R
ruben
Guest
A lot of talk and very few pictures. Perhaps this is the best way to define my relationship with the Canonets, a breed from which I own 7 samples. (!)
The first Canonet I ever bought accounts for the most ridiculous self embarrasing story I can write about. The model was "The New Canonet QL" which preceded to the GIII models.
I was in my mid twenties standing in front of a small photography shop where two models attracted my attention. One was the cuty Canonet, and the other a very very strange camera without any widows in its front, which kept my attention trying to figure out how the photographer could possible view his subject with such a camera and its triangular shape on its top. So I entered the shop and went out with the Canonet.
As my interest in photography by that time was rather limited, I sold the camera to a friend. Some years latter I wanted to purchase the camera back from him but he told me the camera was sinked somewhere and remained totally useless.
The second Canonet in the saga was already in my present RFF times. See what a coincidence the camera I happened to buy through eBay was from a local Israeli fellow. And see what a coincidence the camera didn't fire. Yet, along time this camera would become the parts supplier of my current fleet.
Following came 2 Canonets QL GIII, which I used and some of its pics are at my RFF gallery. By that time, cameras for me were by pairs only (now they are by triplets). One for Iso 200 the other for 800.
The a potential breakthrough appeared in a RFF sale: A Canonet QL19 that according to the tale was part of a whole shipment of similar cameras, all transformed to HALF FRAME. This Canonets were supposedly used by the Australian traffic police...
One of my most wet dreams went real - a half frame camera with adjustable controls as well as auto. Do you sense it ?
Latter after the camera arrived I noticed that in order to make it fire I have to slightly move the speeds ring - each time.
What a disgrace ! But within the disgrace I found some consolation after noticing that instead of moving the speed ring I could fire if when winding on I press the small lever that enables the B speed.
Now that I am on vacations from the Kievs, the closest to the 50mm standard Jupiter in the fixed lens kingdom is the 45mm focal length, or 47mm with the Konica S - a breed hard to find in satisfactory situation for hospital recovery unless you pay high fees.
This put aside many many of my fixed focal length cameras, Canonets included, and took me to buy some Auto S2 Konicas, which are bigger and a bit louder, and for my big surprise a Canonet QL 19 with top controls. I have recently wrote a full post about it, here at the Canon RF subforum.
So I was to start my 45mm stage with big cameras, untill another surprise took place and changed the whole configuration. At the bottom of my "Canonets" box I found an edtremely corroded Canonet QL19 of the small size, and my mind started to boil.
Because if this Canonet would work I will have the half frame camera for color Iso 100, the corroded one for BW ISO 400, and both complemented with an Olympus 35SP for Neopan 1600 - and this is what I will be using for city street photo starting with my next vacations overseas. (Kindly don't start the jockes about the three cameras pending from my neck because this is not what I do).
I don't remember when I purchased this corroded Canonet, but it makes sense I left it untouched since only recently I started to put dryed shutters to work, sometimes with success. The corroded one was also extremely dirty, and out of dirt the rangefinder mechanical action didn't work. But the light meter, due to some miracle did work. Now after a lot of work the camera is ready for the stage. I hope everything will be OK with it, despite the rear lens extreme perimeter remains dirty. Not fogged, not mushrom but some kind of dry external "corrosion". BTW the external viewfinder glass was cracked, but the Israeli Canonet came for resque.
Having several cameras brings a feeling of versatility that seldom makes up for the frustration of being unable to sell so many cameras not in current use.
But bringing a camera back to life - this is a special pleasure.
Cheers,
Ruben
The first Canonet I ever bought accounts for the most ridiculous self embarrasing story I can write about. The model was "The New Canonet QL" which preceded to the GIII models.
I was in my mid twenties standing in front of a small photography shop where two models attracted my attention. One was the cuty Canonet, and the other a very very strange camera without any widows in its front, which kept my attention trying to figure out how the photographer could possible view his subject with such a camera and its triangular shape on its top. So I entered the shop and went out with the Canonet.
As my interest in photography by that time was rather limited, I sold the camera to a friend. Some years latter I wanted to purchase the camera back from him but he told me the camera was sinked somewhere and remained totally useless.
The second Canonet in the saga was already in my present RFF times. See what a coincidence the camera I happened to buy through eBay was from a local Israeli fellow. And see what a coincidence the camera didn't fire. Yet, along time this camera would become the parts supplier of my current fleet.
Following came 2 Canonets QL GIII, which I used and some of its pics are at my RFF gallery. By that time, cameras for me were by pairs only (now they are by triplets). One for Iso 200 the other for 800.
The a potential breakthrough appeared in a RFF sale: A Canonet QL19 that according to the tale was part of a whole shipment of similar cameras, all transformed to HALF FRAME. This Canonets were supposedly used by the Australian traffic police...
One of my most wet dreams went real - a half frame camera with adjustable controls as well as auto. Do you sense it ?
Latter after the camera arrived I noticed that in order to make it fire I have to slightly move the speeds ring - each time.
What a disgrace ! But within the disgrace I found some consolation after noticing that instead of moving the speed ring I could fire if when winding on I press the small lever that enables the B speed.
Now that I am on vacations from the Kievs, the closest to the 50mm standard Jupiter in the fixed lens kingdom is the 45mm focal length, or 47mm with the Konica S - a breed hard to find in satisfactory situation for hospital recovery unless you pay high fees.
This put aside many many of my fixed focal length cameras, Canonets included, and took me to buy some Auto S2 Konicas, which are bigger and a bit louder, and for my big surprise a Canonet QL 19 with top controls. I have recently wrote a full post about it, here at the Canon RF subforum.
So I was to start my 45mm stage with big cameras, untill another surprise took place and changed the whole configuration. At the bottom of my "Canonets" box I found an edtremely corroded Canonet QL19 of the small size, and my mind started to boil.
Because if this Canonet would work I will have the half frame camera for color Iso 100, the corroded one for BW ISO 400, and both complemented with an Olympus 35SP for Neopan 1600 - and this is what I will be using for city street photo starting with my next vacations overseas. (Kindly don't start the jockes about the three cameras pending from my neck because this is not what I do).
I don't remember when I purchased this corroded Canonet, but it makes sense I left it untouched since only recently I started to put dryed shutters to work, sometimes with success. The corroded one was also extremely dirty, and out of dirt the rangefinder mechanical action didn't work. But the light meter, due to some miracle did work. Now after a lot of work the camera is ready for the stage. I hope everything will be OK with it, despite the rear lens extreme perimeter remains dirty. Not fogged, not mushrom but some kind of dry external "corrosion". BTW the external viewfinder glass was cracked, but the Israeli Canonet came for resque.
Having several cameras brings a feeling of versatility that seldom makes up for the frustration of being unable to sell so many cameras not in current use.
But bringing a camera back to life - this is a special pleasure.
Cheers,
Ruben
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