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The Canonet QL17 is a wonderful mid-sized 35 mm rangefinder that has one huge advantage over most 35s with focal-plane shutters. Because it has a blade shutter, it'll synch with the flash at 1/500th, which means you can shoot with the flash outdoor for fill-in and some interesting effects. The fixed 40mm lens is pretty good, too, and the shutter is very quiet. Focusing is a snap. A poor-man's Leica. A couple of drawbacks, though. 1.It's not sealed very well against dust, so plan in using the case at all times. 2. If you get one from eBay, it'll certainly need new light seals, and probably a $100 CLA job. I feel this camera is worth it, but these are things that you'll have to be prepared to have done. (The light seals you can do yourself -- there's a guy on eBay who'll sell you the kit.) 3. This is not an especially rugged camera, as rangefinders go. Treat it with care, and keep the shutter uncocked when not in use. 4. It takes a PX625 battery. They changed the voltage for 1.35 to 1.5 volts, which means you'll have to set your film speed at one-half the actual speed to compensate for the added sensitivity of the meter. Also, since the new alkaline battery has a more gradual fall-off curve than the old mercury battery, you'll need a new one once a year or so. Shoot a test roll to check your meter every so often.Read full review
This camera has a reputation as the poor man's Lieca. It has an excellent fast lens, good meter and average rangefinder. It is not as bright a rangefinder as a Lieca but as the lens is a 40mm focal length, it is a bit forgiving. The lens is excellent stopped down two stops to F/4. I use the camera as a street camera. It doesn't draw a lot a attention and with normal street noise the shutter is silent. I actually had to go through two cameras on ebay to get one I was happy with. This is a 35-40 year old camera and the foam seal on the film door will need to be replaced. There is a good kit available on ebay which supplies the right kind of foam and also the proper battery. The other thing to watch for is oil on the shutter blades. The camera I ended up keeping had been professionally stored and as expected was more expensive as the 'as-is' ones. Like they say, you get what you pay for.Read full review
The era of the rangefinder was ending when Canon put out the Canonet QL 17 G-III (the 3rd and last generation of QL 17) in the early 70's. With auto-exposure (meaning shutter speed priority) and cds metering cell, this camera was really quite advanced for its time, even though it was practically obsolete when it was released. I have two of these G-III QL-17s (one black and one chrome) because I like them very much. They have a nice clear viewfinder that shows the F-stops on one side with a needle pointing to the one that the camera has chosen in shutter speed priority mode. The rangefinder spot in the viewfinder is large enough to make focusing easy. Manual mode is easy to use. Both f-stop and shutter speed are set by turning rings on the lens, which opens up to F1.7 and is really quite sharp. There is a hotshoe and a dedicated Canon flash, though I haven't been able to find one yet. The film quick-loading (QL) mechanism works well and is the ancestor of the auto-loading in every modern film camera. Fixed-lens rangefinders are relatively simple cameras, easy to use, compact, quiet, and a lot of fun. The QL-17 also has the advantage of a high quality fast lens. The original battery was mercury, but the modern replacement (Wein cell MR625) is readily available. I recommend this camera unreservedly.Read full review
If you're looking to get into rangefinder cameras, these are a great way to see if you even like them. It's very easy to use, and you can use it without a batter, you just have to use the sunny 16 rule for metering. It's a great way to learn the fundamentals of lighting, metering, and photography in general. It's also much lower profile than my DSLR. It's a great camera.
La canonet ql 17 GIII è una macchina compatta di ottima qualità.Ha circa 40 anni e trovarla in buone condizioni è difficile, per CUI Che credo occorra Tentare più volte nell'acquisto per AVERNE una in condizioni discrete. A me piacciono macchine fotografiche dei tempi passati perchè Hanno un fascino particolare e perchè mi fa piacere utilizzarle.Non disdegno, comunque, le digidali ... dimenticavo, mi piace anche smontare aggiustare e, se possibile, le vecchie macchine analogiche. L'amore per la fotografia e in genere per le macchine fotografiche l'ho sempre avuta e spero di continuare ad Averla ancora per tanto tempo.E 'sempre importante coltivare un hobby Specialmente come la fotografia perchè ti fa vedere il mondo sotto Diversi aspetti e ti stimola uno confrontarti con chi ti sta Attorno. Cordiali saluti. Caboto44.Read full review
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