Just got my GIII QL17...

[fishtek]

😀 and I'm gonna like it!

When it arrived, the first thing I noticed was that there was a crack in the front viewfinder window. Doesn't affect anything, so I'll leave it be. Second thing I noticed, was that It wouldn't fire. After 20-30 cycles, it worked, and I've exercised it for a while, and all speeds seem proper. Getting familiar with it,

I realized that it's got a built-in refusal mode if the light/speed combo isn't right. Cool. The little 3-red-bar display doesn't move when cranking the advance lever, but the smaller window turns red when the film advance lever has been fully cocked. Dunno if the 3-bar thingy requires a load of film to function, but I'll find out tomorrow.

The only other iniquity I found was a bit of the sealing foam had adhered to the bottom of the case where the door fits onto it, but again, no real problem.

I'll report back after the all-important film test. BTW...I installed a 1.5v battery, and will experiment with the ISO setting to offset the difference from the 1.35v that it's supposed to carry...

A neat li'l camera...

Regards!
Don

 

[dmr]

The only other iniquity I found was a bit of the sealing foam had adhered to the bottom of the case where the door fits onto it, but again, no real problem.

Unfortunately in this camera (and others) the foam seals will decompose into a black tar-like goo. 🙁

Jon Goodman, who goes by Interslice on Ebay, sells a pre-cut seal kit for the GIII for under $10. It's very easy to install. 🙂

Getting the old grody yucky seals out is the hard part. 🙁

 

[fishtek]

Yeah...I know that re-sealing 'em is a fact of life. I've seen a few articles about replacing seals. I'll probably attempt to do it myself before I give in and buy the pre-cut. I don't intend to get TOO enthusaistic about mucking around inside my cameras, but...maybe the tendency to buy old rangefinders sort of leads to it, eh?

Regards!
Don