My first rangefinder & post!

[Ronald_H]

Ok, it's a Canon Canonet GIII 17 QL. Despite claims that it is easy to find, it took me 5 camera shows to get one. It is in really great condition, even a battery was included (I am aware that is uses one with mercury). All that for 20 euros!

The finder is a bit dirty and seems hazy to me, but the only reference I have is the Leica M6 of a friend. Not really fair. It is quite usable though.

Burned a roll of FP4 today with it, negatives are drying as I type this. Exposure seems ok over the speed range. After I scanned them I'll know more. Shot a lot wide open out of necessity. It was darker than I expected, but I figured that I'd better try the cam at its extremes first go.

But why a rangefinder? I'm very interested in the 'Leica mystique', but I'd like to try a lower cost RF first. I'm also shooting a lot more film than I used to, and I really like the interaction with my manual Nikon SLRs. My 'old' Olympus Mju-II is still used and loved, but is fully automatic. And of course, the GIII has a much faster lens as well.

 

[srtiwari]

Congratulations ! Seems like a great buy. Don't forget to post pictures.

 

[ErnestoJL]

Hi!
Welcome to the forum.
Congrats for the nice buy, too.
If you want to experience "what does it feel to shoot with a Leica" go for a bargain, the Zorki 1. It´ll give you the closest feel to any Barnack Leica but for pennies. The only disadvantage is the slow 1:3.5 Industar 22, but you can replace it with either a Jupiter 8 f2 or a Jupiter 3 (f1.5).

Cheers
Ernesto

 

[tripod]

Welcome. Somehow RF photography is more elemental and intimate than slr photography - I'm talking about the process, not the end result. Lotsa people here get hooked on it and explaining exactly why is really difficult.

 

[Broke]

Hi Ronald, welcome. You can take the top off the canonet and clean the finder quite easily -- I did it and don't have any more technical skill than the next joe. Makes a night-and-day difference.
Here's a link to get you started if you like -- there's plenty of pictures around of folks removing the top. The general consensus is to not clean the beamsplitter mirror, but otherwise you're safe.
http://www.mattdentonphoto.com/cameras/canonet_repair.html

Cheers,
Jim

Ok, it's a Canon Canonet GIII 17 QL. Despite claims that it is easy to find, it took me 5 camera shows to get one. It is in really great condition, even a battery was included (I am aware that is uses one with mercury). All that for 20 euros!

The finder is a bit dirty and seems hazy to me, but the only reference I have is the Leica M6 of a friend. Not really fair. It is quite usable though.

Burned a roll of FP4 today with it, negatives are drying as I type this. Exposure seems ok over the speed range. After I scanned them I'll know more. Shot a lot wide open out of necessity. It was darker than I expected, but I figured that I'd better try the cam at its extremes first go.

But why a rangefinder? I'm very interested in the 'Leica mystique', but I'd like to try a lower cost RF first. I'm also shooting a lot more film than I used to, and I really like the interaction with my manual Nikon SLRs. My 'old' Olympus Mju-II is still used and loved, but is fully automatic. And of course, the GIII has a much faster lens as well.

 

[raid]

Hello Ronald,

Welcome to the RFF. I am looking forward to eventually hear from you about your new experiences with the Canonet.

 

[NickTrop]

Why a RF?

One unobtrusive camera, one fast fixed lens, "usually" a camera with a smaller profile. All manual control or at lest shutter or aperture priority. A quite leaf shutter (in the case of your camera) that allows flash sync at all shutter speeds. An angle of view that's a little larger than the focal length that allows you to anticipate action of subjects before they enter the frame, no "mirror slap" that allows for quiter operation and ability to hand-hold at lower shutter speeds - 1/30th, 1/15 even. They can be "better" in ambient light situations, candid photography, and "street photography". Good "walking around" cameras when you don't want to carry a lot of gear.

 

[Ronald_H]

Thanks folks. I appreciate the link to the 'howto' to clean my little Canon a lot!

Aas for the 'why an RF' summary, well yes... why did you think I bought one in the first place? 😉 As far as the 'Leica mystique' goes, it's more about the fact that for many people it seems to be almost religious. No matter what CV and Zeiss come out with, or what Contax, Canon and Nikon did in the past, it can never be good enough.

Anyway, I'm also planning to buy an early Zorki or FED soon, but I couldn't get a good enough bargain at the show I bought my Canonet. It would be nice if it works, but I'm more interested in those unforgivably kitschy Leica fakes to be honest 😀 You know, the ones with misspelled Nazi markings and brass 'gold' with wood 'veneer'.

 

[charjohncarter]

Ron, welcome, you've come to the right place for your Canon. There is a lot of expertise here.

 

[NebuK]

Hi,

i also just got me a QL17 for the same reason as you, wanted to try street and try to feel what its like working with a Leica. Since this are also my first serious attempts to film photography i'm still waiting for 10 rolls of Tri-X and chemicals to be in the mail.

Anyways, on to the question that i have. My viewfinder is also a bit foggy. I took off the top and looked through the viewfinder without having the top-"box" on it. Clear as hell. I've found out that the foggy part is the rear 'glass' on the top-"box". I tried cleaning it with isopropyle and Q-Tips, no luck. Its better, but not good.

Since this is my first rangefinder Camera i'm not sure how normal this is. Today i was on a photo-"fleamarket" and tried a M5 (well, was used). The viewfinder was similarly foggy, but i somehow find it disturbing nonetheless.

Is there a way to replace that glass, or should i just learn to bear it?

Thanks in advance
- Dario

 

[Ronald_H]

I'm impressed with this little camera. Lens appears very, very sharp, even wide open. Metering might be bit off, but exposure is consistent. Focusing went well, I missed only one shot due to poor focus.

Here are a few images:

 

[fishtek]

Great stuff, Ron! You're gonna like living with the GIII. I've got a handful of Canon RF's, and love 'em all. Welcome to the forum.

Regards!
Don