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Found a Canonet QL-17
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 12:34 pm    Post subject: Found a Canonet QL-17 Reply with quote
My wife and I went to Hidalgo, Quiapo, Manila. Hidalgo is a famous street in our city's capital for carrying inexpensive cameras, lenses, and accessories (relative to mall prices). It's also a place to find vintage cameras. I went there to specifically look for a Nikon FE hoping to find one with a 50mm 1.4 attached. I didn't find it so we just moved on to our secondary objective which was to find bicycle jerseys (my wife is a biker while I'm a lazy bum) in another street. While looking for a particular bike shop, I didn't notice I was standing in front of a store selling vintage cameras. My wife pointed me to it and found a lot of rangefinders like the Olympus RD but I chose this Canonet QL-17 instead Smile

Size comparison with my Canonet 28 on the right



Engraved on it is, "Property of Roque Dealca 1968"



I'll have Allen - the camera repairman - who cleaned and fixed my Canonet 28 - clean and fix this one too. I don't think it requires a lot of work as all the mechanicals seem to work fine except that the ASA ring is hard to turn plus the previous owner left the battery inside and corroded the contact. This would look good as new after Allen works his magic on it Smile


PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 1:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Famous camera it has excellent IQ! Congrats!!


PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Interesting. Yours is the first early QL17 I recall seeing. I just did a bit of googling and found this:

http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Canon_Canonet_QL_17_/_QL_19_/_QL_25

Yours is an early early one apparently -- no hot shoe. Later early ones have the hot shoe, and then there are the QL17s with a hot shoe and the smaller body. The GIII has the hot shoe with the additional contact for the Canolite D. I have two of the Made in Taiwan GIII's. Same lens, smaller body. Great picture taker. The 45/1.7 rivals Leitz lenses in image quality.


PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 12:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
@Attila: Very Happy I had a difficult time choosing between it and the Olympus RD as the latter is also a well-respected rangefinder but since I'm a Canon user, loyalty won except for the Canon AE-1 Program vs. Nikon FE. Both are good but based on what I read and saw online, the FE has a little edge over it Smile

@cooltouch: I was a tad disappointed it wasn't the GIII version but after reading the differences between the two, I sighed a breathe of relief as the difference was mechanical rather than optical Smile

This would be my indoor and night rangefinder while the Canonet 28 would be my outdoor morning RF.


PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
cmontoya wrote:
I sighed a breathe of relief as the difference was mechanical rather than optical


But it is not the same lens. The elder model had a 45mm 1.7 lens, the lens for the G III is a redesigned 40mm 1.7.
The somewhat cheaper G III 19 kept the 45mm 1.9 lens.


PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 3:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
cmontoya wrote:
@Attila: Very Happy I had a difficult time choosing between it and the Olympus RD as the latter is also a well-respected rangefinder but since I'm a Canon user, loyalty won except for the Canon AE-1 Program vs. Nikon FE. Both are good but based on what I read and saw online, the FE has a little edge over it Smile

@cooltouch: I was a tad disappointed it wasn't the GIII version but after reading the differences between the two, I sighed a breathe of relief as the difference was mechanical rather than optical Smile

This would be my indoor and night rangefinder while the Canonet 28 would be my outdoor morning RF.


No worries, you have an excellent rangefinder. And I'd have to say it is quite uncommon, so you just may have the collectible angle going for you as well. Hey, the GIIIs are common, but popular, which helps keep their price up somewhat. The early ones, being that they are very similar to the later ones, should benefit from this, plus they have the rarity edge going for them.

I too am a loyal Canon user, but if you want to compare the FE to a Canon equivalent, it should be the original AE-1, not the AE-1 Program, mostly because the AE-1 Program has a "program" setting, which neither the AE-1 nor the FE have. I can understand the reason for comparison, though. Unlike the AE-1, the AE-1P has interchangeable focusing screens and accepts a motor drive. The FE has both of these capabilities as well. The AE-1 accepts a winder, but not the Motor Drive MA, and has non-interchangeable focusing screens. But, despite being a loyal Canon user, I must say that the FE is, in my opinion, a much better camera than either of the AE-1 flavors. Why? Well, for starters, it has match-needle metering in manual mode. With the exception of the manual-only AT-1, none of the A-series Canons have this same capability -- namely to have indicators that respond to both aperture and shutter values. The A-series Canons will tell you what shutter speed you've selected, but will only tell you the aperture setting they recommend when set to manual. Because the FE has this feature, it becomes an ideal camera to use in manual mode. Plus the metering pattern in the FE is less sensitive to stray light sources than the metering patterns in all A-series Canons, which becomes very important if shooting slide film. And, because the FE has a vertically traveling Copal shutter, it also has a 1/125 second flash sync. Not even the New F-1 has a flash sync this fast. In fact, the only FD-mount Canons I can think of that have a 1/125 second flash sync are the EF and the T90, both of which have vertically traveling shutters. A side benefit to the vertical Copal shutter is, when using the self-timer, the mirror pre-releases, becoming a de facto mirror lock up capability. None of the 1980 and later FD Canons have mirror lock up.

So, in conclusion, I would say that the FE has quite a bit more than "a little edge" over the AE-1P. I have both Canon and Nikon systems and own both an AE-1P and an FE, and my FE is one of my favorite Nikons. It is, in fact, one of my favorite cameras, period. When I feel like shooting Nikon, I find myself reaching for my FE more often than the other Nikon bodies I own, even though I really like my F2's and my F. Now, if I had an F3, then there might be a toss-up between it and the FE as far as frequency of use goes.

