Canon LTM I'm about to purchase a canon canonet 28. Need advice.......

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A good day to one and all!

I'm Glenn. I hail from Singapore. I have had the offer to purchase a canon canonet 28 for S$90 (US$55). I had initially intended to hold out for the Bessa R2A.

But that would cost 10 times the amount. The best offer would have been from Dr Joseph Yao from HK for the Bessa R2A. And i badly want to take pictures. My present camera, a digital A70, is proving very inadequate.

I had gone the circle from a digital P&S to considering a DSLR to SLR to RF. So i guess this makes me a good candidate for writing an article on why would a person choose RF versus SLR or DSLR. :) But........... i really like framelines of 35 and 50. So the R3A is out for me. And further more, it would take quite some time before a winner is decided. Now i understand that the canonet 28 has a 40mm fixed lens. But as the price quoted to me is within my means presently, i'll be willing to accept it and feel that i would be able to ease my way into RF photography with it. :cool:

Now just a few questions for those who have taken the time to read till here:
1. What aspects of the camera would i have to check to ensure it is in working condition?

2. Is the price quoted to me resonable or should i wait it out from EBAY? An obvious disadvantage would be i am unable to ascertain the condition of the camera before purchase.

Lastly, i've been looking around this forum for quite some time and it's because of folks like all of you that make RF photography so wonderful!!
 
Sorry, i think 55USD for a canonet28 is way too much. That camera is a little...umm...limited, so to say. I suggest you to look here on this very forum for much better offers on much better cameras.
With ebay you might get lucky or very unlucky, so again, better wait here for a camera to pop up. we have here a few persons regularly selling canonet-type cameras (but higher class than the 28), for the same amount or even less.

EDIT: we even have a few singaporians(?) here, they might have something for ya:)
 
Thank you for the quick reply Pherdinand!. I did feel that the price is on the high side. And agree with you on that. I would rather have a Canonet GIII QL17 or Canon 7/7s.

But rangefinder users are a rare species over here and rangefinders that carry the name of canon and not leica are rarer still!

What would a fair price be like for the canonet 28? I have heard from the seller that the camera has undergone a CLA and it has a working meter. But i shall have to see it for myself tomorrow when i do meet him.
 
gc1 said:
But rangefinder users are a rare species over here and rangefinders that carry the name of canon and not leica are rarer still!

What would a fair price be like for the canonet 28? I have heard from the seller that the camera has undergone a CLA and it has a working meter. But i shall have to see it for myself tomorrow when i do meet him.
Click to expand...

No wonder he never replied when I offered him $70 for it, that's still a tad high but fair considering the CLA IMO. You can tell the seller tomorrow that it'd been a small courtesy to have let me know a sale was pending instead of keeping me in the dark.

Hang around here Glenn, there's a bunch of us Singaporeans lurking around on RFF. Rare species, hah!
 
a canonet 28 undergoing a CLA< that's weird:) I don't know what a fair price for YOU is, but i personally would not pay more than 15-20 $ for any canonet 28, even if new from the box. However, if you see that it's perfectly working, and its limitations are no problem for you, you might be happy with it even for 55$.

Limitations i talk about:
-lens only f/2.8 and not a masterpiece at that
-shutter speed from 1/30 s to 1/600 s, no slow speeds
-without battery, only 1/30 s works (meaning also that only full auto exposure OR aperture "priority"but at 1/30 s only, if i am correct)
-focusing ring is way inferior in use than a ql17
-aperture setting is a pain, the ring is thin, and very close to the camera body
-has no separate aperture blades, uses the shutter blades to change aperture, and it's a weird shape aperture

Advantages:
-very small
-cheap (usually)
-quite rugged

How to checl it:
-check RF dirtyness/haze and its alignment, vertical and horizontal (easiest at infinity, safest via a testing with film)
-winding/cocking should be smooth
-shutter should not stick
-lenses clean
metering correct (again, with slide film is the best to check this)
-setting aperture to different values should be visible when you shoot at 1/30, if it's always looking like wide-open, you have a problem
-check battery compartment for signs of corrosion (leakage of old batteries).
Ah and check the light sealing along the back door, inside. Touch them, see if they are elastic, fresh foam or are sticky goo. It's not a big deal to replace the seals, but a CLA should be a CLA, if the seals are not new, it's an indication that the rest should also not be in very good shape, in there.
 
