway, I have a question:

THe shutter seems to be fine, except on 1/4 and 1/8 it makes undue noise. It makes the same noise as the self timer makes when it is ticking down. This doesn't happen on the 1/15, it does make it on Bulb mode but goes away after a second. Is this normal? I tried doing a search but couldn't seem to find any info.

Also, how loose is the focus ring supposed to be? Mine turns pretty good for about 75% of the travel but is a little tight towards one end...

Oh well, I guess that's the peril of buying off of eBay...

Anyway, thanks in advance guys!

 

[dmr]

THe shutter seems to be fine, except on 1/4 and 1/8 it makes undue noise. It makes the same noise as the self timer makes when it is ticking down. This doesn't happen on the 1/15, it does make it on Bulb mode but goes away after a second. Is this normal? I tried doing a search but couldn't seem to find any info.

Well, I just tried it on mine and listened closely. 1/8 is the fastest speed where I can actually hear the clockwork of the shutter, but it's not like the self timer, which I never use. There is no clockwork noise at all on B on mine.

My Mamiya SD, which uses a very similar shutter, is starting to malfunction on 1/4 and slower, and it makes a pronounced clockwork sound as it sticks intermittently. B is fine. This one may be ready for a CLA.

Also, how loose is the focus ring supposed to be? Mine turns pretty good for about 75% of the travel but is a little tight towards one end...

It should turn easily all the way. Mine does not feel looser or tighter anywhere in the range.

Oh well, I guess that's the peril of buying off of eBay...

Don't remind me. Yours is probably in better shape than mine first was.

 

[daggerlee]

Thanks for the answer! Looks like mine indeed might be defective. Also, when stopped down, the aperture moves outward a bit when taking a pic but returns to its original state when the film is advanced...I don't think that ought to happen. Oh well

 

[Tom Diaz]

As far as the camera model is concerned, you chose well! You probably know that and that's why you bought it. It has a fantastically high-quality lens. Hope you can get it tuned up a bit at your local camera repair guy. Ask him whether it can be recalibrated for alkaline batteries. It originally was made for the now-illegal mercury ones. I have used the lead-air battery replacement that is supposedly the equivalent of mercury, but exposures are consistently overexposed. (Could be a different problem but the battery seems like the likely culprit.)

Anyway, good choice, and good shooting!

 

[daggerlee]

Let's say you have it at f16. You change to f5.6. It won't reset the aperture blades until you advance the wind lever.
That's normal for the GIII.



Well that's not exactly what happens...what I mean is I'll turn it to F16 and I see the blades close in. I notice that the aperture blades 'shift' a bit inward after the shutter is fired. When I advance the film it returns back to its original state...

*edit* Well I took another look and it's not all of the aperture blades moving in, it's just one (the lower left one). I don't know how that will affect picture quality though...

 

[daggerlee]

Ah, that must be it. Thanks a lot for the help everyone!