Tell me everything I need to know

[venchka]

I have a local lead on "a Canon G-III with a 40mm 1.7 lens". I know nothing about these cameras. I know, strange but true that I should be clueless about a Canon camera. The fact is I am. So, what do I look for? What do these things sell for for? Were there various models? Serial number runs to avoid or look for?

An enquiring mind wants to know. 😕

Thanks for all the help I know y'all will give me. 🙂

 

[ruben]

a) www.photoethnography. com

b) http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/f_camera.html

c) RFF "Canon"

 

[ben lloyd]

cameraquest page on G-III:

http://www.cameraquest.com/canql17.htm

 

[venchka]

Mercury battery

Mercury battery

EE CdS cell for shutter speed-priority EE. Metering range of EV 3.5 - 17 (at ISO 100). Film speed range of ISO 25 - 800. Manual exposure enabled by disabling AUTO.

Power Source One 1.3 V H-D mercury cell. Battery check provided with a lamp.

Resrticted film speed range.

Mercury battery: No worries. The Wein cells will work ok.

What is the general opinion of the lens? OK? Good? Good enough? Better?

I am considering this camera as a substantially less expensive alternative to the various wider than 50mm/faster than f 2.8 lenses around for the Canon or Leica bodies. I own 35mm and 28mm f 2.8 lenses. The 40mm 1.7 lens would be nice to have. However, I don't usually go out at night enough to justify a dedicated, fast 35mm lens. Nor do I have the budget right now.

Yes, buying this camera would violate my "I'm done for 2007" vow. 😱 😀

 

[venchka]

No happy owners?

No happy owners?

No glowing, rave reviews from happy satisified owners? Canon made over a million G-IIIs and they can't all be dead.

 

[rover]

All those are nice pages, but if you want glowing and raving then there is only one place to go.

Find some future RFF old timers in their early photo forum careers here.

http://forums.popphoto.com/camera/b...essage.id=18553&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

 

[ruben]

Rover ?....You have surprised me this one. Great link.

What would be there the link to search similar issues ? I do not find it.
============

Wayne, it seems undeniable that at certain points people become tired of repeating themselves.

Now, as a kind of minor methodological (positive, I hope) advise, you are fully right in trying to enter via the main door. But if you continue to be denied that entrance, try the window - i.e. look for threads like Canonet VS... , where passions seem to awake.


Cheers,
Ruben

 

[40oz]

there's probably something like a billion people around here with good things to say about the Canonets in general. If you do a search, you'll find more posts than you'll want to read.

IMHO, the lens is good enough, or even "better." The camera is easy to use. The metering is quite good, even if it doesn't meter in manual (easy to use auto for metering, then set aperture/shutter manually, though). The camera is small enough to carry in a coat pocket, and uses fairly common 48mm filters. Shutter speeds are B, 1/4 to 1/500. Focusing is easy, with a tabbed lens that rotates perhaps 60 degrees. I've used mine a ton, and probably won't ever sell it. It is not perfect, but close enough for what it is.

I paid $100 for mine, with case, matching flash, and new seals, from a local used camera dealer. I'd think a clean working example should cost somewhere well below $100, depending on accessories, condition, and whatnot. Ebay's got a ton, over a wide price range.

 

[venchka]

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone! You would think I'm a rookie around here. I did search here but didn't find much about actual results. No worries. If the price is right, I'll probably "just do it". Now I need to get the owner's attention and go see the camera.

Buying a G III at a good price doesn't feel like I'm breaking my non-GAS vow for 2007. 😱 😀 🙂

 

[winklee98]

Things to watch out for.??

Things to watch out for.??

There are many various priced Canon QL17 GIII's on e-bay...some are good and some are not...... it is buyer beware. !!
Many of the bargain QL17's will have fungus or haze on the lens, this is a very common problem, and most will require a thorough cleaning of the shutter/apeture and viewfinder, as well as the battery compartment and new light seals installed and meter checked before you will have a good working camera.
So buying a bargain camera you may find is not that great of a bargain and may require some extra work before you have a usable camera, that is if you are lucky enough to get one with a good lens.

Winklee98

 

[Silva Lining]

What winklee98 said. I have been through 4 Canonets and have 2 good ones. One a black QL17, which I used yesterday... and the other a GIII QL17. It's a great little camera - I take it when my main duty is looking after my toddler son - the auto exposure and snappy focussing are great for taking quick shots.

 

[dmr]

No glowing, rave reviews from happy satisified owners? Canon made over a million G-IIIs and they can't all be dead.

Yes, I just woke up here in Middle America! 🙂

Great little camera, sharp fast lens, small enough to carry almost anywhere, the QL loader really works, very reliable, check out my gallery and blog for countless examples of photos from it. The people here steered me on to it about 2 years ago.

Now for the shortcomings:

No match-needle metered manual mode. Tweaking an auto-exposure is clumsy. My only major gripe.

There is some astigmatism when shooting wide open. This even shows up at f/2 or so and is starting to annoy me. 🙁

ASA/ISO max of 800. I have recalibrated mine to 1600, and I will be sending in the write-up on this to Kim's site shortly.

The mercury battery thing is really a non-issue. There are many work-arounds, from wein cells, to solder-in diodes, to adapters, to recalibration, to just offsetting the ASA/ISO setting to just living with a slight error. Just google or search here for countless methods and discussion on this.