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Just get it! I will go with you tomorrow. Since he has CLAed the camera and also he rated it like new, it is a good buy. Alternatively, you buy my Bessa R2 with the serial number of 999! NOT! :p
 
Thank you everyone for the advice. We'll just see how it goes tomorrow! And i'm glad to be here.
 
Mine was 35 USD plus shipping, had been cleaned and tested by the guy who sold it to me, and has never given me any real problems. I had a scare, but I found out that it was me who was doing something stupid.

It's a nice camera and you'll be very happy with it if you get it, but I would say to try and talk him down in price a bit.
 
Just got the message that our friend Glenn has just bought the Canonet 28. Welcome to the club Glenn and do not forget to post the photos! :)
 
I have horrible..... horrible.... sad news. In my excitement in purchasing my first RF camera, i had missed the fungus on the glass of the canonet 28. And perhaps almost as bad, the battery had leaked. Parts of the camera inside might have got affected by the leakage. According to the owner, the camera had been used very little. So in retrospect, it could have stayed in that condition for quite some time.

I had a local camera shop to check the condition of it after the purchase. That's the sad report. :mad: I'm just so angry with myself. A genuine newbie mistake. I had not handled a canonet 28 before and thus did not know how to check it throughly.

I learnt from the shop which serviced the camera previously that only the meter was serviced as it was dead. It was not a full service. The news just gets worse does it not? Learnt that there was no fungus on the glass when it was originally brought in. How can the fella put the condition as a 10!!?? More stupidly, how did i believe? Sign.......

In a measure of fairness, the camera is in a general good condition but it's obvious to me after all the checking that not alot of care had gone into the camera. If there was, it would not have such faults.

Shall be attempting to return the camera back to the seller and get a refund of my cash. Sad..... sad....... Terence, you did not lose anything by not meeting the seller after all. :bang:

Sad day.
 
Sorry to hear about getting burned. Touch wood I am lucky I have not been nailed yet. I would suggest getting a Canonet QL17 G3. The 40/1.7 lens is way better and the camera is well built. I bought mine off my camera tech so the canonet had the CLA and new seals. I paid $129 CDN for mine but it also came with a flash as well.

Bill
 
gc, i would suggest to try to get your money back. I mean, fungus grows in a long period, he can't say you messed up a mint camera:)
If it does not work, I could also offer to send you my canonet28 for free, which had its glass windows on the top plate (the ones in front and in the back of the viewfinder/ranmgefinder)taken out to use in my busted canonet 17. It also has a small deformation of about 2mm on the aperture scale,since when I soldered a wire back i touched it with the soldering iron and it melted a little groove on it :bang: but it's not interfering w any functionality. And it has a good lens, a good rf, a clean body, even light seals replaced, a clean battery compartment. The only thing you would need to do is to swap the full top plate as it is, with your canonet's good top plate, and then you'll have a crap-camera and a perfectly good working one.

I send it to you for free; the only problem is, the postage to Singapore would cost you alot i guess.
 
Glenn, sorry to hear that. You should have taken Peter's offer to check it out with you. Pherdinand gave a very useful checklist which should also have been followed during your examination. Anyways, I hope you can convince the seller to accept the return. Post some open feedback on CS if the situation does not resolve itself to your satisfaction. Such dishonest sellers should be made known to others. Tell you what, once I have a check on my Electro GSN, you can have it on loan if you like. I'm not entirely sure of its functionality just yet but am shooting a test roll to ascertain it.

Pherdinand, that's a kind offer on your part.
 