Oh, and my apologies for my misstatement about the early and late QL17 lenses. Wasn't paying close enough attention. Thanks to Minolfan for catching my error.


PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 11:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
My Canonette is the best fixed lens RF I have ever handled. It finds itself in my regular use list. The main problem with them is sticky shutters (after 40+ years this has to be expected), so a CLA is pretty mandatory, but you get a great camera after.

There was a comparison between the QL 17 Giii and a Leica RF on here last year which the Canon won in terms of IQ.


PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
There were 3 generations of Canonets. The first were larger, like the OP's. Then they were the "New Canonets" which were smaller and then there were the "G-III" models which had some minor features added to the "New" models.


PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 11:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
dof wrote:
There were 3 generations of Canonets. The first were larger, like the OP's. Then they were the "New Canonets" which were smaller and then there were the "G-III" models which had some minor features added to the "New" models.


Yeah, wasn't it just the addition of compatibility with the CanoLite D flash?


PostPosted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 3:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I used to hang out in Quiapo, haunting the photo shops, oh, more than 30 years ago.

I bought my first Exakta and Pentax SV there, among other things.


PostPosted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
@Minolfan: Thank you. I meant that I expect the QL17's IQ to be comparable with the GIII but I could be wrong (and I wouldn't really know as I have no GIII). I have yet to test this camera and see the results for myself. I'll probably use a modern film rather than an expired one during the field test.

@cooltouch: Whoah! Thank you for validating the Nikon FE's "little edge" over the AE-1P Very Happy

@martin: I always had my Canon 450D cleaned once a year and I expect to do the same for my film cameras. They're just like cars and need regular maintenance.

@dof: I was quite surprised to see the QL17 to be larger than the Canonet 28 because when I researched for Canonets, I always see the GIII which is similar in size to the Canonet 28. I bought it because it had an engraving of the previous owner's name and year he first bought it I assume.

@luisalegria: So Quiapo was really a photographers' haven back then. 30 years ago I was still 11. This hobby transcends time, doesn't it? I wonder what photography would be like 30 years from now. Maybe future photographers would look for Canon 450Ds as vintage cameras, he he.

I'll post the photos from this film cam maybe within the first three weeks of January in the colour film gallery section.


PostPosted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
AFAIK the 45mm lens is very good, not very different from the later 40mm. But it is not the same lens as was stated.
I have a "new" Canonet 19 since new, with the unchanged 45mm, a lesser, cheaper lens then the 1.7 that has one more element, and even that was always quite satifying for me.
So don't worry about the difference. Smile


PostPosted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 3:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
[removed duplicate post]

Last edited by dof on Sun Dec 25, 2011 7:18 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 3:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
cooltouch wrote:


Yeah, wasn't it just the addition of compatibility with the CanoLite D flash?


Both the "New QL17" and the "QL17 GIII" have compatibility with the Canolite D flash. They both have the extra contact in the flash shoe and the same flash settings on the aperture dial for that flash. They also both have the same 40/1.7 lens.

The only functional difference that I know of between the 2 cameras is when you press the battery check button. On the GIII an external light turns on if the battery is OK and on the "New QL17" the meter needle motion tells you if the battery is OK. Otherwise they are the same AFAIK.

Here is the Canon Museum page that explains:
http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/film/data/1966-1975/1972_netg3-17.html?lang=us&categ=srs&page=net

All the "New" models that I've seen were made in Japan and all the "QL17 GIII" cameras I've seen were made in Taiwan (though I've heard that the early GIIIs were made in Japan too).


PostPosted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 3:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
cmontoya wrote:
@dof: I was quite surprised to see the QL17 to be larger than the Canonet 28 because when I researched for Canonets, I always see the GIII which is similar in size to the Canonet 28. I bought it because it had an engraving of the previous owner's name and year he first bought it I assume.


Now that's interesting. Most photographers I know (me included) tend not to buy cameras that have been engraved, although it happens. I have a Canon A-1 and an Oly OM-1n that have been engraved, but it wasn't by choice. The guy who engraved the A-1 actually engraved his Social Security Number onto the camera. Geez, that's a big no-no these days.

So, I'm curious, since you appear to have an early early QL17 (early body with a cold shoe), what was the year that was engraved on it?


PostPosted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for the clarification, dof. Yes, I'd heard the same thing about the GIII as to where it was made. I have yet to see a GIII that was made in Japan though. I think that if I ever run across one, I'll try to pick it up for its collectible value.


PostPosted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 4:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
martinsmith99 wrote:

There was a comparison between the QL 17 Giii and a Leica RF on here last year which the Canon won in terms of IQ.


Yeah, I remember it. Just spent the last 20 minutes searching for it using the broken search engine here and the firehose google search here. The broken one delivers not enough and the google one delivers WAY too much. Anyway, if somebody else here knows the link, please post it.


PostPosted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 1:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
@cool: 1968 Smile Two years before I was born.


PostPosted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hmmm, methinks the Giii is going to get used next. Laughing


PostPosted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
cooltouch wrote:
martinsmith99 wrote:

There was a comparison between the QL 17 Giii and a Leica RF on here last year which the Canon won in terms of IQ.


Yeah, I remember it. Just spent the last 20 minutes searching for it using the broken search engine here and the firehose google search here. The broken one delivers not enough and the google one delivers WAY too much. Anyway, if somebody else here knows the link, please post it.


http://forum.mflenses.com/rf-quiz-t30734.html
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