Oh, i believe Peter was tired and did not join me on that day. Anyway, i have talked to the seller of my camera. He does not accept it back as he says it is being able to operate. He says that it had been left in his dry cabinet and had not used it in quite a while. He also spent a pretty long time telling me that he had been fair to me while selling it. Saying too that it's normal that a old camera would have defective parts. If i had wanted a perfect camera, i should have purchased a new one. sign.........

But after all the talking, i believe that he was not out to cheat me but am still kind of disappointed. :( I don't think i'll be putting it out on CS that he's a cheat but feel unfortunate.

But what is more fortunate are folks like Peter, Pherdinand & Terence! :D RF photography must be doing something right if such kind souls take part in it. Thank you all for the support and empathy. Am feeling that i should have done better about it but oh well, it's a lesson learnt.

Pherdinand, it's a really kind offer that you have. How much would it be to send your camera over to this side of the equator? I'll promise to take very good care of it. ;) And who knows, i'll be telling my future kids and grand kids about the very nice chap who sent me the first RF camera i used. :D

Terence, thank you for the email that was sent to me. Yes, i agree that the 28 is a little of a limited platform to begin with and Bessas are resonably priced. But it would take some time for me to save and i really would wish to shoot pictures while waiting and saving. I've read good things about the Electro GSN. It is a good camera. I would not mind trying it out for a short period of time if it's ok with you. :D
 
gc1, honestly i have no idea how much it would cost. Should be of order of magnitude 20-25 USD.
Hmm, maybe sbody else knows.

Did anybody send a Canonet-size package to Singapore from the EU? How much did it cost?
 
US$15 sounds about right for the Canonet. I send cameras/lenses to Europe regularly and buy from UK sellers now and then.

Glenn, I'd suggest you hold off on cleaning out the fungus for now. The repairs will probably cost more than the shipping so it doesn't make sense. The battery compartment can be cleaned out, depending on the extent of the corrosion. Does the meter work at all?
 
OK, i figured i can find it on the Dutch post website:)
The canonet is 550g, so the package will be in the 500g-1kg category, to Singapore that's euro 9,70 standard (10-12 days delivery) or euro 19,50 priority(4-6 days).
Not that bad. I also have the orig. instruction manual.
Lemme know if you want it.
 
I've got good news!! :D

The seller is willing to take back his camera. He had checked with the local repair shop which the camera is at presently and was able to ascertain that the camera is not in working condition. He said that he would not be willing to take it back unless it is not working and that's the condition it is in.

Hope that he does not go back on his word. He did give me a choice between keeping the camera and not getting back the cash or returning it to him. I chose the latter. Will be meeting him tomorrow once more to return it. :D

Pherdinand, is the standard delivery which is euro 9.70 registered? Meaning we would be able to check where it is at any point? If it is, then do drop me a PM about the particulars and i shall be sending you the cash soon. :D
 
That's indeed good news. You took the right choice. For the same amount and some shipping soon you'll find a much better camera over here.

BUT: my canonet would only be useful together with yours, since as I said you need another top plate for it. The windows are busted. The meter needle is exposed and you can't see the finder lines, etc. So if you give that back, it makes no sense for you to pay shipping for this, another not-fully-functional Canonet.
You better get yourself a good working toy after you collect your cash back.

This is just my advice; i am still willing to send you mine, can't do anything with it myself; but i wouldn't want to disappoint you once more! I know very well how much it sucks when you wait two weeks for something new, and then it turns out to be a lemon.

9.70 is NOT traceable-registered; there's some insurance on it but that depends on how much "value" i write on the customs declaration form I think, and if i put too much, you'll have to pay tax...
I think that registered with a tracking no. would cost much more and it's not really worth it. But you should know more about shipping to Singapore, how reliable it is.

Honestly, if I were you, I would put a "want to buy" post on the 35mm Classified section, specifying that I want a compact fixed-lens rangefinder with not important cosmetics but fully functional and clean optics, and I would specify a price for it. Or, you can just check the same section regularly for offers popping up - but then, you will have to be quick; things sell very fast here.
I am sure that for 45-55 USD you will find a very good camera soon.
 
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